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Saw these un-embossed Chinese knock offs of the Junior ice cooler at a nearby HEB store for $135.  The paint was not very shiny, but they came with a wheel kit, a pretty good knock off of the original cap catcher and the opener.  The sheet metal was substantial, but the lid hinges were pop riveted on and the whole thing kind of smelled like a Harbor Freight item.

Pretty cool, how many did you pick up?

Has anybody seen all the Juniors on eBay painted up in school colors like Texas, Notre Dame, Michigan at a $1000 a pop.

I have seen the school ones as well, also today was at a local tractor dealer and seen one painted up in Kubota.

Joey

Slap a few Coca Cola decals on that and it might sell on E-Bay for $6,000! :oh:

Actually, for $135.00 and the price of a few Coca Cola decals, it would make a nice cooler for Summer parties on the deck and you wouldn't have to worry about it getting dinged up.  I'd pick one up if they were available in MI!

 :drinking: Tim :drinking:

Same here Tim, I would repaint it JD green and a deere decal and I would have one sold tomorrow.
I've got a client that wants one those color s real bad. :smile:

"Pretty cool, how many did you pick up?"

I have to admit that I tried in my mind to justify buying all 4 of them, ordering the decal kits from Funtronics and trying to re-sell them.  After pondering it for about 10 minutes, I decided it would be like most stuff I buy and never get rid of.  And, I already have a real Junior that I have too much $ in, so I just went in the store and bought beer to re-stock my V 81.  When I total up the cost of resto pieces for my Junior, I could have bought the knockoff and cannibalized it and come out ahead.

whats an HEB store?
you could repaint do them in Harley or john Deer or beer logos and sell them fro 350-400 each?

Grocery store - I know them from Austin, TX, but not sure what there range is.

I would buy two just to have on standby. And paint them when a customer places a purchase order and request a certain color combo.

And using one out on the patio is an excellent idea. I have been using an original junior on the patio for the last year and I still get nervous when the kids run around it. Even though it is an older restoration amateur restoration. I am sure I wouldn't be near as nervous about these cheap Chinese knock-offs getting ding around.

Just my input.

Great cooler with endless possibilities for that price. If anybody is coming to California from Texas I'm sure Moondawg and I would be in for a few.

I can go back tomorrow & snag them if I get a solid commitment to buy them. 

As far as re-painting them for resale, I would net very little, since the painter I use would charge $250 to base/clear, cut & buff them.  Add the cost of decals and i'm in the hole.

I did consider one for the patio, but I can't justify it to keep the squirrel food in.

being in sales for Budweiser i think it would make a great Budweiser cooler. last time I checked Coca Cola and Budweiser red are very close to the same.

These things still available? How could I get in touch with this Place? Ahhhhhhhh I see they're in Texas. Someone else muct be able to get these. I'd take 1/2 dozen easily. Heck, after Christmas I'd take 12

I tried searching the info on that tag (Outdoor Solutions San Saba Cooler) but came up with nothing.

Why not try contacting HEB directly? Maybe they'll ship to you?

http://www.heb.com/welcome/index.jsp

Thanks. I'll phone tomorrow. :biggrin:

One big problem is they are powdercoated and not painted so changing the color will be difficult. That is why they are not a high gloss finish.

Why would that be a problem, scuff and paint.

Joey

I bet they look real cheap in person

I didn't know you could do that? Also the powdercoat on them is very uneven. It isn't hammertone but it is not 100% smooth. The ones I have seen are almost wavy.

Our local Cracker Barrel has these. Something like $ 149.99

I haven't seen any of them here at our local HEB, but we're in the middle of nowhere!  I'll do some checking around down here and see what I can find out about them.  HEB is our only grocery store anywhere near here, so I'm there all the time!

They do look cheap in person, but as I said previously, the sheet metal is substantial.  The hinges are riveted on and one had the rivets pulled out.  Some brain surgeon probably tried to lift the cooler by the lid.  I don't see why you couldn't scuff em up and paint em a gloss red, then slap a decal set on em.  Last week, they still had the 4 in my picture.  One has a small dent on the top corner.

 I want some to sandblast, throw a crushy embossing or other embossings I have on 2 sides and then off to the races