I have two sets of the smaller Playskool version cut apart and getting ready for a paint job. I won't be using a sand coat, though. They're going on my outdoor railroad for some scheduled open houses this winter and next spring, along with a broken Fischer Price Western Town I got for $1 at a church garage sale. Folks who collect these things or who remember them from their childhood are always shocked when we "ruin the collector's value" by cutting on or painting them, but the ones I use were all in very bad shape - not remotely useable by children or for display (unless you think black mould or sharp broken edges add play value).
Okay, I'm going to share a story about the Western Town I just hacked in two. If you don't think my stories are interesting or amusing, feel free to hit the back button, I won't be offended. But it was one of those strange things that ALMOST deserves telling . . .
My kids had one of these, and it's in great condition in the attic awaiting grandchildren, who, considering we raised three strongminded daughters who tend to blow off jerks, may never arrive. So I was familiar with it. However, these seldom show up used, so I had never thought about trashbashing one.
But I saw one at a church garage sale that had been set up on a Friday, got a deluge and windstorm that night and was open again on the next day.
A community-minded church in Park Layne, Ohio, had brought in all sorts of donations, with the plan that the proceeds would to a food bank or similar local charity. But the best-laid plans . . . When I arrived on Sunday morning, several hundred items of clothing, dozens of books, etc., were a soggy, muddy mess that, frankly, weren't worth the effort it would take to haul them to the dump. But I was already out of the car, so I figured I'd walk around once to be polite.
Always on the lookout for something to trashbash, a poor, battered Western Town caught my eye. (That's a dangling participle, on case you wondered. Take THAT! Mrs. Robinson.) The UV exposure and driving rain had ruined the stickers on the set, and there were no pieces, so I knew it would never be used for a toy again. The price sticker said $1.50, but I didn't necessarily need another project. I turned it back and forth and decided that, if I could cut it in two and use both build "fronts" on the front of two new structures, it might work. Plus at another garage sale, I had bought a nice resin stage coach in about the same scale that I hadn't found a use for yet.
One of the church ladies who saw me looking at the otherwise useless toy said, "Everything's on a donation basis today, since so much of it was damaged by the storm. So just make an offer."
Still, why did I need ONE more project - I have maybe ten buildings that need built and another ten that need significant repairs. What was I thinking? I put it down, glanced around the rest of the garage sale, most of which was going to be in a landfill within 36 hours, and started to leave.
Another church lady said, "If you saw anything you like, make an offer. We'll accept anything. Most of this stuff is going to the dump anyway."
"That's okay," I said.
As I left the lot, heading for my car, yet ANOTHER CHURCH LADY said, "Did you know that everything's on a donation basis since the storm? We'll take anything, just make an offer."
Okay, they had me. The battered, faded toy was probably worth a dollar, anyway. I went back to it, picked it up, pulled a dollar out of my wallet, and went over to the table where they were taking the money. I asked the person fiddling with the change drawer, "Is a dollar okay for this?"
Then the pastor, a fifty-ish soft-faced man about my build, leaned across the cash drawer, looked me in the eyes with a grave expression and said, "If you're sure in your heart that you're offering a fair value for this."
Based on his expression and his obvious anticipation that I would cave, I think that in another life he was used to saying things like "These aren't the droids you're looking for."
I resisted the temptation to say, "No, I thought 50 cents was fair, but I was trying to be nice." Instead I met his gaze and nodded my head solemnly as if the matter was worth serious consideration. "Yes, I'm sure," I said.
Now that I've put about four hours into cleaning the thing up, sawing it in two, and cleaning up the rough edges, it looks like it might turn into a worthwhile project after all. In other words, it might really HAVE been worth $1.50 in retrospect. But I don't think I'll be making an extra trip to the church to give them another 50 cents.
Oh, why am I still using old Playskool and Fisher Prices building on my outdoor ("garden") railroad when so many attractive kits are available. Because, properly primed and protected from UV, the old toys are holding up better than the expensive kits. Don't get me wrong, UV will turn any of these as brittle as eggshells in a few days if you don't paint them properly, but my 20-year old paint jobs on those are holding up better than the 5-year-old buildings.
Okay, that's enough. Google "Trashbuilding 101" and look for the FamilyGardenTrains.com link for more info.
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File comment: Trust me, it didn't look this nice when I offered a dollar for it at the church garage sale. Amazing what soaking and scraping off ruined graphics will do for one of these.
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File comment: These were painted almost 20 years ago and have spent most winters outside. Yes, they need a repaint, but they've outlived a bunch of other "name-brand" buildings.
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File comment: These were also painted almost 20 years ago, although they've probably only spent 8 or 10 winters outside.
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File comment: Like the Western Town photo, these playskool storefronts look all nice and shiny once we've soaked off the nasty stuff. Trust me, they didn't look this nice when we started. And they won't be quite so shiny when I'm done.
playskool_storefronts.jpg [ 48.01 KiB | Viewed 13607 times ]
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