Stuseum

Stock spotlight - stuff for kids

Looking for school holiday ideas? Drop them off at the Stuseum. There is plenty of stuff in store for young 'uns and I'll have the arcade machines and consoles running if they want to have a go. No need to "look with your eyes, not with your hands" in here - I'm just not that precious 😊

Regular days Thurs to Sat but I'll be opening more over the school holidays when I can, I'll post the details on here.

Opening hours update & weekend shenanigans:

Slight change to opening hours while I juggle some projects:

* Thurs / Fri: 10 - 2 & 4 - 6.30
* Sat: 11 - 4
* Other days: I intend to be in here a lot more but it will vary week to week (if the sign is out then I'm open + I'll post it on here).

Been quite blown away by the number of people from outside the state who have found me - I'm always happy to open up by appt if you are just passing through on a particular day, just flick me a message.

Now onto this weekend - I'm heading to Melb in the morning for the Grand Final (pic to prove I haven't just jumped on the Lions bandwagon recently!!). The Stuseum will still be open and in the capable hands of Samantha Hookway-Dare - probably not the best day to come in and discuss the fragility of the 8-track as a portable music format, but a great day if you're a Hawthorn (or Kylie) fan and you want to come in and be angry together 😘

Stock Spotlight 6 - Old TV's and things you can still plug into them.

(Quick update before I ramble on - reduced hours for the shop this week due to a quick trip away - Wed/Thurs: as normal, Fri: 10-2, Sat: Closed)

A lot of people have been asking about CRT TVs and I've dug out a couple - these aren't the models that people are after for gaming (those are still to come), but I do think they are very handsome and surprisingly functional.

Cosmetically neither of them had aged very well and based on the yellowing of the casing, they may have been exposed to some passive smoke back in the day. So I gave them a clean and a new paint-job. Was it as easy as I assumed it would be? No. Will I ever spray paint a TV again? Also no.

Both are colour and the only input is "RF" (the round antenna plug) - but with enough cables, adapters and manual tuning you can still achieve quite a bit, for example - play the Atari, watch a VHS, watch a DVD or catch a quick glimpse of the home shopping channel if you maneuver the antenna just right 😊

Stock Spotlight 5 – A little more niche this time, but if you can distinguish your Split Window T1s from your Bay Window T2s, then this one is for you. In-store now we a have glass cabinet crammed full of Volkswagen model cars and collectibles. Meticulously organised for display by the inaugural Stuseum Employee of the Month, Ashton. Many in original boxes and loose items starting from a single dollar.

This is from the personal collection of lifelong VW enthusiast and collector – around these parts he’s more commonly known as Poppy Greg. In a situation I can certainly sympathise with, poor Poppy Greg has stoically withstood years of “get this sh*t out of my house” but he’s finally caved and is thinning the collection. I’m a little scared of how Nanny Sue will react if it just ends up being returned to whence it came 😊 I’d rather not find out….

Outside of knowing that the old Beetles had the boot at the wrong end, this isn’t my area of expertise, but I can organise contact with the man himself for any queries!

Stock Spotlight #4 - Posters/Advertising/"Wall Art"(??)

It would likely come as no surprise to anyone who has visited the store that any room I've ever had full artistic control over has never retained much visible wall - if you could still see the paint, it meant space wasn't being fully utilised.

I love to frame anything that's thin enough to be framed and have a real soft spot for vintage advertising - everything is an original, no reproductions. And the frames themselves are all thrifted (so they aren't always pretty, but they've been saved).

Not a big fan of the term "man cave" - unless your Batman (or that guy in Silence of the Lambs) you probably don't actually have a cave. But it is Father's Day soon - so if you have a man in your life that has a special place that they most definitely DON'T prefer to spend their time in, perhaps there is something here that would look good on the wall. And it will certainly be cheaper than a carton of Camels.

I did prefer "speed maths" though

Stock Spotlight 3 - Gaming

Already proving to be quite a popular "section", at present all the gaming related stuff in the store is straight from my personal collection - I've kept a few of my sentimental favourites but the rest is in here. In addition to games, a stack of consoles are now available - all have been tested, come with all necessary controllers/cords and a bit of a warranty (to the extent feasible for vintage tech). PS1, PS2, XBox OG/360/One, SNES, Wii and some fami"clones" all good to go - master systems and megadrives currently being prepped. Oodles of accessories, cords and controllers laying around as well😊

And whilst paying the rent is obviously important, it's not just all sell sell sell - up the back there is a collection of machines which everyone is welcome to have a play on for zero dollarydoos (if I've forgotten to switch them on, just let me know!)

Stock Spotlight # 2 - The Vintage Kitchen & Barware area (conveniently located in the actual kitchen)

A little bit of a different vibe to the front half of the store, I've always been a bit of a sucker for anything with a bit of boozey "branding" and would happily buy two cartons of something I don't normally drink if it means I get a "free" $3 bucket hat. I'm the sucker that's born every minute.

At one point I had envisaged the Stuseum being more of a hospitality venue so some of this was acquired when I intended to decorate the diviest dive bar the world had ever seen, but alas there just seems to be too many rules to navigate in Australia. And then other stuff I've just grabbed because I think it looks cool.

So if this is more your cup of tea - ignore all the other stuff and just walk straight to the very back corner of the store 😊

(Credit where it's due: the "Band Aid Saloon" was in the background of a 60's Tom & Jerry cartoon along with these beauties - Rigor Mortis Saloon – "Come in and get stiff" & Six Gun Saloon – "Come in and get loaded". The good old days I suppose!!)

Stock Spotlight #1 - Physical Media (VHS/DVDs). One of the advantages of a bigger space is I've been able to organise stuff into broad "sections". I've collected physical media my whole life and plenty of it will be making it into the store as I "narrow" the focus at home! Not pictured here are the hundreds of $2 DVDs up the back - perfect for a bit of a dig.

If you're interested in where all this started - I've done a little deep-dive https://stuseum.com.au/the-single-vhs-tape-that-started-it-all/

TOMORROW!! Special Sunday opening, 10 to 4, then regular hours from this Wednesday onwards! Shop 6, Jimmy's Complex, big blue letters on the window.