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Post by everso on Jan 30, 2011 1:13:49 GMT
We've lived in our house now for 30 years and during all that time I don't think we've knowingly thrown away anything. Mr. E. is preparing to put down some more insulation in the attic but first he has to move all the boxes, trunks, cases and god-knows-what-else before he can do it. We've taken the opportunity to sort all the stuff out and we've spent the day either roaring with laughter or near to tears.
First came a bag full of old clothes from the 1970s including Mr. E's wedding suit. He refused to believe that he ever managed to do up the jacket until I brought out the wedding album. Then he reckoned it must have shrunk while in the attic.
Most of my dresses from the 1980s were up there too! Plus a pair of culottes (circa 1968), a long black skirt (circa 1970), and the trousers and top I wore during the evening party of our wedding (1973) - all with waists so tiny I honestly cannot see how they ever fitted me (at least I don't claim they've shrunk).
It seems we never threw out or gave away any of the kids' toys either. All the Lego is there, Castle Grayskull and He Man's sword (cue heart flutterings from Alpha), a Sindy house, Sindy horse and horse-box, a naked Sindy and a box of her clothes, and a Flower Fairies house. I spent the day washing out Sindy clothes (I've even ironed a few). There's even one of those ancient ping-pong "computer" games that you plugged into the t.v.
And, eff me, there's even a wind up gramophone!
We've only done about half - the rest is going to be sorted tomorrow (well, today as it's the early hours). Oddly enough, I've not managed to find my white stilletoes yet, nor my old diaries. (I've promised Weyland that I'll scan some of the pages from my diaries for him to peruse - don't ask)
Does anyone else have an attic as full as mine?
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Post by Weyland on Jan 30, 2011 10:20:46 GMT
I spent the day washing out Sindy clothes (I've even ironed a few). That is why Eric Morecambe created the catch-phrase "There's no answer to that." It warms the cockles of my heart. Even Mail-reading Tory milk-in-last Mods from Essex can be human like the rest of us. Or me, at least. Probably worth money. Pong, wasn't it? First computer game I ever played, at The Rising Sun near Sudbury Hill tube. The beer was vile. (Nearest pub to the IBM Education Centre, now gone.) Don't start. Judging by the sound effects, my attic is a squirrels' playground. At least I hope it's squirrels. I never go up there, and it's empty.
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Post by Patrick on Jan 30, 2011 13:59:03 GMT
I wish I did have an attic full of nostalgia There's an indoor flea market here (fleas not included) that has a few stalls specialising in "Antique" clothes. I find it rather amusing, I think it basically means they'll pay you for anything interesting you might have - as opposed to the Charity shops that don't. Old toys are big business though - and most things seem to have a value now - so don't go chucking anything away just yet! I do have a garage full of (mices probably) and Corgi toys. I've just been talking about these on another fourm (fora?) saying how when the warmer weather comes I must try and get them into some plastic boxes instead and work to clearing out the mices! There's a bag of some of my Dad's buses and Lorries from the late 30's/40's. Sadly all are tyreless and many are headlampless too as they wee all sticking out and prone to getting knocked off. I've offered them in the past to cousins for their children, but the ungrateful so and so's weren't interested. (Just wait til they get to my age and the nostalgia bug kicks in). I'm not sure I could really put them all on ebay - the thought of all that running back and forth to the Post Office! Tempted to find a reputable Auctioneer and pass them along to them. My Uncle in the past few years has passed on his toys and many trains to a friend who's a regular ebay seller - I know there are companies that do that too - but probably better to know someone. I'm not afraid of ebaying - I'm just lazy! Though saying that, I think they do a service now or there's an ebay "gadget" where you can weigh up everything at home first and the only time you need to go to the P.O is just to send everything off.
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Post by aubrey on Jan 30, 2011 14:34:13 GMT
You can get scales quite cheaply (£8.99 at Amazon); but you'd still need to weigh them at the PO, unless you have a supply of stamps.
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Post by Weyland on Jan 30, 2011 14:47:47 GMT
You can get scales quite cheaply (£8.99 at Amazon); but you'd still need to weigh them at the PO, unless you have a supply of stamps. You can print your own "stamps" these day. Not kidding. See the Royal Mail site. If it hasn't been privatised or donated to Richard Branson when I wasn't looking. Be quick. Years ago I wrote some software for Jilona (an eBay fiend, she was) to calculate the exact postage and insurance for letters, packages, printed matter, etc., given the weight and destination. It'll be out of date now, but I suppose I could update it. Get some digital kitchen scales, and Bob's your uncle.
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Post by Patrick on Jan 30, 2011 14:55:23 GMT
Ebay might have nicked your idea Weyland. I think they now have an "application"you can download to help you sort it all out. The printing out of postage came about because of the surge in demand from the booming ebay market, too. It's one intriguing thing when politicians bash on about Royal Mail's business - the decline in letter writing etc. Whilst that may be the case - the parcels market is booming (so I've heard/read). Though that was one of the first things that got opened up to competition of course.
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Post by everso on Jan 31, 2011 0:21:31 GMT
We spent the day attending to Sindy's house, furniture, her horse and horse-box. They are now sparkling clean. The boxes that held the furniture were full of ancient mouse droppings The next thing to tackle will be Castle Grayskull and the Lego. We're thinking of doing a boot sale with all the books that were in the attic.
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Post by Weyland on Jan 31, 2011 10:43:35 GMT
We spent the day attending to Sindy's house, furniture, her horse and horse-box. They are now sparkling clean. The boxes that held the furniture were full of ancient mouse droppings I'll tell my niece. I dare say Tressy will be flying over from Toronto soon to chew over old times with Sindy. And that ActionMan love-nest scandal needs clearing up and entering in the public record for posterity. I know Pat* did have Tressy accessories as well. Maybe Tressy will bring her little ..er.. horse with her. ______ * My niece, that is, not The Powers That Be.
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Post by everso on Feb 1, 2011 2:07:53 GMT
Castle Grayskull got a good scrubbing today. Unfortunately we no longer have the box (according to my son, the complete thing goes for over £100 on ebay) or it would be up for auction.
Actually, can anybody advise me as the best place to flog old books? I have several which were given to us about 20 years ago, that date back to the 1950s. Old Eagle annuals, some with the dust jackets and in fairly good nick, a 1954 Football book, and a couple of railway books (steam trains). Plus quite a few cowboy books including Hoppalong Cassidy and Roy Rogers.
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Post by Weyland on Feb 1, 2011 10:53:00 GMT
Actually, can anybody advise me as the best place to flog old books? I have several which were given to us about 20 years ago, that date back to the 1950s. Old Eagle annuals, some with the dust jackets and in fairly good nick, a 1954 Football book, and a couple of railway books (steam trains). Plus quite a few cowboy books including Hoppalong Cassidy and Roy Rogers. You could try Amazon. I don't know what the deal is, but you can be sure the mechanism will be streamlined. And you can probably see what they go for, I dare say.
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Post by aubrey on Feb 1, 2011 10:53:29 GMT
They'd probably go on Ebay, Everso. I don't know if you'd get a great deal for them, though. Otherwise, there used to be a shop on The Holloway road called the Fantasy Centre that sold old annuals - I got a couple of Billy Bunter Holiday annuals from the 30s from there. But they cost me £3.50, so the original seller wouldn't have got much. Or some other specialist shop - there are some children's book specialists: I don't know what these are like
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Post by Weyland on Feb 1, 2011 12:42:36 GMT
Actually, can anybody advise me as the best place to flog old books? I have several which were given to us about 20 years ago, that date back to the 1950s. Old Eagle annuals, some with the dust jackets and in fairly good nick, a 1954 Football book, and a couple of railway books (steam trains). Plus quite a few cowboy books including Hoppalong Cassidy and Roy Rogers. You could try Amazon. I don't know what the deal is, but you can be sure the mechanism will be streamlined. And you can probably see what they go for, I dare say. A quick glance seems to indicate that it costs 86p per item to sell there, plus some other fee -- I didn't read the details. It's not an auction, of course. Try searching for eagle annual on the Amazon site. I got 529 hits. Of the 50s and 60s ones the dearest was £56 (1952), and the cheapest £2 (1962). I might have a go at this myself. You can be the guinea pig, Ev.
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Post by everso on Feb 1, 2011 13:29:51 GMT
You could try Amazon. I don't know what the deal is, but you can be sure the mechanism will be streamlined. And you can probably see what they go for, I dare say. A quick glance seems to indicate that it costs 86p per item to sell there, plus some other fee -- I didn't read the details. It's not an auction, of course. Try searching for eagle annual on the Amazon site. I got 529 hits. Of the 50s and 60s ones the dearest was £56 (1952), and the cheapest £2 (1962). I might have a go at this myself. You can be the guinea pig, Ev. Weeeep weeeep weeeep Thanks Weyland and Aubrey. I'm getting quite excited. I also have some film brochures from the 60s and 70s, I might try flogging those too.
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Post by Weyland on Feb 1, 2011 13:43:09 GMT
That's EXACTLY what our guinea pig, Flossie, used to say when we brought her her favourite dinner -- cucumber peelings. Only a lot louder. And she said something a bit like it when a big cat used to come and sit on top of her mesh-enclosed run outside in warm weather. The cat looked hungry, but Flossie just tried to engage in civilised conversation. No fear at all. When my daughter buggered off to Arnhem, we took Flossie to the local Kinderboerderij (children's zoo), where she spent the rest of her happy life in retirement. We used to visit her now and again. I still quite miss her weeeeeeeping when I sling the peelings in the bin.
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Post by everso on Feb 5, 2011 18:38:10 GMT
Attic update:
I have some sad news to report. My son's two Action Men, complete with clothes, had to be chucked in the bin. Their heads had become detached from their bodies (although their "eagle eyes" were still in good working order and they still possessed impressive six-packs) and I could see no way that they could be re-attached.
The Matchbox and Corgi cars have been spruced up though, and await my son's visit next weekend. He will have to decide their fate.
I found a Transformers card game too, still in the box.
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Post by everso on Feb 24, 2011 12:56:44 GMT
Just to keep you all posted, I'm having a great time flogging the books on eBay. I haven't made much money (about thirty quid so far), but it's good fun. I've also put some movie souvenir brochures up for auction and have had a couple of bids on them. I'm really getting into this now and keep looking round for things I can get rid of.
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Post by rjpageuk on Feb 24, 2011 13:56:12 GMT
Ebay is the best place for this stuff, if any of it is genuinely valuable you should find out from there. Karen made me go up in our loft to get some stuff down which I was managing ok until I found a massive spider on one of the boxes and now I refuse to go back up there .
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Post by everso on Feb 25, 2011 15:53:01 GMT
Ebay is the best place for this stuff, if any of it is genuinely valuable you should find out from there. Karen made me go up in our loft to get some stuff down which I was managing ok until I found a massive spider on one of the boxes and now I refuse to go back up there . I've never been in our attic for fear of spiders. It's very grim and grubby and not boarded so you have to step on the rafters. I'd be bound to topple over and put my foot through the ceiling.
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Post by everso on Mar 23, 2011 23:47:28 GMT
Attic update: All the books have sold. The Eagle annuals didn't return very much, even the ones with dust jackets, but the Beano, Beezer and Topper books went down a storm. One Beano book, a 1957 in reasonable order, made £34! My eyes almost fell out of my head when I saw that! I've seen them going for more than that on some sites but that's retail. A menu from a British Caledonian flight we took in 1972 (don't ask why I'd kept it) went for £8.50. and some Beatles sheet music from the 60s was snapped up (one went for £17). The best one of all was a Jolly Pecker (don't ask) that sold to a chap in Sweden for £0.99. The money I made I'm splitting between my daughter and son as the books were originally given to them, and I'm now looking round for other stuff to sell. This could get very addictive.
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