Chernobyl Strawberry Shortcake House

I am trying out a new iPhone blogging app. This is because I'm hardly ever at my computer. I'm usually at my storage unit with over 10,000 different toys.

I like to quickly share with you my interesting find today. The Berry Happy Home! This is the first time I have ever found one while thrifting. That's saying a lot for somebody who's been doing this for 20 years.

I was already having a really good thrifting day. I found a My Pretty Pony (one of the first my little ponies).

Then I found several bags of 80's toys including Sea Wees and Petite Ponies. I turned the corner and found three Care Bear stuffed animals from the 80s which I promptly snatched up.

Then, amid all of the wreckage of children's play sets there sat the Berry Happy Home!

Unfortunately, it looked like he been through some sort of terrible disaster. Therefore, I have dubbed it the Chernobyl House.

It's base is broken in several places, the stickers are wrinkled and some of them are missing, the plastic is yellowing. But...BUT it only cost me $3.10!!

Worth it? Maybe.

I could attempt to restore it since I don't currently have a Berry Happy Home and would really like one but what I will probably do is strip it for parts, clean the reusable ones and sell those in my store to save up for one and more mint condition.

Poor gross little thing!

Incidentally I have found something to be true. When you are at a thrift store and you find something from the 1980s it is about 90% more likely that you will find another thing from the 1980's. For that reason, when I find one object I look very closely for the items that got donated along with it, and usually I score!

I hired a nice gal to help me list over 1,000 toys this summer. Its going to take a lot of work but we are already part way done. She kept asking me if toys were really worth anything. I gently explained to her that people enjoy preserving pieces of their childhood. It makes them feel happy. She didn't get it.

Not many people do.

Which is probably why no one else wanted to by the Chernobyl house?

Did you find anything recently?

Happy Valentines Day!

Here's hoping tomorrow brings you wonderful opportunities to show the people around you that you care!

I surfed the web and shamelessly stole some great vintage valentine card images. Enjoy!

More SSC valentine cards can be found here.

Are Vintage Toys for Kids?

I know many of us out there are still kids at heart, yet sometime around the age of twelve we lost our desire to "play." That is, the voices that pop into our heads, shoot down our arms and burst out of the toy in our hand disappear. The stories we construct fall away. The elaborate relationships between Barbie and Little Miss Makeup fade. All we are left with is the desire to display, to make pretty and to stare at. In essence, our ability to play does not last past the tweens.

But for some of us, the old pleasures of play are resurrected through the children around us. My two girls are endless story factories. They can sit for hours and dress dolls, make up intrigues and set up houses. I have often tried to sit down and join them but I can not stand it for more than five minutes. The voices are lost to me.

As a grown-up collector I often think back to the story lines I created with my toys, and the memories are so sweet I want my children to have the same experience. Years ago I decided I would let my children play with my vintage toys. I have heard many a discussion on message boards about letting kids play with collections and there are several concerns brought up from things getting lost and destroyed, to safety issues.

Letting your kids play with a vintage collection is purely up to the collector. Several factors must be considered:

1 - Is the child responsible when they play with their current toys?
2 - Is the child old enough to treat them gently?
3 - Is the child truly interested in having a good play, or are they they kind who like to dump things out, mix things up and get things messy?
4 - Does the toy contain small, breakable, or dangerous parts?

Babies eat bunnies!

My two girls have always been very gentle with my vintage toys, and so I have allowed them to play with them. Now that they are older they understand how to keep small parts from getting lost but I have a few rules.

ANGEL'S RULES FOR PLAYING WITH OLD TOYS:

1 - Stay in one contained spot at one time. I keep them in one place, away from the dog. They are not allowed to take the toy out of that place.

2 - They cannot bang the toys together, throw them on the ground or remove any clothing.

3 - No small parts for small kids.

4 - They must ask my permission before they play.

5 - They must tell me when they are done.

6 - They must put everything back exactly as they found it.

Over the years we have had few incidents. I can't really remember any toys getting broken but a few got mixed up. To combat accessory mix-ups I began to print pictures of the toys and keep them in the baggie where the toy belongs. That way when the kids are done playing they can see exactly which piece goes where (psst . . . it helps me remember too!)

Ultimately, it is up to you to decide weather your kids are trustworthy enough to treat your toys with respect. I personally have enjoyed watching my kids create new memories with old toys.

Thriftstore, eBay and Private Sale Goodies!

This week I got a bunch of new items! I spent a lot on eBay, found a few thrift store things and did some private purchases from message boards and the like!

Really loving my He-Man stuff! I had a collection of these when I was about five years old and I intend to collect them again along with other 80's girl toys. 

The above items are finds from a really nice girl who contacted me through email! Although Tea Bunnies are a late 1990's toy line (I was out of high school when I first noticed them) I collect them because they remind me of 80's toys and they are pretty darn cute to boot! I am also happy about Megan and TAF Sundance, Sandcastle and Shovels, and my first baby boy pony!

If you look at the first picture you will see a ton of MLP accessories! That's thanks to a lot I won on eBay for around $50.

This is probably the last bunch of toys I will be getting until I am done sorting everything.

Finds for December 29th, 2010

Did everyone have a good Christmas? Next week I will post pictures of my daughter's Ponyville Christmas setup. It was so fun pulling all that together and Ponyville's are SUPER cute!

There was a bad blizzard in Utah yesterday but I got off work early and since the thrift store is only about two miles away I took a trip there before heading home.

Here's what I found:

Check out the cute Get Along Gang party supplies! Also, I found a bunch of cute 80's mugs, lots of G3's, a couple of G1's (though I forgot to picture one pony that I gave a bath to, she had bonnets all over her. I need to look up her name later). A Caboodles case, a Wuzzle, a PJ Sparkles mermaid, a Shopko Care Bear, a Sweetie Pup, a Charmkins VHS, Care Bear sheets, a Glo Friend, a fairy tail bird, a BIG Strawberry Shortcake picture.

My favorite was this cute little mug! I think I'll use it at work.

About half of this stuff will end up on my trades page. I haven't updated it in a few weeks and I have about 100 G3s to add as well as a whole host of 80's toys.

Okay so I lied . . . Finds for December 22, 2010

I thought tonight would be booked with something else, but I turned out to have a free night. So I stopped by a thrift store after work and check out this great haul! I was so excited! The cost was around $25. 

Included in this find are:

A few vintage Strawberry Shortcake playsets

Several vintage Care Bears and a giant newer Funshine

LPS puzzle

Rub a Dub doggie

Poochie Puzzle

A few vintage My Little Ponies (will have to clean them up)

A MLP remote-control scooter

Some Russ trolls

A vintage Pound Puppy Christmas ceramic

Flatsy doll

A trapper keeper

Lots of G3 MLPs

Beach Bunnies

Rainbow Brite doll

Smurfette Doll

Peppermint Rose bunny

Thundercats action figure

Several newer SSC items

and more!

Tomorrow is my birthday so I will probably try and squeeze in a thrifting trip during my lunch break. A lot of this stuff will end up on my trades page, which I won't be updating until sometime in the second week of January so keep an eye out!

Some fun things I got this week!

 I have been a bad girl this week . . . or a good girl. You be the judge. I bought a lot of stuff online. Good thing I got the items for awesome deals. The prices here include shipping. If you can't find a good deal, the purchase isn't worth it.

Complete Lady Lovely Locks Sunnypeek Doll $5

 Plush Apple Dumpling .50 cents (thrift store)

 Complete Oatsmobile $20

 Complete Strawberry Shortcake Lime Chiffon Deluxe Miniature $4

 Complete Smooshees Heather on a Hike set $4

Complete Angel Cake Blow kiss doll $12 

 Various Moon Dreamers $15

 Lady Lovely Locks complete Sea Magic Salon $10

 Sweet Secrets (plus some accessories not shown) $5

 

Cabbage Patch Poseables $10

 

Precious Places Ballet Studio (Has box too) $5

Ballerina Lady Lovely Locks (Missing Pixie tail) $30