Seeing it was a truly marvellous day, I decided to visit the carboot sale in Birgu last Sunday. It had been a while since I last visited a carboot sale, I must say I had gone cold turkey from my addiction to these sunday morning meets a few years ago, when I used to wake up at 5 in the morning to be one of the first 'sharks' looking for dubious treasure among the rummage put up for sale by the people setting up shop there.
The first few carboot sales were unique in a way, ebay was still in its infancy, and wi-fi unheard of. Therefore people used to put everything on sale without having a look at what this or that item was going for on ebay, and you could really snap a bargain every now and then. The scene is very different today. No one collects stuff for the sake of collecting anymore, everyone looks for stuff that has been seen getting high prices on ebay. Therefore we have seen a metamorphosis in the collector's person. He or she has become a hoarder, and collects to speculate, rather than to relish the enjoyment of a childhood memory or to fill an empty space in an otherwise empty space in his or her home.
Obviously enough, the prices at carboot sales have increased, because each time you try and get a bargain, the seller pulls out the ebay story, saying he has seen the particular item go for twice the price he's asking for the other day on everyone's favorite auction site. You might even find yourself with tears in your eyes faced by the seller's good heart on offering it at a much better, almost charitable price...
I am no more innocent than these same people though, I have tried my luck at car boot selling a couple of times, and have always returned home amazed at how all the non hoping items in my lot sold, while the potential sellers did not. People buy all sorts of things. I have seen loads of women buying second hand clothes for their kids at these places while holding a cigarette in one richly jewelled hand and an expensive mobile phone in the other.
So there I was, looking for a bargain. Which lot after lot, couldn't just cry out to me. I was tempted when I saw a box full of 'Shoot !' annuals from the eighties, but then lo and behold, finally, a handsome small piece of japanese gokhin. Actually I was a bit surprised. It was the small version of Nakajima's Groizer X in great condition though obviously lacking the little yellow missile, no big deal. The surprise factor was that it was... Groizer X. People my age have loved a plethora of Japanese robots, most notably Goldrake, Mazinga, Daitarn 3, Jeeg and Daltanious but Groizer X is an almost obscure figure in Malta. maybe that explains the good condition, the once little owner of this figure was busier playing with his Goldrake toys. The seller went through the normal routine of explaining that the item was very rare and hence the price. He asked for 20 euro, I offered 8 and then we settled for 15. No problems there, I had to have it, and left the place in a really happy sunny mood... Au revoir till the next...
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