Where: Curtis Steiner in Ballard

What: The highly discerning stuff collector’s annual Super Bowl sale, in which a year’s worth of treasures—paper goods, jewelry, miniature decor, carnival deadstock, and other items that for some reason isn’t quite right for the Ballard boutique but was, for some other reason, too good to leave at whatever flea market, estate sale, or back alley stuff shop the curator and artisan was visiting—are offered at decent prices.

Our source, one of Steiner’s best buds, says "Curtis literally empties his store and re-merchandises with his one-day-only finds." And friends, if you know the inspiration that is the shopkeeper’s ability to transform a retail space into a history-spanning narrative, that re-merchandising alone is worth the trip. For some of us, a bunch of guys running around in tights just doesn’t even hold to Steiner’s version of fair play.

When: Sunday, February 5; doors open at 9. Steiner’s invite says the sale is cash only and it notes "No early birds." Hmm… we’ll see about that. When I chatted with the store owner upon the close of his original location he told me that in past years, it wasn’t uncommon to find 60 or 70 people lined up outside his door when he was ready to open it. You can lead the horses to water, but you can’t force them to stay in bed when they’re so darn excited about it. Or something like that.