FEELING BLESSED.

This month marks my fourth decade around the Sun, and I just want to say... I feel blessed.

I'm by no means a religious person, so I don't use the term lightly. Between the success of the recent First Annual Blue Hen Comic Con, to the growth of Blog followers, to the sales I've had on eBay, and the feedback I've received from folks who've stumbled upon my Archival uploads... I'm really feeling like I've found a place in the "geek" community.

I love thrifting, I love sharing, and I love that even a fraction of what I enjoy doing becomes something that others can also enjoy.

So I just want to say THANK YOU to anyone who's ever visited the blog, my online storefronts, or interacted with me in a positive way.

As is tradition, starting next week I'll be sharing Out-Of-Print Holiday Season goodies... STAY TUNED!

Thrifting Pickups - Week of 6/6/21

Kind of a slow week with only one major surprise...

I picked up a handful of common PS2 games from the flea market for $2 apiece, all of which are headed straight to this year's AbleGamers donation box.

Goodwill provided me with some $1 CDs; the live album "Good Friendly Violent Fun" from Thrash Metal legends Exodus was a neat find; it's currently OOP! I have a good friend who collects rare 80's and 90's Metal albums, so I'm gonna see if he wants it for his collection.

The soundtrack to "Once Were Warriors" is also an interesting pickup. Along with also being OOP, it's the backdrop to a fantastic, criminally underrated movie. Both the album and film are worth checking out!

And the big surprise of the week is "The Silent Majority", the lone outing from the fantastically strange Rock band Life Sex & Death. While the album can be purchased digitally via Amazon and other outlets, the physical CD itself is long OOP.

Mainstream Radio had no clue what to do with this band, which is a shame, because the album has some absolutely phenomenal tracks on it. If you're a fan of Shock Rock, early 90's Alternative, or want to see a performance that's a combination of Punk, Glam, Grunge, and even more (yes, really), then please check this album out. A single copy can currently be picked up via some blogger's eBay store...

Thrifting Pickups - Week of 5/30/21

Another week of thrifting yielded me even more GameCube games plus some interesting comics!

Three GameCube titles for only $3 apiece, plus a few semi-valuable PS3 sports titles for only $0.50 each was a great way to start my day at the flea market... but then came the comic books!

I'm always on the lookout for weird or obscure books if they're cheap enough, and so when I saw some special variants and a #1 I'd never seen before (Dee Snider's "Strangeland") for a buck apiece, I just had to grab them. Color me surprised when I did some research and found copies of "Strangeland" selling for upwards of Thirty Dollars!

I have yet to come across anything incredibly rare or expensive this thrifting season, but that's not going to deter me... I'm sure a large Grail is just around the corner! Just have to keep thrifting, just like everyone reading this should be doing this Summer as well. :-)

Thrifting Pickups - Week of 5/16/21

Took a break from thrifting for a week, but came back last week with a vengeance!

The GameCube games (of which WWE Crush Hour is uncommon) were both $4 apiece and were both CIB. All of the other discs came from a "dollar table"! The HELMET CDs are all original prints; if you haven't heard "Betty", give it a listen, it's a great album.

The Diablo coaster set was also fairly cheap, and I was surprised to see how much it goes for; they may end up on the Sanctum's eBay page soon.

Lastly, the Nintendo DSi only ended up being $5, as the seller did not have a charger to prove the handheld worked. Luckily I had a charger at home, and after about an hour charge, it did indeed work... SCORE! It's always worth taking a risk as long as the initial cost is low!

As the weather gets warmer, more and more people will be setting up tables at local flea markets, and prepping for yard sales... don't miss out on the thrifting season! You won't know what's out there unless you go out and hunt!

Thrifting Pickups - Week of 5/2/21

I only made it out to the flea market once this past week, but hooo boy was it ever worth the trip!

First off, one of the "dollar tables" had a nice little selection of GameCube, PS1, and PS2 games. I grabbed a couple to split between my collection and this upcoming Holiday Season's AbleGamers donation box. Obviously I'm keeping the "Mary-Kate & Ashley" game for myself. I mean... how could I not?

And then came the biggest surprise... on a table full of mish-mashed stuff, there sat a Golden Age - sized comic bag and board, and inside of it was a picture of Marina Sirtis (who played Deanna Troi on "Star Trek: The Next Generation"). It appeared to be signed. While I'm not a "Trek" fan myself, I know a few people who are. I asked how much, and the seller said two bucks. I figured "what the Hell", and grabbed it.

Opened it up... and behind that signature were three more: another one by Marina, one by Johnathan Frakes, and HOLY CRAP one by Sir Patrick Stewart!!

I'll be sending these to Beckett Authentication and then deciding what to do next with them. What a steal! Like I keep saying, there are always deals out there to be discovered... go out and HUNT!

Thrifting Pickups - Week of 4/25/21

Thrifting's been a bit slow the past few weeks, plus I've been busy with other things, so honestly I'm glad to have found anything of note over the past seven days!

The sealed C.S. Lewis slipcase contains two hardcover novels, "The Screwtape Letters" and "Mere Christianity". I found it for only a few dollars at Goodwill, and was shocked to discover that it usually retails for over $40 and up! Definitely a sweet find!

The two Burger King glasses from the original theatrical release of "Return of the Jedi" were only a dollar each... and considering how Disney wants to phase out any kind of physical collectible featuring the notorious "Slave Leia" outfit, I figured for that cheap of a price, I may as well grab them and hold onto 'em.

And finally, the children's album "I Have A Little Shadow" was also a dollar. When I couldn't find it available via the major outlets such as Amazon or iTunes, I decided to buy it so I could share it here. However, after doing a little more digging, I discovered it is available via the original musical team of Steve and Caitlin Klaper via Steve's Bandcamp page. If you enjoy the writings of Robert Louis Stevenson and enjoy musical renditions of his works, I'd highly suggest checking it out.

Nothing major, but still a few gems nonetheless; Summer is coming up fast, and that's when the real deals start popping up... can't wait!

Thrifting Pickups - Week of 3/21/21

Things are looking better and better on the thrifting front as the air warms and the sun shines for an extra hour a day!

My semi-local 2nd and Charles yielded me some excellent comics for only $0.95 apiece, including a virgin variant "Regular Show" #1, the "death" of Steve Rogers, and two copies of "Mystery Girl" #1, which is currently being optioned by Netflix!

While not the best MGS title, I picked up two factory-sealed copies of "Ground Zeroes" for $8 apiece.

"Fall Down Laughing", the autobiography of the late, great David L. Lander ("Squiggy" from "Laverne and Shirley") was a Goodwill find. This now-OOP 2-CD set is currently available via the Sanctum's eBay Store.

And finally, I was able to score a pristine sealed copy of the comic-and-cassette combo pack "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Complete Adventure" for around $30! I bought it with the sole intention of cracking it open (GASP) and sending the comic to get slabbed by CGC. There are only a tiny handful on the CGC census, and I want to add one more copy to those numbers.

If anyone wants to hear the awesome audio adventure, you can grab your copy right here on the TRS blog!

I hope all Sanctum Dwellers are also making the best of the great weather, and heading out to find their own deals; you never know what you'll find unless you look! Good Luck!

Thrifting Pickups - Week of 3/14/21

Finally things are picking up in terms of... uhm, picking up things.

I had a great day at the flea market earlier in the week, where I stumbled across a bunch of uncommon PS2 games for only $5 apiece... and they're all CIB!

The "Magic: The Gathering" deck boxes were also five bucks each, and each one contained a mish-mash of older cards. Nothing huge, but definitely worth what I paid.

And finally, the single Sega Dreamcast title cost me one lone dollar!

A few of these items will be cleaned up and make their way to the Sanctum's eBay store, so keep your eyes peeled!

Thrifting Pickups - Week of 3/7/21

Very, very slim pickings this past week as the cold weather continues (come on, Spring, where are you?), but it included two hits for two very different reasons:

First, I found a super-clean copy of legendary LP "Whipped Cream and Other Delights" by Herb Alpert. I love this iconic album. No, really, I love it a LOT...

And second, I came across a very rare copy of "The Night Angel Trilogy: 10th Anniversary Edition" by Brent Weeks. This thing isn't even available anymore via the author's own website, and the cheapest copy on Amazon is close to TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS. Absolutely crazy!

I'm hoping that the weather warms up soon, so the flea markets will get back into full swing; I need a bigger thrifting fix, and fast!

Thrifting Pickups - Week of 2/21/21

Due to the bi-weekly dumpings of ice and snow in my area, chances for thrifting have been slim as of late. Thankfully there was at least one decent day weather-wise over the past weekend, so I was finally able to head out to the flea market.

I walked away with a hard-to-find First Edition of "Now, Ameriky", an original CD print of a classic Run-D.M.C. album, a CIB copy of an excellent Wii title, and a complete collection of EA Sports games that usually has a disc missing!

All of these items will be making their way to The Random Sanctum's eBay store, so keep your eyes peeled and make sure to Follow us so you don't miss out!

Thrifting Pickups - Week of 1/10/21

This was definitely a prosperous week, as I only ended up hitting two locations yet still managed to find well over $200 worth of goodies!

A visit to 2nd and Charles netted me "Asterix & Obelix: Kick Buttix" for PS2 and "Crime Life" for the original Xbox. Thanks to prior trade-in credit, I paid zero dollars out of pocket.

Everything else in the picture came from a Goodwill stop; the discs were all $1 apiece and "1999" was a whopping $2. I got a kick out of seeing a CIB copy of "Halo" that wasn't an NFR or GOTY edition!

Just goes to show that, even in the midst of a pandemic and a recession, there are still plenty of treasures to discover... #ThriftingIsntDead !

Thrifting Pickups - Week of 12/27/20

The last Thrift of 2020 yielded some pretty awesome items!

"ZOIDS" DVDs and games are hard to come by, especially in good condition; I picked up the Volume 1 DVD and it looks like it was just taken out of shrinkwrap! It will more than likely end up on the Sanctum's eBay store soon, so keep an eye out!

The two CDs were $1 apiece, and both are OOP. Believe it or not, between the obscure Indie Rock band CD and the big-budget Hip-Hop Soundtrack, the Soundtrack is the one that isn't available anywhere for streaming!

And finally, the biggest hitter of them all, and one helluva way to end the year: a FIRST EDITION hardcover copy of Stephen King's debut novel "Carrie"! It was only $1 at Goodwill. It, like pretty much every other 1st Edition book I find, headed straight to my wife's library.

If this is how 2020 ends in terms of thrifts, I can't wait to see what 2021 will bring!

Thrifting Pickups - Week of 11/29/20

I had a pretty busy week, so I didn't do a whole lot of thrifting outside of stopping at a local flea market one day before heading to work.

Luckily, my gut feeling paid off; I stumbled across a bunch of comic books, including SIX (!) copies of "Spider-Man" #1 from 2016, the first solo series for Miles Morales!

While it would've been crazier to find six copies of "Ultimate Fallout" #4 in the wild, coming across easily Near-Mint copies of this is still pretty incredible... especially since they were only a buck apiece.

All of these will be getting pressed and graded in the near future, and a few may appear on the Sanctum's eBay store. Keep your eyes peeled both on the store, and when you're out thrifting; you never know what you'll find while you're out and about!

Thrifting Pickups - Week of 11/22/20

With the week being so busy (what with Thanksgiving and all), there wasn't a lot of time for thrifting. However I ended up finding a hard-to-find "Powerpuff Girls" music CD at a Goodwill, and our local Ollie's had a bunch of these awesome retro "Mega Man" figure sets for only $4.99 apiece!

I'll be sharing the PPG CD here soon, as it isn't available anywhere digitally or physically from Cartoon Network; so stay tuned for that upload!

Thrifting Pickups - Week of 11/15/20

With the weather getting colder, and many flea markets / swap meets / etc closing up for the year, it's time to start thrifting digitally!

All of the games (plus the SMG coin) were obtained via Facebook Marketplace. The 45s were from Gerrad over at FrogPondFinds! The "Casper" and "Woody Woodpecker" ones are in especially excellent condition. If none of the records are already available online anywhere, rest assured I'll have them ripped and shared here as soon as possible!

Hope everyone is getting their own deals before the big boom of the Holiday Season... KEEP THRIFTING!

BONUS Thrifting Pickups - K-Pop, J-Pop, and more!

 

Earlier this week I shared my weekly thrifting pickups and came across some K-Pop, J-Pop, and Vocaloid albums in 2nd and Charles' "Free Bin". I decided to go back and... WOW... someone got rid of a bunch more!

Everything you see in the picture was absolutely FREE! I've given a few of them a listen and I especially like Aldious and Band-Maid!

As I learn more about these albums, they'll make their way to the Sanctum's eBay store, so keep an eye out!

Thrifting Pickups - Week of 9/27/20

 

Getting some sweet items from one location is awesome enough; getting them for free is even better!

After a month away from 2nd and Charles, I had built up quite a bit of credit, so I decided to put it to use. I didn't have the Limited Edition of "Prince of Persia" with the bonus disc, so I figured I'd upgrade. Any of the "Harry Potter" games of the Xbox 360 / PS3 era under $10 is always worth grabbing. "Bayonetta 2" is the First Print edition which comes with the original "Bayonetta" on a bonus disc (and I really don't want to open my sealed copy).

As for comics, I'll always pick up any interesting-looking debut issues of indie titles... and the "death" of Jane Foster is a great find as well. Using my credit, I spent a whopping ZERO dollars!

And on the way out, I stopped at the "Free Bin" and discovered a couple of nice Asian music albums! I don't have a lot of knowledge of the worlds of K-Pop, J-Pop, or Vocaloid, but I know who both Rain and Hatsune Miku are, so I figured I'd take a chance.

Finally, I stopped at Barnes & Noble to look for some books for my wife and LPs for my son, and came across a Limited Edition of "I'm Breathless" by Madonna. "Dick Tracy" is one of my all-time favorite films, and in my eyes the only good thing Madonna ever did (sorry, not much of a fan, lol). To pick up a sealed vinyl copy of this album for $22 is an absolute steal.

And that's it for this week; a nice hodgepodge of items that will make great additions to my collections! If you want to find cool stuff of your own, KEEP THRIFTING! Hit up your own local thrift shops, pawn shops, flea markets, and the like; I guarantee that if you're persistent, you will find some awesome stuff!

Thrifting Pickups - Week of 9/20/20

Nothing spectacular this week, although as a huge "Twin Peaks" fan I was pretty stoked to find this brand-new book for only $3.00. A children's record is always something I'll pick up if it's in good shape, and the assorted foreign Easy Listening / Jazz CDs were a neat little find, too.

Every year during the Holidays I buy my wife a Tinkerbell ornament... just so happens that this year I was able to find one before Christmastime came around!

Lastly, the copy of "The Specials" on DVD was a stellar find. This long-forgotten superhero comedy was actually James Gunn's (Marvel's "Guardians of the Galaxy") first foray into writing a superhero movie! It was just released on BluRay this past Summer, but the original 2000 DVD print is still quite difficult to come by.

And that does it for this week's finds; hopefully I discover even more next week! And don't forget that you may find some of these items - and more - on my eBay Store!

Thrifting Pickups - Week of 9/14/20

One of my absolute favorite things to do is go "thrifting". Flea Markets, swap meets, yard sales, online deals, local comic/toy/game stores... you name it! And at the end of every week I like to compile together all of the neat things I stumbled across. In fact, when I used to create YouTube content, I would share my pickups via a video series.

This past week didn't yield a ton of amazing items, but still some cool stuff nonetheless! The Taylor Swift LP is a gift for my wife. "Moon Girl & Devil Dinosaur" #1 for $3.00 is a great deal in and of itself; the fact it's a Hip-Hop Variant is just icing on the cake! A few cool little DVDs, CDs and a game for between $0.25 to $1.00 a piece... a classic Commodore 64 title, CIB... and the cream of the crop are two old "Shadow" pulps!

Some of these items may find their way to my eBay Store, so make sure to check it out and Follow it!

People always try to tell me "there are no good deals anymore, finding stuff in the 'wild' is hard, don't bother, etc". I say they're WRONG. You never know what you'll find unless you go out and look. There are always deals to be had, so KEEP THRIFTING!