The Fall of Thrifting: A Journey Through Time and Trash
As I step into the fall season, one thing comes to mind - thrifting. There's something about scouring through dusty shelves, uncovering hidden gems, and stumbling upon peculiar artifacts that captivates me. And what better time to embark on this adventure than during autumn? The crisp air, the vibrant leaves, and the promise of new beginnings all seem to align with my love for thrifting.
My first stop is a Goodwill that I haven't visited in a while. As I enter the store, I'm relieved to find that they've ditched their auction section, replacing it with a case filled with comics, books, records, dolls, and tea sets. While none of these items excite me, I appreciate the change. In-store auctions have always been an annoying process for me, and I never seem to win. The absence of this feature is a welcome relief.
As I make my way through the store, I come across a CPR doll that catches my attention. It's unusual, to say the least, with what appears to be real teeth. I'm not sure why it's so fascinating, but there's something about its oddity that draws me in. Nearby, I spot a nice picture frame that immediately catches my eye. As someone who used to work as a picture framer, frames are now more of an art form for me than the art itself.
I continue browsing through the electronic doohickeys and CDs section, but find little to excite me. That is, until I stumble upon Kid Desk, which sparks a wave of nostalgia from my childhood memories. Learning my first curse word from this program is a funny memory that brings a smile to my face. I'm so happy to have found this piece of trivia that I decide to create a video about it.
Next, I head to my former favorite Goodwill store, but unfortunately, it's now a shadow of its former self. The store is filled with cheap tat and clearance junk from Target and dollar stores. It's clear that the store has lost its appeal, and I can only feel sorry for it. However, there are still some gems hidden among the trash. A collection of masks catches my eye - they're hideous in a bad way, but I appreciate their aesthetic.
I also come across an old computer monitor that can be made vertical, which costs $200. The price is steep, but it's certainly an interesting find. Further down the aisle, I spot a Pioneer record player, which doesn't look too shabby. Nearby, there's a Sony Walkman replica that intrigues me, despite not being the real deal.
As I continue to explore, I stumble upon a Teach & Talk laptop from the 1990s, which has games built-in and an unusual keyboard. It looks like something a car stereo would have, but it's actually a Philips model designed for BMW cars. This unexpected find is fascinating, especially given how rare touch screen car stereos are at Goodwill.
My curiosity gets the better of me as I explore further, and I come across a portable video cassette recorder that costs me. It may be tempting to buy, but I'm hesitant about what to do with it. Next, I check out the puzzles and board games section just in case, and lo and behold, I find Nintendo's Tetris board game by Milton Bradley.
Breeder's Cup World Thoroughbred Championships, formerly owned by Jessi May, are also on display, alongside a game by Bethesda - a surprising move given that they're known for their work in the gaming industry. And finally, as I conclude my thrifting adventure, I find myself tempted by yet another retro item that catches my eye, leaving me to ponder whether or not I'll make it home with any of these treasures.
The joys and pitfalls of thrifting are well-represented in this article, from the thrill of the hunt to the frustration of finding nothing of value. The author's passion for thrift shopping is palpable as they explore a Goodwill store filled with unexpected finds and relics from the past. Whether you're a seasoned thrifter or just starting out, this journey will give you insight into what it means to scour through second-hand shops in search of hidden gems and stories.
"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enAh, the fall.Autumn. Whatever you want to call it.One of my favorite times of yearand a fantastic time to go thrifting.So let's go thrifting!Actually, I...am not wearing pants.I should probably put those on first.Uh, then we'll go thrifting!First up is a Goodwillthat I haven't been to in a while.So, it is time.Inside, we have–Oh, not the auction case!Well, thank goodness!At least at this one they seemto have gotten rid of the auctionsand have replaced it witha case of just stuff for sale,like a bunch of comics for $100,and some books and recordsand dolls and books and tea sets.You know, not really stuff I'm interested in,but I am glad to see that it is notan auction anymore. I'm not abig fan of the in-store auctionsbecause it's an annoying processand I never win.What is this? It's a–Oh, that's a CPR doll, I believe. Uh...I was thinking it was something else.I was gonna say that'd be quite odd,although it does have what appearto be real teeth. That's weird.Oh, over in the furniture here,we've got quite a nice picture frame.Yes, I'm not looking at the art. I'm looking at the frame.I used to be a picture framer by profession,so I see frames before art anymore.In the electronic doohickies,we have a Taktellfor... when you need to tak, but not tell?Yeah, I'm not finding much at this store. Uh...Checking over in the CDs and whatnot.Oh, hey! Okay, this is not expected.This is Kid Desk!Aw, man, I– this is– aw... whu... uhh...Weird early memories coming back fromwhen I was like seven or eight years old.I learned my first curse word from this program.Um, I'm gonna have to doa video on this. This is like–This is really cool. I am sohappy to have found this, dude.Oh, man.All right, on to my former favorite Goodwillbecause... it sucks now.It doesn't suck that bad, but there's a bunch of cheap tat in here now.I mean, look at this friggin' ketchupbottle Halloween costume, and...and a dog's... beer can costume?Rasta Imposta? I don't evenknow what I'm looking at!Lots of Halloween stuff...Ugh! You know...Most of this store is now justclearanced out junkfrom Target, dollar stores.You know, I say this every episode,but I'm tired of seeing this stuffin what was formerly a really awesome store.Oh, well. At least they have really, reallymasks that arelike, hideous in just a bad way.Oh, I don't see this every day. This is one of thosespinny sort of computer monitors.You can make it go vertical and whatnot.And they are charging $200 for it. Oy...Mmm, Breeder's Cup WorldThoroughbred Championshipsformerly owned by the one and only Jessi May.I dunno, but this is a game by Bethesda.Ha ha! Yeah, Bethesda made a horse game.Over in their case of stuff, we gotuh... a PS2and Gamecubeand record player–Oh, this is a Pioneer record player.It actually doesn't look too bad.Hmm...Kinda tempting. I dunno.Oh, hey...Is this a Sony Walkman?This is pretty friggin' fancy looking.Okay...All right, so not quite a walkman.It's like a little personal recorder thing.And I'm breaking it.Uh, yeah...just not Walkman branded.You know, I would love that instead.I am on the lookout for a niceearly Walkman, but this is not it.I don't know why I'm temptedby these every single time.This is one of those littlekids computer laptop things,the Teach & Talk thing.It's got games built in and aweird keyboard.What the heck?It's like a car stereo something with a touch screen.All right, it's a Philips model for a BMW.That kind of makes sense.Interesting, though. I don't see too manytouch screen car stereos at Goodwill.Nor do I see many complete cash registers.I mean, seriously. This thinglooks pretty functional, actually.It's got all the keys!It's got paper!It's got all sorts of stuff, man.I don't know why 50 people haven't bought it already.Augh, more Sony tech! This just, itapplies to my interests. Is that a phrase?I dunno. This is a portable video cassette recorder.And it does things. Aw, it just looks neat.It just looks neat!Look at this, it's so neat!It's got all these buttons and displaysMmm... And it's actually for Betamax, it appears.That is... is really tempting.I just know that–I don't know what to do with this thing.Gotta check out the puzzles and board gamesjust in case, and, uh, well...You know what?I actually found a board game that I'm interested inand appears to be complete. This is Nintendo'sTetris board game by Milton Bradley.\"You could save $10 onMilton Bradley Nintendo cartridges.\"This is a friggin' board game of Tetris.This seems like a horrible idea.In fact, I'm pretty sure it is awful, but here it is.I–I must own it. It's a dollar!Oh, hey, it's one of these robotic dudes.These were like all popular and stufffive years ago, or something like that.Now they're just sitting here atGoodwill and nobody wants them.Kinda sad. These dudes had likepersonality or something, I dunno.Why did everybody want these?Just walking to another section through the books andhappened to see this hanging around on the end.Well... sweetness!All right, we got some Half-Life owners manuals for the games and expansionsand Counter Strike and whatever– I already have these.But I didn't have thisThe Prima Official Strategy Guide fororiginal Half-Life.Yes, I will take that.Why not? It's a quarter.Dude, what is this, a candle holder?No, no, this is a–a Texas Size Pilsner Glass.Fifty ounces!Oh, my word.Speaking of ounces, I need a coffee.I'm gonna go getan overpriced coffee,and we are gonna continue thrifting at another store.All right, on to my more recent favorite Goodwill.Let's hope they have some good stuff.Right off the bat, there's something kind of different.This is an Estey Organ Companyportable air organ, from what I gather.They are charging $500 for this little thing.Uh, I think that's a little–little much.Online, it seems like they maybe going for a third of that.Looks like their auction case isno longer an auction case either.It's now just stuff for sale.They got one of those crappyCrosley protable turntables.Thirty dollars, which is actually apretty good price for one of those.They still sell these new for a hundred or something,but no, these things suck.Over in the media, and, uh, well...seems like somebody was not a fan ofSpider-Man 3's bonus DVD.There's a ton of 'em.Over in the tchotchke clock section,I found a tchotchke clock.Uh, it's... kind of interesting, sort of.I kinda like something on it, almost.Ooh, I see calculatorsand one that is particularlyawesome-looking, aesthetically.This is a–a Sharp Elsy 80101.Look at that display! Those are green tubes.They're like VFD tubes,kinda like little nixie tubes.They're... green thoughand they look awesome and this thing powers upand it works.Augh, this is cool!I am definitely getting this formy growing calculator collection.Love the look of this thing.From around 1974, I believe, and uh...Oh, yeah.Very cool. Goes for a lot more online, too.Oh. I'm gonna put my coffee down for this.What is this thing? It is–okay...So we got a record player, a radio, solid state,and–see underneath here, we havean 8-track cartridge tape player.Ooh. Got a pretty beefy Electrophonic system here.Ah, man, look at these things.Like, ancient cell phones.Okay, well actually, I thought thesewere really old cell phones by AT&T.These are actually, like, toys–like, radio play cell phones.Either way, they look like the phones from Strong Bad.Mmm, computer speakers here and–Oh, my! These are Gateway 2000 speakers.Unhhh, if they weren't $7, I would definitely get thembecause I need some speakers fora couple of my Gateway systems.I'll maybe check back here later,see if they've lowered in price.Not, not for me. That's the kind of calculator I am into.However, I am into THIS kind of thing.We got a tape deck thing, an Atari 1010or the Atari 8-bit computer line.Ahhh, you know, if it had the cables with it,I would definitely get it, but it doesn't.Already have one otherwise.So many cooler older electrical things here.Got an old Zenith solid-state cassette player/recorder.I love these buttons! That blue record button.The overall design of this thing.That, that case that it's in. Super neat.Used to record on these things as a kid,make my own, like, cassette tape shows.And then there's this! Augh!General Electric clockAnd it spins smoothly!Oh, it's got one of those...I, I like these a lot...Oh, and the woodgrain!Ah, it's cheap, like, as in cheaply made, butI don't care! I really want this.I, I... I gotta get it, right?I mean, I've gotta get it.I'm getting it.Oh, hey!Well, this is pretty sweet.I've actually been wanting one of these.This is an Intellivision Flashback.This is a tiny little Intellivision console.It's got all these games built in and stuff, butthe controllers are actually like thereal size and feel of the original ones.And, you don't have any cartridges,the games are all just in there,but you do have the overlaysand they're just like recreated overlays.This is actually a pretty high-quality little thing,as far as the stuff that it comes with.Video quality maybe not so much,but yeah, I'm definitely getting this.Oh, man, I remember these things.Interactive Human Body!Interactive all sorts of thingsyou could just stick into these.Almost like the GeoSafaris, actually,but this one maybe predated it a little bit?Either way, you could press stuff andit would like quiz you on, on body things.Ah, not gonna get it. It's just kinda nostalgic, I guess.Over in the junk section, there'ssomething that is decidedly not junk.We got Red Baron here for the PC.This is actually the VGA version of the game, I think.It's got the expansion disks and mission builder.Yeah, I already have this, butdude, really cool to see here in Goodwill, that is for sure.Oh ho! Sweet, a copy of Air Warrior II.I'm gonna get this because,even though it's ten bucks, a little bit much,I'm not gonna get much better online.This is like an early online flight game.Think War Thunder, but for Windows 95.Not sure if you could play itonline anymore, but it's really neat.Somebody's been unloading their flight sims over here.We've got Flight Simulator 2002: Professional Edition.Again, already have it. Don't need it.Seems the PC games are not over. Man, this is exciting.We got Star Trek: Judgment Rites over here.This is the Limited Edition, number 42,196.I, again, I already have this,and I think mine's even a lower number.It's kind of beat up in the back too,but you don't see this very often.All right, I mean of course,there had to be a Myst boxin here somewhere because...I mean, there always is...right?This is one of the later oneswith the stickers and whatnot.Well, not the stickers, even, but thelittle notice actually printed on therethat this game has sold a bunch of copies. I don't care.These are later versions, and I've alreadygot the earliest one anyway, but...On the other hand...Oh...We got King's Quest VIIin beautiful shape here.May not be the greatest game, but I know someonewho's gonna appreciate this a lot, so I'm getting it.Something I'm gonna get for myself, though:Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego,the CD-ROM edition, the earlier–Uh, one of those that's got worldwidetravel and all that stuff. Lady...uh, yeah.This is an awesome version of the game.It's very cool to find this in the box!Up at the front of the store, I founda bunch of PlayStation stuff thatyou know, kind of caught my eye at first,but I got to looking beneath thatand saw this bundle of cameras!A couple of them to lookingreally old and–aw, you know what?Mmm...my brother's a camera collector.I'm gonna go see and see what we got here.And here is the haul from Episode 21 of Thrifts!Oh, man. Thrifts is old enough to drink.That doesn't make sense.Ah, yes, so this is some games.Board games, computer games,computer game strategy guide,And yes, I did check Tetris. All the pieces seem to be there.The Intellivision, it works wonderfully!It is brand new inside there. You could tellit had never been plugged up at all.Awesome little system to have.That Kid Desk, I am just so pleased to have that, dude.I've got some weird memories.I'm definitely doing a video on that.Probably next edutainment month or something.Hmm, that Sharp '70s calculator...cleaned up very nicely.And then there's these cameras.Really cool little things in here.We got a Konica EE Matic point-and-shoot,from the mid-'60s, I believe.and also thisawesome, like, late-, mid-'30sKodak 616 Brownie,as well as a '40s modelBrownie Reflex Synchro from Kodak.Just really cool old cameras.I hope my brother likes them.Oh, happy birthday, by the way!It's about his birthday.Oh, yeah, so he's getting these.And then, of course,we have my General Electric clockthat's just amazing because of those–smooth rotating second handright there and everything. Augh!This is a GE 7-4550,the original A model.This is just neat. I like thisthing a lot for some reason.And if you liked this video a lot,or maybe even just a little bit, thenmaybe you'd like some of my others.There's a whole bunch of Thrifts before this.More are incoming as I am able to make them.And, you know, all that subscribingstuff can be done if you would like to.There's also Twitter and Facebook and Patreon,if you're into that stuff.And also thank youvery much once again for sending inall of your incredibly cool finds.My word. You people and your IBM computer finds.I know I found one at Goodwill,but I can't believe others are also still findingold IBM PCs and similar awesome thingsat Goodwills all around the country.It's so cool to see this stuff,so thank you very much for sending it in.And as always, all the interest in Thrifts has been great.You people are rabid for this,which is awesome, I think.So, my apologies I can't get them out even quicker.It's just a matter of when I find stuff,then that's when I can make a video,but you know, that's how it goes.And as always, thank you very much for watching.\n"
