Sunday, August 26, 2007

Aug. 19, 2007, Brass Armadillo

These are the items I placed at the Brass Armadillo on Sunday, Aug. 19.
1960s Merry Makeup bottles and brush, sell price $5
1970s fashion doll boots, sell price $5
1974 Sunshine Family clothing, sell price $9
1981 #4723 Family Feud board game, sell price $10

The American Girl catalog, Skipper’s Tennis Everyone?, Rocker Barbie sunglasses, Hot Looks Jewelry and Barbie Special Value Gift Pack have sold.

Aug 20, 2007, Brass Armadillo

These are the items I placed for sale at the Brass Armadillo on Monday, Aug. 20:
1940s Our Quest for Happiness religion book set, sell price $18
1960s Grand Canyon toy tea set, sell price $10
1970s three Dark Shadows paperbacks, sell price $30
1975 #425 Bay City Rollers paperback, sell price $8
1980s Peter Pan doll, sell price $10
1986 #71435 TV Guide issue, sell price $8

I removed the Merry Makeup items the day after I placed them in the case, because I found out that they go to a Skipper play set. I also removed the blue MC Hammer outfit, the Create Glamorous looks set and the Benetton outfit.
The Bobby Sherman and Laugh-In LPs have sold, as have the 1997, 1999, 1999 holiday and 2000 Fox preview press kits and the Wing Commander press kit.

Friday, August 24, 2007

Aug. 25, 2007 the heat wave

I have had a completely different take on the horrendous heat wave we've experienced this month. The heat wave 30 years ago forever changed my outlook on extremely hot weather.
First of all, summer is still my favorite season, and I still feel the healthiest, strongest and the liveliest when we have 16 hours of daylight and it is hazy, hot and humid. In fact, heat and humidity in and of themselves still don't bother me. What bothers me is if I have to wear restrictive clothing and am forced to be in a place where there is no air circulation.
I am very glad that I am not in school, and do not have children in school. I am also very glad that so many schools made the decision to either close for the day or shut down entirely. The ones that were open allowed the students to wear shorts and tank tops. There is no reason to make people suffer.
The school year of 1976-1977 was my sophomore year of high school. That winter was the coldest in Cincinnati's history--the year the Ohio River froze over for the first time in decades. There was still snow on the ground in April and it was still in the 20s at night that month. And then May came, and it suddenly got hot, and we still had six more weeks of school.
I went to Mother of Mercy High School, five floors, a building from the 1920s, poor insulation and huge windows. Cold enough on extremely cold days that the pipes froze in the floor (yes, it did happen, and it's one of Mercy's most infamous moments). Hot enough on hot days that you can't stay awake.
The uniform at that time was a medium weight twill blue uniform jumper. Doesn't sound bad, except it came up to your armpits rather than being open on the sides. Knee socks and support shoes. A great uniform for October when it's 40 in the morning and 60 in the afternoon. A terrible uniform when the room temperature is close to 90 with 75 percent humidity.
So this was my situation: We didn't get air conditioning at home until the mid-1980s. Every morning I would walk two blocks to the city bus stop and wait on the sidewalk in an area with no trees. The bus ride itself in the morning wasn't bad, even though the buses weren't yet air-conditioned. The city bus stop closest to school was still two blocks from Mercy, but the sidewalks were tree-lined and the direct sun didn't hit you yet. It wasn't bad early in the morning.
Then came afternoon, and the temperature in the building started to climb. I'd struggle every day after lunch to stay awake in American literature class (I hated the teacher and she forever turned me against American literature, but that is another story). My last two classes were a little better, but then came the walk back to the bus stop going home. Direct sunlight, no trees. Wait 20 minutes for the city bus. Stand most of the way home until enough people had gotten off that I could sit down. No a/c on the bus. Get off the bus, walk two blocks home in direct sunlight. Go into a house with no cool areas. I'd come home sweaty and exhausted, and smelly if it were "that time of the month." Try doing homework. Homework just overwhelmed me that last quarter because I was too hot to concentrate.
I did poorly in most of my classes. For the entire rest of my life, both before and after that, I'd always been an A and B and occasional C student. I ended up flunking the American literature final exam, getting a 69. My final quarter grade for that class on my report card was 70, D-minus. I suspect the only reason the teacher passed me at all for the quarter was just to get me out of her class. In my entire school career, that quarter had the lowest grades I had ever gotten before or since.
You're probably thinking--well, she failed Am Lit because she didn't like the teacher and her teaching methods, and didn't agree with what was being taught. Yes, that is true. But that doesn't explain the poor turnout for the other classes. It had nothing to do with the subject matter. Instead, it had to do with not being able to concentrate in school or home because of the heat, experiencing symptoms of heat exhaustion. It had to do with wearing clothing that was not at all breathable and did not allow sweat to evaporate.
Am I bitter about this, even after 30 years? Yes, I am. You're probably thinking I should get over it. Why should I get over it? What I experienced was borderline sadism. There was no reason whatsoever to make me and my classmates suffer that much. I've read so many comments on other blogs and opinion pages the past few weeks from adults who are saying the kids need to toughen up, that the adults themselves coped with it when they were younger and turned out fine. I have never read any comments by other adults such as myself who were one of those who didn't cope with it, who were unable to deal with it, and had to suffer the consequences. There have to be others like myself who had bad experiences with extreme heat in schools 20, 30 or 40 years ago.

Aug. 24, 2007 another complaint to CBS

Dear CBS,
Please be aware that I have faithfully watched the reruns of Jericho that you have aired this summer on Friday nights. In fact, I have enjoyed them immensely and it gave me something to look forward to since there hasn't been a great deal to watch this summer.
But now you keep pre-empting Jericho for pre-season football. Am I watching? Of course not! Are you nuts? (pun intended). Believe me, I am doing other things instead on Friday nights, and except for the news, am not watching any television on Fridays at all.

Mary

Saturday, August 18, 2007

Aug. 18, 2007 vintage Battlestar Galactica items

I have several vintage Battlestar Galactica items for sale. They’re not at the Brass Armadillo. I will sell the entire lot for $25 plus $10 postage (I want to include insurance because of the VHS). Just leave a note here if you are interested.
I want to sell it to someone in the United States because sometimes it’s too much of a hassle on both my and the buyer’s end to deal with the currency problem. I will accept checks or money orders, although I must wait a week for a check to clear.
I am no longer selling on ebay, although I am still registered with the company. My name there is skippercollector, and my rating is 283, if you want to check up on me.
I don’t want to sell these items separately. Before I acquired the VHS tape, I tried selling the other items individually on ebay and no one wanted them. So I want to sell them as a set. I know the most important item is the tape--the other items you can add to your own collection or try and resell them yourself. If you want pictures I can email you some.
Anyway, this is what I have:
1. 1978 Mattel Colonial Warrior (Starbuck?). The two things missing are the little light on his laser pistol and his tunic. He’s a little dingy and some of the paint is worn off.
2. 1978 Grosset & Dunlap Battlestar Galactica Space Flight Activity Book. Despite its pretentious name, this is just a regular coloring book with some word and picture games on some of the pages. None of the pages are colored in but the cover is a little bit worn.
3. 1987 Goodtimes Home Video VHS of the Galactica 1980 episode The Return of Starbuck. The tape is used and the box is a tad bit worn. I played it recently and it plays fine. Nothing has been edited from the tape; its running time is 49 minutes. The VHS is long out of print and the episode was not included in the Galactica DVD set.
4. 2003 Galacticon program. It is in excellent condition and is 44 pages long. It’s the souvenir booklet from the 25-year reunion convention at Universal Studios.

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Aug. 14, 2007 Brass Armadillo

These are the items I placed for sale at the Brass Armadillo on Aug. 14.
1962 #701 Booker T & the MG’s Green Onions LP, sell price $5
1968 #15118 Laugh-In LP, sell price $5
1969 #1038 Bobby Sherman Christmas LP, sell price $8
1987 #4716 Barbie Special Value Gift Pack case and packaging, sell price $5
1998 Wing Commander press kit, sell price $5
1999 Fox preview press kit, sell price $8
2000 Fox preview press kit, sell price $8

I have sold the following:
Ever After press kit
loose Maxie dolls and clothes
1965 electric mixer
fake Sindy doll and clothes

I have removed the following for sale:
Beyond Pink Christie
Beyond Pink Teresa
High School Chelsie
High School Jazzie
Bubble Fairy Christie

Sunday, August 12, 2007

Aug. 12, 2007, Brass Armadillo part C

These are the items I placed for sale at the Brass Armadillo on Aug. 12.

1968 The People No Different Flesh, sell price $5
1976 Honey Hill Bunch dolls, sell price $10
1990s Barbie modeling head, sell price $4.50
1999 Fox Holiday preview press kit, sell price $5
1999 Barbie Fashion Avenue #23123-0320 Fashion Avenue Dress Up NRFB, sell price $4.50

The Ever After press kit, the Sindy doll and generic clothes, and the Maxie dolls and generic clothes have sold.

I removed the following items from the sale:
1989 #3218 Cool Times Teresa
1989 #8324 Maxie Freshly Gathered Floral
1989 #8263 Maxie’s Friend Kirsten
1990 #1806 Tyco Arista
1991 #7010 Pretty Teen
1992 #32320 Evening Gown Blair
1992 #32380 Talent Show Raquel
1998 #22994 Czar Nicholas
1998 #23000 Together in Paris Anastasia
1999 #18379 Skipper Teen Co.

I figure it's not my responsibility to let someone else buy these items at below their worth, and then turn around on sell them for the price I originally wanted on ebay, just because I don't accept Paypal/credit cards. What those arrogant Paypal-Ebay-heads don't want to accept is that the few items I've sold at Brass Armadillo, I've made a profit on. I've proved that there is life outside of Ebay!

Aug. 12, 2007, Brass Armadillo part B

These are the items I placed for sale at the Brass Armadillo on Saturday, Aug. 4.
1950s crocheted hot pad, sell for $3
1970s Malibu Sindy type doll and clothes
1980s Bambi card, sell price $4
1987 Dennis the Menace Takes the Cake, sell price $3
1983 Psycho II promotional magazine, sell for $3
1984 #35627 Barbie, The Magazine for Girls summer, sell for $4
1989 #9948 Ashton-Drake promotional packet, sell for $5
1990s Muffie/Ginny type clothes, sell for $3
1990 #1149 Barbie, The Magazine for girls winter, sell for $4
1996 Matrix #8303 Barbie Magnet, sell for $2.50
1999 Anna and the King press kit, sell for $5
1999 Drive Me Crazy press kit, sell for $4

Also, I have removed for sale the Always Sisters Blair, Lauren and Vanessa; Springfield High Starr, East Carolina Barbie and Starbuck.
The Target Changing Seasons Barbie clothing set and the Barbie Trend City pantsuit have sold.

Aug. 12, 2007, Brass Armadillo part A

These are the items I placed for sale in the Brass Armadillo on July 22:
1960s Avon Charisma soap box, sell for $2
1987 Doll Fashion Anthology and Price Guide, by Glenn Mandeville, sell for $3
1989 Maxie dolls and clothing,
1990 Barbie TV, sell price $25
1992 Barbie birthday card, sell price $4
1993 #3216 Precious Moments coloring book, sell price $3
1998 The Siege press kit, sell price $5
1998 How Stella Got her Groove Back, sell price $5
1999 Lake Placid press kit, sell price $5
1999 Ever After press kit, sell price $5

Saturday, August 4, 2007

Aug. 4, 2007, people are complaining this week!

Man, I was getting insulted right and left yesterday, trying to help people. I suppose the heat and the incidents of this past week are putting people on edge.

I haven’t a clue as to what I did to piss off these first two folks. I was just trying to be helpful:

http://forums.ebay.com/db1/thread.jspa?threadID=2000412145&tstart=0&mod=1186243741095

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053502/board/thread/79405701

I know why I made these following folks mad. But they’ve been rude for months and they deserved a comeuppance:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0805663/board/thread/81205488?p=1

As for this last crowd, I’ve come up with a nickname for them. I’m calling them the Heathers! Feel free to borrow the nickname!

You'll probably need to copy and paste, since my links don't often work.