Some years ago, I was browsing the movie soundtrack section at a secondhand CD shop. There were four or five soundtracks from Jean Claude Van Damme movies, including the highly elusive No Retreat, No Surrender soundtrack. I bought that one, but for some godforsaken reason, I didn't get any of the others. I'm a huge JCVD fan, especially his earlier movies, and I had the opportunity to get soundtracks like Double Impact. But weirdly, I just bought the NRNS CD and that was it.
Another time, I saw a secondhand book by a favourite author. It was an unusual and uncommon book which I'd never seen before, and there it was, on a wall display just inside the entrance to the shop. I thought, "hey, that's cool," and just kept walking!
Those are just a couple of examples of things I regret not buying. What are yours? (Shares in Google and Apple, and the mining of Bitcoin stories are most welcome here, hahaha.)
I've regretted not buying this toy for $35 about 35 years ago... that's exactly the amount I had on me! Unlike the pic, the one I passed on was unused with a PERFECT box.
(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/48/f0/30/48f0309e232a1ea16dc4c3c94606d91d.jpg)
I regret I haven't bought a decent food dicer & slicer yet.
I do regret buying this Onionchopper
(https://media.3pagen.de/pdmain/16872-H-00-3P_HAUPTBILD_WS_3P_DE_AT.jpg)
It's one of the most useless kitchentools I ever bought.
When I was in Utah one time, I saw a T-Rex replica skull mounted on a plaque for $3000. I could have bought it, but that would have been all my spending money for the entire trip. Would have looked awesome on my wall though.
(https://i.imgur.com/Bno3vor.jpg)
Quite a few years ago, an old time arrowhead collector from my region was selling off his entire collection. I bought a frame of pretty decent points for around $350, kept a few of the best ones, and sold the rest for a tidy profit. But he had a frame of much better points I could have bought for $750, kept some even better examples, sold less, and still made a profit. I hesitated, and someone else got that frame.
I've been kicking myself over it ever since.
a twin of my beloved indoor grill for 5 bucks. it cost me 50 to replace the heating element a month ago.
VIP tickets for a David Gilmour concert in 2015. A one in a lifetime chance, and we ended up in the field, watching a giant screen, since he was at like two blocks away from us. The sound was perfect and we enjoyed the concert like crazy, but with very little extra money we could've been right in front of him.
After that I learned that I should spend as much as I can to see my favorite artists and shows, regardless of my situation. What's the point of money otherwise?
I had the chance to buy Little Samson on the NES for $80 a few times in the early 2000s. I remember thinking that was an insane amount for an NES game, and I kept hoping to score one for under $50.
It's now selling for over $1000 on eBay.... Oh well.
Playstation TV. I wanted to get one so my sister could play Persona 4 Golden on TV. Seems like the damn thing just kept getting more expensive over time.
Just gotta hope for a port, Vita compatibility on PS5, or a functioning Vita emulator.
I have my doubts about all of these.
cross your fingers for me, y'all, that i don't end up regretting the fact that i did NOT buy the panini press. i'm going back tomorrow to see if it's still there....
I was in a Sam Goody record store about 1980 and the store had put out a small stack of original ROLLING STONES Some Girls LPs which had been removed from the shelf about 3 years earlier when the original packaging for that album was pulled because of legal threats. They must have had a few still in "dead stock" and just put them out to get rid of them... :hatred:
Somebody once put a Pietta replica of a Colt SSA (I forget which model) on eBay that they thought was a toy for only fifty bucks.
I thought about it for twenty minutes, then figured, since they thought it was a toy, no need for an FFL, or dealing with eBay's block on mail order fire arms, so I went back, & it was sold.....
no regrets, my press was still there! yay! :cheers:
Thank you to everyone for your replies!
@chefzombie - so... this weekend, your house will be panini city, huh?
@Gabriel Knight - that Dave Gilmour concert would have been great, wow.
@indy - I know what you mean about buying collectibles. See next story:
In 2009, I was in the Gold Coast in Australia on a work trip. I'd never been to the Gold Coast before, and was/am unlikely to go again. I went to the amusement park Warner Brothers Movieworld on the Gold Coast, and came across the gift shop. Wow, the number of cool things there was crazy. I ended up buying a framed My Fair Lady print with original film cel for myself, and a Star Trek print and film cel for my brother, who loves Star Trek. But what I wanted to get for him, but didn't because it was quite large, was a framed set of prints of all the movie posters in miniature form along with a cel from each. I was traveling by car at the time, and was unsure how this large frame was going to fit in, so I didn't.
Every year, I go to a major art exhibition and buy the catalogue, which is a beautiful coffee table book of prints and descriptions. Usually, I see the exhibition and then wait until the exhibition is about to end to buy the catalogue, because it goes on sale for at least 25% off at that time. But one year, I waited a bit too long, and the catalogue was sold out. I've got an unbroken series of exhibition catalogues from 2004 until now, with the exception of that one exhibition.
arc, you might be able to find that edition on ebay. and yes, we ARE going to panini heaven for the holiday, lol!
a ring for a special lady over a decade ago
When we went to Prague for a three day vacation a few years ago, I had the opportunity to buy a pastrami on rye sandwich. As odd as this may sound, pastrami is a speciality food in Germany. Chances of finding a butcher in a 200 miles radius who actually makes pastrami is like hitting the jackpot at lottery - pretty much zero.
I love to cook and I love to try food I never had before. I always wanted to try a classic pastrami sandwich without resorting in me having to make pastrami from scratch.
Anyway, we were in downtown Prague which is basically a hot spot for foodies (had the best burger of my life there). TripAdvisor guided us to a butcher who made a classic pastrami on rye. However, people were standing in line, and not just a few people. Technically I could have stood in line but everyone else was hangry (yep, hAngry) so we seeked out another place to grab lunch. We did have plans to come back the next day which was our final day in Prague. Guess what, that butcher was closed. We picked the only day of the week that butcher was closed. I left Prague on a sad note.
Quote from: bob on May 18, 2020, 08:10:34 PM
a ring for a special lady over a decade ago
Oh, heck. I didn't expect that kind of answer to this question. Is this a story you're okay with telling?
Quote from: claws on May 21, 2020, 07:32:52 AM
When we went to Prague for a three day vacation a few years ago, I had the opportunity to buy a pastrami on rye sandwich. As odd as this may sound, pastrami is a speciality food in Germany. Chances of finding a butcher in a 200 miles radius who actually makes pastrami is like hitting the jackpot at lottery - pretty much zero.
I love to cook and I love to try food I never had before. I always wanted to try a classic pastrami sandwich without resorting in me having to make pastrami from scratch.
Anyway, we were in downtown Prague which is basically a hot spot for foodies (had the best burger of my life there). TripAdvisor guided us to a butcher who made a classic pastrami on rye. However, people were standing in line, and not just a few people. Technically I could have stood in line but everyone else was hangry (yep, hAngry) so we seeked out another place to grab lunch. We did have plans to come back the next day which was our final day in Prague. Guess what, that butcher was closed. We picked the only day of the week that butcher was closed. I left Prague on a sad note.
You know, that makes a lot of sense. Good food is always a desirable find, especially when it's uncommon. Back in the 80s, I was in Hong Kong, and was surprised at how weak and watery the spaghetti bolognese was. Yeah, you don't go to Hong Kong for Italian food, but I was so sick of Chinese food and really hankering for some pasta.
Speaking of food I regret not buying: about 15 or 16 years ago, I was at a large hardware store with a friend, buying paint for his place. Outside was a sausage sizzle, with the delicious smell of barbecued sausage fat filling the air. In Ausralia, Bunnings Warehouse is the equivalent of Home Depot or Lowe's, and they always have a group with a sausage sizzle outside on weekends. Well, at least they did until coronavirus hit, but I digress.
I figured I'd get a couple of sausages when we came back out, but when we did, the sausage sizzle was closed! Since then, I have made it a point to buy a couple of sausages every time I see one outside a hardware store.
When I was in Toledo, Spain I had an opportunity to buy a sword made out of the local steel but passed on that. I still kick myself that I didn't make the sword my big purchase for the trip instead of the carpet in Morocco. It would've been so neat to have the sword displayed on the wall and I could reenact the brace yourself pose from time to time too.
i regret not buying a portable washer when we moved in. now i'm going to spend a good 100 more
Quote from: chefzombie on July 18, 2020, 12:25:59 AM
i regret not buying a portable washer when we moved in. now i'm going to spend a good 100 more
:bluesad:
There was this really cool hotel called The Lodge in Bettendorf, Iowa that my family used to go to occasionally. It had the coolest decor and fixtures, it was decked out like a Bavarian castle with stained glass windows and everything. It wasn't really fancy, it just looked fancy. They even had a Freddy Krueger pinball machine by the pool and a booby video game in the lounge and would sometimes have murder mystery dinners. It was such a blast to stay there. When it closed down in 2016 they announced that they were going to have a sale or auction of all the fixtures and furniture, I think even some of the stained glass windows were being sold. I remember really wanting to go, but being too busy with work. I wish I just said screw it and went to get a piece of that place!