Thrift Hunters

Thrift Hunters
Thrift Hunters is a new television program premièring on January 18, 2014 that features eBay sellers Jason Smith and Bryan Goodman as they thrift for their eBay stores.

I enjoy watching a number of thrifting-related shows including but not limited to the American and the Canadian Pickers, Cash With Cari, Flea Market Finds and The Toy Hunter.

The addition of a new program is always welcome as I continue to work on developing the knowledge required to run a successful eBay business.  I welcome the chance to see Jason and Bryan, whose online activities I have followed for a year or more, in action on my television screen although to be honest, I have not checked yet to see if my cable package includes Spike. I sure hope that it does!

Anyway, here's a peak at a Thrift Hunters episode called "A Garage Sale on Steroids."



This sale reminds me of the sprawling Great Glebe Garage Sale that is held every year here in Ottawa come rain or shine. on the fourth Saturday in May, which means the 2014 sale will be held on May 24.

I look forward to the return of garage sale season and to the première of Thrift Hunters on January 18, 2014.

Brenda
Treasures By Brenda
You never know what I
might have in store for you!

The Pitfalls of Shopping For eBay

The Pitfalls of Shopping For eBay
The danger with being an eBay seller is finding too many great items that you want to KEEP. I won't be the first nor the last eBay seller to buy something and want to keep it but last week I had a fantastic shopping day that yielded more than the average number of items that I would like to have in my home.

The images in this collage are but a few of the 'finds' I had last week.  They're all great candidates for resale but some of them will not be resold.  
Can you guess which items I want to keep and which items will be placed on eBay for resale?

The large pictures of the Eiffel Tower and Notre Drame in Paris, France are signed prints by Ortiz Alfau and quite sellable on eBay.


The stained glass window is very, very nice. So nice, in fact, that it was gathering comments as I was headed for the checkout with it.


The hat is unlike any I have seen before. It is a LEATHER baseball cap from the Toronto Maple Leafs. How cool is that?


The skates are actually a wall hanging designed to hold keys or whatever else you might need to hang up. It's an unusual piece and the cashier chuckled after realizing that these flat Montreal Canadiens 'skates' were not really skates at all. 


The red Cars jacket is an adorable item from the second Cars movie, Cars 2, by Disney-Pixar. It's a winter coat done in a leather-like fabric designed to make it look like a real racing jacket and it is new.  


So, have you guessed which items I will keep and which I will part with? 


Friends and family will know that I love travelling and have been to Paris, France, which makes letting go of those pictures difficult for me even though I have a number of paintings and pictures that I have yet to hang. 

Friends might also know that one of my favorite colors, as evidenced by the walls in my kitchen and family room, is a warm, ochre or amber yellow, which is much like the color in this handsome piece of stained glass, making it another difficult piece to part with.

The bottom three items that is the leather hockey hat, the Montreal Canadiens wall hanging and the Disney jacket are nice items but definitely not subject matter that I am interested in and, therefore, will be sold on eBay. 


Of course it is probably a good thing that I am interested in keeping the LARGE items, since they would definitely pose a challenge for shipping from within Canada.   

Would you be tempted to keep any of my treasures?

Brenda
Treasures By Brenda
You never know what I
might have in store for you!

Quick Links


Visit my eBay store.




INTERESTING AUCTIONS: Emily Carr's The Crazy Stair

INTERESTING AUCTIONS: Emily Carr's The Crazy Stair
I am always intrigued by unique, one-of-a-kind auctions like those that include works by famous artists. In this instance it is a painting by Canada's Emily Carr that is known as The Crazy Stair and The Crooked Staircase, which is coming up for auction on November 28, 2013.

The painting, which hung previously at the historic Vancouver Club in British Columbia, Canada, was called The Crooked Staircase but recently, during conservation, it was discovered that this painting is really named The Crazy Stair by Carr herself. 

This work, which comes from Emily Carr's West Coast aboriginal artwork of the 1920s, features a looming totem figure, a crooked staircase and bright Pacific greenery.

The auction house, Heffel Fine Art, says this painting represents Emily Carr at "full maturity."   It is expected to fetch up to $1.6 million dollars with that figure being called conservative. 

Emily Carr is one of Canada's most known artists and this piece of art considered amongst the rarest of Canadian pieces. I would love to see it find a new home in a museum so that all of us can enjoy it but I have no idea if that is likely to happen.

Brenda
Treasures By Brenda
You never know what I
might have in store for you!

Quick Links:

eBay Stories - Sophie Ellis-Bextor #eBayStories

eBay Stories - Sophie Ellis-Bextor #eBayStories
I've just met Sophie Ellis-Bextor, a confessed eBay addict, via her Youtube video #eBayStories and she's a hoot.  She has been shopping on eBay for 15 years and has had so much fun doing so!

Sophie started shopping on eBay in 1998 and in this short video, which was created with eBay for their 18th birthday as a part of the eBay Stories campaign, she shares some of her favorite eBay scores.

Sophie likes to shop for vintage items and has found some amazing vintage clothing items as well as retro kitchen accessories.

Check out the video for yourself to see some of the fabulous items that she has purchased on eBay. Some of us can only wish we had Sophie's sense of style but all of us can successfully shop on eBay!

   

Hasn't Sophie had fun with eBay? How about you? Do you have any scores you are really proud of or anything you are desperately seeking? Personally, I am desperately seeking a replacement mug for the one I broke last week and I know eBay will eventually turn one up for me. It's only a matter of time!

Brenda
Treasures By Brenda
You never know what
I might have in store for you!

Quick Links:

Visit me on eBay!

Vintage Texas Instruments Speak and Spell

The vintage Texas Instruments Speak and Spell. Did you have one when you were a child?

Do you recognize this vintage learning toy?  I remember it though I was too old to play with it in the late 1970s or early 1980s.  It's the Texas Instruments Speak & Spell, an electronic toy designed to help youngsters improve their spelling skills. 

The Speak & Spell was one of the first handheld devices that had a display and changeable game cartridges.  I have been reading about it and it really does have an ineresting technical history, which you can read about on Wikipedia by clicking here. It is interesting that there is a Speak & Spell on display in the Smithsonian National Museum of American History

This toy has a history in the movies, too. As shown in this Youtube video, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial used the Texas Instruments Speak & Spell to build his  interstellar communicator.  


SPOILER ALERT: Beware that this video contains clips from throughout the movie. It does, however, do a good job of showing how E.T. used the Speak & Spell to communicate with home.




The Speak & Spell also appeared as Mr. Spell in two Disney movies, Toy Story and Toy Story 2 and in a number of horror movies including Bride of Chucky and Poltergeist III. 

It turns out that E.T. wasn't the only one to manipulate the Speak and Spell. According to Digital Trends, musicians are now using Speak & Spell units for "circuit bending in their music, where the guts have been modified to create new sounds."

For these reasons and, I expect a bit of nostalgia, the Texas Instruments Speak & Spell sells consistently on eBay and eBay is likely the best place to easily source one. 


Brenda
Treasures By Brenda
You never know what treasures
I might have in store for you!

Quick Links:

Click here to see find your Texas Instruments Speak & Spell on eBay.




Halloween Snow Globe Jigsaw Puzzle

Halloween fans and snow globe collectors alike are going to love this jigsaw puzzle!

I know, I know all you Halloween fans and snow globe collectors are going to fall for this snow globe-shaped, Halloween-themed jigsaw puzzle. It features many of your favorite holiday items packed in and around a snow globe without, of course, the fragile nature of an actual snow globe.

The details included a modern home that is decorated for Halloween; lots of jack-o'-lanterns; an overflowing pumpkin-shaped candy bucket and a black cat.

With 1,000 pieces, this SunsOut puzzle is a great challenge to take on before Halloween. Find it on Amazon by clicking right here.

You never know what I might have in store for you!

Happy Puzzling!
Boo-renda


Vintage B. Kliban Collector's Items

Vintage B. Kliban Collector's Items

The artist B. Kliban created Kliban the ultimate cartoon cat in the 1970s and his black and white cat achieved huge popularity from the publication of the first book and was eventually featured on every type of merchandise conceivable from calendars and t-shirts to mugs and cookie jars. (Shown above is the first B. Kliban book called Cat.)

The book The Collectible 70s says that official B. Kliban merchandise, that is merchandise marked BKliban, was only manufactured for about 6 years. Since Kliban the cat has retained his popularity, merchandise bearing his likeness is highly sought after, especially the older pieces marked BKliban. After the artist's death, other manufacturers produced pieces using Kliban's likeness and some of those items will be marked JKliban or BKcats. 

B. Kliban Cat Space Ship Teapot


I love the striking teapot shown above, which was previously sold on eBay by seller lkg0vvu.  However, that one has since been sold. You can, however, check for it and see what other Kliban teapots are available here on eBay. What Kliban collector wouldn't like to own a themed teapot?

B. Kliban Pants Cookie Jar

I rarely find Kliban merchandise myself when I am sourcing but at one point, I did have the fun cookie jar shown above, which was manufactured by Sigma and Tastesetters in the shape of a pair of pants with not one but rather three Kliban the cat figures on top. If you are interested in a Kliban cookie jar, you can check eBay here and you can find oodles of other Kliban merchandise on eBay by clicking right here 

Pretty good, don’t you think, for a cat that is not considered particularly cute or mysterious but simply very funny?

Brenda
Treasures By Brenda


Canadian Pickers Television Show

Canadian Pickers

SPOILER ALERT! This post discusses the places the Canadian Pickers visit and the people they meet on the first episode of Season 4.

I just watched what may be the best-ever episode of the television show Canadian Pickers. The show always resonates with me because it's filmed in Canada and I'm a Canadian and because I have travelled to many of the places that hosts Scott Cozens and Sheldon Smithens visit. However, there was something about this show that made me really, really, really, want to go picking, shopping, thrifting or whatever you call it right NOW...

I love how the show started out in a barber shop in Toronto that celebrates the Toronto Maple Leafs Hockey team in full color, even though hockey is not my favorite sport.

I also enjoyed the second visit in Toronto to the kind of antique store that I would like to shop in, one that's filled to the rafters with stuff including odds and ends and interesting bits and pieces. Both Scott and Sheldon met the challenge of finding a great item for resale purposes at a cost of $50. I am not sure I could have met the challenge but it would have been fun to try.

Next the show took us to visit a couple who built a home of logs. The couple also constructed the garage to look like an old-time service station. How cool is that? I'm not so interested in the stuff that the Canadian Pickers picked here but the location was pretty interesting and I think it would make a good set up for an eBay seller, but I digress…

Next we visited the home of a 16-year-old who both collects for himself and operates a business buying and selling antiques. We enter a suburban home not unlike the one that I live in, and there are no collectible items in sight. It turns out that the young man keeps all of his antiques in his bedroom. If you ever get the chance to see this episode, prepare to be amazed. I think it is really great what this young man has learned and accomplished so far about antiques and about negotiating. In the show footage, he appeared to have no trouble matching wits with the Canadian Pickers.

It was a fabulous episode of an always interesting show. If you haven't tuned into the Canadian Pickers, which I believe is known as the Cash Cowboys in some markets, what are you waiting for? At each pick you will meet some interesting people, learn a great story and uncover some history.

I know from experience that it is not as easy to gather a bunch of great places to “pick” as this show made it look. On a recent vacation, when we had a few hours to shop, we struggled to find some good stops because we had not done any advance planning. We did not come home empty-handed, but we weren't as successful as we could have been.  

We did find some collectible Alexander Keith's products as well as some beautiful handmade baby quilts, which are nothing like what you usually see the Canadian Pickers picking but nevertheless are still quite interesting and will make a beautiful addition to a baby's nursery either as a crip or lap quilt or as a wall hanging. As an added bonus, these purchases will pay for the gas for our Nova Scotia vacation.

How about you? Do you watch any of the shows about antiques, collectibles, auctions, collecting, picking or even just vintage-style? Which ones would you recommend?

EDITED 2019 to note that the Canadian Pickers program finished and the Facebook page wound down around 2014.

Brenda
Treasures By Brenda
You never know what treasures
I might have in store for you!





Summer Is Almost Gone & Soon It Will Be Time To Put Your Blue Jeans On!

Would you believe it? Summer is almost gone and it will soon be time to put your blue jeans on! 

We had a wonderful summer, enjoying some of Ottawa's endless summer celebrations including the Ottawa Fringe Festival, the capital's Canada Day celebrations and the Ottawa Bluesfest where we lucky enough to see the bands Fun, Tegan and Sara, Serena Ryder and the legendary B.B. King.

We also had a quick trip to Nova Scotia for my father's wedding on the beach and for the 50th Anniversary of the Sea King helicopter. 

Finally, we squeezed in a camping trip during which time we went caving in the Lusk Caves in Gatineau Park in Quebec. It was definitely a physical challenge for me and, after I relaxed, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. The pictures shows me with my elder son who went through the caves not once but twice with me.


Now it is back-to-school time. A bittersweet time, I think, for those with grown children. I have just one son going back to school, which means he is moving out, again. He is going into his third year at Queen's University in Kingston and his companionship will sure be missed. No longer will I have the chance to TRY to beat him at Scrabble. Well, not until next summer at least and in order to improve my chances of one day beating him, I think I should spend the long, cold Canadian winter ahead doing Scrabble worksheets!

Once again, we will be empty nesters. I wonder what is happening in your household this September. Do you have children? If so, are you sending little ones off to school or are they all grown up or somewhere in between? If you don't have children, does September feel like the beginning of a new season for you?

We always start school with new jeans so I decided to gather up some fabulous denim pieces from my eBay store, including some name-brand blue jeans as well as some great jean jackets for this post. They are perfect for the fall days ahead whether you are going to school or not and remember, all of my items feature FREE Canadian and U.S. shipping.


Take care until next time.

Brenda
Treasures By Brenda






Disney's Tale Spin Toys

Disney's Tale Spin Toys

Disney's Tale Spin was an animated children's television series that aired for two seasons in 1990. It featured two main characters: Baloo who we know from Disney's Jungle Book and Kit Cloudkicker who went on plenty of adventures that included air pirates, one of whom was Don Karnage.

In 1991, Playmates released a series of figurines and toys including as shown on the left, Disney's Tale Spin Toy Plane called Don Karnarge's Tri-Wing Terror.

Don Karnarge's Tri-Wing Terror included a "realistic" sounding turbo propeller, which I believe you had to manually turn to hear, a gun sight, a retractable pilot's canopy, aerial attack guns, tri-wing design, detachable bombs and high-flying pontoons. New but in an open box, Don Karnarge sold from the toy department of my eBay store for close to $200.

The Tri-Wing Terror is just one of a number of Tale Spin toys that are rare and sought after, fetching good prices on eBay.


Vintage Disney's Tale Spin Giant Baloo

The Giant Baloo Collector Action Figure shown here sold for more than $70 through the eBay store Tootsie's Toys, who is no longer selling on eBay.

Tale Spin Toys Plush Molly

And eBay seller reddogedwards found a happy collector for The Molly Cunningham plush toy shown above, who was willing to pay more than $1,000 for this prized memory from the 1990s.

Not all of Disney's Tale Spin toys are so valuable. There are plenty of items that are affordable, like pins, comic books and McDonald's toys, but there are also a few really special pieces, like those sold items shown here on this page. You can see for yourself a huge selection of Tale Spin merchandise right now by clicking right here

You never know what
I might have in store for you!
Brenda

Quick Links:

See what new, used and vintage toys are in my eBay store.

Alexander Keith's Brewery Tour and Merchandise

Alexander Keith's Brewery Tour
We had the opportunity this summer to enjoy a tour of Alexander Keith's Brewery in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Note that it was the historical brewery, which was established in 1820 and which is located in downtown Halifax. It no longer produces Alexander Keith's India Pale Ale nor any other beverage.  We don't know whether or not you can actually tour a working Keith's brewery.

We were impressed by the enthusiasm of the costumed interpreters who led us from room to room and told us the story of Alexander Keith as shown in the following short video tour of the brewery. It was hard to imagine how the guides maintain such a high level of energy throughout a whole day of presentations.


Anyway, we enjoy Keith's beer occasionally and we enjoyed the tour. At the end of the tour, we were each offered two steins of Alexander Keith's beer, which was more than we could handle in the segment of the tour that we spent in the vintage-style tavern but we enjoyed the opportunity to taste test two varieties we had not had before.

We HIGHLY RECOMMEND the tour for anyone interested in the history of Halifax and/or Alexander Keith's beer.

Alexander Keith's Merchandise
Alexander Keith's produces a variety of merchandise items for its beer drinking fans.  If you missed out on buying a souvenir when you visited the brewery or you have never had the chance to visit but you love the brand, please check out the Alexander Keith's merchandise in my eBay store.  I usually have a few items including the Alexander Keith's Fine Beers steins as shown here.


"Those who like it,
like it a lot!" - Keiths
Brenda
Treasures By Brenda

Quick Links:

Enjoy eBay's complete collection of Alexander Keith's merchandise.



Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Silver Coin

Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Silver Coin
My son has watched every episode ever of Doctor Who, which is considered the most successful science fiction series ever.  For the uninitiated, the series started in 1963 and was produced by the BBC. It features a time traveller known as the Doctor who has been played over time by a total of 11 actors.  Obviously, it is an extremely popular and enduring television program with people other than my son. 

In celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who, the New Zealand Mint created a Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Silver Coin and released it in a limited run of 10,000 pieces.


On July 14, 2013, the first Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Silver Coin sold on eBay for $2,026.  Others will be available but this one was a special one because it was number 00001 in the numbered series. Since then a number of other sets have been sold, with prices ranging from $123 to $910 depending, of course, on the number each piece was in the series. 


The coin is sold in an attractive Tardis box.

Brenda
Treasures By Brenda
You never know what I might 
have in store for you!

Quick Links:




Elizabeth Taylor's First Wedding Dress Sold At Auction

Elizabeth Taylor's First Wedding Dress Sold At Auction
Elizabeth Taylor's first wedding dress, the one that she wore when she married Conrad 'Nicky' Hilton Jr, sold on June 26, 2013 at Christie’s auction house in London for twice the expected amount, £120,000 or $184,362.

The dress was a gift to Miss Taylor from MGM in 1950 when she appeared in MGM’s Father of the Bride movie. 
Reportedly, the dress took 15 people more than three months to create. The intricate gown was created by Helen Rose and featured 25  yards of shell-white satin decorated with seed pearls, bugle beads and a fifteen yard satin train.

The buyer was a mysterious telephone bidder but it is hoped that the dress was purchased by an institution so that it will one day be on display and available for viewing by the public.

How's that for interesting auction action? Pretty interesting, I'd say.

You never know what treasures I might have in store for you! 

Brenda
Treasures By Brenda


Quick Links:

Remember Digger the Dog, Digging He Goes With You...

Digger the Dog
Meet Digger the Dog, a toddler play toy by Playskool. He’s the hard-to-find yellow version of the dog featuring large floppy fabric ears and a red deerstalker detective hat.

Young children are immediately drawn to Digger. They simply pull the string and off they go with him.  

Digger quickly becomes a beloved toy and will help your young child work on his balance and coordination skills. 

At first your child will start by walking straight with Digger but as his walking skills improve, he will have fun taking Digger in circles, forward and backward and even sending him off on his own.  He will enjoy taking Digger for walks inside and outside, too. 

Watch as Digger the Dog takes me for a walk! 

 

Of course, Digger really did TAKE me on a walk but I could have controlled him a bit more and we would have gone at a leisurely pace.

You might remember Digger's song from the original television commercial, “Digger the dog, digging he goes with you when you explore, just pull his leash and go for a walk, he's your dog for sure!" Watch the video for yourself but be aware that you might wind up with the tune stuck in your head!



Digger is fun pull toy, an interesting dog sporting a detective look.  Do YOU remember Digger?  Find Digger, in assorted styles new, used and vintage, on eBay by clicking here.

Thanks for visiting & be sure to come back because you never know what new treasures I might have in store for you!

Brenda

Treasures By Brenda

Quick Links:

Click here to uncover more new, used and vintage toys in my eBay store.



The Wiggles Speak & Sing Dolls

Discover The Wiggles Speak and Sing Dolls.The Wiggles have been called “the world's biggest preschool band” and “a child’s first rock band” and have achieved success around the world. At one point in time, The Wiggles were so popular that you could visit the Toys ‘R’ Us department store in Times Square and find a section devoted entirely to The Wiggles.

Are you familiar with The Wiggles?

They are a group of children’s entertainers from Sydney, Australia that was formed in 1991. They ranked at the top of Australian Business Review Weekly’s list of entertainers for four years and earned numerous awards including 17 gold awards for sales of DVDS and CDs.

The Wiggles group has evolved since it was created and now includes mostly different performers but continues to be as popular as ever with children. That huge popularity has, of course, inspired much merchandise that includes but is not limited to CDs, DVDs and toys, some of which are widely available and others, like these The Wiggles Speak & Sing Cowboy Dolls, that are somewhat hard-to-find.

There were five cowboy-themed talking and singing The Wiggles dolls produced by Spin Master and Hit Entertainment in 2003. The characters produced include Gregg, Anthony, Jeff, Murray and Captain Feathersword. Each doll measures approximately 15 inches (38 cms) in height and is dressed in a western outfit that includes a rubber hat. Each doll introduces himself or sings a song when you push a button in his chest area.

Check out the Wiggles Speak and Sing Anthony, Greg and Jeff dolls in these short Youtube videos:

 


 

We love the fact that these dolls, which were aimed at the preschool market, were made safe for children as young as two years old and that a bit of poking around online uncovered good reviews. These reviews included comments like, “This item is a very good item for any child 2 or above that loves the wiggles and the music they play” and “…my husband calls these Wiggles dolls superheroes. They are very durable and when they get dirty you can take off their clothes and wash them or wipe them with a washcloth.” I’d be careful, however, when cleaning the clothing of one of these rare toys and do so gently in a basin of warm soapy water.

How about you? Had you heard of The Wiggles?  Did you own one of The Wiggles Speak & Sing dolls? Did you have an entire set of them?  Did you have any idea they were rare and sought after?

Thanks for visiting & be sure to come back because you never know what treasures I might have in store for you!

Brenda

Uncover more new, used and vintage toys in my eBay store.

I Bought A Rock at the Great Glebe Garage Sale

May 25, 2013 dawned a beautiful but cool Saturday morning with a blustery north wind. It marked the umpteenth time I've been to the Great Glebe Garage Sale and, as always, I totally enjoyed myself.

As an eBay seller, I shopped for treasures for my eBay store but, given the difficulties of carrying purchases around an entire neighborhood, I shopped in a very limited way.

While I am always happy to come away with an interesting find or two, the Great Glebe Garage Sale is really more of an opportunity to be outside and enjoy a lovely part of the city on a beautiful summer day than it is a serious shopping day.

This year my university-aged son dragged himself out of bed at 7 a.m. so that he could see what all the fuss was about and I do believe he enjoyed himself, too.

We parked far outside the Glebe and set off in hunt of treasures. Driving within the Great Glebe on garage sale day is, in my opinion, a mistake and of course taking the bus doesn't work either if you are a shopper.

I was looking for any of the sorts of  treasure you'll find in my eBay store with due consideration to the fact that anything I purchased would have to go in my small wheeled cart and be pulled around all morning.

My son wasn't looking for anything in particular though we did determine midway through our morning that he could use a new griddle since he's the pancake expert amongst his friends at university and that he was interested in an inexpensive Nintendo 64 to replace a broken one that belongs to one of his house mates.

My first purchase was a small and lightweight rock, which is shown in the photograph on this page. Okay, maybe it was not so light but it was an impressive piece of Newfoundland that the vendor was asking a whopping .25 cents for. How could I leave it behind?  I didn't and we had a chuckle as I placed a 'rock' in the bottom of my cart.

Of course, it didn't take long to fill my cart once I'd purchased a couple of wooden Korean masks, a toy soldier Wilton cake pan, a giant bag of Thomas the Tank Engine Duplo, a large Walt Disney snowglobe and a sealed Mickey Mouse World's Most Difficult Jigsaw Puzzle. In due course, you will find all of them listed in my eBay store.

Once my little cart was full, we hiked back to the car and put my purchases away returning once again to the Glebe in search of sustenance.

Stopping for lunch a bit early proved helpful as we were able to score a patio table right on Bank Street. We enjoyed our lunch at the The Farmteam Cookhouse and Bar while watching hoards of happy shoppers pass by with their purchases.  I'll never forget the young man struggling with bicycle, skis and a shiny silver...mannequin.

Have you shopped at the Great Glebe Garage Sale? What did you think? Did you discover any hidden treasures? Or maybe you have a favorite neighborhood sale of your own elsewhere?

You never know
what I might have in store for you!
In this case I can offer a little piece of Newfoundland.

Brenda
Treasures By Brenda

Quick Links:

Find treasure in my eBay store.

Original 1955 Lady and the Tramp Movie Poster

Lady and the Tramp Movie Poster
The Lady and the Tramp poster shown here is a modern reproduction from Amazon but recently a gentleman in Forest Lake, Minnesota  found an original 1955 Lady and the Tramp movie poster at a Goodwill store and picked it up on speculation, thinking it might be worth $100 or so. 

Turns out his instincts to pick the poster up were right as he has a rare 1955 Lady and the Tramp movie poster from Disney that is listed elsewhere online for $53,900.  


The news story reports that he has had the poster authenticated and hopes to be able to sell his treasure for $20,000 to $40,000.


BUT WAIT. The story isn't so simple.  


Comments on the original post where I read about this story say the poster isn't an original 1955 movie poster...despite the presence of one for sale online for more than $50,000 and despite the appraisal that the man had done.


Yikes. I hope this turns out to be a real find for the young man in question but it sounds like I'll continue walking by Lady and the Tramp Disney movie posters. How about you? What do you think you would have done if you had come across a vintage Disney poster? Would you have picked it up or dismissed it? 

Love treasure hunting? Be sure to follow my blog. You never know what treasures I might have in store for you!

Brenda

Quick Links:

The Ottawa Senators Gift Ideas

Ottawa Senators Gift Ideas
For those of you who might not know, the Ottawa Senators is a hockey team that plays in Ottawa, Ontario and in the National Hockey League.

Woo Hoo! Wikipedia says that the Sens made it to the Stanley Cup playoffs twelve times in the last fourteen seasons, that they've won four division titles and a President's Trophy and that they appeared in the 2007 Stanley Cup Finals.

I'll never forget when the Sens made it to the 2007 Stanley Cup Finals.  The town was alive with Sens color then as it is right now.

I'll admit that I am NOT a big hockey fan. However, when your home town team makes it to the playoffs, you cannot help but be enthusiastic! 

Because I am not a big hockey fan, it never occurred to me that I should have an Ottawa Senators shirt but I think I should, in part for the fun of it and, of course, to show support for our team. If I had one in my t-shirt collection, I could wear it every year whenever the Sens were playing and be part of the Red Army.  I do love the slogans that appear on the older Ottawa Senators t-shirts like Red Army, Bring Home Stanley and This Is My Team.

I have a wonderful selection of Ottawa Senators themed hockey items in my eBay store.  I have a number of out-of-print, nostalgic Sens shirts that might generate some good memories of hockey seasons gone by as well as some other interesting items including a plush version of the Mascot, Sparty; a gorgeous plush Christmas stocking; and, two highly unusual Ottawa Senators themed Hawaiian shirts. (Yes, that's right, Hawaiian hockey shirts!)

I think that any of these items would make fabulous gift ideas for an Ottawa Senators fan. I've even thought of keeping the Hawaiian Senators shirts and both my husband and I could wear them to the annual tacky Christmas party we attend.  If we both had one of those shirts on, I know it would be tough NOT to give us the prize especially since we'd be in the company of some very serious Sens fans!

How about you? Are you a hockey fan? An Ottawa Senators fan? Do you have a shirt to show support for your favorite team?

Go Sens Go!
Brenda

See all of the Ottawa Senators gift ideas in my eBay store.



How To Make Money Selling on eBay

How To Make Money Selling on eBay
The 2014 version of "My eBay Sales Suck" has a much friendlier title that its predecessor: eBay 2014 Why You Are Not Selling Anything on eBay and What You Can Do About It. It is available from Amazon as an eBook for under $5 or a paperback book for under $15.

I read it along time ago and I need to revisit the 2014 version before I can vouch for it. However, for some insight you can check out the Amazon customer reviews.

And in case you don't know, you do not have to have a Kindle eReader to access a Kindle book. I read my Kindle books on my iPhone and on my computer.  It's definitely not an ideal way to read a book but it is definitely doable.

Edited in 2019 to add that eBay changes very quickly. There still may be value in reading an older book but you are probably better off with newer publications, which given the ever changing nature of eBay are out of date almost before they are published!

Brenda



Quick Links:

Download your copy of Amazon.

Free MP3 Music Downloads

MP3 Music Downloads
We have no idea how long they'll be free but today Amazon has more than 100 free MP3 songs and extras available. Of course, you don't have to have an MP3 player to listen to the downloads.

Visit Amazon  and in just two clicks these songs are all yours, however you choose to listen to them.

We noticed that there are free songs for all tastes in music including but not limited to rock, blues, children's music, folk, classical and country music.

We even noticed the Mockingjay call from Lionsgate and the Hunger Games movie. That is a haunting sound that will take fans of Suzanne Collins' stories back to the books and the movie and have you thinking ahead to the next movie, Catching Fire.

Note, these music downloads are only available to individuals in the United States, which is unfortunate for Canadians and are likely available free for a limited time only.

Happy Listening!
Brenda

Quick Links:

Download FREE music for your MP3 player on Amazon.



Rare 1936 Canadian Cent At Auction

Rare 1936 Canadian Cent At Auction
Here's a rare penny to be on the lookout for, a 1936 Canadian cent. However, given that it is one of only three known examples ever produced of the coin, finding one just isn't going to happen.

It's a complicated story entwined with the royal family.  The Royal Canadian Mint was concerned about a coin shortage in 1937 and so minted this coin using a picture of the old George V coin because they did not have an image to use of the unexpected new king when Edward VIII abdicated and George VI took the throne. 

Because the Mint did not want this coin to be confused with earlier pennies featuring George V, they put a dot under the date, which you can see in this image from the Ottawa Citizen. 

However, the shortage of pennies never happened and only three samples of this coin were ever made, making them extremely rare and sought after.  Some believe more coins may have been made but eventually used to create another coin.

This rare 1936 'dot cent' is expected to sell for as much as $250,000. 

If that's a bit out of your price range, but you're interested in seeing what Canadian pennies usually sell for on eBay, click here to see a sampling of one cent Canadian coins available right now on eBay.

See you
at the auction!
Brenda

Early Canadian Hockey Cards at Auction

Early Canadian Hockey Cards at Auction

Personally, I have never sold a hockey card on eBay but, of course, a quick glance at an eBay search for rare hockey cards turns up plenty of sellers who do sell them and buyers who do buy them and shows that many of them are quite valuable.  For instance, I found a Darryl Sittler card that sold on December 12, 2012, for $6,250.

It was with interest then, that I read of a recent auction sale for a set of the earliest Canadian hockey cards. The hockey cards in this set were originally sold between 1910-11 to adult collectors in packs of cigarettes. 

Called an "almost unheard of rarity" this complete set of 45 cards included the card shown in this image from the Ottawa Citizen that features Montreal Canadiens goaltender Georges Vezina. This single card alone is said to be worth up to $50,000.

This morning, Wikicollecting said that the auction on this rare set of early Canadian hockey cards closed late Tuesday, March 5, 2013, for $158,678.  That's one pack of hockey cards I wouldn't mind finding!

How about you? Are you a collector or maybe a seller?

Brenda

Quick Links:

Visit eBay to see what rare hockey cards

The Official Oscars App

Of course, there's an app for almost everything these days. This morning I accidentally tripped across the Official Oscars App although I haven't been able to check it out because it is not available in Canada. 

So, if you are in the U.S., you will be able to enjoy The Official Oscars App. It allows you to partake in the whole process, from the Academy Award nominations to the Oscar presentations, though of course we are awfully close to the actual Acadamy Awards date of February 24, 2013 so you won't have as long to enjoy it as you might have if we had discovered this app sooner. 

The app offers you information about the movies including the official trailers. You will be able to watch programs about the films, the actors and the fashions.  I think that the best feature will be the opportunity in 'My Picks' to cast a ballot for your favorite movies and see how you score when the results are in.

You can see how the Official Oscars App works in this short Youtube trailer:
 


The Oscars App is available for the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch from the iTunes store or for your Kindle or Android device from Amazon and it is FREE.
 
See you
 
 

Olympic Basketball Expected To Go Home To The United States

Deflated. Lumpy. Old. All words used to describe this BERG basketball.

American Basketball enthusiasts will be watching with interest when it comes up for auction this week in New York. It is, according to the Ottawa Citizen, the only Olympic gold-medal game ball that isn't owned by someone in the United States.
This basketball is from the Canada versus United States 1936 gold-medal basketball game at the Berlin Olympics. The United States won the game that day but it looks like the Canadian who carried this ball home or at least his family will be a winner when this ball is sold for an estimated $150,000.

See you
at the auction!
Brenda

Read the whole story in the Ottawa Citizen at Olympic Basketball Up For Sale.



The Serta Counting Sheep

The Serta Counting SheepSpurred on by eBay seller Mandicraft's purchase and subsequent sale of four Serta Sheep mugs, I went looking for more information about the famous or perhaps infamous Serta Counting Sheep.

Turns out the Serta Sheep are actors who were very carefully hand-picked by the Serta Mattress company and who have gone on to phenomenal commercial success.

If you are blissfully unaware of WHO the Serta Sheep are, I offer up this YouTube video, which is perhaps my favorite of the numerous Serta Sheep commercials. I love it because it is so heartfelt and, perhaps, because the lady in the commercial shares my name, LOL.



If you are looking to buy Serta Sheep plush toys, I recommend turning to eBay and, if you are wondering if Serta Sheep are a good thing to sell on eBay, the answer is a resounding YES. They are definitely something to sell on eBay. See for yourself all of the Serta Counting Sheep by clicking here to eBay.

Brenda

Quick Links:

Meet The Serta Counting Sheep.


My New I Phone (2011)

My New I Phone (2011)I was dragged kicking and screaming into the world of the electronic gadget. Until Christmas 2011, I was happy to own a $10 pay-as-you-go cellphone. It allowed my family to reach me in case of an emergency and was hardly ever used.

On Christmas morning in 2012, I opened the last package under the tree. What I saw made my jaw hit my chest and rendered me speechless for a solid 10 minutes. When I started to speak, I would really call it more of a sputter.

I am sure you have guessed what was in that package. Yes, that's right, it was a shiny new Apple iPhone, a gadget that I once mentioned aloud to my husband had business applications for my eBay store, Treasures By Brenda and a pretty pink Otter case, as shown here.

As they say, the rest is history. My phone is used constantly for everything but talking. I even read Kindle ebooks on it. As recently as yesterday my husband, who of course was the Santa who gifted me with my phone, was heard saying, "What did you do before that phone?"

Enjoy!

Brenda



Ottawa Board Game Summit

Safe to say, I think, that all of the members of my family including my unofficial third son enjoy playing board games though, of course, we don't have as much time to pursue this activity as we would like and we no longer live under the same roof.

I read with interest therefore a story in this week's Ottawa Citizen called Fun For All At Board-Game Summit and thought wouldn't that have been fun.  

The summit was started in 2008 when it drew 100 visitors. This year, by Sunday, 1,500 people had come to play games.

My entire family would have loved to have spent any number of hours there accessing the 600 board game library. For an entrance fee of $40, one had access to the collection for the weekend. 

The newspaper says that the game selection included board games way beyond the typical games you find at the department store, card games of the collectible sort, war-type games and giant games of chess, Jenga, etc.

Of course, my family owns a library of board games but they still eye with interest the new, used and vintage, hard-to-find board games that come into my house for my eBay store.  If you are a board gamer, you know that there is nothing like a new to you board game!

Settlers of Catan, anyone?

Brenda

Quick Links:

Read more about Jenga.
Check out the JENGA games on eBay.

Hub Caps For Sale

Sometimes it is funny what one person might think to sell that another might not. I know little about cars so I definitely would not think of selling something like hub caps, the product which has made Hub Cap Annie famous. 

Hub Cap Annie's journey was from working in pharmaceutical sales to 'queen' of the hub caps. I'll call her that, I'm not sure if anyone else has.

When Hub Cap Annie no longer wanted to work in pharmaceutical sales  she opened a store for used hubcaps in Denver, Colorado.

Hubcaps turned out to be an industry that was fairly dirty to work in but also quite interesting. As she herself said in The Star Pheonix, "I  love this collection. The designs are so ornate and the craftsmanship is so exquisite."

Hub Cap Annie started off with 600 hubcaps that she purchased from a police officer.   Eventually she owned a business that sold hubcaps and had a collection of 20,000 hubcaps.

She sold the business in 2008 but kept some of her favorite hubcaps including those from many manufacturers the likes of Rolls-Royce, Jaguar, Willys Knight, Chandler and Houk.

Yesterday's local newspaper shared the fact that Hub Cap Annie has put her personal collection up for sale on Craigslist.  She is asking $25,000 for her "Rare Vintage Grease, Center & Hub Cap Collection."

And yes, it looks like used hub caps are a good candidate for Something To Sell on eBay:



Is there a
hub cap in your future?
Brenda

Quick Link:

Read the Star Pheonix article, Hub Cap Annie Seeks A Good Home For Her Collection.


Disclosure

This post may contain affiliate links, which means we may receive a commission, at no cost to you, if you make a purchase from Amazon, eBay or Etsy through a link.



“As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and Etsy (Awin) Affiliate, I earn from purchases. ” Disclosure Statement