I'm hanging on to R2D2 for a while!
I come from a long line of junk dealers, penny-pinchers and to be honest we may have some hoarders as well. I blame it on my lovely grandma. A kid from the Depression Era. Born in 1911, the oldest of several kids so could make a penny stretch like no one.
She birthed seven children, lost one baby and adopted a niece who needed a family. An amazing farm women. At least three of her children are thrifty junkers, my dad being one of them.
My daddy is a proud dumpster diver, junk picker and all around Ebay wiz. My uncle (Dad’s older bro) is the master of finding something for 50 cents and turning it into thousands of dollars. No joking here. He is amazing.
My childhood was full of auctions, yard sales and junk. As a teen I hated it. As a young adult I ignored it and would not even glance at a yard sale. Now as a mom of four, I glance, maybe even circle around once of twice, but rarely do I stop. I hate junk and dirty stuff people try to sell. I hate clothes at yard sales unless it is prime stuff and is clean. I also hate how people over price things. So I’m a bit of a snob I guess when compared to my family. Though last weekend I got a dresser for $5 that looks fantastic after some sanding and painting. Big money saver there.
This past weekend I drove past a yard sale several times going into town and out to my mom in laws house. I saw nothing of value to warranted getting out of the car. Then this morning something had been added. Cake pans. I don’t bake, but I know that cake pans are hot re-sellers. No one told me, I just know these pieces of seemingly worthless information. I decided to get out. My yoga pants were full of holes, I had no make up on and I had one kid with me who had been camping for several days. We were not a nice looking couple. But I hit jackpot!
I scored a 1980 Wilton R2D2 cake pan, 2 Wonder Woman 1978 Wilton Cake pans, a 1980 Popeye Wilton Cake pan (a side note, Enu had no idea who Popeye was!) and several other generic cake pans. I paid $1.66 each for them.
On the way home I was trembling with excitement. I knew I had just made some money and so wanted to call my dad to marvel at my finds. He is on vacation though and the time difference made me think twice. As I got out of the car I knew I should let the dog out and then put the camping food away, but I sooooo wanted on Ebay.
Finally the moment happened! It looks like the R2D2 cake pan can go between $20-80 (depending on conditions) and the Wonder Women/Popeye ones should bring at least $20 apiece! The joy I felt. It was like I had my genes jumping in my and my ancestral people nodding and saying, “Yep, she’s one of us!”
So I may be more of a snob when it comes to junk than most of my family, but I can make magic happen with the best of them!
