The official start of yard sale season finally began this weekend. My neighborhood hosted their community-wide sale, so i didn’t have to go far to find some fun things for the collection. Look at all the great stuff I found within a 2-mile radius of my house…
Halo encyclopedia, Batman Roleplaying guide, and two of the Hunger Games books for a a total of $4, and a small collection of Star Wars Galactic Heroes for another buck. That Heroscape game looks pretty awesome, but it must be complicated because the lady wouldn’t let me leave without taking it, lowering her original $5 asking price to $1. Sold. Some miscellaneous Batman diecast vehicles and the Hudson Hornet from Cars were some fun finds, but I really love that Night at the Museum McDonalds toy. It looks like a Planet of the Apes toy to me.
There was a ton of Cars toys at the sales, including these two unopened cars. I snatched them up for a buck along with this creepy book of Horrors for another dollar.
I picked up some more happy meal toys and a large Dinoco helicopter from Cars ($1) and two Transformers that were in the free bin just because they were too difficult for their kid to transform. Score! I picked up two sets of Star Wars Chess along with a Jedi Unleashed game for a total of $4.
After a few hours, we had found a bunch of fun things but not the “BIG” one yet, and I was kind of bummed since time was running out. I have always had VERY good luck at yard sales, but I almost got skunked on this outing until I saw this…
I snatched up this E.T. bank in a fit of glee, doing a little jig inside my head. It’s a large, plaster bank with almost no chips or scratches. It has glass eyes that just melt your heart (or burn through you, however you choose to see them). I gladly paid the $2 and nonchalantly walked to the car before the seller had second thoughts about letting his treasure slip through her hands.
When we got to the car, I turned to my wife and said excitedly, “I can’t believe that was still there!”
Wife: “I can.”
Me: “It’s amazing. It’s in great condition. Why would no one else have bought that?”
Wife: “Hmmm.”
Me: “I mean, look at it! It’s so cool!”
Wife: “It’s creepy.” Did you see its eyes? You’re going to sell that on eBay, right?”
You see what I have to deal with? I carefully strapped the bank into the kid’s booster seat (don’t ask me where my kid was), and kept one eye on it in the rear view mirror the whole way home.
It was a successful day, not stellar, but plenty of fun. I spent just $15 on all of the items shown above, but there was one more item that made me blow my budget…
Yep. That’s right. I got a zombie survival kit. And if any of you have any ideas about stealing away my precious E.T. bank, remember that this bad boy is now sitting under my bed.
The ET is great. I also have that mini mystery machine. I think it was a Burger King toy actually. For Christmas my wife bought me the complete series on DVD which comes in a Mystery Machine storage case. It’s wicked! Check it out on Amazon.
Nice! It’s surprising to me how little Scooby Doo merchandise is out there. There were a few items released not too long ago, but I don’t know if I’ve ever stumbled across any vintage stuff.
Really awesome finds, Brian! I need to move into your neighborhood, I’m yearning for some suburbia scavenger hunts like this. Best I can do here is unearthing a half-eaten chicken bone and what I think is the bottom half of a G.I. Joe. Sad times. 🙁
Ha! Keep looking. Maybe you’ll find the top half of that figure and an intact o-ring to go with it!
Though I understand your glee at finding E.T. … I have to agree with your wife … he kind of creeps me out . The car seat pic is a keeper, for sure 🙂
We had a yard sale this weekend; but I did some shopping down the street. I scored some wicked-cool The Tick stuff right in my neighborhood. Who knew?!
I’ve always been on the fence with E.T. The movie always scared me as a kid, but I’ve grown to love the lumpy guy.
Glad to hear of your Tick finds. You just never know “what evil lurks” behind your neighbors’ doors. 😉
Awesome stuff Brian! I’m with you, I adore that ET bank, what a great find! And you can’t go wrong with a crossbow!
I’m going to have some fun with that crossbow. 😉
I am soooooo jealous of that E.T.!
Hey Reis- Thanks for stopping by!
To all of you who like E.T., feel free to make Brian an offer. 😉
Please ignore that last comment. E.T. is NOT for sale.
I gonna have to side with you on this Brian…That E.T. bank is too awesome!! He’s cute, not creepy. That’s definitely gonna be hard to top. And 2 free Transformers?!?! That’s awesome! Can’t wait to get started on my yard-saling. My buddy just got me a box of pretty awesome stuff at a sale he was at this past weekend.
Let me know if you make any big finds at your yard sales, Jason. ET is going to be hard to beat, but I’ll be out there again next weekend, scouring the ‘burbs.
My friend actually made my first find(s) of the season. We made a deal for what he found for me. He actually called me while he was out checking out yard sales, to see if I was interested in anything. He’s younger, but knows a few of the lines I’m into. He told me about some stuff the sellers had just sold before he got there, like a huge box of TMNT figures. He asked the same guy if he had any Ghostbusters, and the guy said that he has a huge collection of them, but wants to save them for his daughter(can’t complain there.The younger ones will have to carry the torch for us at some point). I recently posted about it(with lots of pictures). You should check it out, if you have the chance. 🙂
Awesome, Jason! I just checked out your mystery box ( http://jasonvorhees.wordpress.com/2011/05/10/the-unveiling ). Nice finds! It’s always great to have helpers looking out for you. My mother-in-law is always calling me about old books she comes across in antique stores. Usually, they’re worthless, but one of these days, she’s bound to strike gold.
I have the same ET bank.I’ve had it for 23 years:)