159 - Card Breakdown

More "Box Research". I like to use LJ as a notepad sometimes :) But hey, if anybody reading this knows a good place to get cheap packs of trading cards from the 1980's please let me know thanks ;)

AMAZON PRICES

• BASEBALL GROSSOUTS - $12.99 box of 36, $4.49 shipping (.49 cents per pack)
  
• ROCK SUPERSTARS - $14.99 box of 36, $4.49 shipping (.55 cents per pack)
  
• NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK - $14.99 box of 36, $4.49 shipping (.55 cents per pack)
  
• STAR TREK III - $19.99 box of 36, $4.49 shipping (.68 cents per pack)
  
• LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS - $29.99 box of 36, $4.49 shipping (.96 cents per pack)
  
• GI JOE - $44.99 box of 50, $4.49 shipping (.99 cents each)
  
• GHOSTBUSTERS II - $34.99 box of 36, $8.49 shipping ($1.21 per pack)

"Rock Superstars", New Kids On The Block" and "Ghostbusters II" are questionably 90's rather than 80's right? Ghostbusters II was in 1989, New Kids On The Block formed in '84 but this card series was from when they finally made it big in '88/'89, and the Rock Superstars card set didn't come out till '91, though I have seen it and it's all late-80's rockers (pictured on the box are Janet Jackson and Chris Issak, and the packs themselves feature Billy Idol and Madonna).

The goal is to offer three packs of cards per "Box"... or maybe two packs and some stickers? Wish I could find a better source for random 1980's trading cards. Found a place that supplies LOOSE cards in batches of 2400, maybe go with those and make my own packs?

Hang on... that's not a bad idea... put a pin in that one.

MAKE MY OWN PACKS. Ten random cards from various 80's franchises, print my own wrappers with my own logo... hmmmmm... can you print on wax paper?

160 - Ketchup Pt. 2: Lamp Sales

I did pretty good selling my Riddlebarger Lamps at the Bellevue Comic Con a few weeks back! Recording the experience here for posterity, because soon I will be a world famous arteest.

My first ever sal was to this kid, who bought "The Star Wars Trilogy (As Told By C3P0)". He was extremely happy because his friends had talked him out of buying it at the beginning of the convention, so he ditched them and came back so he could buy it without their trying to talk him out of it :)

My second sale was "I Had Kind Of Hoped It Would Have Been Snakes" to this happy gentleman, who admired the lamp for quite a while before telling me that his wife collects bicycles - decorative little ones, all over the house. "She even has a Spider-Man one!" he said. I replied with "Yeah, but does she have a Naked Indiana Jones In A Cape With A Ninja Sword Popping A Wheelie?"

"No, but she's about to!"

My final "Sale" of the day was actually a trade, "Wookie Knight With Harley Davidson". Given to Greg Smith (a fellow retailer) in exchange for two 1980's Disneyland thermal steins.

'Cuz I'm a sucker for Disneyland :)

And that was it! Three out of the five lams I brought to the show, gone and living in other peoples homes now! Things *I MADE* are sitting on tables providing light and bringing rooms together in the most appealing ways!

That's pretty awesome!

161 - Thinking Inside The Box

First of all, you have to know that there will be two different boxes - the $10 "Box" and the $20 "Deluxe Box". These boxes will have a semi-random assortment of things and stuff related to The 1980's. This is a rundown of what I think the average one of these boxes will be like, but is in no way an actual inventory, invoice or representation of what will actually be *in* the box. "Contents may vary", as they say...

BOX will be a recycled 1980's "Clam Shell" VHS Cassette Tape Case with a custom "80's Surprise Box" cover, one of four different designs, each one a poorly photoshopped version of a classic VHS tape case (I'm thinking Chuck Norris "Invasion USA", Barry Bostwick "Megaforce", Marc Singer "Beastmaster" and Fred Ward "Time Rider").

Yeah, laid out like that! Only with my "80's Surprise Box" replacing "Beastmaster", done up in that style!

Inside you will find a Rainbow Unicorn Slap Bracelet,

a small notebook that looks like an audio cassette tape,

a perler bead "Megaman Style" 8-bit figure of an 80's cartoon character,

a vintage E.T. Pin still on the original card,

A "jacket button" (1.5-inch at the most) from another 80's film,

A miniature 1980's comic book,

...And a pack of ten random 80's trading cards & stickers, hand-collated by me and my loved ones, featuring authentic vintage cards and stickers from The A-Team, Superman III, Gremlins, E.T., Growng Pains, Alf and more!


The BIG BOX will be a little bit bigger than a shoebox and contain one of the "BOX" video tape boxes with all that stuff, PLUS a random pairing of two of these items; an 80's-themed Funko Pop Figure...

Or a vintage Fast Food Collector Glass...

Or a Funko ReAction Retro 80's Action Figure...

Or a Rubik's Cube...

Or an authentic 1980's Action Figure!


Thirty-two boxes in all, 20 "Small Box", 12 "Big Box".

My cost per unit for the 20 BOX (assuming everything comes together like I hope it will) - $3.80

My cost per unit for the 12 BIG BOX (assuming the same assumptions) - $10.80

I plan on selling the SMALL BOX for $10, and the LARGE BOX for $20.

Potential profit: $234 (roughly).