Sunday, July 21, 2013

THRIFTING ON THE BIKE

I haven't written about our rides lately - nothing new going on.  I am certainly getting stronger and faster and our distances have been getting longer.  For the past couple of rides we have gone to Livermore and had breakfast, meandered around a bit and headed home before the heat hits.

Today we were riding around some new streets and stopped in at a thrift shop.  I was happy to find a round
globe sort of thing that I can mosaic - not too big or  heavy for the saddlebag trip home. In the back of the shop I spied a big box full of Beanie Babies.  In the mid 90's they were all the rage.  People bought them and stored them, tags on as "Collectors Items."  Things got really crazy when new ones were released or others were retired.  People paid a lot of money to complete their collections.

I bought one for Ally for her 4th or 5th birthday - it was  Ally Alligator - they all had names and little stories.  She loved that thing.  People were amazed that I would let her play with it and "gasp" take off the tag!  I didn't buy into the whole collectible, worth-a fortune thing but I'm sure some poor soul was holding onto them all this time and finally gave up and shipped them down to the thrift shop where they lie dusty and ignored in the back.

I still have a whole set of nautical themed plates my MIL left to me - she was sure they would be valuable - the whole "Franklin Mint" thing.  They are in our storage and maybe someday I will donate them and hope they find a home.  I always think about the stuff I donate and where it ends up and if it gives someone the pleasure I felt today when I found that little globe and started making plans to transform it. I hope the Beanie Babies find a happy home and the kids like them as much as ally liked her alligator.

4 comments:

smalltownme said...

I remember reading of a woman who had spent thousands on the beanies for a complete set...she was holding on to it to fund her kids' college education. Wonder how that worked out for her?

michiganme said...

I'm not so much into keeping stuff "in case" it's a collectible some day. I would much rather use it up. I'm in the process of clearing out my mother's home FULL of antiques and 'collectibles'. I'm giving a lot of it away to her friends in hopes they will treasure those things as much as she did.

Karen (formerly kcinnova) said...

My kids had a few beanies and while the tags stayed on, it was only because it had their names and stories. Eventually, the tags wore off. Luckily, we aren't collectors. ;)
My now-17yo would have loved an Ally Alligator. In grade school he was gifted with a much larger stuffed alligator which was flattened with so much love.

Karen (formerly kcinnova) said...

Please photograph your project!