Charity Shop & Poundshop Finds
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Dunno. How big is Thoth? The figure is exactly 6 inches tall. Here's a selection of CDs
The Magical Music of Burt Bacharach, featuring an uncredited orchestra, is typical of the kinds of CDs you only find in charity shops. It features a most startling arrangement of Walk on By. It begins in mock baroque mode, toddles along for a bit, then suddenly switches to a fast bossanova beat while a trumpet goes all Dizzy Gillespie. Then it calms down again to end on a mellow note.
The Magical Music of Burt Bacharach, featuring an uncredited orchestra, is typical of the kinds of CDs you only find in charity shops. It features a most startling arrangement of Walk on By. It begins in mock baroque mode, toddles along for a bit, then suddenly switches to a fast bossanova beat while a trumpet goes all Dizzy Gillespie. Then it calms down again to end on a mellow note.
I used to buy loads of LPs from charity shops, but in the last year or so the prices have skyrocketed (I blame #hipstas).
Obviously I don't have a problem with paying what they're worth, I'm not looking for crazy cheap prices and I don't want to rip-off a charity, I just enjoy crate-digging.
But if I see another "classic" Mantovani for £9.99 or "first pressing -rare" Beatles LP complete with barcode printed on the back I'll.....I'lll....go somewhere else.
Obviously I don't have a problem with paying what they're worth, I'm not looking for crazy cheap prices and I don't want to rip-off a charity, I just enjoy crate-digging.
But if I see another "classic" Mantovani for £9.99 or "first pressing -rare" Beatles LP complete with barcode printed on the back I'll.....I'lll....go somewhere else.
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I've had a lot of good charity shop finds over the last quarter century but tbh never a good LP find that I can recall.
Some charity shops used to sell the good stuff straight onto dealers so you never got to see them, others had that big book of what records were worth but didn't realise they were dealers prices for mint examples if they wanted to have them in the window for perhaps six months before someone would bite. So you find something and think"well maybe, it's for charidee" and then take it out to check it and it's scratched to f*ck.
Speaking of hipsters, a while back I overheard an hilarious conversation between a couple of the staff at a local 'vintage' branch of Sue Rider... one of them had decided it would be cool to have a retro phone, so bought one that came in, only it was nicotine coloured(!) so she had to paint it, after which she found the ringer didn't work.
The phone worked but only if she could guess when someone was ringing her!
Some charity shops used to sell the good stuff straight onto dealers so you never got to see them, others had that big book of what records were worth but didn't realise they were dealers prices for mint examples if they wanted to have them in the window for perhaps six months before someone would bite. So you find something and think"well maybe, it's for charidee" and then take it out to check it and it's scratched to f*ck.
Speaking of hipsters, a while back I overheard an hilarious conversation between a couple of the staff at a local 'vintage' branch of Sue Rider... one of them had decided it would be cool to have a retro phone, so bought one that came in, only it was nicotine coloured(!) so she had to paint it, after which she found the ringer didn't work.
The phone worked but only if she could guess when someone was ringing her!
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Last week I overheard a conversation in which an over-enthusiastic assistant explained to an interested customer that the objects in the cabinet she could see were just the cheap things from a house-clearance - many of the things in the back were worth "tens-of-thousands of pounds!" They would go on E-Bay. Well, thank-you for the tip-off - there are people in that town who would hire a JCB for such insider-information - even bollocks from a muppet!
I don't want to celebrate things which have slipped past them*, since they are supposedly raising money for good causes; I do, however, feel that the foot-fall they used to enjoy will be decimated as people abandon them to pay the same amount online with the benefit of a search facilty!
I still find it hard to pass one without looking in but I'm sorry to say that the glory days of the charity shop have passed, unless you are actively seeking kitsch and second-hand silver-wedding detritus - surely the most depressing merchandise on earth, even when new!
*North by Northwest Bluray for a quid springs to mind.
edit: Eek! Slipped past not passed, I think!
I don't want to celebrate things which have slipped past them*, since they are supposedly raising money for good causes; I do, however, feel that the foot-fall they used to enjoy will be decimated as people abandon them to pay the same amount online with the benefit of a search facilty!
I still find it hard to pass one without looking in but I'm sorry to say that the glory days of the charity shop have passed, unless you are actively seeking kitsch and second-hand silver-wedding detritus - surely the most depressing merchandise on earth, even when new!
*North by Northwest Bluray for a quid springs to mind.
edit: Eek! Slipped past not passed, I think!
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I could fill up this thread with my charity/thrift shop finds (I love 'em) but here is one of my favorites that I happen to have a photo of at the moment.
It's a flask, actually, hollow, with a glass bottle inside and a top that screws on. It weighs about five pounds though, so I can't imagine what anyone would be drinking out of it?
Its one drawback is that the face resembles my gynecologist (though a tad friendlier).
I don't entirely agree, as you get no sort of guarantee with charity shop finds, so the price has to be lower than other sources, I would say. Certainly, I'd never dream of taking faulty goods back to a charity shop, but I'm prepared to take the chance if it's in a good cause.
That said, I'd never haggle in a charity shop, either - I've seen people try it, and I think that's pretty low (unless an object is clearly marked way too high, such as the LPs previously mentioned, in which case a polite word to the manger would be in order).
As for bargains, I've found boxes of Lego* (a guilty pleasure of mine) at silly prices, as well as model-railway related stuff, which I'll take a punt on, reliability-wise, if the price is low enough. I try to tell myself that both parties benefit from such bargains - after all, the shop haven't had to pay for the stock, and it's unlikely they have to pay much in the way of wages, either, so profit margins must be OK.
Ah, the old ESL57, good old Quad ESL57, old Quaddy-Quaddy... what's that, then?
*Edited to add - Lego has to be proper Lego. None of your Megablocks nonsense, or worse.
That said, I'd never haggle in a charity shop, either - I've seen people try it, and I think that's pretty low (unless an object is clearly marked way too high, such as the LPs previously mentioned, in which case a polite word to the manger would be in order).
As for bargains, I've found boxes of Lego* (a guilty pleasure of mine) at silly prices, as well as model-railway related stuff, which I'll take a punt on, reliability-wise, if the price is low enough. I try to tell myself that both parties benefit from such bargains - after all, the shop haven't had to pay for the stock, and it's unlikely they have to pay much in the way of wages, either, so profit margins must be OK.
I recall a volunteer once spotting a slightly beatup bronze colour Quad ESL57 which almost went in the trash, as they had a tendency to be mistaken for space heaters.
*Edited to add - Lego has to be proper Lego. None of your Megablocks nonsense, or worse.
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Quad ESL 57
You really need to see the bronze version to understand why a high end loudspeaker of yesteryear would get mistaken for a space heater.
You really need to see the bronze version to understand why a high end loudspeaker of yesteryear would get mistaken for a space heater.
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I'll give you £3 for it...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/testa-scimm...ef=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1432383228&sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.co.uk/testa-scimm...ef=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1432383228&sr=1-1