Category: Toys

We Spent $50 at Party City’s Liquidation Sale

Last week while driving down NW Expressway, Susan discovered Party City was going out of business and had put all of their merchandise on sale. I like sales and I like parties, so missing out Party City’s closeout sale was out of the question! While the signs posted near the street claimed everything was 40% off, large posters in the store’s window claimed everything had been marked down 60%-80%. Inside the store we found a few things were 50% off, most things were 60% off, and seasonal items (Easter and Halloween) were 80% off. Everything in the store was on… (read more)

RobOHara

How (Not) to Get Rid of Things

I’ve written 50,000 words on my next book, A Collector of Collections. The more I write, the more I begin to suspect that I’m less of a collector and more of a hoarder. Many of the things I claim to collect are just things I’ve amassed over time and can’t seem to part with. Last Friday, I decided to take a stand. Last Friday, I decided to get rid of something. Anything. With gusto, I walked over to my toy shelves and scanned them for something I could get rid of. Just one thing. Anything. After looking for a minute… (read more)

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Things That Aren’t LEGO

Recently I spent a few days sorting my giant tub of LEGO bricks by color into smaller containers. During this process I ran across several things that weren’t actually LEGO. Here are three of those things, along with a bonus photo at the end. 01. EDUCATIONAL BUILDING BRICKS One of the first things I found mixed in with my LEGO bricks which was not a LEGO was this big, plastic block. It took me a while to find the name of these building bricks on Google, which turned out to literally be “Building Bricks.” I can’t remember if I had… (read more)

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Today’s Garage Sale Finds: Star Wars!

Most people who know me I collect Star Wars “stuff.” Any time my mom or Pat Deckard or Cathy Martin see a Star Wars item at a garage sale, thrift store or antique mall, they immediately think of me. Today’s inside tip came from our friend Jacquie Gappa, who let me know that her ex-brother-in-law (I think I got that right) was selling off a big chunk of his Star Wars collection. She was right. I came home with this: As I began moving the items into my house I began mentally sorting them into different categories. I bought the… (read more)

RobOHara

The Case of the Missing Landspeeder

You could say I’ve been collecting “Star Wars stuff” my entire life. Some of the oldest toys and action figures in my collection are the ones I got Christmas morning, 1978. Throughout the 80s I acquired a lot of stuff, and in the mid-90s when Star Wars was re-released in theaters and they began making new toys, I began collecting those as well. But it wasn’t until the late 90s that I began collecting vintage toys. Up until that point in time, other than a few things friends had gifted me, my collection of vintage toys consisted of the vintage… (read more)

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Invasion of the Army Men!

I came up with this idea a month or two ago and it’s been rattling around in the back of my head ever since. Hey, look who’s up there rappelling off of the loft down into our living room — it’s G.I.Joe*! (It’s not really G.I.Joe. Or maybe it is. It’s three random military figures I bought at Vintage Stock for a couple bucks each. The two guys standing above were $1 for 2 and came from Family Dollar.) Morgan was my partner in crime on this project. She and I poked three holes into a small piece of cardboard… (read more)

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Three Star Wars Targets Acquired!

There’s an unspoken rule around these here parts — you don’t shop for yourself right before your birthday. Actually it’s not an unspoken rule, it’s a spoken one. The only exceptions I make is when I’m buying things that nobody else in the world would ever buy me, and I’m guessing vintage Star Wars figures apply. When I got home from work today I found THESE in the mailbox! I would like to note that for some of these I got free shipping and on some of them I paid $6 shipping. They all arrived at the same time. Anyway.… (read more)

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Cost of Remaining Star Wars Figures

I spent a few minutes rooting around on eBay last night, looking up the remaining figures I need and what they are currently going for on eBay. Amanaman – $100 AT-ST Driver – $5 Barada – $50 EV-9D9 (Brown, Jabba Robot) – $100 Han Solo (In Carbonite Chamber) – $50 Imperial Dignitary – $50? Lando Calrissian (General’s Pilot) – $50 Luke Skywalker in Battle Poncho – $50 Luke Skywalker in Stormtrooper Outfit – $75 Lumat Ewok, Light, Bow/Arrow – $25 Paploo Ewok, Dk. Brown, Lt. Headress – $20 Princess Leia Organa in Hoth Outfit – $5 Princess Leia Organa (In… (read more)

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Toy Acquired: POTF TIE Fighter

Even the best of us get duped from time to time. Recently while out toy shopping I ran across this TIE Fighter. I thought, mistakenly, that this was from Return of the Jedi. When it comes to Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back toys I’d call myself an expert, but there were a few late Return of the Jedi toys that I never owned. I know that later in the line they switched from white to gray plastic, so I assumed this was one of those. I was wrong. The key is in the ship’s “wings” (I always referred… (read more)

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Toy Acquired: Bespin Princess Leia

Stopped by another Vintage Stock today on a hunch and picked up three Star Wars figures I need for the collection, including this Bespin Princess Leia from The Empire Strikes Back. When Han and friends landed on Lando Calrissian’s Bespin (aka “Cloud City”) in the Empire Strikes Back, Leia was still wearing her snow white flight suit from Hoth. Shortly after her arrival she changed into this pink and maroon ensemble in preparation for dinner later that evening with Han, Chewie, Lando, the droids, and a few uninvited Imperial guests. By the time Han gets frozen in carbonite, Leia has… (read more)

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