Do you accidentally "break" older items at antique and thrift stores?

[Romeo Wolf]

I went antique shopping (or really, "window shopping" ) earlier this afternoon and saw some cool tube radios, and some transistor sets although mostly untested and overpriced. One of those transistor sets was a pretty Bulova (AM only), but when I excitedly picked it up by the handle- the handle completely disintegrated from my hand and the radio flew right on it's back to the ground with a fairly loud 'thud'. The back of the set broke off as the cowhide completely unhinged along with one of the button snaps, but I guess I learned my lesson to pick up radios such as these by the sides and not the handle.



Another time I was out at ReTails looking at various junk items when my arm clumsily bumped into an el-cheapo Magnavox dual cassette deck recorder and sent it from the shelf, face-first perpendicular to the ground with a thud that I swear you could hear throughout the entire store. It was dreadfully embarrassing, but to my total surprise the BPC took the impact like a champ and was totally unscathed - not a single break in the plastic. Kinda wish I could've taken an image of it, but I put it back up where it was and left the store without buying anything.

 

[Romeo Wolf]

Here's pictures of the tube and transistor radios I saw.

Hallicrafters ZTO competitor

Maybe a Philco? Automotive AM tube radio




Saw my first Earth-Orbiter in person. Not in the best condition, but nice set. Had the original proprietary AC cord.



Very cool Zenith console set

 

[Romeo Wolf]

Clock with an AM Radio



Ying/Yang early GE transistor sets (these are everywhere!)


Couple Zenith's and a Toshiba knockoff bathroom scale AM radio (they were in an enclosed glass shelf so I couldn't get to them)

 

[gizzyman47]

Cool stuff! Thanks for posting pics!

 

[Shominy]

Nothing like the thrifts around here (or back before). Nothing but trash and broken/abused trash in the electronics depts.

 

[sanford12]

I haven't broken anything but one of my boys when he was younger broke a 5 or 6 dollar item at an antique store. It was a cheap lesson.

The SS Sony World Orbiter is OK but an entry level SW radio. The Hallicrafters would be a nice one to have. 150 for the Sony seems pretty high for a radio labeled "As Found". That's at the top of the market for a working one in good shape. Now would I pay that for one. Definitely not.

Picked up this Toshiba Transistor at an estate sale. Looked like it got put away early on in it's life. All of it was in amazing shape. Found out the reason it was put away when I got it home. There was a wire that came loose inside. Found where it went and it worked. Not a strong player but it worked. Sold it to the guy who literally wrote the history book of Toshiba transistor radios. Finest Transistor radio I ever found. Paid 25 bucks for it.

 

[painttoad]

i don't, but years ago i tried to pick up my sprague to-4 by the leather handle and it broke before the unit even lifted up. i should have known better

 

[jcamero]

No, but when I was 10 or 11, I was in a store and knocked over a revolving greeting card display, (pretty messy) and the store owner was not too happy.

 

[loopstick]

Last week I was in a thrift store looking at backpacks and I set one down on the shelf and a strap knocked over a metal sign which landed in a bunch of glassware in the next aisle. It sounded horrible but when I went over to look there was no damage, just stuff knocked over.

 

[Mystic]

Last week I was in a thrift store looking at backpacks and I set one down on the shelf and a strap knocked over a metal sign which landed in a bunch of glassware in the next aisle. It sounded horrible but when I went over to look there was no damage, just stuff knocked over.

I am "seeing" Buster Keaton lying under the fallen debris.

 

[loopstick]

I am "seeing" Buster Keaton lying under the fallen debris.

It was a Christian thrift store, but the racket made by the falling glassware was enough to piss off the Pope.

 

[Mystic]

It was a Christian thrift store, but the racket made by the falling glassware was enough to piss off the Pope.

Ah, so instead maybe "Fr Guido Sarducci" (Don Novello) beneath the debris.

 

[quaddriver]

lol, you make it sound like sport....

"Hey honey, lets goto the antique 'mall' and bust some stuff up....."

at my peak I was radio king. I would get em all working replace the main 2-3 section cap, suck out the dust, mebbe a tube or two, another cap or two...you can align them with a dmm and almost no tools...

and the little transistors? oft it was a bad 3 or 5uF cap at 3v or 6v that was bad they would play...

today, since I got out of tubers and handhelds, people buy at auctions, and pop the automatic $79 on it - never testing it.

clean em up and they sell slow...

then one day the wife wanted to paint the wood case of a GE....then in a couple months I sold every painted case wood radio I had when the 'shabby chic' phase was in vogue c. 2016ish

I have someone coming over today to buy my tubes and the new 160v caps and the big films etc as HE gets into it....(plus the crap ton of NOS claristat etc controls I invested in....

btw interesting 8 track in the pic stream....I got a set of strange folk up north that buy every 8 track I do.

 

[Mark W.]

I grew up going to antique bottle shows antique shops and gun shows with mom and dad My hands almost never came out of my front pockets. Kept me from being accidentally wacked by my dad for maybe possibly touching something. I am no 65 years old and I still go through Antique shops like a Shoalin master touching nothing leaving no evidence. If at say a gun show I want o pickup something express permission would have to come from the owner of said item. Some lessons are for life LOL