Oh i love flea markets lol

[optimus major]

okay, i must say there is one time a month that i look forward to more than anything, that is Bonham Trades day weekend at Bonham, Texas. i love it cause it is the trades day where i get all my amazing transformer deals (first one is fortress maximus, the largest transformer ever created, fully completed worth over $1000, and cost me $4 and the next time i went i got skyhammer, a transformer worth over $100 and can go for $500 with box for $10....so now you know why i love it lol tomarrow is that time of the month lets see what i get this time lol)

anyways on the skyhammer trip, i was looking in toy bins for old transformers and this lady, probably 40 somethin, asked the dealer how much was the hotwheels, while holding one above the bin. she said "2 for a dollar". this is the sucky part....the lady got mad, said "what a rip off" and SLAMMED THE HOTWHEEL CAR RIGHT BACK INTO THE BIN ......i was in shock....hot wheel cars are about $1.00 at wal-mart, and you say they are a rip off at half price? and to treat someone's property like that is sad.....oh well later that day i got sky hammer lol

anyways bonham here i come lol maybe i'll find Fort Max's cousin from G.I Joe, the U.S.S Flagg, a big ole aircraft carrier that is the size of a frickin coffee table lol

[protege]

Hehe I too love flea markets! My weakness seems to be plastic model kits though. So far, I've picked up several kits for next to nothing. I have a 1/48 scale B1b bomber, as well as a trio of 1/8 scale cars--a '32 Ford, '79 Firebird, and a '65 Corvette. All of those were bought for a few dollars apiece.

In the case of the plane, that thing is nearly 3 feet long, and originally listed for $80. How do I know this? Well, the original receipt was inside the box, along with two sets of paints and brushes. Seems that someone had started it, but then put it up for sale.

As for the cars, they had been built by someone...and then left to rot. Of the 3, the Corvette was the worst. Someone had crudely assembled it, and then apparently used a broom to smear some sort of clear finish all over it. Car looked horrible when I bought it--it was covered in dirt, and the clear had yellowed. Once all of that crap was removed, the bare plastic was in great shape. Good thing too, as a new 1/8 scale Corvette...lists at well over $100!

The two other cars weren't all that bad. The Ford was already falling apart (model glue eventually breaks down), and the Firebird was in good shape. Both have been stripped and await their turn at rebuilding. The Ford has been reissued again, but it's not cheap either--it too lists for over $100. But, the Firebird hasn't been reissued at all. Odd, since it's not really worth much now.

Other bargains include an old Maisto Jaguar MkII, Solido Bentley S3, Maisto Jaguar S-Type. All three are 1/18 scale diecasts...and usually go for much more than I bought them for. Granted, both Jags were a mess when I found them--the MkII was filthy, and the S-Type was damaged. But, after I took them apart, performed a thorough cleaning, and in the case of the S-Type...some careful detail painting...they actually came up pretty nice. The Bentley, on the other hand, just required a cleaning.

But, the best bargain ever...had to be the 20-or-so 1960s model kits I uncovered about 12 years ago. These were original-issues that someone had put together then, and then carefully packed away. Most were in pretty good shape, and many have never been reissued--1963 Chrysler Imperial, anyone? When seeing that, I jumped at the chance...and bought them all for $5 total.

Granted, some of those cars were pretty bad--the '64 Imperial was pretty much only good for parts--but others were in great shape.

[optimus major]

back from the awesome flea market lol and got an amazing haul today, mostly g.i. joes


this is all for $7:
hotwheels with kitty figureine (lol) and cybertron excellion $1.50
first movie swindle (transformer) $0.25
Sargent Slaughter (second edition):$0.25
G.I. Joe Hammer (the jeep that belongs to sargent slaughter third release i think it is. came with third release sargent slaughter and one of zartan's goons, the one with the cheetah like clothes):$2
bag of assorted g.i.joe parts with broken rubberband cobra pilot figure (repaired when i got home with a rubber band) and some random robocop figure:free with purchase of the hammer
second release of sky hawk (silver):$.50
some kind of helicoptor i couldn't identify (like a compact coptor, got a bubble like front and has a fan on its tail and two blades):$.50 (both sky hawk and coptor came with a figure each, one was broken at rubberband and repaired)
rerelease of the motorized tank (1998, no treads):$1.00
and some gobot dinosaur from the playskool line

all figures were from around the year 88

first fort max, then sky hammer, and now an huge haul for next to nothing lol i love that flea market

[boringscreenname]

I love the flea market, we have two huge ones about 30 minutes away. And they're all year flea markets too, with an inside and outside section. We buy our dog food and treats there dirt cheap, we also buy fruits and lots of other candy and food cheap. Plus it's really fun to people watch.

[Gerrinson]

Wait, a complete Fortress Maximus goes for $1,000? AARGH!

I was already pissed enough to learn that my entire Transformers collection was tossed into a dumpster when they emptied my grandmother's house (I was given two weeks warning and couldn't get time off from work to travel the 600 miles each way to get my stuff. It was originally 'we'll sort out what we're sure is yours and hold it' but turned into 'we decided it was all garbage.') Now I learn that the loss was not only sentimally painful but financially painful too. :sad:

No, seriously, I had almost all of the Gen 1 Transformers - most of them well played with - but still complete. And I didn't really like the decals so I kept all the decal sheets intact in a binder in case I ever changed my mind about applying them.

And now I miss my Transformers!

[Polenicus]

I can never find a Flea Market that has decent Transformers stuff. It's all painfully crummy knock offs, or overpriced junk from dealers who think that a re-issue G1 Prowl with a missing door, no accessories and no box is worth $20 (Thanks, eBay).

There are still gems and deals to be found out there, though.

(And yes, I have a Fort Max ^^)