“This is the most wonderful time of the year…” That’s right, yard sale season is upon us here in the mid-Atlantic region. This past Saturday was a slow start, but there was one neighborhood sale not too far away, where I was able to scrounge up a few fun items…
This is what I got for $3.25. Not bad! I usually avoid the bags of stuffed animals unless my dogs are in need of a new toy, but I saw what I thought might be an Ewok, and I was right–it was a Kenner Princess Kneesaa Ewok plush doll from 1983, and it was in excellent condition. I also tend to avoid the boxes of Happy Meal toys, but I was drawn to a selection of bagged toys from Small Soldiers and Wacky Eyes for whatever reason. These were basically free and will make for good packing material in some of my shipments.
Living in close proximity to Washington, DC allows for some interesting items to show up in yard sales that you probably wouldn’t find elsewhere. This golf towel from the 2011 White House Golf Tournament is a prime example. The seller was a Secret Service agent and he also had a dozen Secret Service polo shirts for sale–I’m kicking myself for leaving those behind–they would have turned a nice profit on eBay.
This was the fun find of the day. This Kool-Aid Man Atari game is still sealed in the original shrinkwrap and brought back of a wave of nostalgia for me. Remember all those comic book ads that used to promote this game? I grabbed it off the table and asked the seller how much she wanted for it, and her response was music to my ears, “I don’t know, we’re trying to get rid of everything. A quarter?” Sold. I left before her husband came out and asked why his mint condition vintage Atari game was out on the lawn.
Anyone else finding anything good at the yard sales yet?
kngfu says
I went to a flea market and four garage/yard sales last Saturday…nothing.
Brian says
Still beats working. 😉
Paxton Holley says
Nice. That Kool-Aid Man game was a coup. The game sucked but those M-Network boxes are pop artwork. And the comic ads were fantastic.
Yes, you should be kicking yourself for not getting the Secret Service polo shirts.
Pax
Brian says
Ha! There’s so much CIA, FBI stuff around here in the yard sales, I think I had better start scooping it up.
Russell says
Hey, it’s been a while! Hmm let’s see. We’ve hit a few antique stores and flea markets over the Winter. No lawn sales yet though. I think it’s still too rainy and cold here for now. At a local flea market I got a couple hundred of the pink muscle guys for $2.00 and speaking of McDonalds toys my son got the entire set of the Muppet Babies and Garfield toys. He’s big into Garfield right now because it comes on Teletoon Retro. I saw a very interesting Godzilla snap together model that actually made me think of you but it was a bit overpriced at $25 It was in the original box though and had never been put together. The box was a little rough but it would have made a cool piece for your collection. Not sure if you already have it or not. It looked like it was from the 70s. Umm, hmm what else? Some Hotwheels stuff. I picked up a couple copies of the Mystery Machine and I guess my friend found the Flintstones car for me and is holding on to it. All in all pretty quiet here on the collecting front.
Brian says
$2 for a couple hundred MUSCLES! You Win! That Godzilla kit sounds cool.
Pop Rewind says
Nice find on the sealed Kool-Aid game! I haven’t been yard salein’ yet (too rainy and a little chilly still where I live) but so looking forward to it! Never found a haul so full of awesome nostalgia as this one, though!
Brian says
Stay tuned–the season has just begun! 😉
Scott says
Powerglide BotShots!! 🙂
Brian says
I know nothing about transformers, but I always buy them when I find them.
jboypacman says
Nothing found yet Brian but my searches have been limited due to work and such however I got a call last night from a friend of mine who got called by one of our other friends who found a nice stash of G.I. Joe figures and vehicles at a yard sale over the weekend. Me and him are going to take it off there hands and split the lot up. Not for sure what’s exactly in it yet but my understand there is a Killer Whale(which am claiming for myself), couple of tanks, a Snowcat and the figures. We are going over to there house next Saturday to check it all out.
Brian says
Nice! There’s nothing better than finding a stash of GI Joe figures. 😉
BubbaShelby says
I sold a bunch of stuff – someone(s) made out pretty nicely, because I sold a lot of stuff I just needed out of storage for cheap!
We were at a mini-flea market set up at a local family resource center. I walked across to a table near me and bought a Lego Taun-taun for a quarter. (while my wife hollered across at me ‘don’t buy more toys!’)
So I consider the whole weekend a success!
Brian says
Any weekend that you get to buy Legos is a success!
The Goodwill Geek says
Passed a few juicy looking yardsales on my way to other places this weekend… but with my wife driving and in a hurry I could only press my nose to the glass and whine.
The Goodwill Geek says
But excellent finds Brian! I need to find one of those Scooby Doo coffins with the gangs heads poking out… and what the heck is the gray caped figure in the forefront? Looks to blobby to be Batman…
Brian says
that thing is a Burger king toy, maybe from the Gargoyles series?
Brian says
Aww. You guys have it great up north–you have yards sales every day of the week don’t you?
LeAnn says
great finds! I wish I could get my husband to go to yard sales with me.
Brian says
Ha! It’s usually 50/50 whether I can get my wife out of bed at the crack of dawn n a Saturday morning. I’ve trained the kids to be great co-pilots!
Yelinna says
You got Iron Men!!! Yeah!
Love Iron Man!!!
Dan says
That stuff looks amazing. The coolest thing I got at a yard sale was a Six Million Dollar Man lunch box I picked up for 25 cents. It was and still is in amazing shape. Yard sales are awesome to find stuff like that.
Brian says
Umm, wanna sell that lunchbox? I’ll double your money. 😉
Kal says
The only thing that I hate about Canada is our garage sales suck. We just have 1/10th of your population and that means 1/10th the available toys you can find at yard sales. Sometimes you get lucky but mostly I feel let down. I wish I could attend something like those mile long yard sales they have in the Hillbilly South
John (Batcave Toy Room) says
You always find the coolest stuff Brian. I have some opportunities that may require me to move to your side of the world. Maybe we can go yard selling together one day. On second thought, we’d probably want to buy the same items and would end up driving up the prices. 😉
Brian says
Do tell! Are you making the trip east sometime soon? You can have all the yard sales to the east of the Potomac and we’ll be fine. 😉
John (Batcave Toy Room) says
I’ll be in Charlotte, NC sometime in July. That might be ultimately where I wind up. I’ll keep you posted.
Clive Collier says
Does anyone remember the ( Slime dustbin made by Mattel ? ) I have been after one of those suckers for a few years now so if anybody has one or knows where I could get one then it would be really appreciated.
I visit toy fairs reguarly so if there is any particular items that people want then I will keep my eye out for you, just drop me a line and tell me what your after.
Clive
Brian says
Hmmm, do you mean “garbage can” when you say “dustbin”? I remember the garbage cans from way back, but haven’t seen any in years.
robotspjs says
How much for the Ewok?! I must have her! Email me 😀