A couple of week’s ago, fellow League member Under Scoop Fire put out a call for people’s favorite garage sale find. You know I love a good garage sale, so this week’s topic for the league is going to piggyback on that USF post…

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The find. What was your best/favorite yard sale or flea market find?

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Now, I'm not much of a yard sale kinda guy. My wife, a different story entirely, but me, not so much. I'll go to the swap meet every once in a while, but I've never found anything worth writing home about. My biggest grief with yard sales was that there is a whole lot of driving around and, most of the time, you have nothing to show for it.

Craigslist (CL), however, is a whole different matter entirely. Now I don't have to waste time stopping at every yard sale sign I see. I scan CL for certain key words. Usually "Star Wars," "GI Joe", "vintage" are the main search terms I use. Biggest problem I've run into is that a lot of the people selling older toys have an over-inflated expectation of their value. No, I'm not going to pay $15 for double-telescoping Darth Vader that's missing the caps AND the lightsaber. Sure as Sith not going to pay $200 for a vintage AT-AT that missing everything but the head, body and legs. I don't care what that storage wars, vintage toy picker "reality" show said it was worth.

Then I found it...

It was a simple enough CL ad. Vintage action figures, reasonable prices, no dealer please. I emailed him and asked if he had a vintage AT-AT. He said yes, and we made arrangements to meet. Wasn't too far from the house and as I pulled up he opened the garage door. It was like the shield doors opened and I was bathed in bright hangar bay lights. I saw pieces parts of everything everywhere. That looks like part of the Defiant in that corner. That's a box of vintage figures on top of that vintage TIE. He showed me the AT-AT. It was about 90% complete. It was only missing the chin guns. And then he told me the price. I tried to contain my excitement. I asked him if he happened to have a GI Joe Skystriker. "Give me a minute," he said as he disappeared behind some boxes. Next thing I know, there is complete Skystriker (minus Ace and two missiles) sitting there in front of me. I asked him the price and again I tried to contain my exhilaration as he gave it to me. Still under budget. I picked some figures and called it a night.

About two weeks later I found myself with some extra cash. I decided to give my new best friend in the whole wide world a call. "You have an Imperial Shuttle?" I asked.

"Vintage or Modern? he responded.

I really wanted the vintage, but the modern one looked so much cooler. Besides that, the modern one was still in the box. Had to get that one just so I can be a kid and open the box.

Yeah, that's pretty much what I said. In the end I ended up spending less than $200 and added a vintage AT-AT, Skystriker, HISS tank, "battle damaged" Rattler, VAMP II, Imperial Shuttle, and about a half-dozen figures that I use in my toyphotography.

I also got something else I wasn't expecting, a friend. It was worth it.

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They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Cool and Collected has about 20,000 words right there. So glad it's in pictures. Read all the way to the end, the Superman kit is way cool. Toyriffic found a good deal with the He-Man stuff, but I love the signed Batgirl photo. D.I. Treasures feels he paid a little to much for vintage LEGO bricks. I'm still jealous, it was a good haul.

We have spotted Imperial walkers! (and a Skystriker, and a...)