A very disappointing thrift adventure

I've always loved thrift stores. When I was a little kid, my dad would take me to all the local thrift stores and electronics shops to help him hunt for useful electronics and salvage (he loves to tinker). I'd always get a new book or computer software out of the deal, and I thought it was great fun to dig through the piles of junk looking for something my dad could use or repair. I have vivid memories of him taking apart old CRTs on the dining room table. 

 

I'm mostly interested in 1990s and early 2000s devices and hardware. It's partially nostalgia, but also because I genuinely enjoy it. I love the design aesthetics of that time period, and just the sheer variety of weird niche products that arose from companies trying to cash in on the tech boom. And thrift stores usually have a ton of that kind of stuff! ( ´ ▿ ` )

I've always been a fan of having a dedicated media device separate from my phone, and 2000s era players are my favourite. I used an mp3 player (a Cowon S9) until maybe about 2 or 3 years ago. Before that, I used an iPod mini that my parents bought for me as a graduation present when it came out in 2005. I'd still be using it but the internal drive crapped out, but man, that thing was built to last. The aluminum casing was stupidly bulky, but I dropped it so many times while skateboarding or running (once it even got clipped by a car) and it was still perfectly fine. I used it from middle school until undergrad! In the same time period I went through like...3 or 4 different CD players.

Speaking of analog media, I would love to find a little cassette player like like the Panasonic RQ CW-02 or RQ CW-05..the translucent jelly look is so happy and cute. I really want the green or orange colourway. The Sony WM-EQ3 "Bean" is cool too- it glows in the dark! Those would have all been pipe dreams once upon a time since all of these models are ancient and weren't widely available outside of Asia...but that's what Mercari is for! They're cheap, too. Man, I love the internet.

 

 

Anyway, back to thrifting...I've been watching a ton of tech thrifting and restoration videos lately so I thought it might be fun to hit some thrift stores I'd never visited and see if I could find some treasures. Long story short, it was stupidly crowded and half the people in the store weren't wearing masks and it was just...grimy. It was just too hot and loud and claustrophobic and all of the good stuff had been picked over. Crowds is too overstimulating for me. I went to two large thrift shops and had the same crappy experience both times, so I went home and cheered myself up with an iced pumpkin spice latte instead. σ(*´∀｀*) I don't want to know how much I spend on Starbucks each week, haha...

 

I did find a cute vintage sewing machine though! It's a tiny little Morse Zigzag in a leather carrying case. No idea what the exact model is, but my guess is that it's from the late 70s or early 80s, purely based on the brown/harvest gold/orange colour scheme. I didn't buy it, but I think it would make an interesting addition to someone's collection. It's so tiny and adorable!

 

Oh, and I did end up buying a mini tripod...only I didn't realize quite how mini it was! It's so small that it can't hold up the weight of my phone without tipping over, so I have to position it very low to the ground at an extreme angle. Basically, all my shots look like the Steve Madden shoe adverts from like 2003. I can model for Lamoda now, or something.

 

Overall, it was a disappointing thrift adventure, so I hope I have better luck next time. Maybe I'll stick to hunting on Mercari and eBay...

[Current Music: Eiffel 65 - I Dj With The Fire]