Savvy Loot Box and other items

 Today's blog has a lot of photos partly because I made a trip to my local second hand store, Savvy Seconds yesterday, and partly because I'm working on cleaning up older files on my computer.  While there is no cards to show today, I think there is some interesting card related finds to show off.  To be honest I'm not sure if I've shown some of the older pictures before, and if I have I'm sorry.  I usually delete the photos after I post a blog but sometimes I forget, and I've only been doing it the last year or two.  I still have stuff from 2017 I planned to blog about that I still hope to get to one day.  That being said, I also deleted some photos of stuff to show just because I'm not sure when or how I would blog about it so maybe at a future date.  So with all that out of the way, let's take a look at yesterday's haul.

Before I start let me refresh your memory since I do these so sporadically.  The Savvy Loot Box is a feature I started because instead of spending 20 bucks or more on a mystery box online, I could just buy interesting stuff in person that I want and not be disappointed getting something I don't want.  95% of the time the total comes in under 5 bucks and its usually some sort of media items like movies or music.  I sometimes find other random items as well, and they tend to be more interesting to some readers.

Okay, let's dive in.

My first stop is usually the VHS section and surprisingly it was almost wiped out.  The store is hyping a big event in a couple weeks and are adding shelving so I'm curious what's going on, but also surprised the vhs section is so bare.  The books were also a bit thin as well, so maybe they got rid of some and are expecting more and waiting to restock.  At any rate, I found a few tapes.  The price is 10 cents each and I usually buy 5 or 10 when I buy any.  This time is no different and I have a couple more to show in a second.

I own Field of Dreams on VHS and hope to get it on Blu Ray at some point or even 4K (holding off on that until I have a 4K TV and likely not getting a new TV until I need to or at least until ATSC 3.0 TV's are more readily available and channels in my area are broadcasting with it.  However I've decided to start getting VHS tapes of movies I had growing up, and this was one of them.  At some point I'll show off my collection all at once and describe my memories of them.  That was an easy first grab.  Beyond that, since the selection was bare, not a lot caught my eye.  I'm not saying this was best of the best, but this is the stuff I though I could watch at least once and not something I'll find on streaming much.  I liked Family Circus comics, but honestly their cartoon videos are awful, but hey, 10 cents maybe I can upload it to Youtube if someone else hasn't already.  The All Saints one I might have put back if something was better, but I like some of their music in the late 90's and its something I doubt I'd ever find again, so oddball works for me.  I like tigers, so that VHS should be fun.  Not much more to add about that.  The last two are concerts one of which I thought played at a local church once.  I know I've heard the name Chosen Few before, and since at worst it was in Branson, its related to Missouri, so that works for me.  The last one I thought was a band I've heard of but I'm not sure.  Again, its something different and since the selection was lacking, I figured why not.

I got excited finding used blank tapes.  It adds more mystery to the find and I guess factoring in the Loot Box angle, its makes it even more of a mystery.  At worst, I'm out 10 cents a tape.  This morning I tried out the tapes and was pleasantly surprised.  The Disney shows as I figured were taped off the Disney Channel and was aimed at little kids, I think one show I saw was Under The Umbrella Tree.  It had some commercials or Disney advertisements on it, so I can mine some of that out.  A couple weeks ago I uploaded similar stuff to Youtube and actually got a lot of views I wasn't expecting, so finding more Disney content will be a plus.  The best part is that this is from around 1992 or 1993, and so the older the content I believe the better the views will be.  The downside is the tape is showing signs of wear so the top part of the video has lines in it, but I still think I can make some decent uploads from it.

The other tape had me a bit more intrigued.  The writing looks like a kid wrote it, and I assumed it was something off the Cartoon Network or Boomerang.  I loved Boomerang in the early 2000's when Flintstones, Tom and Jerry, Scooby Doo and all the other classic cartoons were on it.  Since I don't have it anymore I don't keep up, but pretty sure they started showing newer stuff.  I'd rather they stick to the classics.  Anyways as I popped this in I noticed how rough the tape itself felt.  I'm use to smooth looking tapes but have found some like this before.  Anyways I popped it in and sure enough it was on the Flintstones.  At first glance it appeared the commercials had been cut out and quite wonderfully might I say.  The shows were intact and hardly any commercial had been taped.

*Keith Morrison voiceover* THAT IS UNTIL ONE PIECE OF COMMERCIAL MADE THE WHOLE CASE UNRAVEL

They missed a clip by about half of a second of a commercial, and thank goodness.  If they hadn't I might have just discarded the whole tape without looking.  What they let slip made my eye get big and I knew I had work to do.  It turns out the tape isn't from Boomerang or Cartoon Network.  Not even from the early 2000's.  It's not from TBS in the 90's when they would show the same shows (Turner liked these shows and I don't blame them, well, never got into Tom & Jerry but still).  Anyways, it turns out these are taped off network TV from the 1980's.  I'm pinpointing the exact year, but I know its from either 1984 or 1985.  Just from half of a second of a commercial I pinned it down to the years of 1982-1985.  Pretty amazing I think.  The clincher was this- the tape is from KOMU my local NBC station from Columbia, MO.  I uploaded a video of their commercials from 1994 earlier, but this might be better.  The reason I knew the timeframe was because in August of 1982, KOMU switched affiliates from NBC to ABC.  By the first day of 1986, they returned to NBC, so about 3 and a half years they were ABC and the sliver of a commercial showed the ABC logo and it made me excited.  I rewound the tape and eventually I found some commercials, and oh my goodness, I'm in heaven.  I don't want to spoil much because I do plan on uploading it in the next few months (commercial videos on Youtube get me good traffic), and I'm excited to see what all is on the tape.  I have another post I'll do soon with more tape watching so that should be fun too.  All I'll say is this tape has commercials appealing to 80s kids and also some local ones too.  I can't wait.

So ten VHS tapes for a buck.... and!!!! Well, that's it.  Like I said they are working on something and not a lot else was there that interested me.  There were a couple CD's I passed on but mainly because I already own them.  One was from a band I'm friends with called The Follow.  If its still there next time I might pick it up just because, but first I'll look to make sure I do have it.  I purged a lot of CD's a few years ago and with moving stuff I may have misplaced it.  In any event I have all the songs on my computer so its not like I do need it.  The other CD was kind of two CD's in one.  It was a Gram Parsons double CD but on one disc.  GP and Grievous Angel were both really good albums, so good that I already own that as well.  I think I bought it in a previous trip years ago.  After I watched the film Grand Theft Parsons, I really started listening to Gram Parsons music and reading more about him.  I'm glad I did, I think his catalog of music is one of a few that I could listen to without hardly skipping a song.  Before my next trip I'll also double check to see if I still have my copy, but pretty sure I saw it a couple months ago.

So for a buck I did good.  But then I went and looked in the free box.  This time there was no tapes, but I didn't walk away empty handed. 

Looks like I have new toys to display.  The Captain America one I get to display with another free one I picked up earlier this year (and will show below).  I never watched any of the Marvel movies, and I figure I will one day, but then again I don't know the last superhero movie I watched.  It might have been The Dark Knight, and that was what ten years ago.  I've never been into comic movies but I don't hate them either.  I figure I'll get in a kick to watch them at some point, and maybe I'll even get a trial to Disney Plus or try it for a month.

Next is Lola Bunny, from I presume Space Jam.  I might be mistaken, but I think I have one similar of the Tasmanian Devil but I have no idea where its at.  All the more reason I need to organize stuff better.  Lastly in the box was an 8GB flash drive.  After I got home I thought better then to stick it into my computer to see if anything was on it or even use it.  I've heard stories of people using them as killswitches and frying computers.  So unless I have a useless computer at some point, which I hope I don't, I will hold onto it but not try it out.  I have tried some in the past I found but never just sitting in a free box.  Either way it works and maybe one day I'll find out whats on it or use it, or I saved someone else from frying their computer, so I didn't exactly lose out.

I had to go to other places on this trip so despite paying a buck for stuff, I still did alright.  The other places I went to didn't get me anything of interest to show, but I decided to show off a few more things I've picked up at Savvy the last year or so and never shown off.  I mean why not.  First we'll look at more free stuff.

I don't know a lot about him, but I know he is Groot.  He will look nice next to Captain America.  I thought I posted these already but I guess not.  Oh well.  The first four pics are all from a trip this year, all in one trip.  The fry girl one I kind of liked best.  The Minion one is missing a piece but I still grabbed it.  The Snoopy ones I got only because I thought two of them would look nice as bookends of some sort and so far they do on the display I have.  I'm about to rearrange my shelves so maybe in a future post I will show all this off how I got it to look.

Last year at some point in the free box was a VCR.  I might have even blogged about it, but I still have the photo, so here it is again.  The VCR works fine and I use it as a backup in case I ever need it.  I had a stretch where I had no VCR's, so having a second one really helps.

The box of cords were in the same trip, and also free.  To be honest I have no use for any of the cords, and they are currently in storage, but it was a mystery what was in there and that enough intrigued me.  Also when it rains all the items in the free area get hit, so at worst I saved them from getting damaged.  Maybe I will put 50 cents on the box and sell them at a garage sale, but there might be a cord I need one day.

I have more, but these are more VHS tapes and they were again a dime each.

I was quite happy to find the first two Back to the Future movies even though I never owned them on VHS.  In fact I never owned them on any media.  I will one day, but just haven't yet.  I was equally happy to find To Grandmother's House We Go with the Olsen twins, but man rewatching it recently made me not enjoy it as much.  Still glad I have it, but I doubt I'll watch it more than once every couple of years around Christmas time.

I'm speeding through this because there's a lot of pics and I'm a bit tired of writing, so sorry for less commentary.  The Huck Finn movie I got because I was thinking of a different version of Huck Finn, but still glad I got this for a couple reasons I'll explain in a bit.  The Hot Wheels one I got because it was an oddball movie, same with the Branson one.  The Branson one had a lot singing on it, which was nice, but also kind of dragged on.  I'm not sure how the cat book snuck in there, and not sure where its even at right now.  The blank tape was an unopened tape which I have no plans of opening but remember that brand from childhood, so it was nice to see one like it and it will display next to my other ones.  The next three are Wayne Lammers VHS tapes that is basically local history.  I think I've mentioned the church one before, but one day soon I hope to check these out and convert them to a disc and even upload them to Youtube.  If not the full movies, at least clips of it.  It also reminds me I have some home video footage my dad took I need to edit and upload at some point, might do that on my secondary Youtube channel.  The Man of the House tape was a copy of the Disney movie with Chevy Chase and it was recorded off the Disney Channel.  If you've seen the Youtube video I have of Disney promos from 1996, that was what else was on the tape.  Not much else besides those ads, the movie, and a random episode of The Torklesons, but still a fun tape to find.

After I got home and realized the Huck Finn movie wasn't what I thought it was, I wasn't bummed.  I'm positive I watched this version before and I liked it well enough, so I'm happy with it.  After I took a picture of it, I noticed this sticker on the bottom.  It was a former rental tape.  To top it off it was from a video store that is very hard to find info about online.  Aardvark Video was a local video store we had in the late 80's and early 90's.  It was one I was quite fond of and the place I loved renting Nintendo games.  At some point ownership changed hands and it became a Movie Gallery.  Another fine video store, but it didn't feel like a local store to me, more of a chain.  So finding this tape made me very excited.  On another trip I found a couple more from Aardvark, but not from my local store, one about 40 miles away.  Not uncommon but still cool to find.

Next is a card game I've yet to play called Where's The Beef from the 80's.  As a former Wendy's working, Wendy's items catch my eye, and though I didn't work there then, I still knew I had to have this.  Without knowing I ever worked there, one of my nieces loves Wendy's though wasn't too impressed when I busted out my old nametag and hat one day.  She was also bored with the video I showed her from my Wendy's day I uploaded to Youtube.  It was a corporate video, and to be honest it was very boring.

Next is a couple magazines I forgot about until I saw the pictures.  I like tigers and my mom like elephants so a dime a piece was well worth it.  I couldn't pass them up.  Lastly is a t-shirt with advertising on the back.  They have started to sell bags of shirts for a buck and while none are really that great, its fun to see the mystery of whats in them and at worst we can use them as rags, so its not a total waste.  I like shirts with advertising, so this one caught my eye.  Normally the bags have about 12-15 shirts, and we've got about 5-6 so far but only about 2-3 we like, so a lot of rags.  We haven't bought any as of late.

So before I wrap it up, I have a couple more pics these are stuff my mom had I wanted to show off.

Oops, forgot about the Diamond magazine.  Maybe I showed it before, but I've already forgotten about it.  I have it tucked away and maybe one day I'll revisit it.  Oh well.

A scan is missing so I guess blogger wants me to wrap it up.  Here is an egg my dad had in some sort of case for a long time.  My mom opened the case and noticed it had a tiny crack.  Upon further inspection it was just an empty eggshell that pretty much disintegrated upon touching.  So good thing I have the picture.

Okay one pic and I'll wrap it up.

This Pac-Man has been in our family for as long as I remember and I was so glad to see it again.  I now have it on display on my shelf.  It doesn't move like it use to, but still does work somewhat.  With that Craig Robinson Pizza Hut commercial on with Pac-Man all the time I figured why not bust it out.  Plus not to spoil much, but that Flintstones tape I showed at the beginning may or may not have something Pac-Man related on it.

So with all that, I get to show off some stuff and also clean up my files some.  So now with a bunch of files I can delete those and maybe go back to 2017 and show off some cards soon.  Or maybe make another trip and post more VHS tapes.   Let's hope for the former before the latter.  Thanks for reading and have a great weekend.