BREWERIANA: Camp David Shot Glass

Did you ever get a present from someone that was a souvenir of their travels? Most of us have probably received  presents that were keepsakes from someone else's vacation or even give presents to others that were from our travels. Seems odd when you think of it because, unless that person has ever been to where you were or vice versa, it's actually meaningless - it's someone else's memory not ours! But it is what it is. Here's a gift from one of my nephews - a shot glass from Camp David, the Presidential retreat. In and of itself it's meaningless to me because I've never been there, however here's the backstory. My nephew was a U.S. Marine assigned to the Presidential guard unit under the Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush administrations and so would have been familiar with Camp David. The Presidential tie-in makes this a unique piece in my collection. Kinda neat huh? Enjoy! Opa Fritz

PIRATES: Jakks Pirates of the Caribbean On Stranger Tides Paddy Wagon

When I bought this I had no idea it was a Pirate-related toy because it was missing the packaging and the seller didn't know either. It appeared to be a medieval paddy wagon and I thought it would go well with my knights and castles but after posting it to the fb groups they informed me it was one of licensed tie-in toys to the popular Pirates of The Caribbean movie series starring Johnny Depp. The original toy would have been packaged with a figure of Depp's Jack Sparrow character. I did not see this particular movie so I'm not familiar with the context of the toy to the movie. In any case - Enjoy! Opa Fritz

Culled from fleaBay

I didn't take the full range of photos I normally do for my toys, sorry!

BREWERIANA: Coasters (Bier Deckel) - Amstel and Augsburger

You simply cannot have a beer stein or mug collection without having coasters. To that end I'll be posting my modest collection a wee bit at a time in alphabeticalized (LOL) order. Today leave us take a look at a couple of coasters from Amstel and Augsburger. Nearly all the coasters in the collection came from gaststätte we had visited, but I do remember buying a packet of coasters from the BX(?) - oh heck I don't remember now. Anywho - Enjoy! Opa Fritz

It must be noted that coasters come in three basic variety's:

-same design obverse and reverse

-different design on obverse and reverse

-design on obverse, blank reverse

Shape can be anything: round, oval, square, rectangle, etc.

Today's featured coasters have the same design on obverse and revers

Amstel

Augsburger

NEW SERIES: PIRATES! - Hing Fat Pirate Set #775

Ahoy mateys! Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum and all that jazz. LOL National Talk Like A Pirate day is fast approaching on 19 Sep and I thought it would be fun to take a look at some of pirate toys, both vintage and modern. Now to be sure, I was never a huge pirate fan but hey, watching Saturday morning TV certainly exposed me to a few classics: Captain Blood, Treasure Island, Swiss Family Robinson to name a few. As I grew older and had kids there would be, Hook, Goonies, Princess Bride, Pirates of The Caribbean and probably a few more. All fun to watch and certainly a reason (excuse?) to collect a few toys. The funny thing is, as much as I wrack what little brains I have, I cannot remember having any pirate toys as a kid. I'm sure there must of been a couple thrown in the mix of toys when I was a kid. The store across the street always had cheap header bags or carded toys that my mother would buy to keep the little brat me) quiet - I just don't remember them now. Enjoy! Opa Fritz

Let's start this series with a modern era toy (because I have all the photos ready now): Hing Fat Pirate Set #775. The set includes:

- 1 Cannon 4" (10.16cm) L x 1 3/4" (4.44cm) H

- 1 Large Treasure chest 3" (7.62cm) W x 1 3/8" (3.49cm) H

-15 54mm figures in 8 poses

The cannon is quite large but is suitable for use on a shore battery vs. a ship. The treasure chest is quite large and totally out of scale - best used for putting your pieces-of-eight in! The figures I'm almost sure are copies (being Hing Fat) but cannot identify the original sculpts at the moment. Overall it's a nice little starter set of Pirate fun.

The cannon is non-operating

Payton Job Lot

I didn't think there'd be a toy post for a while, but this job lot of Payton Western toys just came in the other day. The lot had different colored teepee's than what's currently in the collection plus there are two walls to the Payton cabin in colors I don't yet have - bright blue. Now the hunt is on for the remaining pieces in those colors! Fences are always nice and this lot had enough to make a five-sided corral. Only two of the four horses were suitable for all those rider figures unless the riders are hot-glued to the horse. I'll try to knock out some photos of those teepee's this week. Enjoy! Opa Fritz

BREWERIANA: Romanian Wine Decanter and Glasses

I s'pose while we're on the subject of  '70s era booze related presents we might as well show this beautiful decanter with glasses with floral motif given to me by my late sister sometime during the 1970s. Hmmm, I wonder how 'Ripple' tastes from these? LOL I didn't have the foresight to look for or photograph any maker's marks when taking the photos, only remembering that they said "Made in Romania" underneath, and now these are packed away. Enjoy! Opa Fritz

'CG' (Coppercraft Guild) Copper Beer Stein - 1970s

Ummm, before it gets too late in the day and I get more distracted than I am already, let's look at another beer stein or mug. Like yesterday's vessel, this one was a present for being in the wedding party of yet another wedding (somewhere around 1976)! Cool huh? Only this time it's not fine English pewter ware but rather fundamentally good made-in-America copper-smithing by Coppercraft Guild. It's history as a company is a bit vague but go to the link and you can read what little is offered. Enjoy! Opa Fritz

Eales of Sheffield Pewter Beer Mug With Glass Bottom

While I have a ton of beer stuff from Germany, not all of my collection dates from my time there in the '80s. I've always been a collector. From the earliest days I can remember collecting stuff and sometimes it didn't take much to trigger the collecting urge. Somewhere along the line, mugs, souvenir drinking glasses, and other vessels meant to hold liquid, grabbed a hold of my collector's heart and off I went! 

Even before I acquired this mug (or stein) I had amassed a small collection of drinking vessels. This particular one I received as a present for standing up for (or rather being a part of) my cousins wedding party. The best man, as well as we others, all received one of these beautiful beer mugs with glass bottoms (made by Eales of Sheffield in England) as presents. In addition, each mug was engraved with the recipient's name. Wow! Most of the other pieces from that first collection are gone, but you can bet this one was a keeper! I believe this is the only mug/glass/stein I have with a glass bottom so that too makes it special. As for my cousin's marriage, wellll let's just say the mug outlasted her marriage by many decades. As well, sadly, my cousin passed away some years back so this is a reminder of family, fun times, and a rich past. Until next time - Cheers! Enjoy! Opa Fritz

My Very First Attempt At An 'Artsy' Diorama

This photo was taken in 2007 - 3years before the blog was started! I was starting to get really interested in collecting toys and photographing them. Doing a blog hadn't even entered my noggin then. This was cobbled together using printouts culled from the Internet. The cratered moon surface and the photo of Saturn were printed out, cut out, then attached to pieces of black foamcore. The rocket I could've sworn at the time was MPC but it turns out it was Processed Plastic. It was the kind of rocket ship I had as a kid and spurned me on to collect ever more space toys and to figure out who actually made them because it was apparent my memory sucked! The two figures are modern era Made-in-China astronauts. The whole affair was set up out in The Cave and a bunch of photos taken with this being my personal favorite. Enjoy! Opa Fritz

Supercar in Orbit

The more I look at these Supercar photos using the tiny 1/64 scale Johnny Lightning diecast toy, the more I want a larger version of the thing with a Mike Mercury figure in it. But okay, this'll do for now. Enjoy! Opa Fritz

BREWERIANA: German Animated Bottle Cork 3 - LAST

Here's the last of three of these clever and fun animated bottle corks. This one raises his hat and tips his head in greeting with the pull of a string. Enjoy! Opa Fritz