THE two places in the world that you are guaranteed to find unique and strange items are the markets and the internet.
Bring those arenas of oddness together and you get Facebook Marketplace.
Now, many people are selling your usual run of the mill items, such as furniture, games, or gardening equipment.
But delve a little deeper and you can easily find yourself tumbling down the rabbit hole to be confronted with the unique, the baffling and the bizarre.
With no further ado, here are some the most unique things you can find on Facebook Marketplace near Newport.
Ornaments
How could we start anywhere else?
Ornaments by far have the most scope for weirdness with personal taste, shall we say, varying wildly.
You can't argue that we haven't given you a choice here
Animal lovers rejoice, there are plenty of animal-themed ornaments up for grabs near Newport.
People fond of cows are particularly well-catered for, with a West German cow vintage milk jug and a vase with a stoic looking Highland cow.
The jug sort of looks like it came to life Toy Story-style and has just been picked up by surprise in a delicate place.
If cows don't take your fancy there is a wise orangutan on a vase or, for the connoisseurs, a jar emblazoned with a sausage dog wearing a tutu.
This writer's recommendation would be for the orangutan vase, since it looks like it's staring into your soul.
Well this got dark awfully quickly
If your tastes are a little bit darker than colourful animal ornaments, then the Marketplace has got you covered.
On sale for £35, this resin witchcraft skull has been paintstakingly created to accurately resemble a real human skull.
The seller has quite helpfully provided a picture of the resin skull next to a real skull for any doubters.
It's that kind of thoughfulness and personal touch you don't get in other online markets.
Is there really much that can be said here?
This is where things get really weird.
There's nothing much to say about the grass chicken because, well, it's a chicken ornament covered in faux grass - some things in life are self explanatory.
If you've got the space - and it's to your taste - there's also a gigantic £60 Christmas-themed Mickey Mouse statue.
Toys
Many of us who grow out of old toys want to pass them on to another child instead of abandoning them.
Surely such a sweet act could not involve anything too bizarre or horrifying right? Right?!
HEAD FOR THE HILLS
How wrong we all were.
The pink fluffy monstrosity on the left is called a 'huggy wuggy' and it can only be described as pure nightmare fuel.
Kids will either love it (if they do, best to keep them away from sharp objects) or be utterly terrified of it.
Something to keep you up at night - there's two of them.
The beastie on the right is described as giant dog teddy.
Perhaps a more apt description would be 'the result of Dr Moreau's gene splicing experiments between a terrier and Rastamouse'.
Again though, good burglar deterrant.
Anyone interested in these items should take care that they don't lie awake at night imagining the toys are alive and are coming for them.
Odds and ends
Some items cannot be grouped in one specific category.
These are just random things that you can get on FB Marketplace, should they take your fancy.
There is quite a disparity between these items
Depending on who you are, one of these items is infinitely cooler than the other.
One (and you can figure out which) is a early cold war era British military Geiger counter.
Seeing as there is a pointed lack of radioactive fallout in Gwent, the seller is parting ways with it for £100.
While unlikely to be in working order, the Geiger counter could be used to barter with raiders when Mad Max inevitably happens in the real world.
Now for something which is almost unbelievably more practical.
A Beauty and the Beast purse and bag combo is for sale for £4 and could be perfect for a child or someone with a Disney obsession.
However, the shape of the bag doesn't look particularly useful unless transporting vases.
No more trouble getting wood
If you need wood, it is in no short supply.
Anyone with log burners or those who have a peculiar interest in wood will find this very useful.
Summary
To sum it all up, Facebook Marketplace is a thriving hub full of any kind of items you can think of.
This list is by no means exhaustive and is merely a small window into some of the things you can find.
Hours can be lost just scanning through the local lists, but beware what you may find.
The last thing you want is to come across more huggy wuggies.
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