I have my Dad’s Police badge, and his fire helmet.
I used to have a railroad switchstand, but I sold it when I moved to Virginia. I want to find another one.
I also want to get a (replica) human skeleton to hang in the closet for the obvious joke value.
I have a walrus jawbone and an uncarved warus tusk from St. Mathew island.
A piece of pertified wood that the inside has turned to opal.
I’ve got my late father-in-law’s medals awarded him when he was a pilot in the Luftwaffe during WWII. They include the Iron Cross with oak leaves. There’s also a letter of commendation for courage under fire signed by Goering.
i have a set of keys from the POW camp my father-in-law was in during WWII. Along with a dollar bill with his name and SSN on it.
My little girl owns a Barney doll signed by James Marsters (of Buffy fame). I’m pretty sure it’s unique.
The Day Of Sorrow- A plastic mold for a plaster bust- of whom I don’t know. I found it in the garbage. The exterior is lumpy and creepy.
A Zenith Laptop- the model that introduced the clamshell design
A bas relief of a robed, grinning man. A saint? A wizard? A pagan god? Idunno
Salt and pepper shakers that look like dental plates
Ice tongs that look like dental plates
A small non-refillable helium tank.
A sword with the handle of a pool cue
Pieces of the Berlin Wall, collected by yours truly.
An ancient nail I found on the grounds of Melrose Abbey.
Two fossils I found on the beach.
A 10 D-Mark coin.
A 60 Baht commemorative note, a gift from our exchange student.
A silver 1898 quarter that I found on the ground.
Some hair from my twin sister, in case I ever have to clone her.
A first print Sandman #1 signed by Neil Gaiman.
A picture of a monkey drawn just for me by Eisner Award winner Geof Darrow.
The only thing I can think of is a couple of Roman coins, one being from the reign of Claudius and is probably from c. 41 AD, shortly after he became Emperor.
A bowlful of petrified wood from the high desert area east of Flagstaff.
Two 10,000 DeutschMark notes from the early 1930’s.
Two inventions, both in Patent phase, that only exist in the shop. Nowhere else on the planet. Which is amusing if it never goes anywhere, but kinda cool if one of em takes off and I get to have # 1.
A genuine glass light bulb, with a small plastic statue of The Tin Woodsman wrapped around the glass-held filament, with extra filament wire. A little gift on an industrial. It is a sealed glass bulb, but cannot fire.
A real Herkimer Diamond.
A film can with a spool of 16 mm color reversal film, shot by an astronaut while orbiting the earth on a Gemini mission. Camera original- never screened, never duplicated.
This is a neat thread- but I have to say, nothing beats Moon Rocks, or something off of Titanic. COOL.
Cartooniverse
I have a Commer 2500 one ton flatbed pickup. It was part of a motorhome, until it was destroyed by hail. I need to find a windshield for it, though.
I also have a Hillman Super Imp. SFAIK, Imps were not sold in the US under the Hillman name, so I’ve always guessed it was originally sold in Canada. Explains why the gas gauge is in Imperial gallons.
British dopers will wonder why I think they are unique…
I have a lot of weird junk.
However I think all of the strange artwork I’ve inherited must be the most “unique.”
I have three utterly unique original paintings.
One painting is a very normal still life of of flowers. It’s very low in value. It’s actually pretty. Realy nice color and composition. Warm huge blossoms in hues of red and white in a blue vase.
Another is a street scene by a minorly famous contemporary artist in a strange impressionist style. It’s ugly. Really ugly. Yup, it’s valuable. It looks like all of the buildings have melted into a puddle. Except for the streetlights. They’re normal.
The other one just defies explanation of it’s weirdness - it’s acrylic on board, mid 1960’s. Three men (?) kneel in front of … something. They are beggars. They have begging bowls and a drum. Their faces and expressions are exquisite. The colors are god-awful and garish. On closer exam, the people look familar, somehow. Those who have seen it agree that the guy on the right is clearly Christopher Walken. He’s drumming and talking to the middle dude, who might be our friend Jeremy. The other dude is up for grabs. He’s got a true Mona Lisa smile. What kind of bad trip caused this weirdness? I have no clue. The artist was not known for such oddities, she painted nice little landscapes.
We’ve got a hand-carved cigar store Indian. He’s only about half-size, and he’s obviously meant to stand on the counter at the tobacconist’s. Anyway, he holds a bundle of cigars in one hand, and a pipe in the other. I’ve never seen one holding a pipe and cigars–it’s usually one or the other. My wife won him in a raffle some years ago.
I don’t have much in the way of unusual stuff, and after some of the other posts in this thread, my offering looks a little dull. But when i first brought it up on this board, it garnered a fair bit of attention.
The thread, with pictures, can be found here.
I hate to burst your bubble, but since I’m bursting my own I guess it’s okay; I came into this thread to mention MY replica Maltese Falcon.
My best souvenir is from the 1999 New South Wales Legislative Council election. In that election, a record number of 264 candidates stood for 42 seats, requiring a ballot paper about 1 square metre in size. Each of the 80 parties allocated preferences (both a recommendations to their supporters, and to allocate preferences for votes cast “above the line”). So the Electoral Commissioner produced a poster listing all of these party preferences, to be displayed in each polling station – and when I say poster, I mean a poster in more than 20 sheets, each about 1 square metre in size. I scrutineered for one of the parties on the day, and when the person in charge of the polling station was packing up, I asked for the copy of this 20-plus-sheet poster. After thinking a while, and deciding that otherwise it would become scrap paper, he gave it to me. So I have it sitting, neatly folded in a pile at home. (I resist the temptation to unfold it and put it up on the wall, since it would rather dominate the decor). I rather doubt that anyone else in the US (or indeed outside Australia) has a copy of it.
A solid sterling silver engraved/monogrammed parasol handle.
VCNJ~
It wouldn’t be so unique if I was in Texas, but I’m not. My cowboy hardhat (fully legal in the US but sadly not homologated for the EU) is a great conversation piece. The Texan who gave it to me when I admired it in his office (in Houston, hi Houston!) said he’s seen them in all kinds of colors, mine is a pale yellow that could be in a normal hat.
I have a Herbert Hoover action figure. With Depression-activating pistol grip.
Apparently, some Japanese company decided to make a “Leaders of the World” series of action figures. 4 Americans were chosen to have their likeness molded into plastic and placed on top of a 12" G.I. Joe figure. George Washington, James Madison, Benjamin Franklin, and… Herbert Hoover. Not even circa-1930 Herbert Hoover, but circa 1950 80-year-old Herbert Hoover. And since it’s just a G.I. Joe base body, he does in fact have his right hand in permanent gun-holding pose.
It is a beautiful bit of mis-interpretation of American history and culture that could only be done by a Japanese company.
A cel from Disney’s Robin Hood.
A production script from “The Usual Suspects” is floating around somewhere. It might be preproduction when the names were all different. I don’t think its an original, I think its a copy.
Prerelease extended edition DVDs of The Lord of the Rings - the ones they send out to reviewers - I think its the Two Towers where it basically looks like a bootleg - handwritten and numbered on a small scaled burned DVD. Return of the King I remember having some sort of real looking label.
(Roman coins - my eight year old has one that predates Christ - it isn’t actually Roman though - I think its from Sicily - don’t know where it is at the moment. My step-father-in-law collects ancient coins and sometimes buys them in batches - a good one with four or five that aren’t worth anything - he says this one is worth about $5).