@sammydog01 Looks like you got some interesting pieces in that tub. Maybe from actual sets. You may know this already, but if any of the pieces have tiny numbers etched on them you can search and find the sets to which they belong. Then, if you are really serious about Legos, you can find lists and directions online for making the sets. And when you inevitably come up a piece or two short, there are companies who sell single pieces for surprisingly reasonable amounts. I learned all this after picking up a tub of them at an estate sale. A grandson and I spent most of a winter on the project and ended up with 4 finished sets from Star Wars (plus a whole bunch of odds and ends still left for creative play).
@romellex That sound like a win! I have a bunch of Legos from the same place- I’m piecing sets together slowly. They split them up into bags and I’m sure I missed some of them.
I found a piece with a sticker unigue to the Town Square, 60026. No way do I have all the parts though.
I enjoy sorting them and figuring out where they came from. And making lists and checking off parts.
And just running my fingers through the tub.
@sammydog01 Loved the line about just running your fingers through the tub. Reminded me of Scrooge McDuck in Donald Duck - running his fingers through his money and jumping in and swimming.
@sammydog01 Worth being excited about, I think. Good luck with the sorting and research and hunting for missing pieces. In my picture, the most difficult to find replacement piece was one of those tall clear lime green arcs on the left. But so satisfying when I finally found one for sale. This array has been out in my office for about 10 years now. All-grown-up college boy grandson kind of pretends he is too old for it now, but when nobody is looking he will still move things about a little and straighten something that got bumped. It was definitely one of our finest projects.
@yakkoTDI Yes it is. I may be a grandmother, but I started reading sci-fi at 12 years old. And am still fascinated by anything to do with space exploration and living. I felt really fortunate to score the set in an estate sale bin.
@romellex@sammydog01 Yes! Blacktron was the coolest Legos. Lego used to have their own IP back then… The Star Wars and Harry Potter sets still all read to me as weird crossovers.
I had that one spaceship set, those frost guys. It was the best thing (after Blacktron). Had that door on a track. Lots of things inside things and parts would detach magnetically.
Tended to knock the skis off the front about once per minute.
… Just look at the consideration. Of course space ice man is going to need his skis with him when he flies that little front ship off from the… presumably cruiser or something.
@sammydog01 Yes, it was a wonderful discovery for us too. The more unusual and unique the part the better, because some of the labeled ones actually go to several different sets so we still didn’t know which set we might have in our jumbled estate bin.
On a slightly different topic, as we got more and more intrigued with Legos, I wondered if I could buy stock in the company. It seemed a grand idea, but I found Lego® is a privately-owned, family-controlled business and they aim to keep it that way.
@sammydog01 My neighbor bought a beautiful Swedish Mauser M96 and cases of ammo for it from Woolworth’s in Las Vegas. I was a little too young but that triggered my liking for old firearms. It would be about 120 years old now; I wonder if he still has it (or is still around himself).
A couple of weeks ago I bought a 46-year-old bottle of Jovan Grass Oil for Men aftershave/cologne. Since then I have purchased more rickrack than makes sense for a woman with no plans whatsoever that include rickrack.
@sammydog01 Yeah, I’m trying to not add to my ribbon stash, but there’s a mysterious part of my brain that’s wired to Joan Walsh Anglund and wants unlimited quantities of extremely narrow pastel ribbon.
/image joan walsh anglund illustration
@mossygreen@sammydog01 Well you could turn all that ribbon and rickrack into some sort of christmas wreath or garland for the tree were you to celebrate that holiday in your household.
@Kidsandliz@sammydog01 I don’t celebrate that holiday in my household, but that’s a really good idea! I even have a disturbingly large amount of jingle bells.
@narfcake Pretty cool. I could imagine that as a control stick in Star Trek. Need one for the left hand too.
The funny thing about the Kensington is all the old daze “fuzz” that accumulates in the belly of the trackball. I think I have cleaned it enough to make one of these :
The last 2 times I tried to drop off at my local thrift shop, they were closed to donations. I’ve got good shit! I don’t want to deal with individuals and I hate to throw it away, but…
@Kyser_Soze I don’t know about where you live, but around here if you put stuff out on the curb with a FREE sign on it, it’s usually gone within an hour. That includes old ratty furniture that you normally have to pay to get rid of. They will take anything except perfectly functional old style TVs.
@Kyser_Soze@Steve7654 I would second that. Then if you want it gone faster also post in craigslist under free, facebook market as free and/or nextdoor for your neighborhood area.
@Kidsandliz@Kyser_Soze@Steve7654 If you live in a an area where sometimes the “free” poster doesn’t work, simply put a price tag on in ($25 or something) and you will be amazed that it just disappears.
Got a little tv with hdmi and a tuner that fits in the top compartment of my toolbox for $4, but then I found out it goes off after coming on once I got home. So now I have either a project or garbage. Also a laptop power supply for $2, they had three of the same 65W for $2, $3, and $4 so I picked the cheapest.
Someone saved me from buying a Jeffrey Zakarian 8” cast iron nonstick skillet (seemed nicely made but who puts nonstick inside cast iron?) by picking it up between the time I found it and the time I went back to carry it to the register. I’d probably rather have a little regular cast iron skillet.
I fixed the toolbox tv last weekend. I’m really not sure what was wrong with it, but I took it all apart, looked at everything, and then put it back together and now it stays on just fine. I hooked it up to an antenna that I thought was gonna be crap (a flexible flat panel about 8x13 that’s hanging on the pegboard wall) but I get more channels than I’ve ever seen before on it.
It’s actually for me to run a computer on for a teched-out toolbox, but it’s cool to be able to turn on the TV as well.
@RiotDemon Well, I haven’t been there in a really, really long time, but they used to have a circus and I think they still have a drive in theatre. I think the ad is going off the technicality of how big it is size wise…
@mycya4me Not around here. Forget about them. One chance in 20 or more that there’s something worth buying; its mostly clothing (and that mostly kids), worn out tools, junk drawer baubles, and beat up furniture. I gave up on them.
Best thing I’ve found at an illannoy yard sale was a stack of 1950s-1960s Popular Mechanics and Mechanix Illustrated magazines and some first edition (but thrashed) Tom Swift books.
I know there are places that still have real yard sales. This just isn’t one of them.
@Targaryen JUST LIKE THAT! I was in line when they opened.
@Targaryen Such a great song. Shame most of his stuff isn’t this good.
/giphy Walk into the club
@sammydog01 Looks like you got some interesting pieces in that tub. Maybe from actual sets. You may know this already, but if any of the pieces have tiny numbers etched on them you can search and find the sets to which they belong. Then, if you are really serious about Legos, you can find lists and directions online for making the sets. And when you inevitably come up a piece or two short, there are companies who sell single pieces for surprisingly reasonable amounts. I learned all this after picking up a tub of them at an estate sale. A grandson and I spent most of a winter on the project and ended up with 4 finished sets from Star Wars (plus a whole bunch of odds and ends still left for creative play).
@romellex That sound like a win! I have a bunch of Legos from the same place- I’m piecing sets together slowly. They split them up into bags and I’m sure I missed some of them.
I found a piece with a sticker unigue to the Town Square, 60026. No way do I have all the parts though.
I enjoy sorting them and figuring out where they came from. And making lists and checking off parts.
And just running my fingers through the tub.
@sammydog01 Loved the line about just running your fingers through the tub. Reminded me of Scrooge McDuck in Donald Duck - running his fingers through his money and jumping in and swimming.
@romellex @sammydog01
@romellex I just found a piece unique to set 487 from 1978. I’m kind of excited.
@sammydog01 Worth being excited about, I think. Good luck with the sorting and research and hunting for missing pieces. In my picture, the most difficult to find replacement piece was one of those tall clear lime green arcs on the left. But so satisfying when I finally found one for sale. This array has been out in my office for about 10 years now. All-grown-up college boy grandson kind of pretends he is too old for it now, but when nobody is looking he will still move things about a little and straighten something that got bumped. It was definitely one of our finest projects.
@romellex Is that one of the Blacktron sets? I love that series.
@yakkoTDI Yes it is. I may be a grandmother, but I started reading sci-fi at 12 years old. And am still fascinated by anything to do with space exploration and living. I felt really fortunate to score the set in an estate sale bin.
@romellex @yakkoTDI Nice!
@romellex @sammydog01 Yes! Blacktron was the coolest Legos. Lego used to have their own IP back then… The Star Wars and Harry Potter sets still all read to me as weird crossovers.
I had that one spaceship set, those frost guys. It was the best thing (after Blacktron). Had that door on a track. Lots of things inside things and parts would detach magnetically.
Tended to knock the skis off the front about once per minute.
… Just look at the consideration. Of course space ice man is going to need his skis with him when he flies that little front ship off from the… presumably cruiser or something.
@romellex By the way I didn’t know that some of the parts were labelled with part numbers. You just saved me a ton of time. Thanks!
@sammydog01 Yes, it was a wonderful discovery for us too. The more unusual and unique the part the better, because some of the labeled ones actually go to several different sets so we still didn’t know which set we might have in our jumbled estate bin.
On a slightly different topic, as we got more and more intrigued with Legos, I wondered if I could buy stock in the company. It seemed a grand idea, but I found Lego® is a privately-owned, family-controlled business and they aim to keep it that way.
Found some vintage yarn. WOOLWORTH’S!
@sammydog01 isn’t woolworth’s yarn kind of doubling down? Like a forklift carrying actual forks?
@sammydog01
It says “Woolworth” and “Woolco” but it’s acrylic.
@PocketBrain It’s Orlon! Which went away even before Woolworth’s. I loved Orlon sweaters.
@sammydog01 I really, really miss Woolworth stores.
@duodec I got a hamster there once. I loved that hamster.
@PocketBrain @sammydog01
Damn! That shit’s ancient.
And 100% not biodegradable.
DuPont shut down production in 1990.
Over 30 years ago!
WaPo link to 1990 news of Orlon’s demise
@sammydog01 Kinda cool, but omg that is an ugly color!
@sammydog01 My neighbor bought a beautiful Swedish Mauser M96 and cases of ammo for it from Woolworth’s in Las Vegas. I was a little too young but that triggered my liking for old firearms. It would be about 120 years old now; I wonder if he still has it (or is still around himself).
@sammydog01
I wanted to put in the O brother where art thou “stay outta the woolworths” giphy but it didn’t work : (
A couple of weeks ago I bought a 46-year-old bottle of Jovan Grass Oil for Men aftershave/cologne. Since then I have purchased more rickrack than makes sense for a woman with no plans whatsoever that include rickrack.
@mossygreen I got a bag of ribbon. It’s just pretty.
@sammydog01 Yeah, I’m trying to not add to my ribbon stash, but there’s a mysterious part of my brain that’s wired to Joan Walsh Anglund and wants unlimited quantities of extremely narrow pastel ribbon.
/image joan walsh anglund illustration
@mossygreen @sammydog01 Well you could turn all that ribbon and rickrack into some sort of christmas wreath or garland for the tree were you to celebrate that holiday in your household.
I have that trouble with yarn. Yard sales, estate sales, Craigslist, … This is a hint MEH!
@Kidsandliz @sammydog01 I don’t celebrate that holiday in my household, but that’s a really good idea! I even have a disturbingly large amount of jingle bells.
@Kidsandliz @mossygreen @sammydog01 you could make a May Pole!
@Kidsandliz @sammydog01 @tinamarie1974 A tiny Wicker Man playset!
/youtube maypole song the wicker man
@Kidsandliz @mossygreen @sammydog01 That was kinda creepy!
@Kidsandliz @mossygreen @tinamarie1974 The seventies were an interesting time for movies. Super creepy movie. You should watch it!
Posting with my carpal tunnel stopping “Kensington Expert Mouse Trackball” that I scored at my favorite thrift store :
@cfg83
@cfg83 I’ve been using a vertical mouse at work to prevent CTS. Had a Perixx before and have since moved up to a JTech.
https://smile.amazon.com/J-Tech-Digital-V628-Adjustable-Sensitivity/dp/B0759V6FZC
@narfcake Pretty cool. I could imagine that as a control stick in Star Trek. Need one for the left hand too.
The funny thing about the Kensington is all the old daze “fuzz” that accumulates in the belly of the trackball. I think I have cleaned it enough to make one of these :
PS - fuzzy lion is from here :
https://www.etsy.com/listing/776615848/diy-beginner-needle-felting-kit
The last 2 times I tried to drop off at my local thrift shop, they were closed to donations. I’ve got good shit! I don’t want to deal with individuals and I hate to throw it away, but…
@Kyser_Soze I don’t know about where you live, but around here if you put stuff out on the curb with a FREE sign on it, it’s usually gone within an hour. That includes old ratty furniture that you normally have to pay to get rid of. They will take anything except perfectly functional old style TVs.
@Kyser_Soze @Steve7654 I would second that. Then if you want it gone faster also post in craigslist under free, facebook market as free and/or nextdoor for your neighborhood area.
@Kidsandliz @Kyser_Soze @Steve7654 You can put it out on the curb and also post on those sites as a “curb alert.”
@Kidsandliz @Kyser_Soze @Steve7654 If you live in a an area where sometimes the “free” poster doesn’t work, simply put a price tag on in ($25 or something) and you will be amazed that it just disappears.
@Kidsandliz @Kyser_Soze @Steve7654 @tightwad At my old job, we put a FREE sign on an old copier we placed by the street – and there were no takers.
The following week, an $80 OBO sign was placed on it. It was “swiped” that afternoon.
@Kyser_Soze @narfcake @Steve7654 @tightwad now that is too funny!!!
Got a little tv with hdmi and a tuner that fits in the top compartment of my toolbox for $4, but then I found out it goes off after coming on once I got home. So now I have either a project or garbage. Also a laptop power supply for $2, they had three of the same 65W for $2, $3, and $4 so I picked the cheapest.
Someone saved me from buying a Jeffrey Zakarian 8” cast iron nonstick skillet (seemed nicely made but who puts nonstick inside cast iron?) by picking it up between the time I found it and the time I went back to carry it to the register. I’d probably rather have a little regular cast iron skillet.
I fixed the toolbox tv last weekend. I’m really not sure what was wrong with it, but I took it all apart, looked at everything, and then put it back together and now it stays on just fine. I hooked it up to an antenna that I thought was gonna be crap (a flexible flat panel about 8x13 that’s hanging on the pegboard wall) but I get more channels than I’ve ever seen before on it.
It’s actually for me to run a computer on for a teched-out toolbox, but it’s cool to be able to turn on the TV as well.
@djslack So the tools are actually, like, used for decoration. Right?
Heading to the flea market this morning; it’s like a 5 acre outdoor thrift store!
@Steve7654 wish i was heading to the flea market today! Alas, utility bills and insurance await our meager funds this week.
@Steve7654 SO JEALOUS.
Many years ago, one of my good friends scored a really nice bar dart board set at the Swap Shop…
@omegamonkey 2nd largest tourist attraction??
I mean, it is huge. I didn’t know it was considered an attraction.
@RiotDemon Well, I haven’t been there in a really, really long time, but they used to have a circus and I think they still have a drive in theatre. I think the ad is going off the technicality of how big it is size wise…
You also can’t forget the Good Ole Yard Sale!
@mycya4me Not around here. Forget about them. One chance in 20 or more that there’s something worth buying; its mostly clothing (and that mostly kids), worn out tools, junk drawer baubles, and beat up furniture. I gave up on them.
Best thing I’ve found at an illannoy yard sale was a stack of 1950s-1960s Popular Mechanics and Mechanix Illustrated magazines and some first edition (but thrashed) Tom Swift books.
I know there are places that still have real yard sales. This just isn’t one of them.