Got a Tiger By the Tail!

 Hey ho, Atticites!

This week we have an item that I picked up when I was about 10 years old. I was in a toy store called "Toys by Roy" in Mesquite, Tx when I spotted a really cool tank! Here it is!

This is the die cast metal Solido Tiger tank from WWII. I bought it not because I really knew anything about WWII, but because it looked really cool to a ten year old! It was one of those "display case" items that the store employees needed to get for you, so that added to the "cool factor."

The detailing is really nice...

The thing that has always impressed me about it is that it has real metal tracks that work!

As you can see by the bottom, it was made in France. I think the numbers indicate that it was originally made in 1969, although I would have bought it in about 1972.

Here it is next to a match stick to give you a sense of the size. By the way, this thing is fairly massive, weighing in at just under a pound. That's a lot of metal!

It now sits in my glass display case. I'll hang onto it and pass it on to my daughter with my other "treasures." Hopefully she'll care about some of them, lol!

Until next time, keep searching for treasure!

A Tale of Two Corvettes

 I'm shifting gears a little bit this week and bringing you a couple of Corgi cars with a story. Many years ago, in 1967, my mom (or maybe grandmother) bought a Corgi 337, Custom Corvette for me from Sanger Harris department store in North Park Mall in Dallas. This was the only place that I knew of to get the British made toys, and I remember looking at their tall, white illuminated case to pick out which model I wanted. After you selected, the salesperson would open the bottom of the case and pull out the car for you. All very classy for a five year old!

Here is the car that I selected- still with me after all these years.. 

This four inch long model had actually been released a few years before this run, with more conservative colors and no markings. The car is actually a 1963 model Corvette.

However, Corgi re-released it in bright yellow with crazy decals to appeal to race car crazy kids. 

The base of the car tells you all you really need to know.. 

Side one...

...and side two. There actually were race car numbers on the sides, but the decals became so tattered over the years that I scraped them off about 30 years ago. Something I would NEVER do now!

Also (although it's hard to see) one side of the plastic bumper is broken off due to a race related collision with...well, probably a piece of furniture.

Now that would be the end of the story, except that around 20 years ago I happened to be car shopping in my local Good Will Store and found this...

Yep, ANOTHER Corgi Custom Corvette #337! Now, these aren't exactly hen's teeth, but they're not common either. It was priced at their then standard price of 50 cents a car! Let's look closer, shall we?

The bottom has better paint...

The decals are in better shape. Heck, it still has it's racing numbers!

The other side...

And the bumper isn't broken either!

Here they are together!

Pretty slick, huh?

Here we are looking straight down on them. By the way, most collectors call this model either 337 (the official number) or "Lazy Bones" due to the decal on the back.

So now I have two. I love both of them for different reasons. The newer (to me) car because of its condition, and the original car because it's been with me so long. So, I display them side by side. Two Corvettes and one story!

Until next time, keep searching for treasure!

Very Little Box of Very Little Mystery

 A couple of weeks ago Major P. mentioned that he has a puzzle box bank. It sounded really neat. Actually, much neater than what I'm about to share with you today, but this is all I have, so here we go!

A few years ago I picked up this tiny box at a local antique mall.

It fits easily in one hand. However, it's clearly a puzzle box.

The laminate on the top is very well done, actually.

This is the side.

And the end...

So it's very well made. But who made it? And where?

Ah, one mystery solved simply by turning the box over. It seems that Marilyn Ramos from Cuba made it! She even includes her address and phone number! (I've never looked her up, however)

And now- to the "puzzle" part. How do we open it? Well, step one is to slide this little end panel over a touch...

And step two is to slide open the top. That's it! Two steps and you're in! As I said in the title, very little mystery here, folks!

Inside I found some things that I had actually forgotten about...

Two buffalo nickles. I don't know the years because the dates are rubbed off on both of them.

And six Indian Head pennies!  Those dates are: 1906, 1891, 1907, 1888, 1897, and1902.

Here is a better look at the mechanism that locks the box.

And that's it! That's all there is to it! However, it's still a fun piece that had a forgotten bonus or two in it, so I'll keep it around.

Until next time, keep searching for treasure!

Lo-Fi Fun!

 Hey Attic Readers!

This week I have a little item that I picked up at an estate sale a while back. 

As some of you may remember, I tend to love analog music equipment. Well, this item pushes that interest to the extreme ends. I present to you, the Outing Talking Machine!

This is basically a portable gramaphone. Here's what I found out about it on Google...

It's a model Senior from about 1922-1924. Outing is considered an off brand, but it still has some collectability being a portable. (Just not as collectable as a Victor/Columbia portable of the time.) They aren't incredibly rare, Outing was one of the larger off-brand portable makers, but a little uncommon compared to a main brand.

That quote is from antiquephono.org, by the way. They also had this sales flyer...

Let's take a little closer look at mine, shall we?

The other side of the unit, showing the crank...

Do you want to turn up the volume? Just open this door a little more. It works surprisingly well!

This is the speed adjustment, although having listened to a few of the records that came with it, I'm not sure how you can tell if it's a little fast or slow.

The "on/off" switch.

The "needles" are really more like finishing nails. You need a lot of them since, apparently, you're supposed to switch them out after each use. Why? I'm not sure, but that's what Google says...

Both of these built in bins are full of them.

My lable is in rough shape.

It took looking at the sales flyer to know that these pins once held a sturdy leather handle.

Ah, THAT'S what my lable is supposed to look like!

By the way, it seems that Outing was a furniture maker, primarily. 

So you may be wondering how it sounds. Well, imagine that scratchy, tinny, sound that old grammaphones with the big bell horns on them made. Yep, it sounds just like that. Very very low fidelity, but also very happy and fun somehow. You get one play per "wind up," which brings up another point- you don't need ANY electricity! It really is a completely portable self sustaining unit! Batteries? I don't need 'em!

By the way, there was a book of records that originally came with it and fit in the lid. It looked like this:

I have no idea what music came with it, but I guess I'll need to be on the lookout for that now. Oh darn, something else to collect!

Until next time, keep searching for treasure!