B is for books (and other things)

Continuing with my "flurry" of activity from a couple of weeks ago, today's post sees me going to one of the only events that I've come to look forward to on yearly basis, that being the Uplands Village community book sale.

I've written about this sale in years past, but since I don't think that anyone actually ever goes back and reads old posts from new links, I won't bother adding them. But the skinny, for those that are interested, is that the sale is held by the folks in the Uplands Village retirement community, which is located in the small (less than 600 people) town of Pleasant Hill, about ten miles up the road from me.

Uplands Village is kind of an exclusive little community, not in a gated sort of way, but it's been set up to where they don't have to worry about any undesirables moving in, and by that I mean, troublemakers, or people with troublemaking relatives that might think that they can just show up live out of their RV in someone's driveway. Because of these regulations (as well as some of the other amenities), this is a pretty desirable place to live, attracting residents from all over the world. Speaking from a personal standpoint, I really like the people that live there, most of them are highly educated, and most were successful in whatever line of work they were in, which makes for very interesting people to talk to.

The people in Uplands Village hold a couple of different sales each year, raising funds for the assisted living center that takes care of some of their needier residents, as well as things like their aquatic center. The book sale is the main event for me though. In the four years that I've been here now, I've gone to three of the book sales -- I missed last year's because I forgot about it!!!! Don't ask me how, I had been looking forward to it, and then the day of I just blanked it out, although I did technically remember it later in the morning, about two hours after it had started, but I knew that anything that I would be interested in, would've been gone by then, so I didn't even bother trying to go.

I was not going to forget about it this year though, especially since it was only a couple of days after my trip to McKay's and Red Rhino (already covered on the blog). I was so raring to go that I ended up getting there about forty minutes early, just in case the doors opened early, they didn't, but that's okay, I was there, and that's all that mattered. I was also #2 in line, so that was kind of exciting (it really wasn't, but I figured it was still worth mentioning).

Even though there's literally thousands of books at these sales, my primary interest is in the small amount of non-book items that they usually have (don't worry though, there are books in this post), DVD's, CD's, videos, records, etc. -- so once the doors finally opened, I made a beeline to where all of these things are set-up, which is just inside the entrance and to the right.

I thought initially that guy that was first in line would be heading that way too (he's a flipper), but he didn't, so I got the first crack. I could tell right away that there wasn't as much of the non-book stuff as there has been in previous years, a couple of things however did jump right out at me almost immediately, including the above Columbo movie collection. I never watched this show when I was younger, but with all of the never ending crap that keeps being produced these days, I'm finding myself becoming even more nostalgic than I already have been for shows and movies from the 70's-90's. I've had some pretty good luck with new-to-me shows as of late, Columbo now being one of them, I kind of wish that it hadn't taken me so long to give it a try.

The other two DVD's that stood out were these Carol Burnette Lost Episodes, which I believe came from a box set. It would've been nice to have been able to get the entire set, but these were better than nothing. I paid $6 total for the three DVD's, which isn't too shabby considering that between the three there's something like twenty hours worth of entertainment.

To my immediate left was a table of stuff, now that a few weeks have passed, I've already forgotten most of what was on said table -- save for the box of records (vinyl), that I do remember! In previous years, records were $0.25 each, this year though, they were 5/$0.25, I never finished my degree in mathology, but I believe that that comes out to roughly a nickel apiece :)

The pickings were slim this year, maybe 25-35 records in the box, but I can't not look! I ended up finding two of interest, even though it wasn't five, I still paid a quarter for them -- I'm not about to start nickel and diming these folks, that'd probably be a good a way to incur some bad juju, and I got enough of that already.

It might seem a little odd for someone like myself, who is perpetually single, to buy such an album? But what can I say, deep down, way deep down, I am a hopeless romantic! As for the record, not bad, much better than I thought it would be.

You can go ahead and keep those pithy comments to yourself :)

After the box o' records, it was finally time to hit the books (so to speak):

I have wanted to read this book since it came out, but have never come across a cheap copy, sometimes waiting pays off though, as I will be able to finally read it, and the ability to do so only set me back fifty cents.

This is probably a good time to mention that paperbacks were $0.50, and hardbacks were $1. Plus they always have a wall of specialty books which vary in price.

In years past, both the crafts, and hobbies, sections have yielded some very interesting books at this sale -- this year was no different, well, at least for one book. There wasn't as much stuff in these two sections this year, but this Block Printing with Linoleum sure stood out. I wasn't familiar with the technique (called linocut), but after reading about it, I plan to give it a go at some point in the not too distant future.

Michael Crichton's work has always been hit-or-miss with me, that being said, I am looking forward to reading this one, if only because it had apparently flown under my radar.

He doesn't seem to have a lot, but I really like James Rollins' standalone books (Ice Hunt is one of my favorite post-2000 books), the series' not so much. This is another one that I've been waiting to find a cheap copy of.

I went through a biography phase back in my late teens/early 20's, which saw me reading pretty much any biography that I could get my grubby little hands on, however, I've probably only read less than ten in the fifteen years since that phase passed.

I can't for the life of me remember the title anymore, but there's an out of print biography on Robert Ripley that at one time was my most desired item. I don't know if anything has changed, but it used to be terribly difficult to find, but after many years of searching, I finally found one, paid around $15 for it -- I lost pretty much all interest in biographies before I was even halfway through that book. I had admired his work through most of my childhood, so imagine my dismay when I found out what an a**hole he was, and at times, an absolute terror to everyone around him. After that book I decided that I really didn't want to know too much about those in the limelight anymore.

Despite all of that, there was no way that I could pass up this George Raft biography, I didn't even know such a book existed! There's no synopsis on the back (hence the no picture), but if you know who he was you'll probably think that this looks like it's going to be good -- and if you don't who he was (an actor, among other things), you're not going to care, so I don't know how important the synopsis actually is.

With that big yellow sticker on the front there's no need to guess where this book was originally sold, Dollar General, here they're like Starbucks back home, there's one on practically every corner.

My last book purchase was a big one, literally, it's huge! No synopsis again, but for lovers of history, this looks like a good one. Lots of old photos, posters, and other assorted memorabilia. Plenty of text too, it appears to be a lot wordier than most pictorials.

I am so glad that I didn't forget about the sale again this year, I had a lot of fun looking through everything, got some neat things, and was able to talk to some really interesting people -- and best of all, I only spent $10. Since I'm on a fairly tight budget these days, it's really nice to be able to go somewhere like this, and be able to get a bunch of cool stuff for not a whole lot of money.


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I just couldn't stay away

I had told myself that I was going to wait at least a month before going to McKay's again, apparently I'm not very good at doing what I say I'm gonna do, because I only made it three weeks.

I enjoyed my first trip so much, that I just couldn't stay away. This time was a bit different though, as I had decided to test out their trade-in policy by taking a bunch of unwanted stuff with me... and they didn't disappoint!

I took in a paper grocery bag's worth of books, CD's, DVD's, and graphic novels. I had a rough idea of what they should be willing to give for everything (or at least what I was hoping they would offer), much to my surprise, the quote I was given ended up being over double what I had expected it to be (this was for store credit btw). I knew that some of the stuff that I took in was going to be of interest to them, as I hadn't seen any other copies of said stuff during my first visit, but still...

Since I ended up with more credit than I had expected, I decided to treat myself to something that I have wanted for quite a while now -- that being Movie Maniacs Tooth Fairy figure. I've mentioned before of my love for Darkness Falls, so it shouldn't surprise anyone too much that I would want this.

If I were a smarter person, I would've bought it when it first came out -- but I didn't, because I thought it would go down in price at some point, and guess what? It didn't! Thankfully this particular figure isn't one of the ones that has skyrocketed in price over the last couple of years. It was actually priced well below what the last couple had sold for on eBay (at the time), so I felt like if I didn't buy it now, I probably never would.

For anyone who may care (and not already know), there is also a open-mouthed variant of this figure as well. As a quick aside, it had only been a little over three weeks since I had last been there, and everything on their action figure wall was completely different... which is some kind of turnaround. I'm hoping to get a picture of said wall one of these times, but there was just too many people around it again.

There were a few other items of interest -- namely a loose WWF Hasbro One Man Gang Akeem that I don't have -- but I just wasn't in toy mode that day, so he and those couple of other neat things stayed behind.

After the wall o' toys, it was on to the discount DVD section ($1.95 or less):

I'm a sucker for almost any animal special, doubly so for shark related shows (as long as they don't feature reality "stars"), so for 95 cents, I really couldn't pass this one up. I wasn't sure if I had seen before or not, I hadn't. Had I seen it before, it wouldn't have been bought, because save for about a 3-minute stretch, this special was not very good.

It's been a long time since I saw this for sale anywhere, in any format. I didn't have it, so I of course had to get it.

Very few things have stuck with me for as long of a period after reading/watching them like The Day After did. Off the top of my head, the only other think that I can really think of that similar staying power, is the book, Lucifer's Hammer. It's been about twenty years since I last saw this movie, so I felt like it was overdue for another viewing.

Boxed sets made up of public domain pictures are like my kryptonite. I already have 10 of these movies on other packs, but getting the 10 that I don't have for $1.95 seemed like a good deal (at least to me).

I remember reading about this movie when it came out, and then promptly forgetting all about it. It looks terribly unoriginal, and I don't normally like movies that are described as being "sexy" -- but it was cheap, and it's got Bai Ling in it, so how bad can it really be (I say this with tongue securely tucked in cheek)?

This was just a cheap upgrade from video.

I had never heard of this one, but it does sound mildly interesting. Since I won't be expecting much from it, I really can't be disappointed -- in fact, if I can just get a scene or two that isn't ripped off from something else, I will consider worth the $1.95.

My last purchase of the day, which was also my second splurge of the day, did not come from the discount bins:

[Note to self: In the future, take off the plastic before taking pictures] I'm sure a lot of people have dismissed (then and now) the 2002 Twilight Zone revival without ever having seen a single episode, which is a real shame, because the series contained quite a few very enjoyable episodes.

I haven't watched the show since it's original airing, and just until recently, had sort of forgotten about it (it's impossible for me to remember every movie and show that I have liked over the years). The price of this set is stupid high on Amazon, and my attempts to win one on eBay had all failed, thankfully McKay's came through again, as this new set was priced well below everywhere else's lowest price for a used copy. I'm really looking forward to seeing these again, but I need to finish watching a few other shows first.

I didn't end up staying for as long as I would've wanted because I was trying to hurry up a little bit so that I could go to another place that I just found out about (also in Knoxville). I did end up going to that other place, and will be discussing in the next post (worst teaser ever?).
 
 
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Me and McKay's

A couple of weeks ago, a person I'm following on Twitter mentioned going to a place called McKay's (used books, CD's, video games, etc.)  -- which was previously unknown to me -- after seeing what they got, and how much they got it for... I decided to try see where this place was. Much to my delight, I found that this store is exclusive to Tennessee and North Carolina, now it was just a matter of figuring when I could go.

There are three locations in Tennessee, Knoxville being the closest, so that settled the "where". The "when" was figured out thanks to a timely eBay selling promotion, in which I was able to sell a couple of things within just a day of their listings. I think the stuff sold on a Thursday, and I made my way to Knoxville the following Saturday (two weeks ago).

I can tell you right off the bat that it was well worth the trip, normally I end up being disappointed by places that I really want to check out, this was definitely not one of those times. Now I'm just a little annoyed that I've lived in this state for three years, and I'm just now finding out about this place.

Hey look, I actually took a picture of somewhere I went! This is from upstairs, there was too many people around me on the main floor to get any pics. Not knowing what to expect, I was bit surprised by some of the things that you see when you first walk in. For example, once through the main doors on your immediate left you will find a huge bin of loose LEGO's, next to that is huge bin of MTG cards. There was a s*** ton of people in front of both bins during the entirety of my visit, so I didn't get a good look at what's what, but I think it's one of those deals where you fill up a bag for a certain price.

Next was a whole mess of board games (I'll try to get a pic next time I go), I do love board games, but I don't have anybody to play them with so my heart wasn't really into looking through them all that much.

On the other side of part of the board game section was a pegboard wall full (maybe three quarters) of action figures, some in package, and some loose in bags. The stuff ranged from a few original MOTU figures, to some of the newer Star Wars releases. There was some really good stuff there, the only problem was that it was stuff that I already have. They did have a bunch of mid 90's basketball SLU's though, which I was tempted by, especially with their $1.95 price tags, but ultimately I decided to pass. It's funny, those figures were on clearance at just about every store for what seemed like years, and now even twenty years later, people still don't want them. Although in retrospect, I should have probably grabbed a few for some of my fellow bloggers.

Right behind the action figure wall, is the DVD section. All the vertical rows that you can see in this picture are DVD's and Blu-Ray's, the middle of the photo shows what seemed to be the most popular area, which is mad up of waist high tabletop like bins full of $1.95 and less DVD's/Blu-Rays. There was easily a couple of thousand to choose from, you can also sort of see some yellow sticking out from underneath the tables, those are rolling bins that are all full of what I'm assuming was just overflow. Not surprisingly, I was able to find a few things in this section:

I really can't remember if I had seen this one or not, so...

Like a lot of folks, I was surprised at how good JCVD was when I first saw it. And like a lot of people, I thought this film was gonna lead to bigger and better things for Van Damme, unfortunately Jean-Claude wasn't able to capitalize on it's success, primarily because he seems to be his own worst enemy. I almost bought this DVD years ago for like seven or eight bucks, by waiting I was able to find this copy for just 95 cents!

This was an upgrade from video.

Never heard of it, and the odds of it being any good are probably very slim, but for $1.95 I'm willing to give it a chance.

For anyone who doesn't know, this was the TV movie that led to the Forever Knight series, which was one of my favorite shows as a kid. Another upgrade from video too.

This is two-disc special edition, which is an upgrade from my regular one-disc edition. There's no synopsis on the back of this box, but that's ok because there might be something wrong with you if you don't know what Predator is all about.

I have never been much of a James Bond fan (although I have seen all of them up until Pierce Brosnan took over), but my mom recently mentioned wanting to upgrade all of her 007 videos to DVD or Blu-Ray, so I couldn't not pick this up for her.

After finishing up with discount section, it was time to hit the television aisles:

I'm sure a few of you might be thinking "Why buy this when you can just watch it on the Netflix?", well, as any regulars to the blog know, I'm a physical media kind of person -- always have been, and always will be!

I'm a little late to the Gotham party, while far from perfect, I do like what I've seen so far, I especially like the willingness of the creators to change up the mythos.

I'm happy to finally get the second season of this series. This was the cheapest that I had ever found it, eBay included.

When it comes to reboots, nine times out of ten, I will strongly oppose them, but... I really did enjoy the 2011 Thundercats reboot. Although I don't like the fact that the show's only season was released in separate volumes, with this purchase I now have the whole season.

After getting done with the DVD's, I went over the video game/expensive collectibles in glass cases section. I didn't take any pictures because there was just too many people around. This seemed to be the area where all the rude patrons were congregating, not that I was overly surprised by this, as this was the section where all the "retro" games were, and it's been my experience that people who identify themselves as "retro gamers"... tend to be dicks. And for the record, I do buy and play old video games, but I'm not a "retro gamer", I'm just a dude who buys, and plays (heavy emphasis on "plays"), games that he grew up with, that's all!

I didn't find anything that I couldn't live without, so I decided to head upstairs, which is where you find the CD's, records...

... and comic books!

I'm sure these get picked over on a daily basis, but there was still fairly decent selection. I'm so out of date when it comes to comics pricing, that I really can't tell you whether the prices were reasonable or not.

They have a bunch of bargain bins separated by publisher - DC, Marvel, and indie - which not surprisingly, is where I started first. It seemed like there was an awful lot of newer titles in these boxes, which isn't for me, but I did find a few oldies. Personally I don't consider the 90's as old or vintage, but it seems like a lot of people online do. While mildly interesting, ultimately I didn't buy these Death's Head books, I just thought I'd show a few of the possibilities.

There was a box of magazines right next to the discount DC box, most of it ended up just being issues of Wizard from the mid-2000's (if only they would've been from the 90's!), but hiding in the middle of all those was this super cool first issue of Slaughter House Magazine. Published in 1987, this periodical was completely unknown to me, and after reading it, I can honestly say that that was my loss, because it made for a very enjoyable read.

I had been thinking about the What If... series just a few days before my trip to the store, trying to decide if I wanted to go back and finish collecting both runs. It was always one of my favorites, and to my knowledge there aren't any super expensive books in either series.

This visit kind of made up my mind for me. All of the above books were $1 each, which seemed like a fair price. Other than these, I didn't really see anything else for me, so it was off to the CD's and records.

The vinyl section that I wanted to look through was terribly crowded, and not wanting to wait, I figured I just look next time. My heart wasn't really into looking though the CD's, but I did find one of some interest. I probably already have half of these tracks, for $1.95 though, I thought the remaining songs were well worth it.

Even though I need more books to read, like I need another hole in my head, I still went back downstairs and walked down a few of the bajillion book aisles, which yielded...

... five of the last ten Nero Wolfe books that I need. I don't think I've ever mentioned here on the blog before, this is my favorite book series of all time, and I've been trying to complete it for like two decades now. It's been a few years since the last time I found one that I needed, and yes I know I could go on Amazon or eBay and overpay for the remaining titles, but that's not how I work, besides, judging by how many they had at the store, I might be able to find the last five within another trip or two.

It was at this point that I was soooo ready to leave, between the sensory overload, and the insane amount of people that seemed to be showing up (at least 200 in the store), I was officially done.

And here's where my only real complaint about the store comes in, like I said, there was a lot of people in the store, and probably 25 waiting in line... with only two cashiers! Granted, the line was moving fairly quick, but those two employees should not have to work under those conditions, especially when there was two other closed checkout stands.

After the line started moving, I spotted a three-shelf cubby hole type thing at the end of that board games/action figure shared wall, this shelf just happened to be labeled "laserdisc", Laserdisc! Are you kidding me? I walked right by it at least twice and now I have to see it when there's a good fifteen to twenty people behind me in line. Also, did mention that I was ready to leave?

I was trying so hard to ignore this new development, but I have not had the opportunity to look through stacks of laserdiscs since I moved to Tennessee, meaning that it's been at least three years. So after letting out an audible four-letter word (which drew the attention of the person in front of me), I stepped out of the line.

There probably ended up being around a hundred LD's, a lot of them were of no interest, and the ones that were, I already had. I did manage find one thing though, even at $5.95, this Panther Girl of the Kongo felt kind of like a steal. It's now readily available on DVD and Blu-ray, but at one time this serial was quite a rarity, which is part of the reason that I wanted it, the other being that I had never seen (watched that is) it before.

While is was fun to be able to look through the laserdiscs, I have to say that I hate where they're located. People walking into the store have walk right by you, and people in line are watching you (or rather me)... definitely not good for someone with social anxiety.

With my new LD in hand, I got back in the now even longer line, paid for all my crap, and was finally able to leave.

It's hard to believe that the sale of really just one card, that was sitting in my closet in a box that I never looked at, could pay for this whole trip, as well as the card show that I attended the following weekend (posts coming), and if I don't do anything stupid, the baby National at the end of September will be covered as well.

So there you have it, my first trip to McKay's. For anyone in the North Carolina/Tennessee area who has never been, I would highly recommend checking out your nearest location.


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