Didn't have much to do today, plus didn't feel like just hanging around the house. So I got in the car and drove to town to grab some lunch. After eating I realized I haven't been in Vendor's Emporium in about a month. It is sort of an indoor flea market. There is booths and you bring whatever you want to buy up to the front.
Located on highway 51,it is in a dying strip mall.
As you can see from the smaller white sign, they have fresh fudge and the smell of it hits you as soon as you enter the building. There is basically three long rows. So I usually start on the far left and work my way down each row.
The first few booths had furniture or clothing. There is a local line of women's clothing called Mississippi Girls. And each of the shirts has some stupid saying on the back. Like "Mississippi Girls know how to cook fish!" I want to make one that says "Mississippi Girls like to wear t-shirts with stupid stuff written on them".
Then I saw a booth that had books and various other stuff. Now one small problem is some of these booths are tiny. And the interesting stuff is always near the floor. I was looking at one side of the booth, lots of self help books and books on the perfect deer call, then I turned around and found the first thing that caught my attention.
It's an oldish Snoopy drinking glass. I know I one similar to this when I was younger. I almost bought it but the price was $8 which is way more than I wanted to pay.
I moved onto the next booth. Now this booth always has some toys. Usually some action figures and other stuff. I got a DC Universe Powergirl figure here last year for $4. Well there was no Powergirl stuff here this time. But I found something almost as good.
An old beat up but still on the card Sporty Spice action figure. It is hard to tell from the picture but to me it looks like some of her teeth are missing. So I dubbed her Crackhead Spice. Plus they wanted $5.99 for this. If it was a buck or 2 bucks I might have grabbed it. Also to the right of Crackhead Spice you can sorta see some kind of CSI board game. Never been a fan of CSI so I didn't bother looking closer at it.
So I put Crackhead Spice back on the shelf, realizing she was shelved right below a hung amount of deodorant. And turned to my left. There was the old school toy aisle pegboard. You know the kind with the metal bars they would hang the action figures on. And what do I see but ....
GHOST RIDER POGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The package contains 6 "Skull Caps" and 1 "Vengeance Slammer". Plus it's only 2 bucks. I was very tempted to buy this. But I realized I better save up my money for my trip to the coast later this month. So back on the peg it goes. But there was more goodies on the pegs.
LT.Stone from GI JOE Extreme. Yep from when GI Joe got an image make over. I always hated these figures and no way am I gonna pay $11 bucks for it. But wait there was more action figures.
From the "classic" film Waterworld it is Power Bow Mariner. And it only cost $7. But my hatred for Kevin Costner won't allow me to own any action figures of him. Then I noticed something on the shelf below Crackhead Spice.
Each tube has 10 Skull caps and 1 slammer. There was Ghost Rider and Spider-man themed tubes. $5 each. Was tempted to get one. But really it would just collect dust on my shelf.
So I turn to my right and see two great items. Both of which I wanted but the prices kept me from buying. First up is this.
A really nicely made Universal Monsters Mummy figure. The package was still in decent shape. But it was $20 and I only had maybe 12 bucks on my total. Next time I go in if it is still there I will end up buying it. Then to the right of the Mummy was this.
A Grifter vs Daemonite two pack of Wildcats figures. It even comes with a mini and full sized comic. The box has some slight damage. But still looks decent. And it was only 15 bucks. Oh well maybe next trip I can get it. Then I see something out the corner of my eye. On the same shelf as all the deodorants.
This is one of the mid 90s Trendmasters Tarzan figures. This same booth for over 2 years had some of the figures on the card. I assume that maybe some kid opened it and now poor Tarzan is stuck in a box with a monkey. It want to say the price was $5.99 for it. Which is ridiculous.
Well I headed onto the next booth. This one was mostly glasses and mugs. But there was a few interesting items . Like this,I really have no idea what to call it.
And then there was this.
A Pschorr mug from Germany. It was only 2 bucks but I really have no need for a mug, so I passed on buying it. But finally this booth provided me with something great. Something that made me feel like I was 5 again. And it was Saturday morning, and I am sitting there in my Star Wars PJs drinking Chocolate milk while watching Superfriends.
Henry Hawk and Foghorn Leghorn playing Tennis. I had this exact glass when I was a kid. They were $5 and I was tempted to grab one. But the issue is finding a place to store it. But since as you can see they have 6 if I change my mind I can always go back and get one. Well that was all this booth had so I moved onto the next one.
Well to be honest the next booth had nothing I would buy. But had 2 items that made me chuckle. First there was this.
It's a cute little item but it cost $5 which is way too high. Then there was this item.
Yes Monkey Farts scented candles. It was almost tempting enough to pay the $3 to see what it smelled like. I tried sniffing the package but couldn't smell anything. But it stood out cause all the other candles were like strawberry,lilac,etc. But here was MONKEY FARTS! There was one amazing item in this booth but I am saving that for the end of the post.
So I head down the aisle some more. Seeing lots of clothing and cook books. And huge amounts of caseless over priced VHS. Common stuff they wanted $8 each for. Stuff like Titanic,Matrix,etc.
Then I found what I have dubbed the camo booth. If you want something in camo they have it.
Camouflage playing cards,cause you know when you are hunting and are bored you want a deck of camo cards to play solitaire with. Plus with them being camo the deer can't see them!
Sorry the picture is a little blurry. But it is pink camo band aids! I figure these are for the lady hunters. But male hunters don't feel left out.
Yep they got regular Camo bandages too. Want to say these were $3 a box. I have no idea if that is a good price or not. Mainly cause I haven't bought bandages in years. But they do come in metal tins. But the camo booth had one more item that stood out. One that I am tempted to buy my father for his birthday in a few months.
A deer lamp with deer lamp shade. I didn't look at the price but I am betting it is 30 bucks or more. Dad always wants a lamp by his chair for when he reads so this would be perfect for him.
Well I am at the end of the far left row. I skip most of the middle row, mainly cause it is all clothes and furniture. And I head to the far right row. About a third of this row is taken up by one booth. The owner goes to estate sales and auctions and buys stuff to resell. I have met him a few times and gotten some great deals from him. I started in the back corner and found this.
He had no markings on him to tell me what toy company put him out. So I assume he is some kind of "grocery store warrior". "Grocery Store Warrior" is a term a friend of mine came up with for those generic knockoff action figures you find at grocery stores and Dollar Tree and such. To me he looks like a roided up CM Punk. But even with that I wasn't gonna spend a buck to get him. I moved farther down the booth. To where this guy keeps his box of comics. It is 10 comics for $7. Well I couldn't find 10 to buy. And if you don't get 10 it is a buck each. Most of the stuff was really beat up copies of 80s New Teen Titans, Fury of Firestorm,JLA and Legion of Superheroes. All good series but all stuff I already own. But I did find 4 interesting comics. That I was tempted to buy. Up first.
I can remember watching this cartoon on Sunday mornings. Then my Mom taking me and my cousin to see Get Along Gang on Ice. It is the first issue and I do sorta collect the Marvel Star comics imprint. But I didn't want to drop a buck on a comic I doubt I would ever read. But there was another comic from Star Comics. One that really tempted me.
Issue 9 of the Ewoks comic. I think maybe Dark Horse has reprinted this series. I do have all the Droids issues. But lost my Ewoks issues a few years back. But I decided to pass on this one. Now the next comic is one I owned when I was 9 or so.
This is the first issue of the Atari Force mini comic. They came with various Atari 2600 games. Pretty sure I had every issue when I was younger. Later on DC published a full sized Atari Force comic that is supposed to be really good. I have never read it. As you can see the owner of this booth put his price sticker right on the cover. Sometimes you can remove the sticker without damaging the cover. I tried on this on and it started ripping the cover. So I put it back. And now one final comic.
Mickey and Goofy explore the Universe of Energy. This came out in 1985 and was given away at Exxon's pavilion inside EPCOT. I again almost bought this, but as you can see the price sticker is on the cover. Again I tried to remove it and again it was starting to damage the cover. So I put the comic back in the box. Normally the box is packed so full of comics you can barely dig through it. But this time it was 3/4th empty. I am hoping next trip there is more comics.
Well the rest of the far right row is all candles,clothes and crap I have no interest in. But in the middle of the middle row there is a booth that always has an assortment of hardback and paperback books for cheap. I walked over there. And found this.
It was $3, which is way too much for something like this. But I love how on the cover Dracula looks like he is drunk as shit. He looks like he has been on a 3 day bender of nothing but Mike's Hard lemonade!
I did find two books I wanted. And each was 50 cents. But there was a group of people around me so I moved to another booth to take the pictures. First up is this neat looking paperback.
Written by John Farris "The Captors" was published by Tor Horror and came out in 1985. But this isn't the first time the story has been published. It has a copyright date of 1969. And like with most paperback horror novels in the mid 80s it has a cover blurb by Stephen King. "America's premier novelist of terror!" I figured what the hell the cover is cheesy and it's only 50 cents. If it sucks I can trade it in for $2 store credit at the used bookstore. Then on a lower shelf I found this great hardcover.
Prime Evil is a collection of horror short stories. Edited by Douglas E, Winter it was published by New American Library in 1988. And listen to this line up of authors and stories.
The Night Flyer by Stephen King-I know this has been republished in one of King's short story collections.
Having a Woman at Lunch by Paul Hazel
The Blood Kiss by Dennis Etchison
Coming to Grief by Clive Barker
Food by Thomas Tessier
The Great God Pan by M. John Harrison
Orange is for Anguish, Blue for Insanity by David Morrell
The Juniper Tree by Peter Straub
Spinning tales from the Dead by Charles L. Grant
Alice's Last Adventure by Thomas Ligotti
Next time you'll know me by Ramsey Campbell
The Pool by Whitley Strieber
By reason of darkness by Jack Cady
Not a bad line up and best part it was 50 cents.
But there is the one item that stood out over everything else. Better than Henry Hawk and Foghorn Leghorn glasses,better than an over priced action figure of Crackhead Spice.Better than pink camo bandages!
An Elvis cuckoo clock!!!! I could never get the doors to open so I have no idea what pops out when it strikes the hour. I am hoping it is big fat Elvis. Notice that below it is the pendulum and other stuff. Plus there is a certificate talking about how this is a limited edition. And whatever company made it was only gonna make them for 295 days! Now I am sure you are asking "WOW Newt how much for such a stunning piece of awesomeness?"
$150
Yep $150 for a clock that everything but the pendulum is made out of plastic. $150 for a "limited edition" clock that I bet there was 100 of thousands made. If this had been say $10 I would have grabbed it, just for how cheesy and horrible it is. But $150! No way.
So I headed up the counter paid for my books and the lady running the cash register offered me a piece of fudge. But I was still stuff from lunch. I didn't do bad. Most times I go here I drop at least 10 bucks. So only spending a little over a buck is great. Well I hope everyone enjoyed my trip to Vendor's Emporium. I might wait a few months and do another one. Maybe the price on the Elvis cuckoo clock will drop and I can talk myself into buying it.
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