Things you shouldn't have bought

[Des Nilsen]

This morning I went into town, planning on buying a new pair of trousers - blue or green heavy-cloth army type things, though not 'combat pants'. What I had in mind was something altogether different.
That was sort of the problem, because I'd not seen anything - I had something in mind, but when I couldn't find it...

:sucks breath in through teeth:

I came home with a pair of blue 'combat pants' and a black dutch army jacket - similar to a green german one I have, only I didn't see the pointlessness of buying the thing.
It's matte-black and summer is around the corner. And it looks like a run of the mill black button-up shirt.
That was just under fifty quid down the drain (more or less) and that's money coming out of savings. I've a horrible habit of buying things without thinking properly.
I probably won't wear the jacket or the trousers.

I bought a second hand acoustic guitar last year for just under £130 and I've hardly used it. It now sits atop my wardrobe with four strings on it. There are other things I could list. Too many other things.

So, I'd like to know what you lot have regretted buying. Or perhaps you've bought something you later find out you don't really need - same thing really. Ach.

P.S - Does anybody think I ought to take the jacket back? I have the reciept, but the men in the shop were talking about violent things. They might give me a hard time, especially if it's just a jacket.
Oh woe.

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[Evil Knevil]

Things you shouldn't have brought

I guess you shouldn't have brought that r into the sentence.

[Des Nilsen]

Things you shouldn't have brought

I guess you shouldn't have brought that r into the sentence.

Yes, yes, well done. Thank youfskjgfsnbkfsgnljsgdnlkj sgd agd mgda

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[smoker]

take it back in a few days, say it's an unwanted gift or summat. or ask to exchange it.
i'm always doing this, my worst to date is buying a really flash grey sports coat in greenwich village, then coming back to uk and finding every fucker wearing a sports jacket with their jeans now. even though mine is the nuts, i've still only worn it once since december and it cost me over a ton

[Evil Knevil]

Errmmm seriously now....

You should try and take the jacket back. The worst they can say is "no". You could say you bought it for a friend, but it was too big/small.  Otherwise you could give it to a friend as a present, which sortta helps with the whole guilt thing.

On the subject, I bought a 2nd hand Gamecube for £30 on Sunday. 2 Controllers, with WWE and Mario. I regret it now tho, since the Gamecube is a bit crap really and I'll have to spend a few quid buying more games and a memory card.  Not as if I can take it back tho.

[Purple Tentacle]

Sim City 4

An enormous amount of money on drink trying to woo pointless, ungrateful women. (Why, I should have saved my money and gone to see our chum Gush Boy for some quick fix love drugs)

Sega Dreamcast

Months of AOL subscriptions

Insurance on my loan that they won't let me claim

That first Dido album

Countless nights out I knew were going to be rubbish, and turned out to be rubbish


Thanks, I'm all depressed now.


edit: And the Gamecube is great, what you've got there is two crap games. You can't complain for £30 though.

[hoverdonkey]

A 3DO. What was I thinking? Nothing, clearly.

I got a tax rebate this morning so I'm thinking of what I can waste that on.

[Evil Knevil]

A 3DO. What was I thinking? Nothing, clearly.

I got a tax rebate this morning so I'm thinking of what I can waste that on.

Interested in a Gamecube? (would include a smiley here)

[Gazeuse]

I just bought an acoustic guitar with electric output. It was really cheap..It's a 'Santa Ana' and is Korean. It was only £179 which I think is amazing in that it plays well and the electric sound is fantastic. The whole thing will probably cave in after a few months, but I'll get me moneys worth out of it!!!

Anyway, I dont regret getting it...Not at all. I've been borrowing a Yamaha guitar off a mate and it was getting embarrasing...So no, I don't regret it.

The only thing is that Mrs. Gaz went to visit her brother today and is back on Friday. I think I might regret it then. In fact I'm considering hiding it in the loft or something. Actually, come to think of it, she probably won't even notice it.

No she will...I'm worried now.

[hoverdonkey]

Already got one thanks. PT is right, you just got a couple of rubbish games.

As mentioned in the XBox live thread I am intending to join that particular party, and the aforementioned tax rebate could mean I don't need to get rid of Cube after all now that Ms Donkey has been won over (given up arguing) after some fierce propaganda over the last couple of days.

[Rubbish Monkey]

e-bay be my downfall. I keep bidding on crap that I think is great at the time. Like the old Nintendo Game and Watches. And I have a couple of these little fellas



I almost put a bid on one of these, but thankfully decided against it at the last minute.



(i went through a "I know I'll collect something" phase - in this case robots)

Add to that tops, jeans, tshirts and trainers that don't fit. A DVD thats in Japanese  but has no English Subtitles (only german and dutch) A Video Camera that I have only used once (although it came with a nice metal breifcase) CDs that I have already.

[gazzyk1ns]

A few years ago I bought a £100 electric shaver, one of those nice Braun jobbies which cleans itself at the press of a button... about a month before deciding I much preferred a wet shave.

When I had a decent-paying job I bought loads of things I shouldn't have, a £700 Tag watch which I pawned about a year later for £300, a set of £550 speakers which remain in use but fairly occasionally and are never turned up to any kind of volume. They're also far too big for the room they're in. The thing is it's not worht Ebaying them away because I'd need a set of half-decent replacements so at best I'd only end up "breaking even"... with an inferior pair of speakers.

Everyone is young and stupid at some point though I suppose, whay's important is that you learn from it. That's what I'll keep telling myself anyway...

[Hairy Chin]

Holy crap, Tomy actually made a proper robot? That would scare toddlers, they would't understand.

Actually that sounds fun. How much was it?

I had one of those little Tomy robots too, but when I was about 16 I took it apart to see how it worked....

[untitled_london]

i'm surprised no-one has said tv-licence - thats gotta be the worst value for money.

that said 40£ for a B&W license seems about right, but never 100+.

i only ever watch the stuff i download now, so my telly is hitting the bin/ storage/ classifieds soon.

[Regular John]

I paid £250 for a decent JVC Digital Camcorder from a mate of a mate that I haven't used in the ten months I've had it.

[hoverdonkey]

i'm surprised no-one has said tv-licence - thats gotta be the worst value for money.

that said 40£ for a B&W license seems about right, but never 100+.

i only ever watch the stuff i download now, so my telly is hitting the bin/ storage/ classifieds soon.

No, I don't begrudge the TV licence. If you consider how much you get for it.

[Shade]

The Prisoner 35th anniversary DVD.

It was advertised as including:

Alternative, 50 minute version of the very first episode "Arrival"
250 word guide to Alternate Arrival
A 30 minute interview with Production Manager Bernard Williams
Textless intro and outro sequences
Bumpers
Foreign language filing cabinet sequence
"For the Love of" - a 7 minute featurette about Prisoner memorabilia collectors
Renault 21 TV ad
Patrick McGoohan biography
George Markstein biography
Stills Gallery
Merchandise Gallery
Collectors' Edition Booklet
Production notes of each episode


The only parts remotely worth watching were the interview, and the alternative version of "Arrival". The rest of it was mostly all in text, and could have been put into something cheaper, like a book, or a website.

For £15, it was very dissapointing.

[gazzyk1ns]

The fiver I spent on seeing The Blair Witch Project is probably up there, for me, thinking about it.

Ooh and talking of cinemas, when I was 15 and didn't know the real price of beer (...and was simply grateful to get served alcohol...), I bought one of those little 275ml bottle of Beck's for £3.50 at the Ipswich Odeon.

The other week I bought a pint of Hoegaarden in Ipswich for... £3.70. I would have put up with their pissy Carling if I'd known how much they were going to take the piss with that, I think that's the most expensive pint I've ever bought.

[Rubbish Monkey]

Holy crap, Tomy actually made a proper robot? That would scare toddlers, they would't understand.

Actually that sounds fun. How much was it?

I had one of those little Tomy robots too, but when I was about 16 I took it apart to see how it worked....

Tomy had a selection of remote control robots which veried in size and capabilites. Awww I want one again now. Anyway, E-bay usually has a few on offer and vary in prices, but often are not too much. I just have visons of using it in the pub to fetch drinks and snacks. Although I think the batteries would go flat before i got there.

[Lt Plonker]

Fuck me! I had one of those! It was a great little thing, I'll have to hunt me down one of those.

With regards to the post, I bought the Looney Tunes Golden Collection DVD from American for about £30, only to have it released over here a month later. I can only play my version on my DVD player in Bournemouth. I want to get the UK version, but don't really want to spend another £30. I've got a little trick up my sleeve that involves a sly switcheroo, but I don't have the guts to try it.

[Krang]

Micro Scooter : Looked cool, paid a shit load for it, used it about 3 times.

Warhammer : a few years back, waste of money.

Magic Cards : Same as warhammer.

Golf Clubs : The masters roll's by for another year, and again, i decide im going to take up golf.

edit:

Electric Guitar and Amp (no point going to buy an acoustic! im commited to mastering the guitar!)

[Lady Beany]

Feeling VERY guilty about the DKNY watch that I bought at the airport on the weekend.

My Toshiba Pocket PC, which set me back £300.  I used it for a wee while and haven't touched it for a few months now.

Random shoe shopping. Two pairs of heels at £50 each and worn neither of them once.

A few PS2 games that I buy with the intention of spending a whole weekend sat about in my pants having some 'ladette' time.  Cept, the boyf gets to them first and plays them, and I lose interest without having even tried them.

[hencole]

I used to buy too many Saturn games which I would never play and only got to complete my collection which I soon realised was uncompletable.

I now keep buying video monitors and electrical cables and must stop. I realised the other day that I have at least 6 video leads for my 1 Xbox.

[Pinball]

I bought all of ZZ Top's albums from amazon just weeks before I got into P2P - at least £100 "wasted". Of course, I feel virtuous for enriching the corporations (nach), but what a shame..

[Ambient Sheep]

...and a black dutch army jacket - similar to a green german one I have...

...and loads of other people have.  They were almost de rigeur throughout the 80s and early 90s, and it's nice to see they haven't gone away - AY was wearing one at Bristol Meet 2.

What I want to know is, where do they come from?  Is there a factory somewhere that does nothing but churn out those green army jackets with the German flag on at stupidly cheap prices?  Why?  Why a German flag?  Did the German Army genuinely have a surplus stock of jackets at one time, and then it became a fashion item and was copied?  Or what?  It's something I've always wondered.

Sorry, do carry on.

Me?  I bought an Atari 800 in the late 80s when they were end of line stock, purely so I could play Star Raiders.  Of course, I never bothered to track down a Star Raiders cartridge, and apart from running it up once, I've never used it.  What's worse is that I could have bought the one with a cassette deck for £80, but noooo, I had to buy the one with dual 5.25" floppy disks for £120, which I've definitely never used.  I persuaded myself that since originally they cost £599 plus £200 for the disk drives, it was worth it.  It wasn't, and I was stupid.  My only hope now is that it'll be a collectors item in 10 or 20 years time.

[MarmiteCarpenter]

Ultravisitor by Squarepusher. I shouldnt have bought that, its a load of shite so it is.

[Evil Knevil]

I came home with a pair of blue 'combat pants' and a black dutch army jacket -
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You could always wait to Halloween and go dressed as a bruise.

[gazzyk1ns]

...and a black dutch army jacket - similar to a green german one I have...

What I want to know is, where do they come from?  Is there a factory somewhere that does nothing but churn out those green army jackets with the German flag on at stupidly cheap prices?  Why?  Why a German flag?

I would like to echo this question, ignoring how good/bad you think they look, I've never "got it"... is there a statement to be made? What is it? You'd have to try hard to convince me there wasn't a statement being made, assuming like sheep says they were around in the 70s, I would have thought the first people to wear military atire of the people we were at war with about 30 years earlier must have got some fairly strange looks. I kind of assume it was just some idiots or scummers trying to be either ironic or rebellious? I suppose that's how most fashions start.

[Des Nilsen]

Interesting one, I don't know why people started wearing them though.

I brought my green German one because it looked and felt quite nice, though I cut the German flags off the shoulders because there are Chavs who think that German = Nazi.
I can't quite see the reason for them as something rebellious, more something that perhaps suits some people more than others. I dunno, I use mine as an all purpose type thing - good as a jacket in winter and nice enough as a shirt in the summer.

Aren't most of these jackets East German in design? That might mean something.

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[gazzyk1ns]

Just to be clear, I wasn't making any comment about the people who wear them nowadays, but I can just imagine someone in the 70s (or whenever) saying "Germany should have won the war maaaaaaaan" and then proudly scumming about in German military atire.