Awesome Eighties! Were you there?

Awesome eighties! Were you a child of the 80's? I think I may have only been half present during that decade (spiritually, at least, since I was born in the 70's). I did like all those 80's movies, but I think some of the music sucked. I also think the 80's fashion was way less cool/interesting than the 60's and 70's. I enjoyed some of the toys from that era, but I was never into anything girly/rainbow/dolly/pony etc. I never wanted anything to do with Strawberry Shortcake, Dazzle Dolls, Rainbow Brite, My Little Ponys...And definitely NOT Cabbage Patch dolls! My mom was a big doll lover/collector. When those dolls came out my mom HAD to have one. We got on some sort of secret list (My dad probably hooked her up through the Press Club/Knight Rider newspapers). So we were on this "secret list" which gave certain special people first dibs at the Cabbage Patch dolls when the shipment arrived at Toys R Us. I had to get up at 6am with my mom, hang out at the back loading zone of Toys R Us, in the middle of a Detroit winter, and wait for them to open that giant silver garage door. And when they did, there were thousands of those ugly things to choose from. There was also a 2 doll limit. So my mom spent the next couple of hours sifting through doll after doll until she finally decided on the 2 that she was going to buy. Ugh! What a nightmare and what a horrible time for me.

 

Some eighties stuff is kick ass, love me some Pac Man and Atari stuff. Good times! Loved all those Sunday funnies characters too.

 

 

I have had some sweet 80's finds! This metal Pac Man tray will be hard to part with! The Alf puzzle....well I got 4 different ones, all still in original cellophane wrap! Ziggy doll..... I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I used to like him. A lot. E.T.....can't go wrong with the 80's movies. (Well actually you can: Teen Wolf. Ugh!)

 

 

Alf, Ziggy and Pac Man available HERE

 

 

 

Gremlins and more!

 



 

 

 

Before there was Chuck E Cheese Pizza, there was Showbiz Pizza!

Pretty much the same thing, but more characters, such as Mitzi. There was some gorilla too, can't remember his name....or maybe don't want to. There were still video games and skeeball, but there were more animatronic animal variety shows and musicals. Yep, you could still trade in your 10,000 tickets to get a Tootsie Roll or plastic ring. Somethings never change.

 

The Sandra Boyton holiday ornaments did not sell for me this year. Maybe they wont next year. Maybe I don't really care, because I kinda want to keep them.

 

Mitzi Mouse, Sandra Boyton ornaments available

HERE

 

He-Man, Gremlins and ET books available

HERE 

 

 

 

 

A Couple of months ago, I fell into the mother load of Garfield paraphernalia. The MOTHER LOAD, I tell ya! My son got first dibs. But I didn't make him meet me in the back alley with a silver ticket or anything seedy like that. I just said, "pick what you want, I know how much you love him!"

 

But ooohhh boy, I still got lots. Too much to list.

 

Want to own a piece of eighties history?

Garfield is available at both of my Etsy stores, and also plenty have found their way to STAINED MARKET PLACE in Ybor.

 

 

Sometimes things don't work out as they were supposed to have. Sometimes there are issues....disappointments...Failures.....

 

 

 

This Furby board game was a real heart breaker! Taped closed at the thrift store, so I knew I was taking my chances. But I take my chances all the time with things like this, and I have a pretty high success rate. Besides it wasn't going to break the bank. You win some, you lose some. Its part of the biz.

 

So of course this Furby game was missing, like, HALF of the pieces!

 

The Rainbow Brite game. Also a big fail! It was only missing one piece, but that's all it takes for a game to become unsellable. The two dirty mangy furbys are ones that my son has decided to keep. My daughter has two of the latest, newest Furbies. And this is what my son has. Two nasty dirty furbies. One doesn't work and the other may as well not work because it is so limited in its vocabulary.

 

 

Thankfully, a couple of fails won't stop me from seeking out fun eighties goods. I'm hunting for more old school Atari stuff, some Dungeons and Dragons, some old MTV advertising...that kind of stuff. I will scoff at any Cabbage Patch dolls. I am forever traumatized from hanging out in an alley on a cold Detroit morning while my mom spent hours searching through piles of the ugliest things known to mankind! ((shiver))

 

 

INDIE BIZ of the week.....Oh, its a good one, I tell ya!

 

 

 

 

THE UPCYCLE TRADING COMPANY

 

Located in lovely St. Pete.

 

They collect and offer used (and new) art, fashion and craft supplies with pay-as-you-wish pricing.

 

 

 

 

Paints, markers, beads, ribbons.....

Insane amounts of fabrics and trims, specialty papers and every sort of artsy doo dad you can imagine. Plus, art classes and events!

 

Lots of goods to make upcycled mixed media art. Don't let your unused art supplies sit in a landfill. Bring them here, someone will want them.

 

I know that a lot of people in the crafting world tend to have supplies left over, crafts that went awry, unfinished projects etc. So what to do with all that leftover stuff? Bring it here! For donation, or store credit. Spend some time here, dig around....you will find tons of goodies, I know I have!

 

 

 

What's on your agenda for the New Year?

 

Any cool eighties finds?

 

If your latest find is a Cabbage Patch doll, keep that to yourself, otherwise, I would love to hear about your eighties experience! Also, let me know about any independent biz that needs some love!