I finally cracked 300 unique soda cans last Saturday. Most of them are from the 70s and 80s, but I got a real gem this week - a 1965 Royal Crown draft cola can from a flea market in St. Louis. The paint is about 60% intact which is insane for something that old. I've been at this hobby for about 4 years now and never thought I'd get past 200 honestly. Anyone else collect food or drink packaging and have a number they're chasing?
I started collecting vintage car emblems from junkyards about a year ago, sanding them down and putting magnets on the back for my fridge. But after 6 months, the paint started chipping on 3 of the 12 I did, even though I used clear coat. Some folks say to leave the patina alone and others swear by sealing it with epoxy. Which side do you guys lean toward for preserving old metal?
I was at an antique shop in Boise last Saturday and this older guy told me to boil old soda bottles to remove sticky labels. Said to do it for 20 minutes. Well, I tried it on a 1960s Coca Cola bottle and the glass cracked right down the middle. Totally ruined it. He seemed so sure of himself too. Has anyone else had a bottle crack from heat like that, or did I just pick a bad one?
He said he keeps them flat in acid-free boxes, not on shelves, because the weight of stacking vinyl over 50 years can actually warp the grooves. I always thought stacking was fine but now I'm rethinking my whole setup after he showed me a 1940s Brunswick that was totally cracked from bad storage. Any other 78 collectors have a favorite storage hack?
I was killing time between loads near Columbus and wandered into this place off Route 40. There must have been 50 tapes in there, all with handwritten track lists on the inserts. Stuff like local bands and obscure radio recordings. The seller wanted 2 bucks each. I grabbed a few and popped one in my truck deck. It was a live recording of a high school battle of the bands from 1984. The sound quality is rough but it's a real time capsule. Has anyone else come across old mixtapes or homemade recordings in unexpected places? Any tips on cleaning up the tape without damaging it?
I dropped $85 on a 1970s Fanta can from a seller in Portland, and the thing arrived dented. The seller said it adds character, but I paid for mint condition. Has anyone else gotten burned on shipping damage with these fragile old cans?
I went to a bottle swap in Phoenix last weekend and saw three different guys ruin their finds by spray painting over the tiny embossed dates on the bottom. That date code tells you the exact batch year and factory location, which is the whole point of collecting these things. Without it you just have a pretty bottle worth maybe $2 instead of $40. Am I the only one who notices this at meets?
I kept wondering why my miniature chairs kept falling apart after a week. I was using regular craft glue. Finally stumbled onto a woodworking forum and someone said 'try hide glue for small joints.' Now everything stays together. Has anyone else spent way too long using the wrong adhesive?
I spent months trying to make miniature hooked rugs for my dollhouse using a standard sewing needle. The loops were uneven and the backing kept tearing. Then a woman at a craft swap showed me a real rug hooking tool she got for $2 at a thrift store. It has a little latch that grabs the yarn and pulls it through in one smooth motion. After three tries my rug looked like something from a real furniture catalog. Now I'm redoing all my floors. Anyone else find a random tool that fixed your whole process?
I picked up one of those big repair kits for old film cameras off eBay last month thinking I'd fix up a bunch of junkers I got at estate sales. Cost me $80 and it came with all these tiny screwdrivers and spanners for weird lens mounts. Turns out I only needed the smallest Phillips head and a pair of tweezers to get my Minolta working again. The rest of the kit is just sitting in my toolbox collecting dust. Anyone else buy a specialized tool set and end up using barely any of it?
Old guy at the miniature club swore dental floss would hold a 1:12 scale frame no problem. Mine crashed after three days and took a tiny ceramic vase with it. Anyone found a thread that actually works for this?