Free Willy

Remember a few weeks ago, when I posted that image of that giant collection of VHS tapes at an “antique” sale"?… 

Well, that same week I left it up to Erin to find the sales we would be attending, and the first one she took me to was THAT EXACT HOUSE. When we pulled up, I recognized the company’s sign and started dying laughing. I typically avoid this company’s sales because they overprice everything and it’s usually a giant pile of garbage. We had some luck at their sales when they first started up, but since then, they’ve been pretty bad.

So anyway, apparently some of the pictures of this sale “looked good” to Erin, which is why we ended up there. Here is a sampling of the selection of wonderful goods available. 

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(Though this would have been a great gift for Erin, I passed on it.) 

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I honestly can’t think of anything grosser than used men’s tighty whities. It’s even grosser than smelly snake skin

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The selection of gross dolls was off the chain. Here’s the freakiest. Best thing is that Erin and I BOTH took a picture of this creep. 

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He has fangs, yellow eyes, and a soul-sucking stare. HELP. 

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$360? Excuse me? Made of gold? 

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Alright, so here you go. I took one look at this slipper and shouted, “Free Willy!” Erin and I were dying when we realized it said Fred Willey. Also, you must have some serious slipper thievery happening in your hood if you have to write your name in dry erase marker on your footwear. 

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Turns out there was one lone collector who hit a jackpot here–so many VHS tapes to choose from!

I did find one cool thing at this sale–a single vintage Minnetonka boot. I looked everywhere for its mate and came up empty handed. WTF? Erin bought a woven purse that had no price tag. When she went to check out, the man looked at it and said, “Oh the woman who lived here traveled all over the southwest… she probably got this at an Indian reservation. The freakin’ purse had a manufacturer’s tag inside and Erin was super polite while pointing it out. She got the purse for $4. 

Next up on our agenda was a sale in Redford that looked pretty good. We didn’t end up with much, but at least there were more cool things to look at. 

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I loved this lamp, wig, hat combo. 

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That is some old-ass peanut butter. 

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I don’t know what this thing was but it sure looked cool. 

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Holy moly! Anyone need some lightbulbs? 

In the end, I left with some vintage cards and wrapping paper, and Erin left with a handheld steam cleaner that ended up not working very well. Here is some of the wrapping paper–pretty cute. 

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When we got back to their house, I made Zach take a picture of Erin and I with that bun still in the oven. I had panicked a few days prior because I realized that the whole time she’s been pregnant, I never had my picture taken with her and her giant belly.

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She wasn’t kidding! Good thing we captured this when we did, because that little boy wasted no time arriving! Two weeks later: 

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-Sarah



Auction Nerds

Last Monday, I met up with my parents and hit up the Secret Auction yet again (I have to work late tonight so I’ll miss it today… BOO.) Things were packed and hoppin’, as usual. Also as usual, there were lots of interesting, hilarious, and freaky things to see.

First up on the list of freaky: Old dentists’ tools.

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I actually made a mental note to go back to this table later, but ended up forgetting. I was sure that I could have sold these items to some weird Marilyn Manson person. Now that I think about it, I can’t even believe I considered this because I hate the dentist and am terrified of going every time I have to.

Ok, back to the funny things for sale.

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(He sounded like Satan when you pulled his string.)

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Yes, that does say “lingerie for young girls.”

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They could NOT get someone to bid on this box of freaky GIANT dolls. In retrospect, I wish I had bought it because I could have left these on a friend’s lawn as a joke, or used them for a Halloween display. They tried to get someone to bid on them for THREE DOLLARS and there were no takers.

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That is a broken nutcracker that looks like a woman’s groin.

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A wide array of off-brand toys, new in boxes.

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Barbie camping picture disc. Another thing that, in retrospect, I wish I had purchased. Look at how suggestive those hot dogs are!

So in case you’ve forgotten, the secret Monday night auction is different than most—they actually have three simultaneous auction’s happening, so if there are things going up at the same time that you want, things can get a little stressful! That happened really bad at the end of the auction. I really wanted this giant box of old stuffed animals in one booth, and then a big box of paper in another booth, so I had to tell my mom to bid on the paper for me if it went up for auction, while I went over and tried to win rubber faced Yogi Bear. Spoiler alert: SUCCESS!!!

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Like this little buddy? He can be yours. All you have to do is bid on him.

Right when I finished winning Yogi Bear, I ran over to the other auction and was able to bid on my box of paper. I was a little nervous because there were two nerdy middle-aged men at this auction who were really ramping up prices. One of them, before that booth went up for auction, was talking to the other like he already OWNED the box of paper I was interested in. I looked at my parents and I was like, “Ok that’s it… I’m going home with that box of paper no matter what!” I didn’t want a repeat of the auction thievery that happened there before. Spoiler #2: I ended up winning the box of paper. Here’s one scary/adorable item that was in it.

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I also walked away with this very awesome vintage Ben Cooper Dick Tracy Costume. It is also up for sale if you’re into that sort of thing.

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I also won with this S&H Green Stamps poster, that I’ll sell eventually. Listen, I didn’t know what the hell Green Stamps were—I just thought it was super cool and it’s actually reversible but I forgot to take a picture of the other side! My mom schooled me about Green Stamps after I bought the poster.

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Here is one other thing I wanted but forgot to bid on:

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I thought this would be something that would freak Adam out, but no—instead, when he saw the picture, he seemed super sad that I didn’t buy it. WTF?!

-Sarah

P.S. Here is a picture of my favorite auctioneer, wearing a mullet wig that was up for sale.

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Sorry it’s so blurry—I had to be incognito.