Always a surprise

Spotted on Real Nifty Vintage

I do watch several online pickers YouTube videos in the morning while having my coffee.  It's fun to see what they find and what they think it will sell for, I call it market research!  All of them are on the East Coast so what they can find and what they pay is unbelievable low. That's on major complaint  some viewers have with these YouTubers on how they can find such good things so cheap.  They also have a very big online following, so they can sell everything for top dollar. It did take them years to build  up their following so can't blame them for getting the most out of each sale. Real Nifty Vintage post this video of him driving through a town in Kentucky and stopping at a huge antique store. With all the major thrift stores prices getting to high to flip, most of the these YouTubes have started shopping at antique stores. When I saw this elf in his video, I had to hit pause. I've been picking for years and I've only seen one of these many years ago. 

The back story to this is that my grandmother had one in her house on a corner shelf, the original elf on the shelf. :) As a child it always scared me. When she passed away, I asked if I could have it but my uncle wasn't willing to give any of her things away to anyone. I'm not sure if he thought it was valuable because I asked for it. Trust me it's not a high ticket item. As a picker, whenever I show interest in anything, my family automatically assumes it must be worth money. For many years I searched for this elf and one day at the auction house in Sunnyvale on a junk shelf all the way in the back I saw the ears. I crossed my fingers hoping it wasn't damaged, because most things are in junk lots. 

I was thrilled finding it out in the wild and in good condition!    He always goes on the top shelf in my kitchen along with a special cookie jar. Right now he's in my long time storage but as soon as I get my own place again, he'll be one of the first things I bring out.