Retro Y'all!

Retro Y'all!

Duplicate Dwarves and Naughty Ladies

Eddie-tor's Note:  This post contains vintage boobies.  Nothing really racy by today's standards, but in its day, it was probably considered scandalous. You have been warned.

Remember that great trunk that I found at my one 127 stop?  It had a TON of papers in it.  Most of them were common records of every day life--receipts, bills of sales, policies, report cards, etc.  I love that kind of ephemera, but they don't make for exciting blog posts.

There were a couple of more interesting items, however.

A gaggle of dwarves, for example.  Why these two and why multiple copies, I couldn't say.

I would LOVE to have a full set of all seven like this!

On the other end of the spectrum, there was a battered vintage girlie pin-up calendar with these wonderful illustrations!  Here are three of the tamer ones.  I love that some of them include pencil roughs.

There's a little verse on each page, along with a calendar for the given month.  I can't find any indication as to the year, however.  I also can't find any info on the artist.  The signature is hard to make out.  It looks like "Mac Pherson" but that could be just a last name.  It could also be "Marc Thompson."  I'm having no luck pulling anything up on anything I might decipher from the signature.

Miss March

Miss September

Miss December

I love Miss December's strategically placed bow!

There were also some really awesome cards in the trunk, but they're for another post.

Big Flea Finds!

Eddie-tor's Note:  I had this post written last night and was getting ready to add the pics, when Blogger decided it was hungry and ate the post. (Burp!)  This is attempt number two, which probably won't be as good as the ine you'll never see.  Stupid Blogger.

Let's start with that box of comics from yesterday's post.

I always check all the vendors with comic books, even though there are some that I really don't like.  One vendor in particular always has this guy with him that pesters every customer with the same questions over and over again:  "Do you have any old comics you want to sell?"  "Any old toys?" "Games?" "Magazines?"  No.  I'm looking to BUY thank you very much.  It's pretty annoying.

So, I see this vendor, and thankfully the Interrogator is not with him.  Plus, he has a box of dollar comics--just my price range.  I pulled a nice stack out of the box, some for me, but mostly to sell.  There were a lot of older Disney and Looney Tunes comics in the box in pretty good shape.  I have a couple of regular customers who are looking for that kind of stuff, so I'm confident I can sell them.

There was a lot more in the box that I could have gotten, but it was only like the second or third stop, and I didn't really want to spend all my cash just yet.  When I went to pay, the seller uttered the magic words that everyone longs to hear:

"Would you like to buy the rest 

of them for 25 cents each?"

Why, yes.  Yes, I would.  Thank you.

And just like that, SCORE!

There are a few comics without covers in the box.  Some of these I'll keep to use as placeholders in my own collection, until I can find a better copy.  The rest I can sell.  Coverless comics are really not worth that much, but I bundle them up and sell them in batches.  If nothing else crafters might want them.

And, just like that, the theme of the day was set:

Buy something.  Get something 

else for free or cheap.

Buy three boxes of vintage ornaments.

Get the loose ones free.

Buy a bunch of 2 dollar comics (all for me).

Get the one dollar book free.

Buy a bunch of 4/$1 items.

Tonka Trucks Galore!

Instant Ancestors!

Get a flat (much lower) price when the vendor gets tired of counting.

Yes, this is your bargaining tip of the day:

Wear them down!

Buy some comics.

Yes, that Isis.  She used to have a comic.

Get a bunch more of a quarter each.

I just grabbed a bunch of X-men, Spider-Man, and Batman titles.  Sometimes it pays to stick with the sure sellers.  I'll have to bag all of these, so the 25 cent price makes for a better margin for me.

Walk by a bunch of books.

Get them for free!

It seriously was that kind of day.

I also got a Brooke Shields doll.  (No, I didn't squeal and dance over this one.)

A couple of DVD's for me.

Yes, that says "Ninja Cheerleaders."

And a bunch of random bits and bobs of awesomeness.

Representative Sample

If I ever get cool enough to have my own posse, I'm going to call it the "Random Bits and Bobs of Awesomeness."  Take that, Taylor Swift!

There is one picture you're not seeing:  the vintage, three piece child-sized kitchen playset--stove, sink, and fridge--in excellent shape that was only $10.

The reason you're not seeing it?

I DIDN'T BUY IT!!!!!!

Oh, I dithered and dathered over it.  I dillied and I dallied.  But I just kept thinking over and over again:

"I don't want to make that 

many trips to the van."

It wasn't until the close of the day when I realized that:  a) the Fairgrounds has carts you can use and b) we could pull the van up to the front of the hall.

But, of course, by that time the set was GONE!

Yes, I am an idiot.

And that is why I will never have a posse.

People don't want to be in a posse with idiots.

Unless the idiots are young, rich, and pretty.

And I am none of these.

Well, I am kind of pretty.

But am I posse pretty?

The world will never know.

It would be cool to roll into a thrift store with a posse, though.

Come with me to the Big Flea!

Let's see what there was to see yesterday at the Big Flea!  Wheeeeeee!

Here we are at the Kentucky Fairgrounds, getting ready to go into the West Wing.  Whenever they have the Antique Wing added on to the Big Flea, it moves back to the West Wing.   In the days before the South Wing was constructed, all the Big Fleas were held in the West Wing.  For some reason, the show always seems bigger when it's in the West Wing.

During the fair, the West Wing is where the livestock is judged and displayed.  The room where the Antique Wing is held is used for the small animals, like rabbits and such.  The fair just ended last week, so I hope they got everything cleaned out.

This is a pretty big deal.  The Fairgrounds raised the parking to 8 bucks a few years ago, and that has impacted the attendance at the Big Flea ever since.  That's just outrageous and I go to all kind of lengths to avoid paying it.  The half off deal is new.  They experimented at first with only making purchases from certain vendors eligible for the rebate.  It always seemed like it was vendors that Were of no interest to me, so I never did it.  Now, any purchase at all qualifies you.  And can make some purchases!

And, we have arrived at our destination!  Please remain seated with seat belts fastened until the pilot has finished pulling into the gate.

Whoa!  I just got here.  How did all this get into my cart? I think Gran just attracts the stuff to her like a magnet!

Look Melissa!  (Definitely not in your price range.)

I tried to take a bunch of pics of cool stuff, but this is the only one that turned out at all.  The lighting in there sucks.  As a result, this is kind of a boring photo essay.  Sorry about that.  i did have good intentions.

He shoots!  HE SCORES!  See tomorrow for the story on this one.

Rearranging the cart.  Mavis the tote bag is  photo bombing in the upper right corner, along with my knee in the lower right. I'm keeping the finds under wraps until tomorrow, because I'm a tease like that.

Overall, it was a good show for finds.  I had to make an unloading trip to Mazda about halfway through, which is always a god sign.  It could have been even better for me, but I lost my mind and did something stupid.  More on that tomorrow too.

I heard from several vendors that it was a slow weekend.  Some were already starting to pack up at noon.  Several of my regulars weren't there, especially in the Antique Wing, which was only about 60% full.
 

And so we leave our day at the Big Flea.  Come back for the finds tomorrow.  They're adding a Halloween show this year, which I am really psyched about.  There won't be an Antique Wing, but it will still be worth attending.  They haven't done a Big Flea in October in several years.  I always liked this show, because it is right before my birthday!

Monday Rambles

OH MY GOSH!

It was so nice this past weekend that I can almost envision fall being on the way.  Woo hoo!

I was able to get out in the backyard and take care of several projects that I had been totally putting off due to the heat.  Our junk pile for the set out at the end of the month is off to a nice start.  The back porch is cleaned off and organized and I made a nice dent in the shed.

After all that, I think I deserve a little Big Flea action today.  Don't you? 

NEW NEIGHBORS

With the milder weather, I've started taking walks again.  My doctor is really pushing for motre exercise on my part.  Apparently, pushing a shopping cart down the aisle of the Peddlers Mall doesn't count.

Other folks are starting their early junk piles, so some finds are popping up here and there.  I'll take my incentive wherever I can get it.

I did discover that Gargoyles are moving into the neighborhood.

I'm going to start researching to find out what kind of food I need to leave out to attract one to our back fence. We could use the extra security.  Someone pushed in our back gate last week and ransacked two of our sheds.  Thankfully, they did not get into the biggest one, but they did take our chainsaw and spare window AC unit.

I want the kind of security that will eat the soul of the next bastard that tries to do that.  You know, like a Gargoyle.

LOOK WHAT I FOUND

No less than five new construction dumpsters have moved into the neighborhood recently.  I'm checking them daily and it's paying off.

 I love the handles on these windows.

Sadly, one dumpster is in front of the house of the neighbor we haven't seen in a while.  They are rehabbing his house so hard that they're almost rebuilding it.  I'm fearing the worst now, which makes me sad.

Our across the street neighbor would know for sure what happened to him, but we haven't had time lately for a good chat.  He's the kind of neighbor you have to lay aside a solid hour for conversation, even if you only have a simple question.

THE BOOTH

The last week of August was one of the most consistently strong weeks I've had in ages.  I ended the month pleasantly surprised and very happy.  I am looking forward to fall sales.  I have a van load of hay bales and pumpkins ready to festoon the place with autumnery!

I am also finally going to begin my big redo project.  I ended up scrapping my plans last week to stay at home and do much needed work in the house.  I have a hard time balancing house needs vs booth needs some times, and usuallu my time gets slanted in favor of the booth.  It was good to have some productive time at home for a change.

I'll be doing before and after pics here, so watch for that.  This is going to be a near total top-to-bottom, side-to-side, wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling, back-to-front, and any other way-to-any other way that I might have forgotten reworking of my spaces. 

Plus, a complete restocking.  I've been just letting things go without bringing in a whole lot of new in order to make room for the fall, Halloween and Christmas stuff that's on the way.  I've got lots of holes to fill!

TRADING SPACES

The other day I was going through some paper goods for the booth and came across a stack of booklets full of trading stamps.  You know, like you used to get at the grocery store.

I realized that one of the booklets was empty and that I also had an envelope full of loose stamps.  The next thing you know, I was licking and sticking and pasting until I filled that sucker up!

It brought back a lot of memories.  I used to help my grandmother do that when I was a kid.  She would put the large denomination stamps in and leave the singles for me to do.  My grandmother was serious about her trading stamps too.  A couple of pieces of furniture in her living room came from the trading stamp store.  When my parents got married, she got them a pair of lamps with her stamps.  (She also liked her poetry.)

Of course, we never did the stamp books while watching low budget 1980's Italian apocalyptic sci-fi movies like I did that afternoon.  Grammie preferred that her cinematic visions of dystopia come from Poland.  She was a bit of a cinema snob. 

I will say that the glue on those things was nasty.  I was worried that I might end up repeating the envelope scene from Seinfeld.  It's probably not a good idea to go around licking 40 year old glue.  I think I'll make a note of that, just in case.

MUSIC!

You enjoy some music for Monday.  I'm going to  get ready and scoot to the Big Flea.  Wish me luck!  I picked this song out so you'd be thinking especially about me.



Look for posts all this week, but expect things to get a little silly.  I'm in one of those moods.

Retro Y'all!

The Greatest Find EVER. EVER! EVER! DO YOU HEAR ME???? EVER!!!!!! AAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

It is no secret by now that I am a HUGE Batman fan, I think.  But over and above and beyond and before that I am a Wonder Woman fan.

So when I found this at a parking lot sale on Saturday, I took to skipping and singing and squealing all over the place, despite the heat.

BEHOLD!

You seriously have no earthly idea how long I have wanted one of these.

She's missing her tiara, bracelets and boots, but I don't freaking care.  Her arms and legs have been glued back on, most likely because the band holding them on gave way with age, but I don't care about that either.  She's absolutely, totally, perfect to me.

She's seen a lot of action, my little Amazon princess.  Most likely, it was fighting evil gods and monsters, overthrowing dictators, and, of course, whaling the ever-loving shit out of her enemies with her Throwing Wheel.

According to the Wonder Woman collector site, this doll was produced in conjunction with the 70's TV show, but I have some questions about that.

For one thing, I am pretty sure I remember seeing these dolls advertised a few years before the show aired.  For another, this part of a set that included Nubia, a character from the comics in the early 70's, who never appeared on the show.  Finally, even on the WW collector site, they show a picture of this doll in the box WITHOUT the Lynda Carter image.

Personally, I think these were produced pre-TV show and, later on, a new box was produced with the Lynda Carter graphic to tie in with the show.

One of the things I love most about my Wonder Woman is her painted on top.  A later version had a cloth top.  Also, her blue eye shadow. 

Speaking of the WW collector page, I was tickled to see some other things on there that I also have, like this mirror, and this beach towel, which I have had since I was in 7th or 8th grade.  There's also this invisible plane toy, which I had when I was a kid, but don't own any longer, sadly.  Also in the "former possessions" category is this album.  I remember that the bullets bouncing off her bracelets were recorded as this odd tinkling sound.

And before you say anything, Shara.  Yes, she is a doll.  But she's NOT creepy.  Wonder Woman is NEVER creepy.  Only fabulous.  ALWAYS fabulous.

Can you say "FIERCE"?

PS Dig those eyelashes.  They are so stiff that her hair gets stuck in them.  Awesome.

All together now:

AMAZON SISTAHS HOLLA!