I Turned Antique Coins Pink!!!

I feel so foolish!!!

So, I've been getting into board games. And one of the fun things to do with board games is bling them up. Metal coins. Wooden meeple upgrades. Stickers. 3D printed assets or figures. Etc. Etc. Etc. So many possibilities.

Many months ago, as in before the end of last year... :\ ... I got Obsession. A game about Victorian romance. I haven't learned how to play it, but so many people online rave how fun it is. On Board Game Geek the game has an 8.3 rating. That's REALLY high

 

So, before even learning how to play with it I thought it would be nice to upgrade to metal coins. Well, no gaming coins fit, and the set many people buy for this game was sold out. If gaming coins can't be found, why not use authentic British coins instead? Onto Ebay I went, and found pences and shillings. Why not?

The problem with old coins is that they're dirty and smell. Why not clean them?!! (Which all coin collectors shudder at, because that diminishes their value). I found a vinegar and salt technique. The instructions said not to use a glass bowl, as plastic is better. What did I do? Use a glass bowl. And then left the coins in the solution for nearly an hour!!!

They turned pink!!!!!  The sides pressed against the glass were the most pink!!!! I ruined antique coins. Some of theses coins lived through WWII. They survived a World War, amongst other things, and in 2022 I turned them pink! How pathetic is that??!! 

That just made me really depressed, for months, until I watched a Chateau Dairies episode on YT where a jar of three pence coins were found, which are the coins I turned pink.  So I went to Ebay and bought another set.

And I vow never to clean these. Let them be.

Though check out how clean and shiny this 1944 coin is! So pretty.

Oh the stories these coins can tell.

Sarah :0)

(I really need to learn how to play that game... :\ )

(Heh, I honestly have a lot of games I need to learn how to play... ehhhh..... but my shelf of shame is really pretty. Though the games I have sat down to learn have been fun.)

Iron Chef, LEGO's, and Games

I finally downloaded Pluto TV.  Late to the party!!  Known about it for awhile, but I didn't know it was free.  The service works like you're watching live TV, with commercials, and there's some stuff on demand.  And oh my goodness, I'm having so much fun with the streams!  There's so much.

One of the channels is nothing but classic Iron Chef, which brings back so many memories.  Another channel is nothing but Stargate, which is such a great show with interesting spinoffs. There's a history channel that actually shows history shows and not reality stuff.  Music video channels.  A bunch of Spanish stuff.  A nature scenes channel that's so relaxing.  Watched a little Love Boat.  And my favorites are BBC Home and BBC Food.

So the kiddos have been spending a lot of time over here due to home renovations and cleaning up black mold (sadly proving to be a huge problem), so we've been having a lot of fun.  I introduced them to Iron Chef... which didn't go as plan!  Oh, they watched one episode because they knew it was important to me.  On another day I asked my oldest niece if she wanted to see Iron Chef again, and she said it was kinda weird. :\ So we watched Escape to the Country instead.  Heh, *sigh*.

But one of the reasons they didn't want to watch more Iron Chef is because they wanted to watch more LEGO Masters, or whatever the show is called, over on Hulu.  Actually, that show is pretty fun.  Highly recommend.  We finally finished the first season, and the winning build was so epic.  We all wanted that one to win and cheered.  There's a new show called Domino Masters, which is fun as well, but the kids don't like watching the first half, so we fast forward to the topples.  The best part.

So, yeah, if you haven't checked out Pluto TV I highly recommend it.  You don't have to sign up or anything.  I showed it to Robbie the other night, and he was excited that there was a Yu-Gi-Oh Spanish channel.  

The kids know there's a second season of LEGO Masters, but we're taking a break to play games.  Played Dice Forge and taught Yukon Airways.  I was worried about the Yukon game, because it's a little complicated, but they liked it.  Though, apart of it is because we played with my Dad, and he kept making jokes, so they giggled a lot.  Honestly, that's what board gaming is all about.  Had some good conversations with two of my nieces while we played the first game.  Got to hear all about their crushes, which was amusing.  One niece launched into the probability by percentage of her chance of marrying one crush verses another.  That was precious.

Board gaming is such a fun hobby.

Sarah

 

The Game My Family Probably Won't Learn How To Play...

So there's a game that my family probably won't ever learn how to play.  I'm saying "probably" because ya never know, but as it stands no one wants to give it a go.  Why?  Because it's Tesla vs. Edison... and no one wants to play Edison.

Like, literally no one.

We're a pro Nikola Tesla family.

Edison is full of cringe.

In other news I did get to try out two new games on Memorial Day: MegaCity Oceania and Wingspan.  Really cool very different games.  MegaCity is a city building game plus puzzle solving while trying to move the structures without any of them falling.  Wingspan is just a super chill bird game where you collect birds and eggs.  Enjoyed both of them.

I've started collecting board games that have a single player variant.  There's so many now, and some of them have really good reviews, so I'm excited to try them out.  It would be fun to review them and let you know what they are, playing at least five times to get a sense of repeatability and overall enjoyment.  It'll take a little time to work through them, but it will be a fun project.

Hope you're having a great week!

Sarah

Accessories from American Girl's Newest Historical Character: Courtney from 1986

 Courtney is American Girl's latest historical doll, coming to us from 1986.  She's a gamer, loving to spend time at the arcade in the mall, has seen Star Wars dozens of times, loves The Goonies, and is sad when she can't go over to her friends house to play the new Super Mario Brother's game.

With the release of every new character comes the doll, countless clothes, and accessories.  I didn't get the doll or clothes, but I did get four accessory sets and book.

 

The book, front and back.  There's only one book, though there will be a second book, yet to be announced.  Courtney Changes the Game only has 120 pages, which is short compared to Nanea's, Melody, and Maryellen's original first book.  Nanea's first book originally had 216 pages, though there were no pictures, but it was shortened to 144 pages with pictures for a re-release.  That seems the direction American Girl wants to take the books.  I do like the pictures in Courtney Changes the Game, it's just a shame that fleshed out stories will suffer because of it.  There's so much more material in the original American Girl books.

Courtney's Care Bears Sleeping Bag Set: $36

I was quite the Care Bear fan girl growing up.  I had the pajamas, bed comforter, bears, and other odds and ends.  And this sleeping bag looks really, really familiar.  I don't know if it's based off of an actual item from the past, but I swear I had this as a kid.  Such a flashback.

Comparing American Girls Bedtime Bear to World's Smallest Tenderheart Bear, as I've seen many people online mention that they have the World's Smallest Care Bears.  Just showing that there is a size difference between the two, though Care Bears come in many sizes, so it's all good, and World's Smallest has a nice variety.

Courtney's School Supplies: $30

No, these aren't Lisa Frank--that would have been cool--though these seem to be modeled after the popular stationary line.  This comes with a binder, 2 folders, paper, erasers, sticker sheet, pencil case, and pencil's.  I loved me some Lisa Frank in the day, and was obsessed with her dolphin line.  That would have been amazing, but licensing and all that.  I love the pencil case, as I loved this style of case when I was younger.  Brings back so many memories.  Be careful when opening it as the connecting plastic seems fragile and thin.

 Courtney's PAC-MAN Lunch Set: $25.

I love this so much!  On my first day of school, Kindergarten, I had a plastic lunchbox.  Don't remember the character, but light blue box color comes to mind.  And on the first day of school my Mom took me to a corner gas station store and bought me chocolate milk, and then poured it into my thermos.  It's such a nice memory, and I felt super special.

This set comes with a thermos where the lid twists off.  Unfortunately you can't put the food items and thermos in the lunch box at the same time.  Then there's a ham and cheese sandwich, wrapped brownie, cheese puffs, and apple slices.

This was literally my lunch, though with a peanut butter sandwich instead, from elementary through college.  PB sandwich, a Sara Lee snack, Apple or other fruit, and some form of chips (cheese puffs did make it in the lunch a few times).  Our family couldn't afford the hot lunch, so everyday, except for when the cafeteria did that square size pizza, I was a cold lunch girl.  And I can't eat peanut butter sandwiches anymore because of it, except on certain occasions, but it saved me so much money in high school and college.

So much fun!

 

Courtney's Sleepover Accessory Set: $50

This is my favorite set.  The boombox requires 3 AAA batteries.  You can turn the dial and it makes radio sounds.  It comes with 4 mini cassette tapes, and each side plays a song when it's in the machine.  They're original songs, a mix of vocal and instrumental, with an 80's flare.  Think Tiffany not Chicago.  Unfortunately there isn't an AUX hole to connect it with a device, like Nanea's 1940's radio has.  It's fun playing swing music on it.  So I was hoping there was a way to connect a device to the boombox, but there isn't.  Am I the only one who keeps an aux cable at the ready?

There's also a bowl of tortilla chips, a couple fruit punch cans, a doodle book with drawings on every page plus a pen, and a cootie catcher.  The back side of the cootie catcher had the instructions, but I still got confused.  I forgot how to make them!!!!  So I had to look it up on YouTube. -_-;; Heh.

(I somehow got on a YouTube channel that's playing random 80's songs, and Glory of Love from Karate Kid II is playing.  Memories!!  You know, I never saw that movie, but this song got SO MUCH airplay.  We Built This City just came on!  Gah!  I'm losing it!  How can I not dance around!!!??? Best. Song. Ever.)

So tiny.

And just the little pamphlet that came with the sets.

 

Definitely a trip down memory lane.

 

Childhood Remembered: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade Edition

Seeing this Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade style game console at Walmart the other day was like stepping back in time.  I've seen these short arcade games for Pac-Man and the like, but never thought there would be one for TMNT.

This was my favorite arcade game growing up.  There was either one at the Pizza Hut or Round Table Pizza way back when in Porterville, back when pizza places had tiny arcade rooms.  (Are there any pizza places that still have arcade games?)  But still, time trip seeing this thing.  I spent so many quarters playing this game as a kid.  Heh, good times.  My fractured memory says it was Pizza Hut, though my memories at Round Table are more clear with various birthday gatherings and other whatnot's.  The pizza was so good!  We don't have a Round Table Pizza where I live, though every now and then advertisements will pop up on Facebook reminding me of good times past.

Dang I'm nostalgic.

This arcade game console, if it's called that, is priced at $400, so I didn't get it.  That would be crazy.  The price is crazy steep, but where would I put it?  Still, it was fun seeing this game and remembering all those fun times running to play games in between bites of pizza, which is very TMNT appropriate.

Watching the World Cup in a Hotel Room

 I just spent a week visiting California.

As I stated in an earlier post my Mom's best friend is visiting from France, and one of the things we wanted to do was take her to some of her favorite places in California: Cambria, Hearst Castle, Solvang, and Santa Barbara.

I've also mentioned in previous posts that I'm a bit of a sports dunce.  If sports could be made sentimental in anyway, I'd be more inclined to watch.  I'm always up for going to a baseball game thanks to going to Anaheim Angel games as a kid.

With my Mom's friend Patou being here I've watched a few of the semi-final games to catch up a little. A few years back I tried getting into Soccer by watching the Salt Lake Real games on television.  It didn't stick, though I made a valiant effort. I have to say the team logo and merchandise is sweet. The female team logo is totally Gryffindor meats Utah.  I wonder if I went to a live game if that would help.

Anywho . . .

Earlier in the trip I couldn't watch the Belgium vs France game since we were visiting Cambria that afternoon, but it was fun telling Patou that France was advancing to the finals.

Sunday was our head back travel day.  Drive from Solvang to Las Vegas, stay the night, then come home Monday night.  Thankfully the game was at 8 am, so it was possible to watch the game and then the awards before hotel checkout.

The game was really good.  6 goals in total.  As I've learned watching soccer, * cough* football, that's a lot of points for a game.  I heard so many variations of "Ooh La La" from Patou during the match that it was pretty amusing.  Usually I don't root for a team when watching sports, which is probably another reason I struggle watching games, but it was a lot of fun rooting for the French team.  And sure enough they won.  Patou was overjoyed.

So overjoyed was Patou that she wrote about it on a deli chalk board.

Then there was check out.  So many people must have been watching the game because everyone seemed to be leave around 11 am.

We got a late start getting back due to the deli and grabbing another pastry in Solvang.  Word to the wise: Never visit Solvang on a diet.  We drove through Baker around 11 pm.  The giant thermometer read 106, and that's at night.  Late night I-15 construction got us to the hotel after 1:00 am.  Three lanes narrowed to one.  The next day it was 108 in St. George during our stop.

Suddenly the mid-nineties doesn't feel so bad.

Stay hydrated.