Tuesday, September 11, 2007

And Now....Yard Sale Week!

It’s been a fun summer for yard sales. It usually is, but what makes this one different is three things: camping stuff, comics, and practical yard stuff.

The camping stuff is probably the wildest of the three. Earlier this summer, Keith decided he wanted to start camping on a semi-regular basis. Within a month, he’d set himself up with three tents* of varying sizes, an air mattress, two sleeping bags and a ton of various outdoor cooking and other camping implements. All purchased at yard sales. All in excellent condition. And all for less than a hundred bucks total.

In terms of comics, it’s been a plentiful summer for sure. There have been more yard sale listings than I can ever remember that mention comics, plus a whole lot of sales that I’ve wandered upon with a small stack of comics on the table or a couple of gn’s for a couple of bucks. Not that everyone of these sales had something I wanted, but it’s fun to see. When I was a kid, I used to see and buy comics at yard sales all the time. It’s kind of a nostalgic kick to see so many of them this year.

The selection has ranged from the older couple with two boxes of old DC 80 page giants graded and priced accordingly to the dudes—yes, there have been more than one—with a long box stuffed with dozens of copies of one 90’s “hot” book or another. The saddest one was the dude with a long box full of Adventures of Superman 500’s still in the polybags. Judging by the sign on the box, he’d started out trying to unload them for a buck a throw. By the time we got there, he’d given up on that, tried 50 cents each, given up on that, and was down to a quarter a piece. And the box was still totally full. It was kind of sad. Not only were the things not going to put the kids through college, they're not even going to leave the garage!

My take has been some manga, a few gn’s, and a great stash of old Treasure Chests, plus a few single issues here and there. It’s not the proverbial stash of golden age DC’s some little old lady found in her attic, but it’s been enough to keep things fun and interesting. I've got a couple of stories about a couple of these finds I'll be sharing this week.

Practical yard stuff actually brings a utilitarian bent to the whole yard saling endeavor--something we can actually use around the house. In other words, it helps us justify checking out people's old junk every weekend. I've picked up some nice planters, a plant stand, a wooden chest I'm using as a mini potter's shed, and a half barrel planter, for about twenty bucks total.

Gotta love the yard sales, folks!

*Tent usage varies based on the campgrounds he’s going to, who’s going with him and how much hiking he might do.

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