First trip to Maw Peb's Needful Things Junkstore March 9th 2016

Since I couldn't sleep my plan was to go to town.Hit the library book sale.Then Dirt Cheap. Then grab a bite to eat on the drive home.

Well the library sale was a bust.Even though they had 3 boxes of brand new CDs,saw names like Reba Mcintire and The BeeGees in there.

Dirt Cheap was a total bust. The toy department is over run with opened lego sets,yeah not gonna take a chance on opened legos,and various Star Wars flying drones that are missing pieces.

So while driving to a little corner store that I know has good breakfast stuffs,named The Guy with the Good Biscuits and the name isn't a lie,I spotted a junkstore. One I had driven past a bunch but it was always closed.

I pull into the parking lot and the only other vehicle is a old pick up truck with both the back window and passenger side window covered with black garbage bags.I put my headphones on and continued listening to a podcast. Walked up to the door and saw the name painted on a big window "Maw Peb's Needful Things".Looking thru the windows looks to be lots of household bullshit and clothes.So I enter,but if I see Max Von Sydow I am getting the fuck out of this place. I walk in and to my right is a huge shelf of DVDs,VHS,PS2 and X-box games.A lady comes out of a back room and I get her attention and ask her what the prices are. "DVD is 2,PS2 is 5,X-box is 10 and VHS is 50 cents."I go thru all the DVDs first. Mostly shit that was in the Walmart $5 bin 4 years ago. Lots of grey market Sonny Chiba films. Then on the next to bottom shelf I find a VHS.

I looked closer at it once I got home and saw it was from an old video store.

But more on that in a bit.

The lady had went back into the back room. I was getting closer to the register and all of a sudden this huge great dane jumps up and barks. I was startled by the movement,didn't really hear the bark cause of my headphones. She comes back out tells the dog "Scooby be nice or no snacks today!" I chuckle cause the great dane's name is Scooby. Since she is back out I ask her if she has any toys in the store. Get pointed to a far corner.

The first thing I find was a blind buy DC mini statue thing. She tells me "Yeah all the toys are 1 buck if not in package.2 bucks if in the package." I figure 2 bucks is a decent amount to take a chance on the blind buy. Looking at the back there is only one figure I do not want,which was a crappy looking Superman.

I opened the DC mini statue package once I got out in my car. And here is who I got....

A pretty decent looking Cyborg. One nice thing to come out of the universe wide reboot DC did a few years ago is how much of a higher profile Cyborg now has in the non-comic merchandise.

Behind a stack of puzzles. I see a green package.So I pull it out.

 From the modern Nick TMNT toy line it is Head Droppin' Leonardo. I remember the old 80's line had the head droppin' action feature.

As you can see the packaging was beat up. I do like how they put the other figures from the line on the back. Seems like lots of the modern toy lines don't do this. As  a kid I would save the cards so I could figure out which figure to get next.

 Leo has 14 points of articulation. Most of them in his arms. His neck doesn't move. And besides at the hips his legs have no other articulation spots.

There is Leo with the head dropped. Unlike the old ones,were the head only stayed down if you held it down,these lock down. Then you squeeze the legs together to make the head come back up.

Leo comes with 2 swords. With one being slightly shorter than the other. And has a great set of scabbards on his back.

And there was another thing in the package that I remember toy lines  doing when I was a kid.

I got 2 huge foldout product catalogs. One of them is mostly cars with the Turtles permanently affixed to them.Then lots of pictures of a huge amount of action figures. This might end up being the toy line that gets me back into collecting modern toys.

Heading back to the register to check out,thinking that a $5 will cover what I am buying. Then the lady tells me the back room "While it is mostly clothes there is some books and VHS back there. Go take a look."

I walked back there and see another huge shelf. This time it is mostly books. With maybe 40 VHS near the bottom. And I find one that as far as I know isn't out on DVD or Blu Ray...

Shock'Em Dead!!! I rented this decades ago from Phar-More Video in Mobile Alabama.Back then I am sure I rented it cause I knew who Traci Lords was an wanted to see if she could act or not. Currently I want it cause not only is it not out on a digital format,watch as soon as I post this someone will link me to a Blu Ray of this,but also cause I am wanting to get copies of every 70s thru 90s Heavy Metal+Horror film.

So I mentioned when talking about Scream Blackula Scream,that the VHS was from a video store.

 I wonder when Video Stop closed.The sticker seems to say the store was inside Sack And Save. Which was a grocery store that our friends up here went to.And now is the Piggly Wiggly that always smells slightly of vomit. Then I looked at the other sides of the tape.

No idea how hard that will be to read. But it says West Coast Video. I am guessing this might be the name of the distributor? I really have no clue.

So I finally head to the register to check out. I jokingly ask her if they charge sales tax."Too early to bother with that.5 even." I hand her a five. And then get in my car and head home.

Finding this much VHS that doesn't look picked over is rare in this area.So I am adding this store to my "Must check every month"list.

A quick trip to 84 Mart March 4th 2016

Right at 2 years ago one of my neighbors leased out what use to be a corner store about 3 miles from my house. His nickname is Sarge,because he was a Sargent in the USMC.He is an older retired gentleman. And he opened up 84 Mart. Which is a junk store.

I had just woken up. And needed to run to Dollar General to get something for lunch. When my father asked to to take this set of 6 wine glasses to the 84 Mart and give them to Sarge. Some friend of the family gave my parents a wine rack and then wine glasses,which have the New Orleans Saints logo painted on them.My mother doesn't drink at all. And while Dad does drink wine sometimes he has no need for wine glasses. So I took the box of glasses and headed out.

After grabbing something to make later on for lunch and a drink at Dollar General I pulled into 84 Mart's parking lot. It was a nice day,the sun was shinning but thanks to a nice breeze it wasn't hot. Sarge was sitting outside the store talking to some lady. I walked up and after him asking how my father's garden and orchard was going I handed him the wine glasses. Making sure to let him know they are free. "Looks like you got a bunch of stuff in since last time I was here. Gonna go look around." I turned on my mp3 player and listened to the newest episode of the CU Podcast while looking thru shelf after shelf of household nicknack's,glasses and assorted ceramic oddities.

There was nothing out front outside the store that caught my eye. So I walked into what use to be a 2 car garage. In which Sarge has packed right at 30 CRT TVs. of all sizes. Plus 4 or 5 older desktop computers.Once again seeing nothing I really wanted I went into the store.

Looked thru the toys and DVD/VHS/CD/video game sections. Nothing at all.So went to the big shelf he puts most of the books on. Normally he wants a buck for a hardback and 50 cents for a paperback.Last time I was in the store he had at least 30 of the hardcover Nancy Drew books from the late 60s to the late 70s.My lady is wanting to collect them so I planned on grabbing a few this trip. I looked thru every shelf and all the boxes around the shelving unit and there is no Nancy Drew books left. Oh well. Then at the bottom of a box packed with old Nat Geos and Playboy magazines I see a larger than normal hardcover with an almost totally black cover.I pull it out and now I have found the first thing I am gonna buy.

I am sure a bunch of yall reading this will remember those Time Life Book series. They had books on all kinds of stuff. And were advertised on TV all the time. IIRC you got the first book free then every month or 2 months got sent the next book in the series. My maternal Grandfather has the Time Life World War II and Western series. I can vaguely remember the commercials of the Time Life Books True Crime series. And with this one being about serial killers I had to grab it.

The books were usually not that thick. And had lots of big high quality pictures.The Time Life Books were nice looking but slightly overpriced coffee table books.So thinking this would be a buck I put it beside me in my buy pile.

Click on the picture to see a bigger version. But as this entry on Albert Fish shows the book is a combo of pictures and text. And to me reads and looks a bit like a slightly classier National Enquirer.

 Of course a book on serial killers has to have something on Ed Gein and The Boston Strangler.

The Son of Sam David Berkowitz on the left and the start of chapter 4 on the right. Each chapter is given a one word title.

I have so far only flipped thru this book twice since I got it a few days ago. I am actually reading a biography I bought when I went to 84 Mart last month.But once I finish that bio this is the next book I am reading.I might even check abebooks and see how much the other volumes in this Time Life Books True Crime series will run me.

And speaking of biographies....

 Yep got the Hardy Boyz WWE biography. You can kind of see that the dust jacket has a 2 inch tear on the upper left corner. I put some scotch tape on the backside of the dust jacket to try to prevent it from ripping anymore in that area.

That sticker on the upper left corner has the book costing right at 25 bucks.I am wondering if this book belonged to the same person who had the Adam "Edge" Copeland biography I got last time at 84 Mart.

 I find it kind of humorous that in this picture Matt Hardy looks a lot like Wesley George,and Jeff looks a bit like Wesley's twin brother Lesley. The Georges were a set of twins I went to school with for almost all 12 years.

 Remember when WWF/WWE had good tag teams? And you got some legit 4 star classics with the Hardyz vs the Dudleyz or Edge & Christian.

I am guessing this chapter covers when Matt and Jeff were feuding. It was a story line we all knew would happen one day. But when it finally did the results were kind of just average. Matt and Jeff didn't seem to be really into the story and stuff.

For $5 bucks or less I will buy pretty much any wrestling biography if I don't already own it. And finding one about one of my favorite modern tag teams was a nice bonus.

I was actually about to head outside and hand Sarge $2 for the 2 books then go home. When below the toy shelving unit I see what appeared to be a board game box. I squat down and pull it out and found.....

Yep they made a Turner Classic Movies Scene It? DVD game. Years ago I got the TV Scene It as a X-mas gift.Then back when Borders was going out of business my mother got me the Marvel Scene it in the "limited" tin. Which had like another dvd full of questions,more cards and best of all a few extra playing pieces.

Of course I opened it up and glanced to make sure all of the stuff or at least most of it was in there. From a quick glance it appeared to be complete. I even took the DVD out of the sleeve and check out the bottom of it closely for scratches. And there was none.

 On the left is the board.Which is folded up into the short game mode. I do enjoy that the Scene It? series has made the board so you can play either a short game,normally about 20 to 30 minutes tops.Or the long game which can take over an hour.On the right is the instructions.

                                      
 The upper left corner is a leaflet advertising TCM's monthly channel guide and magazine.I have read an issue or two and if you are into pre 1950s cinema it is worth the cost.The bottom left is a Scene it? product catalog.But the oddest thing is what is taking up the right side. It  is directions for the HBO Scene It? DVD game.

 Upper left is the die used in the game. Upper right is the box with all the questions.This appears to be missing a few cards. I am guessing this because my other two Scene It? games the card fill the box completely.This set of cards doesn't.Bottom left is the sleeve the DVD comes in. And lastly the bottom right has "The Biz" cards. I am sure this game is missing a bunch of these. No biggie most of the times I end up playing these games we just toss the DVD in and who ever answers the question first gets the points.

From left to right.Ruby Slippers from Wizard of Oz.Maltese Falcon from The Maltese Falcon.Rosebud from Citizen Kane.

My Marvel Scene It game came with 6 pawns.But that was a "limited" tin edition so might have had a few more than a normal Scene It game. My TV edition is currently buried in the back of my closet and I can't get to it. Still I am pretty sure the normal edition Scene It games comes with 4 or 5 pawns.

I didn't see a price on the box. I guessed Sarge would want 3 for it. So pulled a 5 out of my ancient beat to hell wallet,note to self get a new wallet soon,walked out the door and found Sarge still sitting out front talking to the lady. I asked him how much for the 2 books and the game."It's free.Y'all are always giving me stuff for free. You are the only one that comes and buys books and stuff." I tried to get him to take at least 2 bucks but he insisted it was free.

Overall not a bad trip. I got 2 books and a almost complete board game and it was free. Plus with the store being so close to my house I barely used any gas.