Had a little time to kill this morning so I hit a couple garage sales. I found a couple corvette kits still factory sealed, the better of two is Revell’s 1984 release of the 1960 Vette. I’m not a car guy but got them both for $5.00 total.
But my best buy of the day was a new in the box Iwata HP-C airbrush. If this thing sprays paint half as good as it looks and feels I’m really going to like it. It even came with the branded air hose. Had to give the guy all the remaining cash I had on me, a grand total of $8.00!
Anyhow, I’m just wondering what your best hobby related garage sale find/purchase is.
Although it’s not technicly a garage, I picked up Monograms B-26 1/48, AMT’s Starwars E1 Podracer and 1/72 Hobby craft CF100, all in their boxes and complet for $1.50 Canadian each from Sally Ann.
Have to credit my wife for it. She brought home a 1/48 Revell B-17, a Skytrain and a USS Missouri -still in film. All for 3 bucks. The sick part is their garage was full of old kits and those were the newest! He was getting out of the hobby and selling his stash. She estimated that there were nearly one hundred kits there, stacked to the ceiling! -the one day I didn’t go with her…
This was from a second hand store, I got AMT’s Star Trek- the ebterprise incident kit, which is $50 in the stores if you can find it, complete except for the fiber optics for $2.
Lee
i went to one and there was a medium sized compressor with an airtank, i asked how much, after looking at it and he said “don’t even know if it works so lets try it and then work out a price” he plugged it in and switched it on and nothing. then he says “if its any good to you you can have it for nothing”. lucky for me that he didn’t check that there was a fuse in the plug!!! (Hope he isn’t reading this) Greg
I noticed a garage sale just down the street from me as I was off to run errands. I didn’t have time to stop then, but I did make it back as the people were packing it in for the day. In the back, laying on the driveway was an original box for Monograms Big Rod. I opened it and discovered the kit had been built but was falling apart. I asked the guy how much he wanted for it and he said “Take it.” [8)] Got it home and found a complete kit with some parts still on the sprues, two of the optional accessory packs (the blower and drag interior), instructions for everything and two uncut decal sheets!
I’d put it on the mantle, but the wife won’t let me … [:D]
you know what they say, one mans trash is another mans treasure. i just wish i had all my old models my parents put out in there garage sells, i guess thats the price you pay for being a kid?
The best deal I ever got was a Revell 1/72 scale USS Saucy/HMCS Snowberry untouched for a dollar. The box was mildewy but the kit was pristine[:)] The guy then threw in a pair of Revell 1/32 kits: a DeHavilland Mosquito and Bristol Beaufighter because HE felt guilty. I offered more but he wouldn’t hear of it[:D]
Out here in a small town in the middle of Kansas you don’t find many models in yard/garage sales - I did once pick up an unopened Airfix 1/72 E-boat for a buck - but I do have a lot of tools that I use (compressor, needle files, Dremel tools, Exacto knives, small vises, paint brushes, etc)
My best acquisition from a garage sale was a Monogram B-36 still sealed in the box and 9 other old Monogram kits for a total of $60.00. That averages out to $6.00 per kit. I was a happy gargage sale customer.
My best find? Well, it’s pretty dry here in Central Florida when it comes to models, but I did one time find a complete box of 1/72 scale Confederate Infantry for a dollar. Why anyone would sell Confederate Infantry but keep the yankees, I’ll never know, but hey! At least these Johnny Rebs found a good home!
I’ve never found anything at a garage sale, but I had a bit of luck at a Trek convention a few years ago. One of the dealers had a couple of Enterprise As for $20 a piece. I immediately got those and continued to wander around the tables.
One of the dealers I had passed by earlier suddenly said, “Why didn’t you tell me you were into model kits? I have a few I’ve been trying to get rid of ofr a year!” He then brought out a fiber-optic Enterprise-D and a Klingon cruiser from Star Trek:TMP and asked for $20 for both.
I left that convention laughing. For $60, I walked away with what would have cost me about $300 from online shops! Finally, I didn’t feel quite so bad about the 2 or 3 occasions where I’d paid too much for a discontiued kit elsewhere.
Every Saturday I tell myself I should go check out some yard sales but something always seems to come up and keep me from going. After reading through this topic I think I need to forget about thoses “other things” and just go. Some really great finds there.
My best garage sale find was four kits for $1.50. They were the Monogram Hi-Tech F-14A, without instructions, An AMT MiG-27, with no decals, Testors RF-4, complete, and the one I wanted, the AMT KC-135A, without instruction. All I really wanted was the 135 but of course I didn’t argue with the lady when she told to me I had to take all four!
The model that got me back into the hobby was found at a garage sale! It was a radio-controlled fishing boat kit that I originally bought for a friend in Hawaii for ten dollars. Then I thought, this would be a nice “something-to-do” when I got rained out from work. I bought the boat and originally, it was just a “rainy day project.” But the modeling bug bit me and since rainy days are rare in southern California, it gradually became a full-time hobby. A few years later, I bought a 1970’s edition of Revell’s USS Constitution which still sits waiting to be built (this was before I decided upon a modeling specialty). The 1932 Chrysler Imperial was built from the old MPC kit which I found at an insulator and bottle show, of all places!