Score At The Thrift Store

For so long I have been going to thrift stores and I usually leave empty handed. After my big score last Friday, I decided to try my luck at the thrift store by where I work in Manhattan.

There are three thrift stores by where I work. 2 independently owned ones and 1 Goodwill store. I generally gravitate to the Goodwill over the independent stores as there is usually better stuff at the Goodwill and the prices are usually better. The owners of the independent stores usually know what they have and will price to retail and above. Goodwill will just guesstimate and put it out there.

On Monday, I went in during my lunch break and came away with 2 scores.

I usually won't find Beatles stuff at any thrift store so I was quite pleased to find this puzzle sitting on a shelf. I'm not usually a puzzle collector, but this was a Beatles puzzle and it was less than three bucks, so it became mine. A cool addition to the Beatles PC.

I just hope all the pieces are there. I may actually take a stab at putting this together and framing it once I'm done. Not sure what to do if there are any missing pieces. Probably will just display the box on my future Beatles shelf.

I also found this Comedian figure just sitting on a shelf. Now, I must be the only comic fan on earth who is NOT a fan of The Watchmen. I read the graphic novel and it was very good in some parts and not so good in others. The movie was visually stunning, but I wasn't a fan of the story. Guess you can't please everyone. This figure looks like it was never taken out of the box. All accesories are in with the figure. This will be up for trade if anyone wants it.

2 trips to 2 diffrent thrift stores netted some cool stuff for keeps and trade. One day soon, I will put together a trade blog and maybe make some trades with the community.

I'm hooked on thrifting and can't wait to make another trip. My collection needs more goodies.

Showing Off The Swag: Luke Skywalker

I have always been a Star Wars fan. I remember seeing it as a 6 year old back in 1977, when you were allowed to walk in the middle of the movie and stay as many times as you wanted. I made my poor mom stay through multiple viewings that day and acted out scenes from the movie the very next day at school. Although I am a smart aleck like Han Solo, I have always been drawn to Luke Skywalker and is my favorite character in the Star Wars universe. I think it was because he was truly a good hearted person who could fly a ship real well and developed some bad ass Jedi tricks. I do know as a kid, I loved those lightsabers and that sealed the deal.

As a kid, I remember having a bunch of Luke Skywalker figures, including the 12 inch figure. I never owned the lightsaber, so when my cousin and I used to play Star Wars, we used to use the plastic wifleball bats as lightsabers and have at each other. I made sure I always had a blue bat to use. Never got a green bat because by the time Return Of The Jedi came out I was tired of being beaten with a plastic bat. Ever try to reinact the severing of Luke's hand scene from The Empire Strikes Back and using a plastic bat and your own hand? Not fun.

I only started to recollect Luke Skywalker this year, although I had a piece or two put away. I really can see this collection grow as I like hunting down Luke items and there's a lot of it out there. I would like to stick with picking up vintage pieces only, but I know that won't happen. There is an abundance of really cool Skywalker stuff out there and like with my Spider-Man and Batman collections, if I see a really cool piece, I'm picking it up.

Now, on to the Skywalker Swag:

A disclaimer, I realize the pictures aren't the greatest. I do need to buy a new camera.

Knowing I loved my original 12 inch Luke Skywalker figure, my buddy George got me the remake when it was released back in 2004 as a birthday present. It's a pretty cool figure, showing Luke as he looked in Star Wars: A New Hope, complete with blue lightsaber and grappling hook. Been meaning to pick the other 12 inch figures as well as the original vinage figure and I hope to at some point.

I got a great deal for these carded Power Of The Force figures at the Long Island Toy Show. Paid 10.00 for these 3 figures. Managed to grab the Hoth outfit, Bespin outfit and Ceremonial outfit. I left behind the figure of Luke dressed in the Storm Trooper outfit. I went back for it and it was gone. I will get it at some point.

I wish the card was in better shape. It was a gift from George, but after multiple moves, the card was knocked around a bit. An upgrade will be in order as soon as I can afford it.

Vintage Luke Skywalker Shampoo bottle picked up at Super Mega Show. Would do 10.00 everyday on this sweet pick up.

An assortment of loose figures. I'll let you guys try to figure out with of the 2 tattoine oufit figures is the original from the 70's.

My friend Julissa gave me this as a Valentine's Day gift back in Feburary.

This glow in the dark puzzle was picked up for a dollar at Dollar Tree. Couldn't pass it up at that price.

A vintage Empire Strikes Back glass that was sold at Burger King found at a thrift store in Poughkepsie, NY for 2 bucks. I had a baby when I saw it nestled between beer glasses and a glass from the Westchester Dinner Theather.

Picked up these 2 vintage stickers at The Westchester Sports Card Show. I think they were a quarter each. When you find vintage for that price, you don't say no, you buy, buy, buy!

That's the swag. It's a starting point for bigger and better purchases. Would love to add a vintage X-Wing fighter or Landspeeder. Also seen a couple statues I want as well as a lightsaber at Toys R Us. I'll continue to hunt for Luke swag to add to the collection and will post all my findings here as always.

Thanks for reading and May The Force Be With You.

Some New Adds To My Jets PC

This week I was able to add to my New York Jets PC, which I had been neglecting as of late. The adds were in form of a ttm autograph, which kicked off the start of a project I will be working on as well as a late xmas gift from my buddy.

Last year, a coffee table book called The New York Jets: The Complete History was released. When I saw it, I knew I wanted it.

It looks like a decent read and it has some great pictures, many of which I hadn't seen. My friend Mark, who has a similar book about The Mets, suggested I do what he is doing. Mark, also an autograph hound, is trying to get all the players featured in The Mets book to sign the page that they are on. He's doing a very good job with it. He has a lot of signatures in that book. But I wasn't sure I wanted to do that.

For one thing, not a lot of former Jets make as many apperances as the former Mets do. To get that book signed would be a difficult task. And two, how do you display it? I had done this with a wrestling photo book in the 90's to great success. Only problem is I can't really display the pics I got signed. And I have some good ones. Ric Flair, Lex Luger, Kerry Von Erich, Owen Hart, Davy Boy Smith, to name a few. Cant really display the book. Just allow people to flip through the pages to see the autos. Plus, I really didn't take care of the book. The outside is in rough shape. I won't take the pages out to display though. Rough shape or not, it will stay as is. It's one of my most prized possessions and will stay as is.

Then, an idea came to me via youtube. One of the guys I sub to, Bloodspawn, is working on a Dallas Cowboys book where he is sending book plates through the mail and sticking the plates by the player's picture. Brilliant idea. I just can't do that with this book as there is no room. It's a history of book and theres a lot of text in this book. So, I came up with another idea. I would send the players labels, have them sign that and I'd stick the lable inside the cover. If I ever see a player who is in the book, I'll have the player sign his page, but for now, ttm'ing is the way to go. So I decided to test it on a player I know signs and it worked like a charm.

Former member of the famed New York Sack Exchange, Marty Lyons, signed the above label/book plate in about 5 days. Once I got it, I stuck it inside the cover on the first page like I planned.

I think it looks great. Plus, there is enough room on the page where I can have 2 rows of autographed book plates, right next to each other going down the page. Oh, and I got something else signed.

Mr. Lyons also signed my throwback mini helmet in silver sharpie. Looks better in person than how it looks on the picture, I promise. Still, I wish I had sent a paint pen instead of a sharpie, especially since he returned the Sharpie.



My other add to the New York Jets collection is something of the vintage variety. I love vintage stuff when it comes to the Yankees, Jets, Spider-Man and Batman. I wish I could afford to buy more. I am always thrilled when I can find a deal on something older to add to my collection. If it's free, even better.

My buddy Mark (there he is again), gave me a late christmas gift of something I had been eyeballing on ebay for a while now. He found it in a flea market for dirt cheap.

He got me this vintage Joe Namath puzzle. It was something I have wanted for a while and was absolutely floored when I saw it. I don't have a lot of Namath collectables in my collection, save for the autographs I have, either certified card or IP. Ever since I watched the HBO documentary this past winter, I have wanted to get some of Namath's merchandise for the Jets PC. This puzzle was one of the things I zeroed in on.

I love the simple lettering, plain white background and pic with the Jets logo airbrushed out.

The seller told my buddy that all the pieces were inside the baggie provided.


The box is a little beat up with some stains and dents, but I don't care. It's mine, mine, allll mine! mwhahahahahaha!...excuse me. Got a bit carried away.

Anyway, it still looks great for displaying purposes once I get a cabinet to display all my Jets goodies in. And believe me, I will be displaying the box along side my signed mini helmets, figures and other Jets suff I have gotten over the years.

The Jets have some real nice vintage stuff out there that I would love to get my hands on. From programs to yearbooks. Pennants to pins, I want it all. My love for Gang Green is almost on level with my feelings for the Yankees. I go back to 1980 with the Jets, when they were still in Shea Stadium. I might be the only Yankees fan who loved Shea. Because of my Jets, my first game at Shea wasn't even a Mets game. It was a Jets game.

So, now that I can cross the puzzle off my list, I can go back to trolling on ebay for other vintage Jets items I can add to the collection. Excuse me. I can hear the "bay" calling.