Tag Collectibles

I found some new coins – but only a few

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As far as my coin collection is concerned, the Coles self-serve checkouts did not deliver the goods over the past couple of months, with only a handful of special coins being issued randomly amongst my change.

But despite luck not going my way, here are some of the collectables – both uncirculated and commonly issued – that I managed to pick up.

Two uncirculated AFL $1 coins, with the Western Bulldogs (top photo) belonging to the 2023 collection, and the West Coast Eagles (bottom photo) coming from the 2024 series. You can tell the difference between the two collections by the shape of the grandstand surrounding the team emblem.

Both of these limited-circulation $1 coins originate from the 2022 A-Z Great Aussie Coin Hunt. I have found many of these coins in my change – across all three series that were released in 2019, 2021 and 2022 – and they are easily mistaken for regular coins unless you are paying close attention.

I am scraping the bottom of the barrel here by including this worse-for-wear $2 coin commemorating the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, but I did say that it was a quiet month.

The next couple of coins are not rare or collectable in any way, but they are ‘new’ in the sense that we are now seeing shiny 50c and 20c denominations featuring King Charles III enter circulation. To date, I have not come across any 10c or 5c coins displaying the change of monarch – but they can’t be too far away.

I strongly recommend to anyone who either collects coins or is considering dabbling into this pastime to check your change at the Coles or Woolworths self-serve registers, as there are great treasures to be found!

The amazing Mega Plaza in Bangkok.

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I first heard about this place through YouTube videos, and as a result the Mega Plaza ended up high on my list of things-to-do when planning my trip to Thailand.

There is nothing like it in Australia – nor in most other countries – for this is an entire shopping mall dedicated to toys, collectibles and video games (both current and retro).

I would have taken a lot more photos and videos, but some of the vendors aren’t too keen on tourists snapping away and have large signs on display stating exactly that. As a result, I respected their wishes (for the most part).

I found plenty of ‘Star Wars’ action figures and merchandise – some authentic and very expensive – and others perhaps not so much…

The gaming stalls were quite impressive and covered almost every system and game title released over the past few decades. In other words, there is a good chance you will find whatever retro game or console you are looking for, but it all boils down to how much you are prepared to pay. To give you an example, I did take a couple of ‘forbidden’ photos of what these guys are selling – just to show you how far back they go.

The size of this place is outrageous – six levels featuring hundreds of shops and stalls crammed from one end to the other – with a decent food court on the top floor and a McDonald’s restaurant down at street level.

I could go on and on, but instead I will wrap things up by posting a few more photos.

The Mega Plaza is located in Bangkok’s Chinatown district – at the western end of Yaowarat Road to be precise – with the nearest train station being Sam Yot (Blue line) only a couple of blocks away.