Yard sale season comes to a close...

Well, I suppose it had to happen eventually. Labor Day has come and gone, and now it's time for the annual Back to School ballyhoo-- parents cheering in their corner, and kids moping in theirs. But for me, the end of summer means the end of all the fabulous yard sales and flea markets! Oh sure, there may be a few more yard sale weekends left for all the slackers who couldn't get it together during the summer, but for all intents and purposes, yard sale season is officially over. 

If you're a collector, you love going through other people's old junk. But once yard sales and flea markets stop, where can you treasure hunt during the cold winter months? Is it even possible?

The answer is yes, of course it's possible. And I will share some of my best tips with you for finding what you're looking for. (This list is geared towards American collectors, as it's where I'm from, but maybe it will be helpful to those in other countries as well.)


1. Goodwill or Salvation Army

Goodwill and Salvation Army are open year round, and there is probably at least one or the other somewhere nearby where you live. These places can be treasure troves of donated goods. To be honest, I seem to have better luck at Goodwill, but I have had some good scores at Salvation Army too. The best advice I can give is don't just visit once, get disappointed when you don't find anything good, and then give up. Their inventory always changes as new donations come in, so you have to go regularly in order to find what you're looking for. Try to go at least a few times a week if you can, and you don't need to go first thing in the morning because the employees stock shelves throughout the day. And make sure that you look around the entire store, and dig through piles of items if you have to. Many people don't look hard enough and I guarantee you'll miss out on some pretty amazing things if you don't take your time and really look at everything!

2. Other local thrift stores and consignment shops

Goodwill and Salvation Army aren't the only game in town. You may also have some locally owned thrift stores or consignment shops in your area. Check out the Yellow Pages and do some digging around in Google, because a lot of times these little hole in the wall places are where you can find the best deals. And many times, the big name dealers overlook these places in favor of the bigger fish like Goodwill and Salvation Army. And sometimes, if you can get friendly with the proprietor, he or she will notify you if anything that you're looking for comes into the store.

3. Antique stores/Antique malls

Now personally, I don't have a lot of luck at these places. I guess it's because I collect and deal in toys.  However, if you're into glassware or household items, these can be a goldmine. The downside is that a lot of times the proprietors know their stuff, and they price it accordingly. However, I will say that they don't always know the values of newer items like toys, so you might be able to get a deal. For example, earlier this year I bought a huge basket of 90's mini Pound Puppies/Purries/Piggies/Ponies from one of these places, kept what I wanted, and still managed to make a tidy little profit from selling the rest.

4. Indoor Flea Markets

Again, you'll have to hunt around to find these. But they are out there, and they're open year round, although usually they aren't open every day like the other places mentioned above. Most of them are only open on the weekends, or only on Sundays, or something to that effect. Like yard sales, you want to try and get there as early as you can to find the best deals. Quality varies depending upon the dealers, but they can be great places to find what you're looking for, with reasonable and sometimes even obscenely cheap prices. And again, don't be afraid to dig through piles of things! Make sure you check underneath the tables as well for boxes of items to look through as well. And don't be afraid to haggle with the dealers, especially if you're buying a group of items.


Well, this post is getting long, and I don't want to overwhelm anyone with too much information. So I will finish up my list in the next post. Look for more hunting tips soon! And in the meantime, try some of these out, because they really do work.

Girls like toys too!

Something I've been noticing more and more lately is how unbalanced the collectible toy world really is when it comes to gender. I'm not kidding, for years every time I go to a flea market or a toy show or anywhere you would expect to find vintage toys, table after table is filled with people hawking Star Wars, G.I. Joe, and Matchbox cars, but almost no one has My Little Ponies, Care Bears, or Strawberry Shortcakes. Barbies you can sometimes find, and there are bins of Beanie Babies, but where are the 80's girl toys? I see all kinds of boy's toys from the same era, many of them still in the package even, but trying to find girl's toys is like... well, I hate to get all cliched already when this is only my second post here, but it's like trying to find a needle in a haystack!

It's the same thing in collectible toy stores. Now, there is a great little store not too far from us, over the state line in New York... my husband and I just discovered it this summer, and it's a fantastic place, filled to the rafters with all kinds of vintage action figures, but hardly any girl toys. And I wonder why that is. Why does no one want to cater to the girls? Do they not realize that there is a market there? Because there definitely is, and I have my eBay sales to prove it!

I mean, don't get me wrong. I suppose I should be happy about this. It means that these dealers aren't looking for such things, which means more for me when I'm out running the yard sale and thrift store gauntlet, am I right? But at the same time, sometimes I would like to have my pick of the entire flea market, just like all of the male collectors do. I would like to be able to walk around and actually find My Little Ponies prominently displayed, without having to dig around in gross 25 cent bins filled with dirty McDonalds toys. I would like it if the dealers didn't look at me like I had a second head when I ask if they have ponies, or Care Bears, or you know, something besides their carded action figures and Hot Wheels cars. Because let's face it. The boy toy market is pretty saturated.Why wouldn't you want to expand your market to include girl toys?

I also always find it amazing that these dealers know the exact market price of every single video game and action figure they have, but they never know how to price the girl toys. For example, at that little toy store in New York I mentioned above, I recently scored 3 mint in package Mattel Little Pretty Perfume Pets, for only $5 each! I turned around and resold them on eBay for $50 each, and they were snapped right up within the hour of me posting the Buy-It-Nows. I'm not saying that to brag, I'm just illustrating my point, which is: just because it might be pink and girly doesn't mean it isn't valuable.

And don't even get me started about all of the rereleased toys that get put out for male collectors. He-man, Ninja Turtles, Transformers, Star Wars, G.I. Joe... the list goes on and on of old 80's and 90's toys reissued, in retro style packaging and everything. But what do we get? My Little Pony turns 30 this year. And what have we got to show for the 30th anniversary? The god-awful Equestria Girls. And have you seen some of the monstrosities that they have recently released, sullying our childhoods? I bring you today's Sea Wees, Popples, Care Bears, Polly Pocket, Strawberry Shortcake, and Rainbow Brite.

That kind of thing would never fly with the male collectors. So how come we have to take it? Listen up, guys. Girls like toys too!

Introduction and all that jazz

Hello and welcome to my blog! I am a 30-something year old female toy collector who grew up in the 80's and early 90's, AKA the time with all the best toys! Okay, so I might be a little biased. But then again, have you visited Toys R Us lately? Sadly, many of today's children grow up far too quickly and drop their toys in favor of electronic devices.  I think that's a terrible thing, and I will probably be tackling this topic in a later post.

My Little Ponies are my main collection, especially the vintage ones from the 80's.  I also buy and sell regularly on eBay. I will be posting a lot about eBay and my business there. (insert shameless plug for Good Boy Toys here). I have been an eBay member since almost the beginning, so I will also be sharing tips and tricks for buying and selling that I've picked up over the years.  I will also be sharing my knowledge about various girl toy lines, which is fairly extensive. Needless to say, I won't be running out of topics anytime soon!

I am married, with two cats, but no children yet. However, since I am a toy freak, and my husband is a gamer, believe me, our future kids will never lack for playthings! Is it bad that I have several hundred children's books I have purchased at yard sales and flea markets? I love to write and draw cutesy things. I have nearly every Disney and Pixar film ever made. I regularly rescue cute secondhand plushies from the plushie bin at Goodwill. And I still refuse to eat my peas.

So anyway, I just wanted to say hello to anyone who may be reading. I am working on another post to put up soon so keep checking back!