# Random things you'd like to buy that are slightly too hard to obtain **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 8, 2007, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-things-youd-like-to-buy-that-are-slightly-too-hard-to-obtain/414854 "2007-08-08T13:34:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2007, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-things-youd-like-to-buy-that-are-slightly-too-hard-to-obtain/414854/41 "2007-08-09T00:34:45Z")
I’ve always wanted a sedan chair. I’d put it in my dining room, upholster the seat, add a small light, and use it for reading. ---
**Author:** ![Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2007, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-things-youd-like-to-buy-that-are-slightly-too-hard-to-obtain/414854/42 "2007-08-09T00:35:42Z")
[QUOTE=Phlosphr] Simple, it’s called a [handheld bar magnifier](http://www.cleansweepsupply.com/pages/skugroup16495.html) [/QUOTE] Sure, the little ones are easy to find. I buy mine in the needlepoint section of craft stores. But I want one of those great big ones the width of a newspaper page. Libraries probably threw out tens of thousands of them. Thanks for the help, though. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2007, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-things-youd-like-to-buy-that-are-slightly-too-hard-to-obtain/414854/43 "2007-08-09T00:35:52Z")
[QUOTE=Enola Straight] A long, jet-black cigarette holder. [http://www.tobaccomkt.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store\_Code=IS0038&Product\_Code=holder-03&Category\_Code=HOLDERS](http://www.tobaccomkt.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=IS0038&Product_Code=holder-03&Category_Code=HOLDERS) [/QUOTE] I’ve got one of those somewhere- it’s metal and collapsible, goes from 8" to about 18". Bought it for an FDR costume some while back. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2007, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-things-youd-like-to-buy-that-are-slightly-too-hard-to-obtain/414854/44 "2007-08-09T00:41:57Z")
[QUOTE=Phlosphr] I just ordered a Lilliput Catalog…never new it existed. Thanks a lot! BTW - if my wife comes in and yells at you, it’s not my fault…reallyl! 😃 [/QUOTE] I know, I know, some of mine has pages stuck together with drool. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2007, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-things-youd-like-to-buy-that-are-slightly-too-hard-to-obtain/414854/45 "2007-08-09T00:54:53Z")
I should mention that eBay falls into the “too much effort” basket for me- I don’t have an eBay account, I don’t use PayPal, and it’s a huge pain the ass to get away from work to go to the post office to get a money order. That and I don’t like competing with people for stuff. 😉 What are these “Little Tents” that people speak of? I’ve only ever seen full-sized ones on display at stores. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2007, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-things-youd-like-to-buy-that-are-slightly-too-hard-to-obtain/414854/46 "2007-08-09T01:09:02Z")
[QUOTE=Sampiro] I’ve got one of those somewhere- it’s metal and collapsible, goes from 8" to about 18". Bought it for an FDR costume some while back. [/QUOTE] Not the telescoping ones, not the ones with rhinestones, not the little blunt ones with replaceable filters. Straight, plain, thin, classy and elegant. Put together the whole ensemble: Collapesable top hat, tuxedo with tails, monocle, white gloves, and the long cig holder. ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2007, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-things-youd-like-to-buy-that-are-slightly-too-hard-to-obtain/414854/47 "2007-08-09T01:13:23Z")
Do they have a website? Lilliput’s, that is? Give me a URL! ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2007, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-things-youd-like-to-buy-that-are-slightly-too-hard-to-obtain/414854/48 "2007-08-09T01:18:39Z")
[QUOTE=Martini Enfield] I should mention that eBay falls into the “too much effort” basket for me- I don’t have an eBay account, I don’t use PayPal, and it’s a huge pain the ass to get away from work to go to the post office to get a money order. That and I don’t like competing with people for stuff. 😉 [/QUOTE] Pick out which one you want, and how much you are willing to pay for it and **I’LL** do it and send it to you… ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2007, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-things-youd-like-to-buy-that-are-slightly-too-hard-to-obtain/414854/49 "2007-08-09T01:38:22Z")
I’d like to find a perfectly-working cabinet gramophone and a supply of steel needles, that doesn’t cost thousands of dollars. I’m friends with a radio engineer who collects them, and has some stunning models taking up most of the space in his living room. He even has an Edison Diamond Disc player and some mint discs to play on it. Amazing sound. It’s the only one I’ve ever seen. The closest I may ever come is if he leaves me one in his will, but I’m not going to bring it up! ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2007, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-things-youd-like-to-buy-that-are-slightly-too-hard-to-obtain/414854/50 "2007-08-09T01:45:45Z")
I want a recipe for raspberry torte. Preferably my grandmother’s recipe, but my mom says it’s not in the one cookbook that she has from my grandmother, and she doesn’t know what my uncles did with the rest of them. ☹ I’ve googled for one, but they’re all like raspberry-almond torte or chocolate-raspberry torte or something (okay, I may try that one) and none of them even look close in the photos (some look like cakes!). ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2007, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-things-youd-like-to-buy-that-are-slightly-too-hard-to-obtain/414854/51 "2007-08-09T02:49:45Z")
Two toys that I once had: [Third Dimension II](http://s98.photobucket.com/albums/l269/hosmackah/toys/?action=view¤t=IMG_1318.jpg) An interlocking puzzle that you would try to fit back together. It was the successor to the earlier “Third Dimension” puzzle, the same design, but used fewer (24, maybe?) pieces. I’ve seen a “Third Dimension” show up on Ebay, but if “Third Dimension II” has, I’ve missed it. [Running Wild](http://s98.photobucket.com/albums/l269/hosmackah/toys/?action=view¤t=IMG_1319.jpg) It didn’t really do anything, but that was the beauty of it. The little beads would roll down one level to the next, ultimately hitting the bottom. The notes that came with it said that the same ball bearings dropped from the [height of the] top of the Empire State Building would reach the ground before the ones inside the cube did, because the ones in the cube were constanly accelerating, then decelerating. (I apologize for the quality, but a) these images were tiny in the Sears catalog to begin with, b) I don’t have the steadiest hands in the world, and c) the exposure time was 1/8.) ---
**Author:** ![T\_SQUARE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9de053/32.png) [@T\_SQUARE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/T_SQUARE)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2007, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-things-youd-like-to-buy-that-are-slightly-too-hard-to-obtain/414854/52 "2007-08-09T03:30:32Z")
They used to make a “space shuttle” Swiss army knife, with a picture of the space shuttle on the handle (there aren’t any special space tweezers or anything, just run of the mill tools). I few supposedly pop up on eBay, but I’ve never seen one. They go for less than $100, I think. I’d also like an attractive, table top Antikythera mechanism reproduction, but I don’t think they are made. I learned of the Curta calculator when I saw one in the Lichtenstein National Museum. I thought they were cool, and that I should find one on eBay, figuring they might cost 30 bucks or so. Boy was I wrong. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2007, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-things-youd-like-to-buy-that-are-slightly-too-hard-to-obtain/414854/53 "2007-08-09T04:06:10Z")
[QUOTE=phouka] Do they have a website? Lilliput’s, that is? Give me a URL! [/QUOTE] [www.LilliputMotorCompany.com](http://www.LilliputMotorCompany.com) ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2007, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-things-youd-like-to-buy-that-are-slightly-too-hard-to-obtain/414854/54 "2007-08-09T04:56:51Z")
1. **silk stockings** Once, as a bridesmaid, I tried to find a pair of silk stockings as a favor for the bride. What I found was that people will sell you things called “silk stockings” that are in fact 100% nylon, as if you couldn’t tell the difference. I never did find them. It’s not even so easy to find them now that there’s the Internet. I did eventually find them–they are pricey, but they do claim to be silk. **2. California snowman** I used to have a fake snow globe of a “california snowman”–water, a carrot, two pieces of coal, a hat. Loved that thing. Fell off the desk and cracked. I thought I would get another one as soon as I found it, only I never did. **3. Absinth.** ---
**Author:** ![dynamitedave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ed655f/32.png) [@dynamitedave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dynamitedave)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2007, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-things-youd-like-to-buy-that-are-slightly-too-hard-to-obtain/414854/55 "2007-08-09T08:24:37Z")
I’ve always wanted all the Roadrunner cartoons. I search every now and again, finding just the same few episodes, or a collection DVD :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2007, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-things-youd-like-to-buy-that-are-slightly-too-hard-to-obtain/414854/56 "2007-08-09T17:23:12Z")
I would like a vintage Enigma machine. They had one on ebay recently but it was way out of my range. Or a M3 halftrack with the quad-.50 mounted on the flatbed. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2007, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-things-youd-like-to-buy-that-are-slightly-too-hard-to-obtain/414854/57 "2007-08-09T20:34:39Z")
I really want a seaslug. But I can’t imagine they would be easy to find. Also, the upkeep would probably be expensive. Someday… ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2007, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-things-youd-like-to-buy-that-are-slightly-too-hard-to-obtain/414854/58 "2007-08-09T20:55:33Z")
Glade 3-in-1 candles. Three colors, three scents, burned for 60 hours. I love love love them things and _they took them off the market_. I hate hate hate Glade for doing this. If anyone on this board has any kicking around, e-mail me. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2007, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-things-youd-like-to-buy-that-are-slightly-too-hard-to-obtain/414854/59 "2007-08-10T11:24:10Z")
A chain mail bikini-for those battles at the beach! has anyone actually worn one? they probably increase the odds of drowning! ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2007, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-things-youd-like-to-buy-that-are-slightly-too-hard-to-obtain/414854/60 "2007-08-10T11:38:18Z")
[QUOTE=ralph124c] A chain mail bikini-for those battles at the beach! has anyone actually worn one? they probably increase the odds of drowning! [/QUOTE] Haven’t worn one (or any other kind of bikini), but I’ve seen them at the looser SCA events. They’re pretty much see-through unless they’re lined. The weight is negligible, though. Do a Google search and you should find plenty of merchants. Actually, I could make you one. If I were wealthy, I might try to replace the GI Joe Mercury space capsule I had as a child. Or, actually, I’d like to replace the massive oak desk I used to have; it could hide a typewriter in its center compartment while still having enough legroom, and had huge drawers. It burned up, along with the typewriter, when somebody torched my place. I want furniture that’ll last for centuries. (A typewriter is . . . oh, never mind.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-things-youd-like-to-buy-that-are-slightly-too-hard-to-obtain/414854.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-things-youd-like-to-buy-that-are-slightly-too-hard-to-obtain/414854.md?page=4)