Dean wrote:   Microsoft once owned the trademark "ballpoint"

My mother worked for the company who turned down Scrabble, as they said it would never catch on.

[edit]

Unlike their wildly popular:



Now who doesn't still pay this one eh?

Edited by Jim Garten - January 19 2015 at 09:02

Padraic wrote: Jim Garten wrote: Dean wrote:   Microsoft once owned the trademark "ballpoint"  My mother worked for the company who turned down Scrabble, as they said it would never catch on. [edit] Unlike their wildly popular: Now who doesn't still pay this one eh? My, what well dressed children.

Not sure where to put this, so I guess it  makes sense in the thread that makes no sense to me.



My wife and I picked this up on Friday for $40. I need to replace the plug before I can even know if it works, but it looks to be in fine condition inside and out. Also need to replace the locking mechanism since it came with no keys. Both of those fixes should add up to maybe 10 bucks, so that's not so bad a start. After that I need to fabricate a couple of small display dividers out of plastic. Again, not too expensive or difficult. Once those are done, going to repaint and spruce it all up with some color and design elements, and fill it with some tasty snacks.  Just seemed too fun an item to pass up, especially at that price.

The guy who was selling it keeps a storage/workspace downtown where he refurbishes old video game cabinets and pinball machines to collect and sell. Had some great old games there. This machine was included in a lot he bought, which he had to take to get the games, so he figured he'd try to offload it cheap just to get rid of it. It was a matter of good timing. We had only decided recently it would be neat to have some kind of vending machine around, and he'd only listed it a couple of days before i saw it. Frankly, I was surprised it was still there after only 2 days, since people tend to jump on things like that quickly.

The metal sculpture is something my folks had since I was a baby. I guess maybe we're heading towards a 70s bowling alley kind of decor.


Edited by *frinspar* - January 19 2015 at 11:50

Make a little money back at least, right?

I loved playing with that. Made every kid, even those like me who couldn't draw to save our lives, feel like we were making art.

Those little pins were stunningly efficient at their true life mission of falling into the carpeting, and some time later puncturing the heel of a parent or sibling.....

Dean wrote: chopper wrote: Well I didn't know you could still buy this - http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Original-Spirograph-Generation-Artist/dp/B00EB3I61C/ref=sr_1_1?s=kids&ie=UTF8&qid=1421688089&sr=1-1&keywords=spirograph although it appears from the reviews that there's no way to hold the thing down whilst you draw. I'm sure I used to pin mine to a board. Yeah, the true original had pin-holes and came with a set of of those pins topped with small plastic balls. As I recall in the original each tooth and pen-hole was numbered so you if you started at the same point you could draw the same pattern each time. It was still infuriating to use and would usually skip just as you were finishing a complicated design, leaving a streak of ball-pen ink across the paper. This looks more like the one I remember:

Yep, that's the one I had. Oh, the simple pleasures of a child's life then. Even Lego was just bricks then.
Now I have a fortune's worth of Star Wars, Harry Potter and Indiana Jones Lego that's all muddled up. Anyone want to buy a load of incomplete Lego sets?

chopper wrote: Oh, the simple pleasures of a child's life then. Even Lego was just bricks then.

Too bloody right - big box of mixed Lego would keep me occupied for hours, as opposed to buying a specific Lego kit to build one thing!

Oh yes - and the corner bricks were just as painful to step on as the Spirograph pins

This is great

Dean wrote: chopper wrote: Well I didn't know you could still buy this - http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Original-Spirograph-Generation-Artist/dp/B00EB3I61C/ref=sr_1_1?s=kids&ie=UTF8&qid=1421688089&sr=1-1&keywords=spirograph although it appears from the reviews that there's no way to hold the thing down whilst you draw. I'm sure I used to pin mine to a board. Yeah, the true original had pin-holes and came with a set of of those pins topped with small plastic balls. As I recall in the original each tooth and pen-hole was numbered so you if you started at the same point you could draw the same pattern each time. It was still infuriating to use and would usually skip just as you were finishing a complicated design, leaving a streak of ball-pen ink across the paper. This looks more like the one I remember: