A 1975 World Cup bargain

The 1975 Classic beauty.

Vampire Supreme, with the World Cup Logo on the flat side.

Signatures of all the 1975 India hockey players.

11/05/08

A WALK around Ipoh's famous Old Town flea-market yesterday turned into a real
bargain, when a special edition Kuala Lumpur 1975 World Cup hockey stick was
found among the antiques on display.

The Vampire stick, manufactured specially after India beat Pakistan 2-1 at the
Stadium Merdeka, was lying among old records, rusty coins and old currency
notes.

It looked like any old hockey stick, and I almost moved along, but someting
prompted me to pick it up and have a closer look.

And 'WoW! The stick was a special edition designed a year after the KL World Cup, and it had the signatures of all the Indian players on it.

I asked the vendor: "How much? And since it was a noisy bazaar filled mostly with migrant workers from
Bangladesh, Myanmar and India, the vendor indicated by holding out his palms
showing eight fingers.

At first I thought he was saying RM80, but a scribe who was with me said: "Bargain, it can be bought for RM5." And the vendor came closer and I asked him again: "Berapa? (How much).

And when he said: RM8, I couldn't believe my ears, and quickly took out my wallet, but my friend bargained with the vendor, and we walked away only paying RM5 for a
stick which is about 31-years-old.

A real bargain, considering it was stillin good condition.