Wednesday, August 30, 2023

Unexpected Cards

 I've said for quite a while that I have to be in a mood to write.  I really was planning on writing 3-5 posts this month, and then starting finding old scans which I can do more posts on.  However I was never in the mood to write.  I have spent a lot of the last month cleaning my computer up and part of that process found me find some lost folders of scans I planned in 2017 (YES 2017) of a series of posts.  Hopefully this fall I will show those.  Currently I'm on a project of finally cleaning up my picture folder.  Not scans of cards, but scans of family photos and just photos in general.  I have a ton of them, and I've slowly started the process.  The great thing about digital cameras is that most of them have built in dates from when the photos were taken, so that allowed me to figure out what a lot of them were.  I'm hoping to clean up a lot more soon, and clear up some space (sometime I copy photos to another hard drive and then have multiple copies).  Some digital photos go back to 2005, so I might in theory be able to cut my photo folder in half just by eliminating duplicates.  I don't trust programs to get rid of duplicates so I'll go one by one.  Long and tedious, but I'll be happy with the finished product, something I've wanted to do for the last five years at least.

I've cleaned other parts of my computer, and I've gained like 10 GB's of storage from it, just from eliminating files no longer needed.  The computer I'm using is over 10 years old, I think closer to 13 years old so a lot of old stuff.  Some of it is bittersweet because my sister Andrea used this computer and on occasion I'll find files she used that I don't need.  I have even found a few other files of hers that I have kept.  I'm not hoping to clear everything off but I would like to clear up enough space to put all my files onto a hard drive as backup.  I have some hard drives and most of the time I'm moving stuff from one to another which causes duplicates, but also a storage crunch.  I hope by the end of next year I will have everything organized and then I can get a hard drive that can hold everything for backup.  After that, maybe I can start diving back into my card collection and a few other hobbies.  I still have a lot of photos to scan also from before digital cameras.  All fun, but a bit time consuming.

That is in addition to around 1,000 photos I took over 5 days earlier this summer, which I still need to blog.  It's not card related, but was a lot of fun.  However today is a rare post in which I do have cards to show.  I have more to show in the future, but I need to scan or take photos of those cards first, so it might be a while.

Before I show off the cards today I want to talk about a couple wrestlers who recently passed.  2023 has not been kind to wrestling and quite a few deaths have been sad.  However last week there were two that got me down.  I'll start with the death of Bray Wyatt.  He was only 36 years old, and according to reports had plans to return to WWE soon.  I won't say he was my favorite wrestler, however I will say whenever a segment came on where he'd cut a promo, I would tune in.  If you want to use the phrase "he was an old soul", that would describe him.  Nothing about him or his character was cookie cutter.  He was like a choose your own adventure in the form of a person.  Whenever he'd cut a promo you would think you knew what was going to happen, but he opened your eyes to so many other possibilities.  I felt WWE was wrong to abandon the Wyatt Family to start his Firefly Funhouse segments, by my goodness did it go over.  As a human, I never heard any wrestler or fan have a bad thing to say about him, and as the son of a wrestler (I.R.S. aka Mike Rotundo was his dad, his uncle was Barry and Kendall Windham, and his grandfather was Blackjack Mulligan), he not only loved wrestling, but loved to keep the magic in wrestling alive.  It has struck not only the fans hard, but his colleagues and other wrestlers as well.  I think the only way it could have been worse was if he had already returned to WWE and was in the middle of the feud.  He will be missed.

Having said all that and how hard it hit me (I was more shocked than sad, but it still made me sad), the day before another wrestler passed away that really hit me.  Terry Funk was 79 years old, and while his death wasn't unexpected, it doesn't mean it doesn't hurt.  I have always liked Terry Funk, but in 2005 I started LOVING Terry Funk.  I went to an independent wrestling show in the next town over which was ran by Harley Race.  As with many WLW events at that time, he would bring in special guests to these events, however this time was extra special.  Not only was Harley going to be there, but he was bringing in Mick Foley AND Terry Funk.  I was ready to go to this and I had a blast.  In fact it was the first I ever saw Trevor Murdoch wrestler (I think it was his farewell show before joining WWE).  The wrestling on the card wasn't great but it was mostly trainees of Harley's wrestling school, but it was still a fun show.  I remember before the show Mick Foley walked by the bleacher (it was at a middle school), and I just casually said "Hi Mick" and he said hi and waved.  My friend thought that was so funny "I said hi like you was old fishing buddies".  During the intermission, they had a line where you could get pictures and autographs with the wrestlers and legends.  I didn't bring a lot of money, but I managed to get autographs from Harley and Mick, as well as another wrestler.  When it came to get Terry's autograph, I was short on cash.  I had money but I kind of wanted his book signed (which as you know I'm not a big book reader).  I however did have enough to get a polaroid picture with him, which he graciously signed as well.  While the legends were the ones people wanted to meet, the line moved quite nice.  However Harley and Mick as nice as they were, were more of the notion of keep the line moving so a hi, thank you, and that's about it.  The other wrestler (named Daniel Cross) was quite nice and we talked a bit because the line did back up a bit.  The reason- Terry Funk was talking with everyone.  When I got to him, and he knew I was short on cash, he offered a picture with him which he'd sign.  He was well past his glory days with all his WWF/WCW/ECW fame (though it was right before he did return to WWE for a bit for their ECW revival), but he still loved interacting with every fan he met.  Like Bray Wyatt, I've never heard a negative thing said about Terry Funk by fans or his colleagues.  Since I still have a subscription to Peacock, I decided to look up the best of Terry Funk, and was not disappointed.  I don't hold it against Harley or Mick for not conversing much that day, but the way Terry Funk interacted with everyone, made me a lifetime fan.  The only regret was not getting his book that day.  However I think I enjoy that picture more than I would have the book any day.  One day I will get a copy of the book and I will proudly display it.  On Smackdown last Friday they paid tribute to both Bray and Terry, and my favorite was Cody Rhodes telling about how Funk was yelling at Cody's dad (Dusty Rhodes) in an airport, calling him an egg sucking dog.  Funk was one of a kind and not only was a star in the U.S. but in Japan also.  That also doesn't include his appearances in TV shows and movies.  He was in Road House and Over The Top, and even starred in a short lived TV show called Wildside.  It lasted 6 episodes and my sister Anitra found it on Youtube so I have some shows to watch.

At any rate, both will be missed and it will take a while for the wrestling community to heal.

So I guess its time to get into some cards.  The title alludes to the fact that I didn't expect these.  My friend said he had something for me, but never implied cards.  That entire Facebook messenger exchange was one I remember vividly.  As we was talking, he mentioned something he got for me.

Friend:  By the way I got something for you.

Me: Thanks, but you didn't have to get me anything.

Friend: No problem, I got it while I was at a funeral

...

UH!  He got me something at a funeral?  He never mentioned what it was, but he did later explain the situation, and it wasn't morbid or anything.  There's not much to the story that the recently deceased had something that nobody wanted, and my friend thought of me.  Very odd but very intriguing.  As it turns out we talk almost daily via Facebook, but it was almost two months before I actually saw him face to face, so I had time to think about what it could be.  Though after a few days I honestly forgot.  Until he stopped by and dropped it off.



First off when he handed to me, I was a bit relieved because while I forgot about it, I no longer had to guess what it might be.  This has been something that I've seen online a few times because a Craigslist seller has been trying to sell a couple of these for a few years.  Quite cheaply, but I'm not close enough to Kansas City to make a deal.  Anyways, this holds baseball cards, and it was cool to finally have one.  I might use it to display autographed Royals cards.  On the back is a sticker which wasn't supposed to be on the booklet, but I'm glad it was.  I have that same sticker and am tempted to buy a couple more from a seller on Ebay.  The one I have I've had for 20-25 years, and love seeing it on this.

When I opened it I was surprised to find not only Royals cards, but other cards too.  No Mantle rookies, but to me just as exciting, and most of the Royals were ones I didn't own, so bonus.



Some pretty good cards, like John Smoltz and Greg Gagne (who would become a Royal a couple years later).  I always liked the 1993 Score set.  1993 and 1994 cards are my favorite, I'll never find a year or two that had almost every set that had good designs.  I was also happy to get the Gil Hodges card, because that Sonic set is one I've long wanted to build (I think it was one of the sets I wanted to build when starting this blog).  The Cliff Floyd might be a cereal card and even if it wasn't it was still a nice card, though newer than most of the other cards in this booklet.


I was so happy to get this near complete set of 2002 cards.  I thought I had these but I didn't, and its good to have most of them now.  This was one of those police sets and I love to find as many as possible.  I need to update my want lists and see which sets I still need.  The good thing about the KC Royals police sets was they didn't have different versions for each district/city in the metro.  I think Milwaukee does that and there's like 30 different versions of essentially the same card.  Good thing they didn't have dot variations of those.

There was one other card that took me a bit to figure out what it was but I think I did.


This card was a little bigger than a normal card and perforated at the bottom.  After a few minutes I knew what it was.  Local Phillips 66 gas stations sold or gave these away in the early 90s and they included a piece on the bottom which held a pin.  You can find these on ebay, and its the reason I figured it out because I've seen it a few times.  Some may not consider this a card, but I do and I'm glad to have it in my collection.

So I got trading cards from a funeral I didn't even attend.  That's a first.

I don't have any other cards to show but I do have a book I recently got at my local thrift store, which is Royals related so I'll show it.  I mostly got it because I like one of the authors, and thought the subject was a bit funny yet sad in hindsight.


Faith and Family First... Ben Zobrist was very popular in his short time with the Royals, and as well as with the Cubs.  Even after he left Kansas City less than a year after he arrived, Royals fans still rooted for him.  This book was written during his time in Tampa with the Rays, and is co-written with his wife (at the time) Julianna.  Ben loved his wife, so much so that since Julianna was an aspiring Christian singer, Ben used one of her songs as his walkup song from time to time.  Most fans didn't care for the song, and to be honest weren't really fans of her.  Their time in Kansas City went without incident, but it was his time with the Cubs that the real story began.  I admit I don't know all the details, but from what I understand, Julianna may or may not have cheated on Ben and it basically tore Ben apart.  So much so that he left the Cubs to straighten things out, but to no avail.  I haven't followed since the initial divorce papers were handed to the other, but Ben never returned to baseball.  I saw this book and thought it was funny they'd make a book which in the end was something maybe they should have read.  Though I also wanted the book because I like Ben.  I don't know when I'll read this, but it will be on my shelf when/if I do.

I didn't want to spoil it, but later this year I plan on doing a book club post with books I've read this year.  I set a goal of reading more, and I have.  I've read more books this year than I have in maybe the last 10.  A lot are sports related, and will be fun to post about.

Before I wrap things up, I found the photos from the WLW show I went to.  I even found a photo from the WLW website at the time (well a few weeks later) after the show.


This photo was on their site for a few years (the WLW site hardly updated), and from left to right for the non-wrestling fans are Mick Foley, Harley Race, and Terry Funk.  If you look right under Funk's arm in the crowd it a guy in a black shirt.  I am that fan.  The fan in the gray shirt is my friend Matt.



Harley liked signing "Best In Sports" even despite I was well past my playing days, lol.  I've seen a few autographs signed by him with that.  I wish my Mick Foley autograph wasn't coming apart, but still its in good shape.



My friend teased me "it looks like your sitting on his lap".  I love that photo.  I wish I still had that shirt.  For a while I called it my "Terry Funk shirt".  I will really miss him.  In the background is a couple wrestlers, I don't remember who the masked one was. It might have been Dan-o-mite, but the other one was Daniel Cross.  I also got his autograph at the show, but can't find the photo.  I loved going to wrestling shows, but realized yesterday its been 13 years since I've been to a live event of any kind.  I really should go to a show soon.

So that wraps things up for today.  I don't know when I'll post next, but I do have a few planned and while not card related, one is the aforementioned book club one which is chock full of sports books.  The other is somewhat history related with no sports, but it will be a fun post.  If you follow me on Facebook you have seen photos and that is what it will be about.  I saved a few bonus photos for my blog.  Thanks everyone for reading and I hope you all have a great day.

Saturday, July 29, 2023

Feeling Hot Hot Hot!

 All across the country, well the World, there is a heat wave.  In the midwest, it isn't near as bad as Arizona, but we are in the third straight day of an excessive heat advisory or warning.  My motto is usually "if its over 90, I'll stay inside".  I'll be honest, I stay inside a lot, but on the bright side, I have plenty to do to keep me busy.  I have a special blog I might get to soon (I would say some point in August), but today I have a few more things to show off including some finished puzzles.  Most have been finished for a while, but I never posted them.  Currently the 2000 piece one is taking longer than hoped, but at least I'd say its over half done.  After its finished it might be time to take a break from puzzles for a bit to sort some cards and scan some photos.

Last weekend my nieces visited and luckily a couple puzzles we recently bought was handy so they finished those before my mom and I had a chance to work on them.  I also introduced them to Ernest P. Worrell, as I showed them the movie Ernest Goes To Camp.  It's my favorite Ernest movie, and even if my nieces didn't seem interested in most of the film, my brother in law did.  So that's a win.  They made a visit because my nephews were supposed to visit, but stuff came up and the couldn't make it.  All this rambling, I guess its time for some pictures.  I also have an update on something I posted last time.  We'll start with the puzzles my nieces finished.



Simple 100 piece puzzles, but that was kind of the point when buying them.  Something to do when the kids visit.  They really liked the Smurfs one (as do myself and many other readers), and my brother in law even explained who they all were.  The cat one is a little more plan than I thought, but still a fun time waster.  Now I'll have to find some for the next time they visit.

I mentioned in the last post that before we went crazy with puzzles, we were hesitant to buy puzzles at regular price, but we did on the trip prior.  I didn't show them last time, so let's see them now.



A 1500 piece for 3 bucks isn't bad and we was already thinking ahead of fall themed ones.  This one reminded me of the back to school time which is approaching fast.  Maybe this 2000 piece one will be done by then.  The other one is 1000 pieces, and its always nice to add holiday themed ones.  Since we will put puzzles together multiple times, its good to have a lot to choose from during Christmas time that way if we don't get to one but every couple years its still doesn't seem easy to put together again.  This one I think will be fun and I can't wait to work on it.  





Here is some we recently finished (the last 2-3 months), and I believe my mom finished the top two before I had the chance to work on them.  I think I did a little bit of the bottom one.  These were smaller 500 piece ones that you would find at Dollar Tree, but they was still fun.  Speaking of Dollar Tree, if you want to work on a cheap and easy puzzle, they have quite a few to choose from, some are even a little more challenging.  A lot of them are 500 pieces but some as few as 24 (a lot of them for kids too).  We haven't bought too many as of late (not since they gone up to $1.25), but mainly because we had a steady supply of puzzles and didn't need new ones.  The pieces tend to fall apart but they are fun for entry level puzzles.



These were a bit more challenging, but both fun 1000 piece ones.  The top one might make the rotation of doing every year or two, I really liked it.  The bottom one was good, but I'm not sure how often it will be done.  Its better suited for the winter months, but we wanted to finish all the ones we haven't done yet, so it was in the rotation.  As I type this I just thought about a couple yearly puzzles that I may not get to this year.  I have a couple panoramic ones of Kaufman Stadium home of the Royals, and Memorial Stadium, home of the Missouri Tigers.  Since we have so many new ones and a couple 2000 piece ones, I don't know if I'll get to them.  Then again, I think I didn't do them last year either.  Well, here's to next year.

In the last post I showed off a doorknob and mentioned it might come in handy.  Well, I'm no handyman, but I finally decided if it would work on the pantry door.



I am glad to say that it worked perfectly, and was money well spent (50 cents, can't beat that).  Even though I know the plate didn't fit perfect, that was more because of the door itself.  Also I don't know if I put the doorknob on the right way, but its for a pantry and the door opens, I don't think it matters.  To answer a question I had, it was indeed a passage doorknob, not a dummy.  I think a brand new one was like 10-12 bucks, so I'm also happy we saved money.  I'm not a handyman, but it feels good to finish a project, especially one we just added to our to do list.

Since it is still hot outside I need to find stuff to do indoors.  Luckily I've got a couple movies to watch, one was from my local thrift shop for a buck, another for free thanks to Disney Rewards.




Step Brothers was never a must have movie, but for a buck on blu-ray, I figured I'd go ahead and get it.  If it had been The Other Guys, I would have got it within a second.  If I made a list of favorite Will Ferrell movies Stepbrothers might be towards the top only because I can only take him in small doses, and its rewatchable.  

The Bears movie from Disney was for a couple reasons.  I like the idea of the Disney Nature movies and I got a couple cheap a year or two ago.  Since this included DVD and digital copies, I figured I'd get it.  Disney Rewards has been very generous this year with free points, and I think this was between 600-800 points.  I think they have given over 1000 free points out this year, so I figured why not.  The only thing I really like is the movies, so I figured it was time to spend a few.  Plus the movie itself gives you a code for 150 Disney points so its even cheaper.  It also builds up my blu-ray collection.  When I opened the package the Elemental postcard was included.  I doubt I watch the movie, but it still looked cool, so I took a picture of it.  I'm using it to scoop up puzzle pieces.

I also just got a CD thanks to Listia.  Another site where it cost me nothing.  I hardly buy on there anymore, but I still build up my points from time to time.  There is a seller who has cheap movies and CDs which I'll watch.  If they stay low I might bid.  I found one that brought back memories, so I went ahead and got it.


Vitamin C was a pop singer in the late 90's/early 2000's and only had a couple CDs.  This was her self titled album, and it features the song Graduation (Friend's Forever) which one of class songs.  I think our official class song in high school was I Hope You Dance from Lee Ann Womack, but this one was also mentioned I believe.  At least I think it was.  I'm getting older, so maybe it was just a song I thought should have been.  Either way it brought back memories so I bid and won.  The seller is a little odd with shipping, but I've learned to live with it.  He sent this in the plastic CD case, but it didn't have the cover to it.  It doesn't affect the CD and all the inserts were included, but I guess it saved a bit on shipping, so I'm not too mad.  If you want to know more about this album, here is the discog's link.


Another CD I forgot to show was one I bought a couple months ago when I got the Baywatch CD.



I ultimately decided to give this to a friend, since he was a big fan of the show.  I did rip the CD before giving it to him, and its actually a really good CD.  The CD was worth it just for the theme song, but it had a nice mix of music, some may not really fit the show, but it was still a fun CD.  I like movie and TV soundtracks.  Here is the discogs link for this one too.


I have some cards to show that my friend gave me, but I think I'll save that for a future post.  I have a few other cards to show, so I'll do a card one then.  Next post might be a long one, and I'm not sure when I'll do it, but it should be fun.  Thanks everyone for reading, hope everyone stays cool and has a great weekend.  I think I'm going to find something to watch, maybe try to find some videos from The National since this weekend is the big card show.  I still want to attend one year, but its looking less and less like that will ever happen.  I still wish it would return to St. Louis one year.  Anyways, thanks and have a great day!

Thursday, July 13, 2023

Beyond Puzzled

 I was talking to a friend the other day and he asked when I was going to post next.  Everything I post on here he knows about, but I think he likes reading long form instead of just FB messenger.  As I've said lately, I have to be in the mood.  That said, I've wanted to do a few posts as of late but just haven't done it.  I have a couple I have planned, one with exclusive photos from a few Facebook albums I made last month. I might even spread that out to a few posts, but not promising that.  I came onto blogger a few days ago and I felt terrible.  Usually I will reply to all comments made on my posts.  I saw that I had six comments and then realized I didn't reply to any of them.  It made me feel even worse because these are my regular commenters, and I wouldn't have as many views without them.  So I want to personally thank Gavin (Baseball Card Breakdown), The Angels In Order (The Angels In Order), Fuji (The Chronicles of Fuji), Jon (A Penny Sleeve For Your Thoughts), Angus (Dawg Day Cards), and Brett Alan (who I don't believe has a blog, but is a fervent reader of mine). The comments themselves were motivational and solidified my reason that I never want to fully stop posting because some people actually enjoy what I write.  I would also be remiss if I didn't thank the many other readers who don't comment.  One comment I did want to explore more is Brett Alan's talking a bit about the Baywatch CD and how he confused Joshua Jackson with a few other actors who have sang.  This will give me a rabbit hole to explore on Discogs one day as I try to find new music to check out.

Last post I mentioned Jon and Fuji's posts, and today I'll mention a bit about a couple others.  The Angels In Order and Baseball Card Breakdown were some of the first blogs I read and commented on when joining this crazy ride. What I like about The Angels in Order is that when showing off cards, they are a nice mix of new and old.  1984 Donruss is placed on the same pedestal as 2021 Bowman.  While I rarely comment these days, its always a good read.  The same can be said for Baseball Card Breakdown.  Gavin just recently celebrated 10 years of blogging and his content is just as strong as it was when I started reading it about a year or so after he started. While looking at what I missed, I noticed a post on his card art, and it looked familiar.  I realized that he posted about it on Twitter recently and they are something to see.

I should also mention Angus' blog- Dawg Day Cards.  I will admit I haven't always read his blog, but have seen it a few times.  In fact I just realized I didn't follow his blog, and I have now fixed that.  He has a lot of nice Cleveland Browns cards, and I really liked his tribute post he did for Jim Brown, that had some nice cards.

My reason for posting today wasn't to thank all my readers which I do to close every blog, but to show off a few items I've bought on a recent shopping trip.  I've pretty much retired my Savvy Loot posts because the store has changed so much, but I still go about once a month.  Last Friday I made my way there and bought a few items.  As it turned out, those aren't what I'll discuss today.  The next day they made a Facebook post announcing all donated items (excluding clothes, shoes, and accessories) priced $4 or less would only be 50 cents each.  I was a bit upset since I could have saved about $7 on purchases the day before.  They didn't say how long the sale would last, but I wasn't in the mood to go on Saturday.  They are closed Sunday and Monday, so I thought Tuesday I might go.  I like to go early in the day because the weather is getting hotter and I like to be home before noon when I go places in the morning.  They open at 9 AM but they never announced the sale was still going on until around 10 or so.  By then I didn't want to go.  However they announced the sale would last all week, so I decided Wednesday morning would be a perfect time to go.  Since I went last week, there were a few items I was eying but the main thing was puzzles.  Used puzzles range for $2-$10, and most are $3.  I feel that's a bit much for used ones, but for 50 cents, I'll buy up a bunch.  In my mind I was hoping to finding 20 puzzles.  There wasn't much else I wanted, but still worth a look.  The only downside is I missed 2 full days of the sale, so who knows what is left.  Well, I wasn't disappointed.


After taxes, the total was a shade over 12 bucks.  Not a bad haul.  A couple items I realized weren't what I thought, but oh well, I was more than happy.  Let's look at the other stuff then the puzzles.




The CD spindle was not full, but a few days earlier it was priced at 3 bucks.  PASS!  Today it was marked to 75 cents, which was better, but since it was under 4 bucks, it was now 50 cents.  There was another spindle of DVDs the other day, but I didn't find it this time.  I don't use many blank CDs anymore, but I'll find a use for them.

The Fire cover said it would fit all 7 and 8's, but it doesn't fit the one we have.  No big loss, but I was hoping it would.  Still looks good so maybe I can resale it or something.  Same with the retractable cable kit.  When I grabbed it I was thinking it was something else (or similar), but looking at it now, I'm not sure I have much use for it.  At least I saved a buck on it.



I'm not a handyman, but I do projects sometimes.  The first bag I am hoping might work on a table that has a leg that needs to be held on.  It's not really what I've been looking for, but if it works, I'm happy I spent less then buying a pack of new brackets for it which I've been having trouble finding.

The bottom bag is a door handle.  My mom mentioned the pantry door handle could be replaced.  It's not a major deal, but she's been wanting a replacement because the current one is starting to have a smell to it (you know how stuff lingers on your hands).  I'm not sure if this is a passage knob or a dummy knob (very recently I realized there is a difference), but again, 50 cents is a risk worth taking.  I'd imagine its a passage knob since I don't see why a dummy one would need to have all the extras.

Okay with that out of the way, let's look at puzzles.  In total I fell short of the goal of 20.  There were about 5 we left behind because we didn't care for the look, and another which was $10.  If we went on Saturday there was at least 2-3 more we would have possibly got because we've been eying them for a while.  Oh well, 17 our of 20 isn't bad.




The reason we don't like paying 3 bucks for a puzzle is because recently we started to work on a 2000 piece puzzle and notice it was missing pieces.  None of the border was included, and about a third of the puzzle was gone.  So we will rarely spend more than a buck for a used puzzle (though last week we bought 2).  At 50 cents, you don't get as mad missing pieces.

You ever see that jerk in a store sitting on the floor going through product?  Well, I was that jerk.  However I wasn't scanning items to find resale value (I never do that, in fact I rarely have my phone on me while shopping). No, this time I was on the floor to reach all the puzzles on the bottom shelf.  I believe the first puzzle was on the bottom shelf.  Another 2000 piece, and I'm happy to start working on larger ones.  A goal is one day do a 5000 piece one.  This one will be a nice one to do in the winter.  The second one is a nice one to work on in the fall and a 1500 piece.  I'm a sucker for the older puzzles, especially the Milton Bradley ones, even though the older the puzzle, the higher the risk a piece or two is missing. The bottom I'm not sure when it will be worked on, but it will be fun to do, and looks like an older White Mountain puzzle.  Yes I'm at the point where I know the brands of puzzles.  I got this one because it made me think of my sister Andrea, who if was alive today would undoubtedly look at it and say "BILL! THAT'S NOT FUNNY!"






When she was very little a rooster pecked her in the behind.  My grandpa got a kick out of it.  Anyways, more puzzles, the first three 1000 pieces each.  They look similar to ones we've done in the past, but are in fact new to us.  The top one reminds me of a live cam on Youtube I look up of North Carolina.

The Life one is 750 pieces, and while it says is complete, I worry because the box was smashed a bit at the top, so I hope its all there. I don't think I've done one from that brand before.  The bottom one is another 1000 piece from Kodak, which I like a lot.  Its very rare we'll pass up cat puzzles, and this was no exception.  Although I have to admit, it looks a bit plain, but totally worth the price, but easy to pass over when it was 3 bucks.






Encore puzzles are usually simple and quick to do, this one looks prettier than most, but odd that its 504 pieces.  Next is a 1000 piece Big Ben that might slide into next in line.  Seems like a summer one, and its similar to a recent one we've done.  Next might be my favorite of the batch.  Its a Guild and 1000 pieces, but the picture is so nice.  After getting home, my mom always cleans everything with disinfecting wipes, and if I had waited to take these pictures, all of them would look so much nicer, especially this one.  I can't wait to do this one.

I was also happy to find a Christmas puzzle.  We have a few, but its always nice to find more to slide into the rotation.  We will redo puzzles, because until recently we didn't have a lot.  Now we have a lot, so redoing them isn't something we have to plan.  That said, we still like having options.

The bottom one I didn't look at too much beyond the picture until we got home.  It appears it not only a borderless puzzle, but has shapes throughout and even pieces shaped like a train that runs through it somewhere.  I'm not big on gimmicky puzzles, but this could be a fun one to work on this fall.

A few more left, and some of these might be more appealing to others I've shown so far.



Usually 100 piece ones are passed over, but sometimes you need a break after finishing 1000-2000 piece puzzles.  I knew my mom would like this one, and it can also be kept on hand when my nieces and nephews visit.  The other one is one we spotted last week, but at only 700 pieces didn't want to pay 3 bucks for.  In fact besides a dolphin one which we've scouted for a few months and was gone by the time we went, this was the only other one we really wanted.  If we wasn't in the middle of a 2000 piece puzzle it would be worked on today.  Our town is having their annual rodeo this weekend and the timing is perfect.  Speaking of my town, that will be a subject of a future post (the one that will incorporate Facebook albums in it).  My town celebrated 150 years last month and I took a lot of pictures.  I saved a few for a blog I call them exclusives.  However that's for another post.

Well a couple more puzzles to go, I saved the best for last.



I spotted the flag one last time but didn't pay much attention to it.  After spotting it again, I grabbed it.  I didn't look too much at it, so when I got home I finally looked at what was on it- stamps.  I'm not a stamp collector, but when she was growing up, my sister Anitra had a couple albums of stamps.  I seems like a cool hobby, but just one I never got into.

Lastly, is one that was a fun find.  My mom asked "why did you get that", and to be honest, it looked fun. Another quick one to finish, and another for my nieces and nephews to work on when they visit.

So overall, I think 12 bucks was well spent, and even picked up a could things I've thought about getting anyways.  Time will tell if all the pieces are there, and I doubt I will post pictures of the finished product, but maybe I will.  I just had a crazy idea about starting an instagram account just to post finished puzzles.  I don't think I will, but if I ever decide to I'll let you know.

Anyways, thanks to all who have read, and thanks in advance if you leave a comment.  I will try my best to respond this time.  If you are a reader and haven't check out any of the blogs mentioned above, it is well worth the time to.  I need to read them more often, but I have them on my blogroll for a reason.  If you have a blog that you think I should follow, leave a comment and I'll check it out.  Thanks everyone for reading and have a great night.