As I've reported before I do like to come away from a Car Boot sale or Charity shop run with at least one Gen1 Transformer, my current must-haves.
Yesterday the Missus and ich had our final car boot ( Flohmarkt, as in flea market) stand at the local Samstag venue. It was huge but arriving at 6am we were given a decent pitch with bags of space, which is a good thing given the fee is steep by British standards at €27, around £25.
Having a wide assortment of my Missus's late parents' belongings - both collectors of sorts - our triple wallpaper table braced itself under all the glass decanters, wooden ornaments, wall plates and a myriad other nick backs, walking sticks and small tools.
Beside the table we sold clothes on a clothes stand and on the other side larger items were proffered such as a mobility walker, bathroom shelving, plant pots and a sombrero!
The first sale we held two weeks ago with our daughter at the helm we made €250 profit. This second sale came in second at a respectable €160 net.
Money was never important. We needed a way of off-loading all these belongings without having to enlist a house clearance firm or indeed binning stuff. Less desirable tackle has been taken to the local Diakonie charity and hundreds of bits of clothing have gone into clothing banks. As I said my late Parents-in-Law were collectors. Some might even say hoarders.
Anyways, as is traditional when two are staffing the stand, each gets a couple of breaks to mosey round the market and grab a Kaffee.
On one of my haunts I spotted something on my Wants List, a pentagonal Playmobil space Station from the 1970's. Full of accessories and spacemen, it was loose and just €15. Walking on ruminating about it I then spotted something even higher up my Wants List, a Pretender! A GEN1 Transformer no less and not just one but two!
Was soll es Kosten? I enquired.
Zehn Euro die Stuck.
So that would be 10 each, twenty together. About £18
In great shape but without contents they were still at a good price.
Ruminating even more I returned with Kaffee for the Missus and plunged straight into my plea for one final treat for each other. I know what I would like and she should choose something too.
It didn't work!
We have enough stuff to take back and you have already bought loads of toys! I heard her cry!
I knew this argument well and my only recourse was the tried and tested end strategy of wearing the Missus down with constant reminders of how much of a bargain the Pretenders were and that I wasn't pretending!
I don't know about you but I seldom have any cash on me. The Missus is the Bank Manager and a good thing to. I'd fritter everything we have away for a bag of tat! As such my final appeal struck gold and the Missus went in herself. I'd challenged her to get the two Trannies cheaper! She accepted the Mission and headed out.
Ten minutes later I was the proud owner of two Hasbro Pretenders, the latest and best recruits on my GEN1 shelf back in Blighty and just 15 Euro the pair! The Missus had done it again!
Erfolg! That's success to you and me!
Have you had to cajole the Bank Manager for your treats?
I do not have to get my purchases approved by the Bank Manager, my problem is a very scrawny Piggy Bank.
ReplyDeleteHa ha! My mate has a Darth Vader piggy bank Paul. He's hard to get money out of as well!
DeleteI'm very much my own Bank Manager.
ReplyDeleteMy wife often encourages me to buy the toys and models that I see and want, but I'm the one who holds back and doesn't make a purchase.
The worst example of this was when I didn't buy two Product Enterprises 'Space 1999' Eagles for £40 each.
They, and the Sixteen/Twelve ones, cost hundreds now.
Ah well ...
Yep, I know that feeling well Mish. I often also regret selling all the vintage toys I've bought and then sold over the last thirty years. Thousands. I wish I'd kept them all but we would be drowning in them if I had!
DeleteThe very first Flohmarkt I went to was in Hachenburg, very close to Bettina's hometown. I bought our first set of pots and pans there. That was in 1983 and we still have most of the set!
ReplyDelete