Thursday, August 30, 2012

Back to Axman Surplus

I was in St. Paul, and robotics class is starting earlier this year.  Time for a trip to my favorite surplus store, Axman Surplus.  Axman is a pretty cool place, although it is getting a little harder to find great deals on electronic components.  It seems to have caught on a bit amongst the urban hip, and it might be influencing the merchandise assortment.

But it does make for some very creative decor.  The sales staff are very hip, and near as I can tell they get to use anything in the store for display purposes.  Lately they have been going crazy with things suspended from the ceiling.

Near the military surplus aisle where a large box of field dressings does not seem to be selling quickly.  This guy is creepy because you could imagine a scenario where there is only half a guy hanging there.  Or is that just me?

The neon lights make difficult, but interesting photos.  Here we have a cheerful bear preparing to strafe us with smiling doll heads.

Stuka Bear's clone is part of this odd assemblage.  A large book.  a Teddy bear.  Wheels and lights.  And...

Some kind of hipster Borg Queen I guess.  Vaguely menacing, but not as alarming as this item near the back of the store:

It appears to be a (hopefully) deactivated military anti-tank rocket.  Ping pong balls for eyes.  Some kind of video cables for legs.  The wings, your guess is as good as mine.

2 comments:

Joanna K. Dane said...

Better be careful how you throw around the label "Hipster." I've been accosted by quite a few hipsters who resent the fact that I called them hipsters.

Tacitus said...

Ah, but you are of, or close to, that demographic. I claim the privileges that come with gravitas and grey hairs. Harrumph, harrumph...
T