Myrtle Beach car lot

[suncat]

I saw longshore currents forecast (no idea if that's good for detecting, I'm still learning the beach) and felt like getting my feet in the sand, so I drove down to Myrtle to try my luck. No jewelry this time, but I found two big piles of buried cars and a few lead weights. And of course a stupid vape.

Bike week and Memorial Day are coming up next month, maybe I'll have better luck next time. I counted four detectorists in the area I was hunting...

 

[Ken Clad]

Nice. I got on a "car lot" and a spilled tackle box down in Murrell's Inlet last week. I know the toy cars aren't worth anything, but I just love finding monster trucks and fire trucks. I've noticed, the longshore currents are not strong enough to move any significant amount of sand. If you can find a spot on the Grand Strand with no competition, don't give up that secret!

I'm south of MB, but if you'd like to meet up to hunt sometime, send me a PM. My work schedule varies widely.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

..... I know the toy cars aren't worth anything, but..........

There was a local retired guy here in my area, who would ply-the-dry sand tourist zones at a local beach amusement park (the "Boardwalk") every single Monday morning. Naturally he's just angling for loose change, an occasional ring, etc.... But he tended to also get lots of toy cars (hot wheels, matchbox, Tonka, or whatever they're called) . And he would save them all year long in a big box in his garage.

One day I was at his house, shooting the breeze, and he showed me his "toy car collection". I chided him and said "why do you bother even collecting them ? Heck , I just toss mine in the nearest trash can on the way out of the beach"

But he explained that he saves them all year long (so he'll end up 100+ by the end of the year), and then takes them to the flea market, at the end of each year. Puts them out on a card table, and Mom's with young kids snatch them up for $1 to $3 each. He sells out in the first few hours. And he explained that : If you go to Toy stores, those cars are like $5 each and up ! So moms are more-than-happy to grab them at $1 to $3 each.

And that was 25 yrs. ago, when a dollar still meant something. Not sure what the current fetch price at stores or flea markets are. But if a person does a LOT of beach hunting, and gets a LOT of these cars, I suppose it's worth saving & selling them in this fashion eventually.

 

[Ken Clad]

I saved the very first monster truck I ever found. After that, I've just been passing them off to the kid across the street. He's just about out of the toy car & truck age, so yeah, box under the work bench for the annual community wide yard sale is the next best thing. In the town of Litchfield Beach, at many of the beach access areas, there is a box for the found and abandoned toys to get " re loved" by the next kid. I've deposited a few there, too.

 

[Fishincontrol]

I find lots of "Hot Wheels" and usually keep 1 or 2 in my junk pouch in case I see a kid who looks like he'd appreciate a toy. I've given away lots and the mama's are always appreciative. Unruly kids can kick rocks...I give them pull tabs and crusty zincolns.

 

[vmc1161]

If you find the ones with the metal bottoms and the old ones, there’s a lot of value to them. The guy I do work for his sons would go to the yard sales with him and they would buy boxes of the hot wheels and matchbox toys. They would go through them and almost always pulled out four or five that were worth some pretty good money. He gave my grandson. I don’t know maybe 150 to 200 of them. My grandson spent days lining them all up and playing with them. I think we still have them somewhere.

 

[Bear stalker]

I saved the very first monster truck I ever found. After that, I've just been passing them off to the kid across the street. He's just about out of the toy car & truck age, so yeah, box under the work bench for the annual community wide yard sale is the next best thing. In the town of Litchfield Beach, at many of the beach access areas, there is a box for the found and abandoned toys to get " re loved" by the next kid. I've deposited a few there, too.

I saw some of those "re-loved" drop boxes at a few beaches. Great idea someone had as it makes it easy and convenient for folks like us to drop them off and can brighten a kids day.

 

[Sand Hunter]

There was a local retired guy here in my area, who would ply-the-dry sand tourist zones at a local beach amusement park (the "Boardwalk") every single Monday morning. Naturally he's just angling for loose change, an occasional ring, etc.... But he tended to also get lots of toy cars (hot wheels, matchbox, Tonka, or whatever they're called) . And he would save them all year long in a big box in his garage.

One day I was at his house, shooting the breeze, and he showed me his "toy car collection". I chided him and said "why do you bother even collecting them ? Heck , I just toss mine in the nearest trash can on the way out of the beach"

But he explained that he saves them all year long (so he'll end up 100+ by the end of the year), and then takes them to the flea market, at the end of each year. Puts them out on a card table, and Mom's with young kids snatch them up for $1 to $3 each. He sells out in the first few hours. And he explained that : If you go to Toy stores, those cars are like $5 each and up ! So moms are more-than-happy to grab them at $1 to $3 each.

And that was 25 yrs. ago, when a dollar still meant something. Not sure what the current fetch price at stores or flea markets are. But if a person does a LOT of beach hunting, and gets a LOT of these cars, I suppose it's worth saving & selling them in this fashion eventually.

Man, I've found a lot of those cars over the years, seems just about every hunt during the summer season gave up a car or two or 1/2 dozen, lol. They really take me back to when I was a kid and collected Matchbox cars, loved those. I've made a fortune finding a lot of those cars over the years, a fortune that is in smiles, happiness, and good will for the metal detecting hobby.

During the summer depositor season, I always seemed to have at least 1 or 2 of them in my pouch, and with the crowds of people on the beach, I pretty much always had a young lad or a dad with his young son come up to chat. I'd give the dad a wink then quietly ask him to distract his son. Then I'd dig a quick little hole, drop the car in, then cover over with sand. Then I'd ask the young boy if he would like to hunt for treasure. YES, was always the answer I got, so I'd tell the young lad that I'd sweep the sand, and the next signal I got would be his, and he could dig and keep the treasure. I could see the excitement in his face.

I'd sweep over the sand and when I got a signal over the car, I'd make a big production outta it and tell the boy that I think there's treasure right there. He'd drop down and start digging with his hands, and in just a few seconds, he'd find the car and would scream "daddy, I found treasure", lol. His eyes would be wide and there'd be a BIG smile on his face. I'll never forget this one dad, his son was so excited and happy to have found "treasure", that he looked up at me and I could see him mouth the words "Thank You". To me, that was priceless and more valuable than any amount of money I could have sold the thing for.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Man, I've found a lot of those cars over the years, seems just about every hunt during the summer season gave up a car or two or 1/2 dozen, lol. They really take me back to when I was a kid and collected Matchbox cars, loved those. I've made a fortune finding a lot of those cars over the years, a fortune that is in smiles, happiness, and good will for the metal detecting hobby.

During the summer depositor season, I always seemed to have at least 1 or 2 of them in my pouch, and with the crowds of people on the beach, I pretty much always had a young lad or a dad with his young son come up to chat. I'd give the dad a wink then quietly ask him to distract his son. Then I'd dig a quick little hole, drop the car in, then cover over with sand. Then I'd ask the young boy if he would like to hunt for treasure. YES, was always the answer I got, so I'd tell the young lad that I'd sweep the sand, and the next signal I got would be his, and he could dig and keep the treasure. I could see the excitement in his face.

I'd sweep over the sand and when I got a signal over the car, I'd make a big production outta it and tell the boy that I think there's treasure right there. He'd drop down and start digging with his hands, and in just a few seconds, he'd find the car and would scream "daddy, I found treasure", lol. His eyes would be wide and there'd be a BIG smile on his face. I'll never forget this one dad, his son was so excited and happy to have found "treasure", that he looked up at me and I could see him mouth the words "Thank You". To me, that was priceless and more valuable than any amount of money I could have sold the thing for.

Fun story Sand Hunter ^ ^ !