a Slinky by any other name

Check out this gold plated "Executive Puzzle":

• Great Stress Reliever
• Unique Memo Holder
• Attractive Oak Base
• Engraveable Brass Plate

Give me a break! "Executive Puzzle" my ass! I know a Slinky when I see one. And exactly how is this a "puzzle" at all?!?

I actually think this would be a cool thing for some high-powered CEO to have on his desk. And employees would say, "Hey, is that a golden Slinky?". And the boss would say, "I'll have you know it's an Executive Puzzle and I use it to uniquely hold my memos. You're fired!"

We need to talk about your flair...

Nice Outback Steak House pin collection here.

Either somebody was a big fan of the Outback Steak House, or, more likely, somebody was forced to wear all these stupid pins as part of their uniform. 

Some seem promotional, while others seem like badges of achievement for sales or something. Either way... yikes.

We've got Grillers, not Gorillas! 

The Return of Hans

Hans is back? No, Hans never left. He simply donned a homemade Zodiak helmet, climbed the ladder and posted up on top of the collapsed white boxes like a big stuffed gargoyle killer, ready to tumble onto your neck when you were just trying to take down that extra box of audio cassettes.

 

Then Hans took his reign of Sorting Room terror to a new level by kidnapping an innocent girl-doll while sporting this frightening monster mask. That was a gnarly morning.

Currently Hans is going with the "mad scientist" look, complete with spooky grey streaked hair, surgical gown, test tubes, and an evil mustache/goatee combo.What persona will Hans take on next? Stay tuned.

get rich quick

 

Now we can quickly mine-sweep for bits of copper, lost arcade tokens, and perhaps even the occasional foreign coin mixed in amongst the rubble of the sorting room floor. 

Get Loaded

It finally happened... someone or something donated some abusable prescription drugs. 

Now, getting doped up on pills isn't my thing, but Top Cat and Big Merl were more than happy to divvy the loot. I'm just happy that something this wild and inappropriate and so long in the waiting has finally come in. And it isn't just the bottle...

There are at least 9 or 10 pills in there. So what if they expired exactly 8 years ago today. 

Garbage Pail Kids

When Jambo and I first created the Donation Manifestation Wish List, Garbage Pail Kids were at the top of the list. Not because I particularly wanted them, but it just seemed like the thing that would likely get donated to the Junk Store on a regular basis. Much to my surprise, other than one or two cards floating in here and there, we hardly ever see them. And we certainly don't see any from the first four edition. And you can just forget about wax packs. Maybe I'm just not thinking hard enough on it.

More info on the history of GPK's here.

Mini Arcade: Pac-Man

Not quite as awesome as an authentic Pac-Man arcade cabinet (or cocktail table) video game, this Coleco Mini Arcade LED Pac-Man will have to suffice for the moment.

From RetroThing.com: "At the height of the Pac-Man craze, video game craze, and handheld electronic craze, Coleco created mini versions of famous arcade games.  They started with Pac-Man, but it wasn't long before Ms. Pac, Galaxian, Centipede, and others joined the family.

It's rather impressive how much of the flavor of the arcade originals these little versions could capture within the limits of VFD (vacuum fluorescent display) technology.  The games were colorful (unlike battleship gray LCD, or red blip LED games), had a nice assortment of sound effects and music, and added simultaneous two player modes so that both you and your brother could crowd around your 9" high  personal arcade cabinet."

Here are some other great Pac-Man images I found on the interweb: