How many of you make it a point to stop at sales and check to see if they happen to have any slots? How lucky have you been? In other words, what is the history of your stops regarding making a "score" vs. "that was a waste of time since they had nothing"?

I realize that experiences will vary depending upon region. I'd like to hit some sales this summer but see myself stopping at 50 garage sales before finding even 1 "score". That's a lot of money going to the oil companies considering my trucks thirst for fuel. :p :rolleyes:

I CONSTANTLY hit yard sales. I don't get much, and what I do get is almost always Tyco. I always buy it anyway--my stash of Tyco track is getting pretty big. Although the first yard sale hit I ever made WAS old Tjets and Atlas stuff, and that's what got me back in the hobby. And the once-in-a-lifetime Tjet collection deal I found was from a lead I got BSing at a yard sale...

My Buick Roadmonster wagon is pretty thirsty too, but that doesn't slow me down any. My bigger problem is when I try to leave the wife alone with 4 kids while I go 'saling... :D

--rick

I don't go out of my way to go to them anymore.When I did,I would find something maybe 1 out of 200 times if I was lucky.
Most times it is nothing but pure garbage.And I have often left stuff because people think everything they have is worth big bucks.

I work early on Saturday morning,so I head out a few minutes early,and hit any I see on the way to work.I hit one end of the summer and got a big ole box of old Aurora L&J track with cars,so that was a good score.
I always look out for the sales at the old houses in town as this is usually some older folks cleaning out the junk in the house before the big retirement move to FL.

I know a lot of people that do go to garage sales,so I always tell them if they see any Slot or diecast stuff,buy it and I will double your money,no matter what it is.A buddy of mines mom is a garage sale aholic.
I made out BIG time this way a few years back with old HW's.A lot of junk for sure,but also tons and tons of good stuff as well.I got a lot of clean redline HW's this way.I still have bags of stuff from then that I need to pick through.

Mike

No Aurora or AFX, but I found two Tyco Lamborghinis for 10 cents each. On another trip I got a four lane Tyco set with 4 cars for $3.00 and a four lane LifeLike set with 5 cars for $3.00.

I probably went to 200 or so tagsales to find that here in Connecticut.

I hit garage sales every now and again. Like Mike said, "maybe 1 out of 200". I've found mostly LL. I'm happy if I find Tyco, Tomy or Aurora. I've scored a couple of times. I don't go too much out of my way to check garage sales. If it's convenient, I may check it out.

If I'm driving past a Yard or Garage sale, I always stop to check it out. 9 out of 10 times, I don't find anything at all. But I always ask about Slotcars. This approach has gotten me many referals, and with them, very good scores!:thumbsup:

There is no harm in asking. The worst answer anyone can give you is. 'What's a Slotcar'?:freak:


NICK DANGER

I like yard sales too - it's like panning for gold. I've found a couple of Tycos and some decent model train scenery items that are nice for the slot car track and some great deals on computer junk. It's the thrill of the hunt. I also look at antique malls and stores but they tend to have very few slot cars and when they do have them they are usually way overpriced. But once in a while I'll unearth a nugget. I recently found a very nice Tyco Porsche 935.

My wife is addicted to yard sales. She'll highlight the paper and plan her route the night before. She knows to by any slots or diecast with redlines. She has gotten complete Liflike sets for $5, Tyco's for .50 each, and even a Purple redline charger for .25. I am a lucky man....

Oh ya, tools.. Craftsman floorjack, $10. 85,000 BTU Kerosene salamander heater, $10. Complete dremel tool set, $1.

The bulk of my collection is from yard/garage sales. ~12-13 years ago I worked in Livonia, MI. It was garage sale heaven! There were garage sales starting on Monday and running all week! If I didn't get 8 - 10 slot cars it was a bad week! The very first sales of Spring were the best. All the kids that got sets for Christmas and didn't like them (goofy kids) sold them in the parents garage sale. It is getting harder and harder to find slots now, too many people looking for them, or that know they can make a buck on them on epay.

Marty

In the eighties I lived in Northern Indiana and "garage saling" usually produced some kind of slot car stuff. Down here in NC I rarely find any slot cars at garage sales.

Bob Weichbrodt
Rawafx
A and H Hobbies
W-S, NC