Of Short British Dogs and Flying British Cars

This week I climbed up in the attic and brought down a nifty little gem. Let me present the Corgi Chitty Chitty Bang Bang!

As a kid, I had a pretty good collection of Corgi toys. What can I say, I was an only child with cool parents, so even though the cars were a little pricey, I had a few. One of my favorites was Chitty Chitty Bang Bang! That original car was a work of art. The detailing was perfect and (in Corgi Toy tradition) it had added play features. When the hand brake was moved the wings popped out and you were ready to cruise the sky!

That original car met the fate of many childhood toys (exactly what that was, I can't remember, but it is gone). Then in 1992, Corgi released a 25th anniversary edition! This car seems to be the exact model that was released in 1967, with the addition of a wooden base and a collector book. They flew off the shelf pretty quickly (get it?), and and are very hard to find now. I was lucky enough to grab one when it first came out, and it sits proudly on my wet bar....That is, when its not flying through the air going on great adventures!

Until next time, keep looking for treasure!

Branching Out In The Blogosphere...

Hello everybody! For the past couple of years I've been doing the blog "Shroudlines- The Blog," which features rocket and space related content. This has been fun, and I plan to continue it. However, for every rocket related item I post about, I look around the house and see ten other really cool items that, while they may not relate to space or rocketry, I would love to post too! You see, I've been a collector for years. In fact, my wife and I now run a collectible buying and selling business. That brings us to the blog that you are reading now. Introducing...Stu's Attic!

The idea here is that about once a week, I will post a blog about an almost random item that I find interesting. Most will be baby boomer toys, games, and collectibles, but I reserve the right to do pretty much anything. I just want to feature items that I find interesting and maybe share a little history.

So, here is my first item....

The J & E Stevens Cabin Bank from around 1884! This is a mechanical bank, in which a penny is placed on the roof and the whitewash brush is turned to make the man flip upside down and kick  the coin into the cabin. Mine still works great, although I don't play with it much for fear of damaging it. My example is the rarer yellow cabin (the more common color is green).

This bank is almost a family treasure. I say "almost" because my grandparents had one of these (in yellow) on their fireplace mantle for as long as I can remember. Unfortunately, it got sold a few years ago, and I thought it was lost forever. However, I was at a toy show about five years ago and there it was! (or one very close to it). The dealer was a very nice man who agreed to let me put it on layaway. My wife is a very nice lady who encouraged me to go ahead and buy it. So, several months later, it was on MY mantle, where it has been ever since! I guess it really is a family treasure! This one is NOT FOR SALE!

I hope you've enjoyed the first post of Stu's Attic! Most posts probably won't be this long, but hopefully they will be interesting.

So until next time, keep searching for treasure!