Leg'o my Legos

2007-08-27T19:03:00.000-04:00

This Saturday was a bust Flea market & Yard Sale wise - due to Rain.
I woke up around 6am looked out the window and went right back to sleep.
Tomorrow is another day!

Sunday is better.
Up a little late - 7am - I crack open the first Diet Coke of the day, stumble out to The Stratus and hit the road - destination ... The Fair grounds Flea market here in Orlando. I arrive at 7:30 and the place is packed. I hit the blanket section first - and strike paydirt with a ziplock bag of vintage Fisher Price Little People and Furniture for 25 cents.

There is a guy with a bunch of 6 million Dollar man toys, but he is overpriced - seriously higher than eBay - I shake my head and walk away.

Its about 8:30 and about 85 degrees - I put my Hat on, swig some water from my canteen and continue the hunt.

I look at some legos (a favorite) on one table - he has divided then into 2 small plastic tubs and marked them $7.00 a piece. He will not be talked down, so i keep moving, but make a mental note to try again a little later - people get more realistic (i.e. desperate) as the day gets longer and hotter.

I do buy some lego Spongebob Squarepants legos for $1.50 and carry them around.
A man at another table sees them and asks "Do you collect Legos?" - I say no, but I do buy them for my nephew when i am out and about. Not quite a lie, i do have a nephew named Steven and he does occasionally play with the legos at my house.

He reaches under the table and pulls out a huge plastic tub with about 30 pounds of legos.
I play it cool. How much? $100 he says - probably a good deal, but I did not achieve Toy Hunter status by making "good" deals. I start to walk away - slowly, and he aks the magic question - "How Much are you willing to pay". Ha- I've won, but he dosent know it yet, so we continue going through the motions. I offer $50, he says they are worth $200 on ebay. I point out he is not selling them on ebay, but at a hot dirty flea market that is rapidly emptying.

His pride is stopping him so I pull all the money out of my shirt pocket and count it - " I've got 54 dollars and some change, best I can do", I say. He takes it. (Of course I still have about $200 in my wallet, but that's our little secret). He is worried I am going to sell them for more of a profit then he did. OF COURSE I AM - THAT'S WHAT I DO. I hear this often in my travels, like I am doing something wrong. If you get the money you want for something - what do you care what i do with something?

This bothers me for about 2 seconds as i drag my purchase to the car and whistle all the way home.

Yo Joe!

2007-08-16T10:04:00.000-04:00

Today started with a quick run over to Tampa, about 65 miles away.
I enjoy the trip, but it can be expensive if no "relics" of any value are located
Luckily, that will not be the case today.

Dig #1 - Busch Blvd Community Thrift Store. - nice - used to be much larger, but they recently cut the store in half and rented out space to Dollar General. I like this store - kind of junky and great prices - I once bought a colecovision system with 10 games for $5.00 here. nothing today though - damn.

Site # 2 and 3 are right next door to each other. The Salvation Army store thinks it knows collectibles, so you often see great items but at absurd prices.

The thrift store next door (Smartly named "Thrift Store") is like looking through some one's garage, after an earthquake. Fine with me - that's why I am a treasure hunter after all.

I usually go to the Video Tape shelf first. Why? Sometimes there are video games mixed in with the ancient VHS tapes. Ha! I pluck a Dragon Warrior IV Nintendo Game (with sleeve and instruction manual) out of the rubble. At $2.99 this is a GREAT FIND and will pay for the gas I used trekking over to Tampa.

I do a quick sweep of the electronics, books, and board games (?) sections and reluctantly head to the back of the store-to the dreaded toy section. For some unknown reason, this store puts all its toys on large metal shelving units about 7 feet high and 15 feet wide. And in flagrant violation of a piece of notebook paper taped to one wall that clearly states ** NO UNATTENDED CHILDREN ** - the place is like Never-Neverland (the cool one from Peter Pan, not the scary one that Micheal Jackson owns) with unattended children EVERYWHERE. You have to get here early, as I've seen many valuable items stepped on and/or destroyed.

As usual, all the toys are off the shelf, in a HUGE pile on the floor. I wade in and try to look around, but it is hopeless. Then suddenly a Mom, dragging her son along, tosses a box on one of the empty shelves and admonishes the boy "I SAID I AM NOT BUYING YOU ANY MORE TOYS TODAY!!!"

HOY COW! She has just stopped her son from buying a Pair of 1968 G.I. Joe Walkie talkies - MINT IN BOX for $2.95. Lucky for me, my Mom is nowhere around and I can buy whatever I want. I grab the box and take my purchases to the checkout.

Not even noon yet, and I am done for the day. I swing by Arbys and grab a couple of Beef & Cheddars for the long drive home.

I sold the NES game on my website ($25) and the Walkie Talkies were tested (by my 7 year old nephew Steven) photographed and auctioned off on eBay. ($250)

And now y0u know - And Knowing Is Half The Battle - YO JOE!

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Leg'o my Legos

Yo Joe!