Estate Sale News

Colorful glamorous estate sale is on at Ridglea Country Club Estates

There's a retro-glamorous estate sale happening in the Ridglea Country Club Estates neighborhood right on the Ridglea Country Club Golf Course.

The sale, which runs from June 12-14, is located at 7017 Serrano Dr., and is being hosted by Cottage Classics Estate Sales, which showcases estates while honoring families with compassion and integrity. Their primary customers are dealers and other professionals who understand the value of the objects being sold — furniture, bedding, appliances — versus a garage sale aimed at weekend bargain hunters.

Whether amateur shopper or pro, this sale is loaded with vintage gold, from '50s mid-century modern to the glamorous Hollywood Regency of the 1920s-to-1950s that preceded it, with Italian Florentine and French-influenced vintage decor thrown in.

The home belonged to Virginia Ruth West Duncan, described as a "true career woman" who held many executive positions over her more than 60 years of employment with positions at Midcontinent Oil & Gas Company, the Railroad Commission in Abilene, and 31 years at West Central Texas Municipal Water District, and whose generosity knew no bounds.

Her home was decorated by her interior designer sister who brought in pieces by Hans Kogl, upscale vintage lamps, pendants, sconces, statuary, mirrors. and cool vintage barware stocked full, in bright orange, reds, and blues.

Nearly everything's a visual feast, with loads of color, shine, sequins, silver, and gold.

Gilded lighted wall sconce at 7017 Serrano Dr.Cottage Classics Estate Sales

The sale has tons of vintage linens including some new old stock with tags, plus quilts, vintage fabric bolts, vintage 70's bedding, and more.

There are collector items including a vintage Christmas aluminum tree with a color wheel, as well as loads of retro kitchen gear, with a large galley kitchen full of vintage treasures such as Pyrex baking dishes, colored aluminum glasses, a Sunbeam radiant control waffle maker and grill in pristine condition, vintage aprons, colored glassware, whimsical kitchen linens, in classic '70s colors of avocado green, bright orange, and mustard yellow.

There's lots of furniture including French provincial, 1930s English oak dining suite, a velveteen tufted sofa and green club chairs, vintage brass and glass bar cart, multiple outdoor furniture sets, and probably 30 vintage lamps and sconces throughout including Moreau statuary lamps.

There's also women's vintage clothing, handbags, shoes, jewelry, and everything is in very well cared for condition.

On Friday June 13, it'll be 25 percent off, and by Saturday June 14, it'll be 50 percent off.

"This is such a fun sale!" the listing says. "Stuffed full! So much vintage love here!"

Cottage Classics Estate Sales

Vinyl records and groovy stereo at 7017 Serrano Dr.

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Toy News

Japanese collector capsule toy store opens at North East Mall in Hurst

Gashapon

Gashapon toys in real life.

A new store has opened in Hurst for people who like to collect small plastic objects. It's called Gashapon Bandai Official Shop, and it's now open at the North East Mall, at 1101 Melbourne Rd., where it sells "capsule toys" — miniature plastic toys packaged in clear plastic capsules.

Gashapon is a type of vending machine that dispenses capsule toys. The concept is popular in Japan, with machines found in various locations like train stations, arcades, and convenience stores. (The name "Gashapon" is derived from the sounds of turning the handle ("gasha") and the capsule dropping ("pon").

The toys inside Gashapon capsules can be characters from cultural realms like manga, video games, or Japanese anime franchises. Or coasters, or food miniatures, or charms you attach to your purse or notebook, or little animal figures, or little whimsical animal figures, or little statues, or an assortment of little plastic hats, or a quartet of tiny jewelry stands in pastel colors (buy them all!).

You buy tokens for $2 to $2.50 each and most machines require 2 to 4 tokens each.

Rows of vending machines at a Gashapon store. Gashapon

The idea of capsule toys — coin-operated vending machines — actually originated in the U.S. in 1907 along with bubble-gum machines. Japan embraced it in the 1960s, and the Gashapon chain was launched in Japan in 1977.

The first U.S. Gashapon Bandai Official Shop opened in Los Angeles' Little Tokyo district in February 2023.

The entire thing is driven by collector frenzy. The toys are produced in limited quantities, and in sets, which encourages customers to acquire every member of the set.

And then customers do not know what they will get until they turn the vending machine handle — not unlike slot machines. It's like gambling. Or as Gashapon says it more delicately, "The element of surprise brings excitement during the purchase and gets everyone hooked!" … furthering the frenzy even further.

Hurst makes the fourth location in Texas; following Grapevine Mills Mall and Houston, which opened in 2024, and Mitsuwa Marketplace in Plano which opened in 2023 (There's also a kiosk at Grapevine Mills Mall.) They're also opening a location at Firewheel Town Center in Garland in June 2025.

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