calzephyr | That saying about fools and money...

I went not once, but twice to the Stampede this year, an institution I usually shun, but occasionally wins me over with SuperDogs, mini donuts and Native frybread. This year for some reason, the sheer consumption that went on was more apparent than previous years, but maybe it was because the cheapest birthday game was $2 and $3 bottled water was the norm!

We bought not one, not two, not three, but four "amazing!" products from the marketplace. The marketplace always seems like a bad idea - there's the hucksterism, the vague awareness of being manipulated, the slicing and dicing! There's little chance for comparison shopping or fact checking and the urge to buy is oddly strong. My usual skepticism fell like a cheap fence!

The first thing was the usual exhibition standby, the Amazing Magic Shammy. There's no doubt that it works, and each roll came with 2 thick orange cloths and a thinner blue one. We got the "special" - two rolls for $20, tax included. A pack of 9 3m micro fibre cloths from Costco runs about $11, so I would say this wasn't a bad price for six big cloths. The large cloths can be cut into different sizes, so that's a bonus too. The micro fibre cloths tend to hold odors even after washing, so I have to wait and see how the magic shammy does. I cut one of the blue ones up for cleaning cloths and they seem to hold more water than the micro fibre ones.

The next thing was a water sprayer. But not just any water sprayer. Supposedly designed by former firefighter, it's made of sturdy rubber and aluminum. Hubs bought this one because he liked it so much, especially the power sprayer mode. Was it worth $40? Will it be the last water sprayer we ever buy? I dunno, but I've been using it for the last week and I like it more than the plastic sprayer that jammed.

I definitely felt odd eating chocolate dipped cheesecake on a stick with my two friends while a nice young lady explained the benefits of Nellie's Dryer Balls, which replaces fabric softener sheets. I guess that kind of sums up the marketplace experience - eat, relax, listen to our pitch. They get you at your most vulnerable moments! Their show special was any two items for $30, so I bought two sets of dryer balls. A little Googling shows that one set of dryer balls usually retails for around $20 (on their website it's $19.99 - I didn't want to register to find out shipping). I could buy this product locally as well, but it's only in specialty boutiques. Do the dryer balls work? They promise less drying time, less wrinkles, less lint, and of course, it's eco-friendly because you won't be throwing out dryer sheets.

I forgot to note when I turned the dryer on this morning, but I can definitely say that the balls work! My t-shirts and jeans came out nice and soft and there was less lint. I can't comment on less wrinkles because they are t-shirts and jeans :-)

Last, but not least, I was moved by the Boerner V-Slicer. So much so that I exclaimed "I'm sold!" halfway through the demonstration like a plant in the audience. The V-Slicer is an exhibition standby that has been around since I was a kid. It's essentially a food mandoline, some of which use set blades and others that use dial to adjust the cut. Their show special was a basic set that included the slicer, two blades, the storage box, the food holder and a bonus julienne peeler for $50. They also had extra cutters and a catcher bowl a la carte. The extra cutters were $12 each, but IIRC, buying three brought the price down to $10 each. No price on the catcher bowl was mentioned. The deluxe set, which I walked away with, came with the basic set, the three extra cutters, catcher bowl and an extra blade for thick fries.

A little Googling came up with a similar basic set (minus julienne peeler) for $42.99Cdn + $12 for shipping. Is the V-Slicer sold in regular stores? I don't know, but I can't recall ever seeing it at Home Outfitters. Williams Sonoma would probably have something similar.

Does it work? Oh heck yeah. The blades on this thing are very sharp. I was slicing oranges for breakfast this morning with crazy ease and little mess. It's garnered excellent reviews on Amazon, which made me happy to see. If there's a downside to the V-Slicer, it seems to be that the size of cuts are not adjustable, which is also a flaw with the very nice food processor we were given as a wedding gift. Unlike the huge food processor, the basic set doesn't take up much room on the counter though.

I'm pretty happy with our purchases. They're unlikely to be just used once and end up in a drawer. Some of the other things I wonder about though - like the titanium cookware, the super steam mop and the vibrating weight loss belt. They just beg for a Consumer Reports special edition :-)