Dig This Treasure!

Erin and I ventured out rather late last Friday, as I had a bunch of stuff going on at work in the morning and then had to take Betsy back to the vet. There were only three sales that looked remotely good, and they were all in opposite corners of town. One of them was in Flat Rock, one in Dearborn, and the other was in Troy–round two of the Valley of the Dolls sale from a few weeks back. 

We started out in Flat Rock, which is not close. The sale looked good and packed online, but when we got there, we realized that a lot of it was sort of junky. 

We probably should have been prepared for a letdown considering the sign that greeted us: 

I’m not sure the purpose of this sign… was it to tell us where all of the goods were? If so, not really necessary, bro. That’s generally where things are at estate sales. Or maybe there was a “side house” on the premises that was storing all of the good items. If so, we never found it. 

HOWEVER, I cannot complain too much. I found an insanely good lot of old greeting cards (we are talking HUGE lot) from primarily the ‘30s and '40s that the woman running the sale sold to me for $40. Total steal, since part of the lot (not even half of it) is currently on eBay and is already at $41 with 4 days left. I will do a separate post about these cards at some point, because it’s the coolest lot of cards I’ve ever found, period. Here is a sneak peak: 

Anyway, we did not find many treasures at this sale, but here is one item that Erin decided to pass on, after lots of deliberation. 

The only other thing I remember about this sale was that the basement was filthy and smelled weird. It was the sort of smell that makes you think, “I should get out of here." 

After leaving this sale, we decided that we really only had time to hit the Valley of the Dolls sale, and the third sale would have to fall off the radar. Turns out I went to that Dearborn sale the next day with Adam, but that’s a story for another time. 

Oh I also forgot to mention that Friday was Erin’s birthday, and I told her I’d take her out to lunch and to pick whatever she wanted. She picked National Coney Island. OBVIOUSLY I am rubbing off on her in all of the wrong ways. (For those unfamiliar with the way that chili cheese fries define me, I once chose coney island for my Valentine’s Day dinner.) Because Erin is such a good friend, while we were eating our lunches, she exclaimed, "Your hair is all grey and white underneath!” and proceeded to capture this on my phone. 

What is she even talking about? (OH MY GOD. HELP.) 

So finally we arrived back in Troy at the scary doll house and man, was that a mistake. The incentive was that they had opened the garage and basement, and the pictures did look pretty good. The basement in particular seemed like it might be hiding some extreme treasures. Unfortunately, this was not the case. The basement was filled with plaster of Paris sculptures made out of those molds you could buy at Frank’s Nursery (before the days of Michael’s), and then lots and lots of these: 

Or these…

OR… these (please no nightmares): 

Whatever. There is no way that these last two dolls do not have violent histories/criminal records. 

Everything in the house, particularly in the basement, was covered with a layer of grimy, semi-moist feeling filth. I don’t know what we were thinking going back, considering the state of Erin’s face after leaving the last time. Let me refresh in case you’ve forgotten: 

The silver lining is that Erin got to pose with yet another Santa: 

And we also found a one-of-a-kind collector’s item, tucked away in a closet: 

I left this sale with nothing more than about 40 extra miles on my car, and very, very dirty hands. 

-Sarah

Update from Erin:  Sarah shouldn’t be so sad about going grey.  My hair started turning grey about 4 years ago and I’m like half Sarah’s age.  Plus, she is blonde, so you only really notice the greys when they are under the truly unflattering lights of National Coney Island.

Anyway, the first sale was disappointing.  The pictures looked so good!  But then we showed up and they had stuff like this:

My favorite part of this sale though was walking upstairs and Sarah immediately yelling, “OMG WHAT IS THAT?!?!”  She pointed to this thing on the floor:

I informed her that “that” was a coconut.  She asked me why it looked like that and I told her because it’s a coconut.

I didn’t buy much at this sale.  One thing I did find was this old felt piece with an American flag design.  I am using it as a little doily:

Returning to the doll sale was truly a mistake.  It smelled really odd in there this time around.  Not totally awful smelling, but it felt hard to breathe in there.

I found this large Rempel squeaky giraffe.  Rempel squeakers are usually pretty collectible.  I took a chance on this guy for $1.  Looking back, I don’t think he will actually sell.  His squeaker is broken and he is covered in dirt and sadness.

Whomp whomp.

-Erin

I never thought I’d have one of these Holy Grail posts, because I’m not greedy and don’t need very expensive things to feel happy in life (unlike Erin), but then I realized I could have a Holy Grail that isn’t necessarily expensive–just something I’m dying to stumble upon. 

ANYWAY, I was at a couple of sales with Adam over the weekend and found this adorable figurine from the 1950s. I am seriously obsessed with her.  

If you look closely, you will see that she has a crack that was mended on her rear end. This is not ok. Even though she was one dollar, I wish she wasn’t damaged. Still, I love her so much. 

After digging around on eBay, I discovered that people do occasionally sell these, and it appears that, unlike the collector pool for fine porcelain, nobody but me wants them! In my search for more by this company (Lego Japan), I found a set that is even more adorable and made by some other company, but someone bought them. LOOK HOW CUTE THEY ARE: 

I love those two ‘50s nerds talking on the phone. I am seriously so sad that I didn’t discover my love for these things just a few days sooner. Those ones could have been mine!!! 

-Sarah

Update from Erin: I can see why Sarah likes that first figure…its hair looks just like hers.  As for the second set, those are some seriously solemn phone talkers.  I am assuming that both of them are on the phone with Capital One, begging for a increase in their credit limit.

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that I found some old photographs of a girl and her Boston Terrier while out at a sale with my mom. The pictures were in rough shape–they were in a really dirty box in the basement of the sale, and I wasn’t really sure anyone would want them even if they were clean, but they were very cool so I bought them. I posted a photo of all of them in a group, but here they are individually: 

Anyway, people started watching them immediately when I listed them on eBay, and up until the last few minutes, they were hovering around $14 or so. I bought them for $5 so this was fine with me. Anyway, right before they ended there were a few more bids, but I was not expecting the final outcome: $64!!! 

I will admit that I was shocked, but these are some pretty cool photographs. Especially the one at the refrigerator. If the girl in these photographs had a beagle instead of a boston terrier, they’d be on display in my home right at this moment. This is a great example of the pleasure of finding something really unique, enjoying it for a while, and then passing it along to the perfect person via eBay (I’m just assuming if she was willing to pay that kind of money). 

So I guess the moral of the story is: buy cool old photos if they are cheap. 

-Sarah

Listen up everyone. Greenmead Flea Market is tomorrow, not today. So don’t wake up at 8 am and drive out there. Just FYI.

Sarah was on vacation this past weekend so I hit some sales with Zach instead.  There weren’t too many to choose from since it was Labor Day weekend, but we decided to visit one in Detroit and another in West Bloomfield.

The Detroit sale was interesting, but also a letdown.  We had lots to look at, but nothing worth buying.  The woman had a bunch of crazy hats so of course I tried them on.

There’s a good chance I would have actually bought some of these hats, but they were charging around $150 each for them!!  Now, I love me a good joke hat, but not a $150 joke hat.

Zach and I both left empty-handed.  On the way to the next sale, Zach and I spotted a secret sale.  We both properly started chanting, “SECRET SALE! SECRET SALE!”  

I wish this sale had remained a secret.  It was lame, and overpriced.  Again, we bought nothing.  At this point, we were bummin.

The next sale in West Bloomfield was the highlight of our day.  There wasn’t an abundance of items, but we found some quality stuff right away.  My first find was this monkey for $2.

I bought this monkey because he was so cheap, and because he is clearly old.  His stuffing is straw, which I know makes him collectible.  His head moves when you turn his tail, so for the rest of the day I made this monkey answer all of Zach’s questions.

After doing some research, I found out that this is a “Yes/No” monkey, and was probably made by a company named Schuco.  He is already up to $22 on ebay and that’s with 3 days left in the auction!

We also found two vintage Pendleton “blanket” coats that were in just about perfect condition.  I thought for sure these were going to be expensive, but when I went to check out, the lady said $5 each!  What a deal!

I would certainly wear either of these coats, except that they are XL.  Instead, they are blowing up on ebay:

Look at all those watchers!  I can’t wait to see how high these go!  And I’m really glad that fellow Pendleton lovers will own these.  I might actually use the money from these auctions to buy a Pendleton handbag that I have been coveting for some time.  So stay tuned for that.

-Erin

On our way out of the Valley of the Dolls sale, I caught a glimpse of Erin in the daylight. I’m not sure how we didn’t realize it inside, but that house was absolutely filthy. Look at how much dirt is on Erin’s face!!! 

Need a closer look? 

Hand sanitizer did nothing for us–it just created a disgusting dirt hand salve. 

Also, before I forget, check out these two things I scored at the sale. One is horrifying and the other is hopefully lucrative. 

Can you guess which is which? Just kidding. Anyone out there need a juggalette doll. 

The other really terrific thing that happened when we left was that we noticed a dog inside a parked car. Not a big deal most days. But when it’s 92 degrees outside, it’s a big deal. Even if you have the two front windows cracked one inch. This provided me with a great opportunity to use one of my Urban A$$hole cards, but that wasn’t satisfying enough. Because I didn’t want the dog to die. So not only did I call the Troy Police Department, but I went back inside the sale and ratted the dog’s owners as well. They were, as I suspected, giant a$$holes. 

After all that fun, we headed to one more estate sale that happened to be located about 50 miles away. The pictures looked good, but it turned out to just be another hoarder sale, but not the good kind. This person was a hardcore crafter, and the house was filled with scrapbooking gear and gross holiday decorations that were made in China. I still ended up spending about $40 at this sale, but Erin was a the true winner. I’ll let her tell that story, but that might end up being an entry of its own. 

-Sarah

Update from Erin: I was so sad when I found out my face was all covered in dirt.  I had been walking around that sale talking to people, including some teenage boys working at it!  How embarassing.  Talking to teenagers is the worst, let alone with dirt all over your sweaty face.

Sarah is right.  The second sale was totally bad hoarder.  Well, bad for us I guess.  No antiques or collectibles.  

This pretty much sums up the sale:

Although now that I post that, I feel like Sarah would have bought this if it was in her size.

I ended up finding a pair of wool clog slippers still in the box.  If you remember, I already bought a pair of bear slippers at a sale earlier.  I need slippers for all occasions though, and sometimes bear slippers are a little déclassé.  

I was getting super disappointed because I couldn’t find anything else to buy, and the sale was really crowded and hot.  Then I spotted something in a showcase up front.  It was a little mini Detroit Tigers nodder from the 1960s.  I knew from Timmy’s baseball collecting that mini nodders are generally rare, and this particular Tigers one was SUPER RARE.

I have no idea how it ended up at this sale.  It was like a shiny diamond in a pile of glass shards.  I was shocked.

The nodder was in seriously great shape.  No cracks, chips, paint loss.  The price on it was $165.  I NEVER spend that much at a sale.  The only time I think I’ve spent over $100 was at the “best sale ever”, and I walked out with a wagon full of items.

I called my dad and he told me that $165 is what he paid for his same version of this nodder, but that was years and years ago.  He told me he thought maybe it was worth $200-$250 now.  

So here’s the thing.  I actually LEFT this sale without the nodder, even though the sellers offered to come down on the price.  I kept telling Cindy and Sarah that it was “too risky.”  We made it about 1 mile down the road before I told Sarah to turn around so I could go back.

I bought the nodder for $120.  I was stressed and hyper about this.  My dad and I exchanged about 3 phone calls on the drive home to discuss this purchase.  I sent him photos of the condition, and we speculated if I had just got burned or not.

In the end, I got the opposite of burned.  This is so far the BEST single purchase I have ever made.  Literally within 30 seconds of listing this guy on ebay, he had a bid.  Things just went kind of crazy after that…

$429??? Truly the best.  I wish I had finds like this every week, but sometimes it’s all just bear slippers and kitten sweatshirts.

-Erin

Last Friday we hit the road again with Cindy, who is now a world-class eBayer.  (We know this because she read some of her positive ebay feedbacks aloud.)  Cindy has a good eye, so sometimes I worry about her finding all the treasures before me.  Luckily, the sales on Friday were hoarder houses, and there were enough treasures for all of us (plus some).

The first house was jam packed with old stuff, particularly dolls.  We should have done some research before going because the amount of dolls was honestly overwhelming.  There had to have been some collectible ones here.  And everything was priced SUPER CHEAP.

I’ll let Sarah discuss the dolls that she and Cindy bought.  I bought a bunch of random kewpie things and some old rubber squeak toys.  I’ve figured out that squeak toys can be valuable if you get them super cheap, like 25 cents.  I sell them in lots.  So far, it seems like Rempel brand squeakies are the most collectible.  So keep an eye out for those!

Here’s one of my kewpies.  He is a salt shaker, but despite my best efforts, I couldn’t find his mate.

Perhaps my most exciting find was a large Rushton clown doll.  I’m not sure if he is super collectible or anything, but I am hoping that being a Rushton means that he is.  I got him for $3.  I also found a similar clown made by Ideal toys, so I am selling them both in a lot on ebay.  I figure if someone wants ONE of these horrifying things, they might as well have TWO.

(Rushton is on the right.)

On the way out, I bought an old wooden duck decoy which I hope will sell for more than the $10 I bought it for.  I know that some decoys are crazy collectible, but as of now, I am pretty uneducated about them.  Ok, so lastly at this sale, I bought these amazing slippers:

They were TWO DOLLARS.  I don’t know what kind of world we live in that BRAND NEW bear slippers sell for $2, but lemme tell ya, I LOVE LIVING IN IT.

This is actually the first of two pairs of slippers I bought that day, so stay tuned for part two of this adventure.

-Erin

Update from Sarah: Again, I’m away from home so I can’t really show pictures of the things I purchased at this sale, but I got a LOT of stuff, for not very much money at all. I did buy a gross old troll doll because judging from eBay, they are collectable. It looks sort of like these: 

I also found a bunch of other dolls and some really old doll eyes that are sort of cool, sort of scary, and sort of remind me of something in Labyrinth. They look like this:

We talked my mom into “taking a risk” on one of the composition dolls that was in this super packed doll room. I’m mad because I took a picture of Erin in this room and for some reason it did not turn out. I cannot even describe the quantity of dolls in this room. Here’s one from the sale site: 

Want to hear something crazy? This is a picture of the dolls that REMAINED after the end of the sale. The sale is going to run again this coming weekend because there was so much crap in this house, they didn’t open the basement or garage. So this weekend the basement and garage will be open and you can bet I’ll be there, getting dirty again. 

Anyway, back to my mom’s doll–it had a Madame Alexander stamp on the head, but she was so old that it was hard to tell if she was just put together by someone or what. My mom took it home and then got creeped out by it. She told me she couldn’t handle how dirty it was so she washed the clothes. I actually think she’s sort of cute: 

Before I wrap this up, let me just say that those clowns that Erin purchased are SO SCARY but I’m really jealous. I hope they sell for a lot! I’m just resting easier knowing that I’m not the only one who buys terrifying clowns.