There's a pile of sweet old gear on eBay at the moment, both of the Creative Playthings and Creative Way To Break Your Neck, Young Man! Playthings varieties:
Looks complete, in nice shape, no box, though. opening bid's $10+10 s/h. Hmm. [result: sold for $10.49, two bids]
Last summer, this was one of the first vintage Creative Playthings items featured on eBay, an archaic, single-ski, seat-type sled; riding it looks like a death-defying--and dying--art. Anyway, it turned out a friend bought the Sled of Death for Owen to celebrate his impending dadhood. And what was Owen's plan?
Once the little tyke is old enough to hit the slopes -- I figure 2 years is old enough -- we'll take this sucker up to Whistler or perhaps to Aspen, where a good time will surely be had by all.And now a year later, it's on eBay, no Aspen, no Whistler. How about this: the Sled of Death becomes a grand tradition, the perfect gift from a foolhardy, childless friend for the bold-yet-clueless dad-to-be, who'll entertain visions of schussing down a slope somewhere with a Baby Bjorn on his chest.
By the time the kid turns one, the dad'll realize there's no way in hell he's lettin' his kid anywhere near that thing, and back into the eBay pile it goes. Like an upbeat Rosebud, the Sled of Death becomes a poignant symbol for both the rich, enlightenment of parenthood gained, and for thrill-seeking rush of kid-free dudehood lost. Plus, repeat transactions keep my eBay stock up. The auction ends Aug. 1, it's just $23 [$10+13 shipping RESULT: SOLD. On one bid.].
There's more: check out all the vintage Creative Playthings toys on eBay [ebay]
So, I installed this thing as "artwork" in our home for a few months. It sat proudly on the landing of our steps, propped at *just* the right angle, which can be pretty difficult when your item to be propped has only one mighty thin rail. But somehow The Wife kept tripping over it. So it was relegated to my office for a while. But now we're moving back to the city (yeah! no more flashing traffic lights after 10:00 PM!) and seriously downsizing our living space and it's time to shed half of our "stuff."
But you now have me thinking that I should pull the eBay auction, keep the precious thing, travel around the country with it and take photos with it in various icons of Americana, like some sort of latter day stolen lawn gnome.
[dude, if it doesn't sell, the eBay masses may make the choice for you. -ed.]
. . . look for the Sled of Death to make an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live. Sadly, I'm not kidding.
[dude! I'm TiVoing right now! -ed.]