In one box lot of toys we bought recently there was a coffee can full of what most would only call junk. A bunch of game pieces, toy parts, and bits & bobs, apparently saved by someone who either repaired such things — or just knew that someone would come looking for “it”, so it had better be saved.

I myself admit to such a philosophy. I’m continually saving things, grabbing them with a hearty, “Somebody wants that!”

I sorted through a number of old wooden bingo number chips, the springs from ballpoint pens, numerous sized wheels for toy cars, whistles, wooden Tinker Toy parts, little green plastic trees, and all sorts of dusty & dirty wooden, plastic and metal things. (Surprisingly, only one doll part — and arm, reaching impotently for help out of the old can.)

I have to say that this vintage wooden checker piece with it’s plastic bug gave me a good pause — who can tell for certain there wouldn’t be real bugs in this coffee can?

Many would have tossed it, or given up part way through searching. But not me. I’m insane like that.

I looked at each & every piece in that coffee can of junk, like some might investigate a pirate trunk. Even though I can barely snap a Barbie leg or truck wheel back into place, I knew there would be cool things inside…

These are a few of the treasures I’ve decided that somebody must want.

(If you see something you want, let me know!)

#1 A vintage Cootie head, with eyes. (There were a few Cootie legs in the can too… Eventually, I will piece together a whole Cootie — maybe even an entire vintage Cootie game this way!)

#2 Two teeny-tiny “Indians”. (The prongs stick into horse sides, so they can ride.)

#3 A metal Playskool wrench. (That seriously could come in handy!)

#4 A scary old clown head. (All clowns are scary to me.) This one looks a lot like Reddy Kilowatt… He’s got a hole at the bottom to stick onto a neck — maybe it was a plastic lightening bolt body? Hubby says, “No.” But I’ll be keeping my eyes open, just in case.

#5 Four matching vintage metal helicopter blades. You only had three on this model, anyway… But we’ve got four. Makes me wonder if they had more than one boy who played with (and broke) helicopter toys.

#6 Plastic Rat Fink charm. Very small, but it’s him.

#7 A retro made in Hong Kong Dume Buggy. Not, that’s not a typo — at least not my typo; it says “Dume-Buggy” on the bottom black plastic part. I’m still giggling about a vehicle to ride sand dumes.

#8 Cowboy & Indians sliding puzzle game pieces. This has got to be one of my favorite finds. You know I love a good puzzle, but how challenging to find the missing pieces and put it all together!

#9 Vintage plastic tire — with built-in flat? I have no idea what sort of toy car or truck would have a flat tire… There are no markings to help with this either. (Nearly 2 inches in diameter, if that helps anyone identify the toy vehicle.)

#10 A weird Asian face. I have no idea… It’s not a complete head. On the back is a prong, like on Mr. Potato Head parts, to stick it into something — or someone… He does look like he is wincing. Less than one inch tall. Ideas?

#11 Vintage red & green plastic covered wagon pieces. There’s enough here to put the cover on the wagon, and the two tiny pieces seem of the same hard plastic and matching color, perhaps to drive the horses? Wagon is just over an inch long.

#12 Blue plastic spacemen pieces. We figure these three go together, but have no idea what game or toy set they belong too. The two standing spacemen are not identical, and stand a bit over one inche tall.

#13 A very small cameraman piece. Lots of detail & painting on such a small piece. Again, no idea what set or game this belongs to; do you? And do you want it?

Somebody must want this stuff… If you do, or know someone who does, let me know!

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Article Tags: collecting games, collecting toys, retro, Thursday Thirteen, vintage, vintage game pieces, vintage toys

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This entry was posted on Thursday, August 21st, 2008 at 5:33 am and is filed under Uncategorized, flea market finds. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.