Snackbar Confidential / Art Au Go-Go !

ARTWORK and PAINTINGS by LANCE LAURIE. WWW.ARTAUGOGO.COM ARTWORK ALWAYS FOR SALE! Search me on E-Bay; seller name konga5

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Thrift Score, Feb. 27, 2008


Another willy-nilly assortment of fun; 1) a vintage 1960's , 10 " plastic Jesus. I was raised in a non-religious home (Whew!) but I saw this figurine for .50 cents and I could not resist. The quality of the hollow plastic (that's supposed to simulate polished wood or marble?) is outstanding. Really high quality plastic that you don't see today. Maybe a gift for somebody, someday....2) a pair of fingerless (weight?) lifting gloves. Nice quality tan leather too. Probably cost $25.00 new. If you are reading this and going "Yuk!" and picturing hours of sweaty gripping still inside; don't fret. I will soak them overnight in bath of hot soapy water, rubbing alcohol and lemon juice to make them fresh n' clean. 3) an 11" fake parrot with no eyes. Symbolic and sad? Yes. Fixable? Again, Yes ( I have some tiny fake plastic eyes, somewhere). Real parrots , although entertaining & cute as all hell, are pretty expensive. 4) a small clear plastic holder/bin . I never have enough of these, ever! Now my Q-Tips won't spill all over the place. 5) Large blue bath towel. I cut them up and use them for cleaning rags. I hate using disposables like paper towels and Handi-Wipes for cleaning a kitchen or bathroom floor. Now I'm recycling, saving a Hand-Wipe tree and .....oh crap, now obligated to clean my bathroom floor. 7) last but not least , an 18 x 20" cork bulletin board. I never have enough of these, and would never pay full retail price ($10, 11, 12 ?) in stores. These are a yard sale and thrift store perinnial. TOTAL COST : Under $5.00 ! (I think the lady at the register make a mistake........)

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

THRIFT SCORE, FEB. 20, 2008 !

Today's "score" had nothing really outstanding about
it except for how much I had spent ($35.29 !).
It was "blue tag is half off day" so I did take
advantage. The main culprit in this heavy tab was a pair of no-foolin'-around-real-as-can-be
cop/S.W.A.T. /uniform pants in my size! Navy blue with lots of snaps, mini-pockets and such.
The pants alone were $10.99 (and not "half-off Blue Tag" either) , but I could not pass these up; they would even be good for an e-Bay re-sale, but I don't think I'm not gonna sell until I see how they actually look on me first (I did not try them on in the store). I also go a nice white Ralph Lauren shirt; casual with pin-stripes and some sort of fine woven in texture/pattern and one unusual selling point--the buttons end midway down, so the shirt is a pull-over. I dig Ralph Lauren dress and casual button down shirts ! They are always roomy and comfortable even for us "husky" sized guys. They don't wrinkle (!) or fade and last forever. I only buy them from thrifts stores because new ,they cost $29.99 to $49.99 ...even at boring budget outlets like T.J. Max Marshall's!! Yikes! The second button down shirt in this score is a simple Arrow shirt, no big deal but it's a great "electric blue" color. Arrow shirts are not expensive at Marshall's either. I also snatched up a bunch of t-shirts, all plain or pocket (Hanes, Fruit of the Loom, Old Navy, etc.). The last time I was in Kohl's they were running a color pocket-T shirt sale. There was no price on the rack, but they had every color in the universe. I picked out eight different colors and went to check-out. To my shock, the shirts were a little over $6.00 each ! I was like , "F*** this, I'm only buying color pocket T's second hand from now on!". So today I snagged some in my favorite standard colors black, red, blue, white. Two of the shirts still had the folds and tape from just being taken out of a package (never used! ) as well! The shirts were all half-off so I paid from .50 cents to $1.50 each. Winding down, I picked up a Playboy aluminum beer stein/mug merely to sell on e-Bay and re-coop the cost of today's shopping spree; I know vintage Playboy collectibles can do pretty well, however the .99 cent beer stein I bought today was on there already by a multitude of sellers with the same one I had, and no bids at 1 to 5 dollars each. Oh well, now I have a Playboy "pencil holder" on my desk at work. Next; a VHS tape of the Brady Bunch Movie for .99 cents. I saw this movie when it was new and thought the plot was nothing short of painful ! The cast on the Brady dad & boys side were mediocre but the Brady mother & girls were incredible replicas (so was Alice!). I also was fascinated at how they re-created the set. 99. cents is cheaper than any rental, so I'll watch it once and toss it. My last out-the-door item is a small 3" plastic bust of classical Baroque composer ( George Fredreic) Handel (!?). His face is poorly sculpted so he looks a little like an alien from one of the Star Wars movies. For the .99 price tag, it will make a great gag gift for someone! If the S.W.A.T. pants make me look fat, and I sell them on e-Bay, and report the final selling price here:


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