our own box histories ??

[redbenjoe]

check out the SD 9/14 post on this thread---
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1814

there is an interesting 'challenge' there---????
my guess is that less than one per hundred on our combined total box collections-
have a known history --

a few have theirs since brand new -
like ahardbodies aiwa 880-

then there is gordIE
a while back -- in the days when he had only 15 conions
i was looking for a beater --and there was a long dry spell
on ebay --
so i asked him if he would sell me his worst one

BUT ---his slam dunk NO --was because he had driven 50
or even 500 miles to acquire each one -- and they all were either from
the original owners --and second owners -
so he knew their histories

all my boxes are without any stories at all

except - one time i made a higher than normal bid
on a POS JVC 550 beater ( the 10 inch mono model)-
just because the seller was from philadelphia
and the cosmetic condition indicated that this one really
may have done some serious street performances

------------------------------------------
so --how many of you members have any boxes
that you KNOW all about ?????????

 

[Fatdog]

About the only box I really know anything about is my Aiwa CS-880. It has been whored about by the best of 'em.

I got it from Skippy. Skippy got it from Vladi. Vladi got it from Ira. Ira got it from ...

Poor thing. I guess none of them could make it happy like Fatdog does.

Which reminds me...

I really need to start on the Boombox Registry project.

 

[blu_fuz]

I bought my BBX from the original owner almost 2 years ago. Though he had passed away, he did take care of his electronics because the house was full of them.

After he passed away his sister was supposed to sell everything off that was in the house. She had listed some snow blowers on craigslist and we made the 2hr trip to the house to check them out.

This was in the dead of winter on a super cold and windy day. We arrived and were given a flashlight and directed to the basement where the snowblowers lay in pieces. These hadn't been touched in years and were very old. I told her that they just weren't what we were looking for. I thought it was going to be a wasted trip because we were already on our way out after just a minute or two.

There was no electricity on in the house and no heat! As we are walking out with the flashlight I can see that there are about 6-8 more people walking around the house picking through things. I asked the lady what was going on and she informed us about her brother passing and that everything was for sale. She told us to walk around and if we found anything we wanted to just make an offer on it.

After walking through everything I saw the Dynasty HT-959 sitting in the middle of the upstairs living room. I remember thinking "that looks cool" and "there are some buttons missing". I wanted to plug it in, but like I said, no power and no heat were in the house. I picked it up and grabbed the power cord that was sitting next to it on the floor knowing I might buy it and it probably wouldn't work.

My wife says "what are you going to do with that?" I told her I didn't know but it was neat so I was going to see how much the lady wanted for it.

On the way back downstairs I saw a trickle charger for car batteries and I grabbed that too. There was a lot of cassette tapes, recievers, speakers, and just random electronics stacked everywhere up stairs. No other boomboxes that I remember, but again, I wasn't looking for any because I didn't know how awesome this find would turn out to be.

We made it downstairs, stopped by the lady, and told here we were ready to make a deal. Mind you, I really didn't want the boombox unless the price was CHEAP, more curious to see how much she wanted. I offered her $10 for both items and she counter offered at $15.

Walked out with it giggling like a 10yr old school girl saying "what am I going to do with this thing?!" haha - Now a couple years later, I am here fixing it up instead of having it as a paper weight. If I only would have known then what I know now, there probably was a lot of other very rare or very valuable electronics in that house. Long gone now, but I saved a piece of history.

 

[ViennaSound]

A few one i bought new, there i know everything, sure.

But i know from ALL boxes (flea, private deal, exchange, ebay,..) where i got it.
Would be interesting if boxes could speak and tell history.

 

[Superduper]

A boombox with a history has a soul.
A boombox with NO history is an asset.

A history, especially a memorable one builds sentimental value and makes a box a keeper regardless of price. A boombox with no history becomes expendable for market value (or less).

That's why I make my own history. Every box that I take apart, clean off the bugs and cockroaches, take days, months to diagnose and troubleshoot a difficult problem, drive 400 miles to buy, bought parts unit for, etc. has at least that history. The more involved, the greater the history....

All I can say is take 1 box, any box that you feel may be a keeper, do all the things to it that I like to do, and it will instantly be a keeper that you can never get rid of. And if you do, provide that story and history to the new owner and he'll feel like it's a keeper.

 

[Aiwa]

My old akkord-combiphon-tr1000,I got that one as a birthday present.

that was in 1968.
This one has got a long and interesting history...
actuall pic:

picture from my 1970 birthday with my lovely girlfriend:

 

[Superduper]

My old akkord-combiphon-tr1000,I got that one as a birthday present.

that was in 1968.
This one has got a long and interesting history...
picture from my 1970 birthday with my lovely girlfriend:

I imagine that makes this radio ............. priceless and inseparable!

 

[Fatdog]

What in the world is going on in that picture, Jens? On second thought, maybe I don't want to know.

 

[ford93]

The only box that has some history is my Panny DT-680 which I bought back in the 90's and still have it. I need to have her serviced. :annoyed:

My original M-70, M-71, M-90, GF 555, JVC PC-11, & JVC 505 etc... were sold back then.

 

[Master Z]

The only box in my collection that I will never ever, ever, ever, ever part with.......

Had it since new and I am so fortunate to still have it. I had contemplated selling it during some rough times, as it was literally the only possession of value I owned.
Couldn't bring myself to do it. :sin:
Paul Z.

 

[oldskool69]

What in the world is going on in that picture, Jens? On second thought, maybe I don't want to know.

Jens...please send full descripton of what appeared to be a session of Twister telling us the "real" story.

Cool that you have info on your unit from '68!

 

[ahardb0dy]

looks like a little bondage action taking place,LOL

 

[TRC-911]

looks like he was checking his watch to see how much time was left of his 36 hour 'pill'

 

[babya]

Most of my boxes have been from "Lifeline" (a counselling service here in Australia which has its own charity stores)-started collecting them from around this April.