Rare and odd loons

[Smothered by tits]

I'm interested in hearing you experiences with odd or rare balloons the attachment below is an example for what i would describe as odd or rare

[gardenofwank]

I bought some Pakistani balloons earlier this year and they're pretty good quality and color-wise.

[Smothered by tits]

Oooh pretty.

[balloonPatcher]

I bought a large lot of these balloons ( 600). They were from 1986 to 1993 and were new in a plastic bag but not airtight. Almost all were partially hard to completely hard. About 10-15% were sticky. The sticky ones were too fragile to salvage. The hard balloons could be gently stretched and powdered. These became soft and stretchy again. Of these many had an animal print like thin spots. These balloons burst almost immediately at the thin spots. My guess that this was fungal rot (aspergillis niger eats latex). Balloons that were inflatable: spiral balloons 0/150, 12" round 25/150, cat head balloons 50/150, airship balloons 2/150
Although the cat head balloons inflated they are very soft and weak. The one in the picture only made a quiet 'poof' when it burst. There were 6 balloons out of 600 that were "like new". Two airship and four 12" round.
I soaked many of the balloons in solutions of zinc oxide and sulphur. Also I tried glycerin. The glycerin and stretching restored the softness to the rubber.
The zinc oxide and sulphur seemed ineffective.

[TL39]

Many, many years back, I worked part time in events management where we would sometimes arrange custom balloon prints for corporate clients. I think that might count for rare prints because unless u worked for the company itself, there was practically no way you could even have a chance to get them.

Thats why they tend to command some of the highest prices when they pop up on eBay, especially if they're on discontinued and highly sought after balloons like the Q24.