Thrift Store Finds

The hobby is full of miraculous thrift store and garage sale finds. An extremely rare variation here, a stunningly mint Hagen Renaker there, fill in your blank. I'm not talking about the $20 Traditionals at Tuesday Morning or TJ Maxx (which have recently taken on mythical proportions - I have one of each, and neither store has stocked anything recently), but the random happenings at your local Goodwill or what have you.  My experience has been less than stellar, with just a handful of less-than-exciting finds.  Recently, though, I've hit two very good deals.

My mother doesn't know a lot about model horses or horses in general, but she's picked up on what sort of thing would interest me and, being an avid bargain hunter, keeps an eye out for me.  She gets all the credit for spotting this truck and trailer at a Goodwill she passes once a month or so.  They were sold for $20 as a set, and my inner 15 year old squealed with delight when she called to tell me what she'd found.

My inner 40 year old was wondering what they'd go for on the secondary market and where on earth they'd be stored, but the 15 year old won out. They're hanging out in the basement until such time as I can do...something with them.

The second find isn't really model related. At all. But it is horse related, and again - the inner 15 year old is thrilled.

Yes, that does say $3.99. I wanted this game desperately when it came out in 2006 (I think), but couldn't justify the price. I was also starting to outgrow my computer games; high school was finally taking over my life. I spotted it in another Goodwill a month or two ago but decided the disk was too scratched to be worth the risk. The game was still there when I was back in today, and I decided that it must be fate. It works great and I can't wait to finish this crazy paper on stellar evolution and hydrostatic equilibrium and really get into it.

Speaking of crazy papers and class...there are just six weeks of it left! Bring on winter break!