Vintage Plush, Hats, Brass and Books!

I went to an estate sale late in the day that advertised toys and video games. All the video games were gone but there were some toys left. There was a giant Buzz Lightyear which I bought for $10. I think I have sold this before. The man there said that they sell online for $40 but since that one had a big stain on the back, he didn’t want to deal with it. I was relieved to find that the stain came off with soap and water. I also picked up two Stuart Little plush for $1 each. I never saw these before but I looked them up and I’m hoping to get at least $30 for the pair.

Last week at the bins I bought three hats which means I wasn’t finding much. One is a Life is Good hat and one is a hat from Woods Hole Cape Cod. The third is a military hat with the name of a submarine on it.

I did find this unique Gund plush from a series called Nuzzles there. His name is Earl and he is a bull with a huge head. I also bought a book from 1975 about how to build log cabins, a large soldier figure by Marx and a pair of Sanrio figures.

At the regular thrift store I bought a brass tabletop globe that is only about 7″ tall, and a set of figures from the Nightmare Before Christmas.

We have just past the midway point of the winter. I’m really starting to miss the warmer weather and sunshine. – not to mention the good old tag sales!!!

Vintage Toys, Plush and Figurines at the Thrift Stores

I continue to do most of my sourcing at the thrift store and outlet bin store lately. Here are some highlights from the thrift store. I spotted this unusual cat bowl wearing high heels. She was marked Department 56. After a while I realized that she was a figure by Patience Brewster. Her characters can be collectible. This piece turned out to be one that is hard to find. She was expensive at $7 but she sold for $64 within a week. Now I am holding my breath hoping she will arrive undamaged. (It broke in shipping!) On the same day I picked up this funny cat figure for $2 that looks like she is dressed like a housewife carrying cleaning supplies with curlers in her hair. She is only about 4″ tall.

Hanging in a bag on the wall in the toy section was this box of wooden animal figures. I believe that some of them are from Germany and some are from Japan. They only measure about 1″ each. Also inside this bag was a miniature set from Goldilocks and the Three Bears. It’s also very small and is marked “made in Denmark.” So cute!!

Two other items I picked up from the thrift store are this glass tip jar by Finlandia Vodka and this vintage plastic trinket box decorated with two horses. I believe it once held cufflinks.

I picked up a few things from the Outlet store lately. Some of the plush I found includes this puffer fish that makes a “boing” sound when you squeeze him. His tag says Moshi and it looks like he may sell for $20. I picked up this Applause plush Himalayan cat. The other cat I found at the bins recently, which was a Calico cat, sold for $15.99 quickly so I thought I should pick this one up.

I picked up this Folkmanis finger puppet set which is a red gift box that holds three white mice inside. I also found a Vera Bradley wallet that was in good condition. Vera Bradley doesn’t sell as well as it used to but everything at the bins is usually less than $1 so I bought it.

The last two items from the outlet bins that I will share are this cat scarf with many different breeds of cats on it and this small tiger picture. The label on the back of the picture says “Mother of Pearl.” I think it is a good subject matter.

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! Happy thrifting!!

Outlet Bins, Estate Sales and Thrift Store Finds to Resell

I’ve been trying to pass the winter by going to estate sales and thrift stores to buy stuff for resale. There was a large estate sale last weekend which seemed to have a lot of toys from the 90s. In the attic area I found these two oversized plush toys. They are both from Jim Hensons Muppets. One is the drummer Animal and the other is Rizzo the Rat. Animal measures about 32″ tall and Rizzo is 24″. I hope their size will help them sell. They charged me $5 a piece.

I saw some Nintendo boxes in the corner of the attic. Unfortunately, they were empty but collectors often buy empty boxes to complete an item in their collection and they were free!

This pair of vintage ceramic deer were $3 for both. I’m hoping to get $24 for the pair. I may have to wait until next Christmas to sell them because people use these when they decorate.

I visited the Goodwill Outlet again and picked up a variety of items. I’m hoping to sell this elephant from Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer for $40. I don’t know why but I was really excited to find this unique paper mache hand puppet. I liked her because of my love of puppets and I think she is very well made.

I also picked up a pretty polka dot tray from Ikea, a decorative bucket with a red bird, an inspirational plaque with a cat on it and some pretty vintage wrapping paper in the original package. The fun of the bins is that everything is relatively cheap because you pay by the pound. Most items work out to be about $1 each so it’s similar to rummage sale prices.

The thrift store continues to be expensive. I often pay between $4 and $6 per item. Some of the pieces I picked up recently include a BB Bluefish mascot Bobblehead. He was a mascot for a baseball team from Connecticut. I got this bird puppet who is part of the Teddy Ruxpin family from 1985. I found a collection of American Girl doll clothing in one of the bags on the wall. Finally, I picked up this pretty glass paperweight.

Today is Groundhog’s Day. I don’t know if he saw his shadow. Is it 6 more weeks until tag sales?

Thrift Store and Estate Sale Finds

I have been visiting the thrift stores and a few estate sales to pass the cold winter here in the northeast. I seem to be hitting the estate sales on the second day so there isn’t much left but it is usually cheaper. The last sale I went to had everything at 30% off and jewelry was 20% off. This pretty turquoise and silver ring was $8. The stone is very green but I still think that it is turquoise.

There was a bit of vintage Christmas. These two boxes of Shiny Brites were $3 each.

This wooden solider was very charming to me at $2. He reminds me of the Scandinavian viking figures that I have found.

These next pick ups are from the thrift store. Most were between $4 and $5. First there are two alcohol related finds. One is a vintage Mohawk whiskey bottle and the other is a tin sign for Tito’s vodka. Sometimes these man cave items can do well.

On the other end of the spectrum, I found this wooden Bombay Company bible box. It was $6 at Goodwill but I am hoping to get $40 for it.

Finally, also from the thrift stores, are two plush which are a vintage Queen Celeste elephant from Babar, and a vintage Gund Muttsy dog.

Hopefully there will be some more estate sales coming up! Belated Happy New Year to everyone!!

Best Doll Finds of 2019

These are some of my best doll finds for 2019. This category includes doll clothes, furniture and accessories. This first doll was found at a community tag sale. I picked her up because I thought the pictures on the box were beautiful and she looked lovely with her pink ribbons attaching her to the box. She was a souvenir from the United Nations. She sold for a best offer of $31.

This item came in a ziplock bag marked American Girl. I believe it was $5. It is a charming little puppet stage with small wooden marionettes. One of the marionettes had a broken string. It was from the set “Church Fair Fun” for the doll Addy. It sold for a best offer of $55.

The next find was from the thrift store. I believe she was marked $6.99. This is a Chloe doll from the Madeline doll collection by Eden. Because she was new in her box she brought $69.99.

The next find was a collection of Liddle Kiddles dolls that I bought at an estate sale for $50. There were several Liddle Kiddles sets included in this collection as well as the castle dollhouse which sold for $50 on its own. A few of the sets like the one pictured below with Trikey Triddle, sold for $30.

Included in this lot of dolls was a small (about 4″) rather plain looking doll that didn’t look like a Liddle Kiddles doll. She had a pretty dress on that was tagged “Floradora.” I have never seen this doll before and had a hard time researching her but when I finally found a sold example, the one I saw sold for $90. I priced her at $99 and she sold in a few days.

I found some vintage doll furniture at one of the first sales I attended in 2019. I believe I paid $5 for the set. They had a mid century modern look to them and were very well made of wood and fabric. They were marked Mattel on the bottom and I believe they were from the late 50s or early 60s. Some people say that they were made for Barbie but the scale looks wrong to me. The table and chairs sold for $50 and the couch sold for $65.

The next doll was an estate sale find that I bought for $5. She is an Emerald Enchanting Witch doll by Girls World. She has wonderful sparkling green eyes. I had no idea about her until I looked her up on my phone when I was at this sale. She sold for $95. She would have sold for more if she had more of her accessories like her shoes and hat. She is another small doll measuring about 6″ tall.

This next doll was hanging in a bag on the wall at the thrift store for $4.99. She was wearing what looked like a stewardess outfit but all I could tell from the way she looked was that she was an older doll. When I got her home I saw that her secret identity was Wonder Woman. She was a Mego doll from 1975. She was made to look like Linda Carter who starred in the show. Despite some damage and discolorations, she sold for $95.

American Girl dolls don’t sell as well as they used to for me. I don’t pick them up unless they are very cheap or special. This Molly doll was $10 at the thrift store. I picked her up because she has a white body which means she is an early doll. She sold for $125.

This last find was from a church sale. I picked up a bag of doll clothes for $5. Many of the clothes were for the Italian Furga dolls from the 1960s. Some were labeled and some were not so I had to do research in order to identify them. This was one of my best finds ever because many of these outfits and dresses sold for over $100. Some of them have very iconic 1960s mod styling.

Those are my top doll finds for 2019! I am always learning about new dolls and brands. I hope that 2020 will be as exciting!

Best Plush Finds of 2019

These are 11 of my favorite plush finds of 2019. Some are favorited because they brought a nice profit. Others were just charming or exciting to find.

I will start with this vintage Eeyore hand puppet. He was in a box of puppets at an estate sale. He is by the brand Swedlin. Eeyore was my father’s favorite Winnie the Pooh character. He sold for 24.99.

The next find is a small Steiff plush pig. I believe he goes by the name of Jolanthe. He measured only about 4″ long. One reason he is on the list is because I found him in a bag on the wall at the thrift store which I had picked up for another item. I didn’t see him until I opened the bag at home. So he was a great surprise. He took a while but eventually sold for $24.99.

Anime and characters from Japan can be popular. This set of triplet kittens in bananas were called Bananya.  They had their original paper tags and sold for $29.99.

This Jerry Garcia plush would have sold for more if he had his original guitar with him. He was a fun find for $1 at a church sale and sold for $29.99.

Kipper is a sweet cartoon character from England that my daughter used to watch when she was young. I find these once in a while and they always sell. This one sold for $39.99. I picked him up for a few dollars at Goodwill.

Vintage Disney plush can be a good find. This vintage Disney Brer Fox was in a box of plush at a church sale for a dollar. He sold after a while for $39.99.

These two poodles were a few dollars at a church sale. I picked them up because they looked vintage. They are very small. After researching they turned out to be Steiff! The pair sold for $49.99.

Finding vintage Fisher Price plush can be good but it gets better if you can find an older item that is still in the original box. Without the box the Teddy Beddy Bears can bring about $20 but because this one was still in the original box I was able to get $50 for him!

Fisher Price puffalumps have a following as well. You can often identify them by their nylon material. This was an older rabbit. He sold for $50.

Other Disney plush that sell well are minor characters. This was an oversized plush Kiara from the Lion King. It took me a while to find out who this was because I kept thinking that it was Nala. Because of her size, I thought she would sell for more but I kept lowering her price and she eventually sold for a best offer of $60.

The best plush find of the year was this My Child pet dog. I purchased it at a tag sale for $1 and sold it for $200. That was a very exciting sale!

Those are some of the highlights of my plush sales for 2019. Plush continue to be one of my favorite things to buy and sell!

They Had Everything!

I went to a moving sale at a very large house. It was on the second day so the prices weren’t too bad. Everything – from the clothes to the linens to the dishes was designer. There was a huge basement that was like a wonderland for children. There was an elevated stage with velvet curtains. A bin with every type of dance shoes you could image. There was a closet full of costumes for dress up. There was an area filled with puppets and marionettes and another area for crafting. Someone must have loved the Wizard of Oz because there were tons of Wizard of Oz collectibles. I was surprised to find this Polly Pocket set still there on the second day. They charged me $5 for each item I picked up. The Polly set has 5 characters.

From the costume closet I bought this vintage sailor shirt. I think it may have been a real navy shirt.

From the puppet area I bought this oversized (30″) boy puppet from Sunny and Co.

The last thing I bought from the children’s area was this colorful Barbie polaroid camera which sold for $35.

The kitchen area was filled with Italian and other beautiful pottery but it was very expensive. I found some other items there including this Dansk peppermill and vintage style tablecloth.

I also purchased a few pairs of shoes which I haven’t photographed yet. It was a very fun sale! Happy Holidays everyone!!