LGR - Thrifts [Ep.41] Festive Findings

**LGR Thrifts Episode 41: A Treasure Trove of Retro Goodness**

As I walked into the thrift store, I couldn't help but feel a sense of excitement and trepidation. Would I find any treasures among the dusty shelves and forgotten corners? After all, it's not every day that you stumble upon a goldmine in a second-hand store. But as I began to browse through the various items on display, my enthusiasm quickly grew into a frenzy of discovery.

**A Crappy Desktop for $90**

The first item that caught my eye was a desktop computer being sold for a whopping $90. The seller had clearly given up on trying to get rid of it, leaving it in its original packaging with all the accessories still attached. I couldn't resist the temptation to take a closer look and, as expected, found nothing but a bunch of empty cases and dusty components. But hey, sometimes you just have to laugh at life's little mysteries. As I continued my search, I spotted another item that made me chuckle - an empty Bojangles' Tailgate box being sold for $2. The seller had clearly realized that the box wasn't worth much more than a few dollars.

**A Piece of Retro Technology**

But then things took a turn for the interesting. I stumbled upon a Clarinette 101 stereo system, which looked like it belonged in a museum rather than a thrift store. The item was complete with a record player, cassette tape player, 8-Track player, AM/FM stereo receiver, and some impressive-looking switches and knobs. It was clear that this was a piece of retro technology that had been left behind by someone who simply couldn't be bothered to get rid of it.

**A Story Behind the Sticker**

As I continued my search, I came across another item that sparked my imagination - a Granite Ware clock with one of those fiber optic floral displays. The sticker on the side seemed to tell a story of its own, with the words "Remove me" scribbled out in hasty handwriting. It was clear that this clock had been left behind by someone who simply couldn't be bothered to remove the sticker.

**Retro Gaming Goodness**

Next up was a treasure trove of retro gaming goodies. I spotted a Kodak Land camera and a square shooter, both of which looked like they belonged in a vintage photography exhibit. But the real pièce de résistance was a Sony bookshelf speaker system that had clearly been left behind by someone who simply couldn't be bothered to pack it up.

**IBM Gadgets**

As I delved deeper into the store, I stumbled upon some IBM gadgets that were almost too good to be true. There were computer speakers with no power cord and a Sync cradle for products (which looked like it belonged in an office supply store). And then there was a serial connection that seemed to sync up with Outlook 97 and 98 - whatever that meant.

**A Marching Band's Forgotten Equipment**

But the real surprise came when I spotted an empty container labeled "Marching Band" - complete with empty hats and nothing else. It was as if the marching band had simply evaporated, leaving behind their equipment for Goodwill to pick up. And yet, in a strange way, it was kind of beautiful.

**PS1 Games and Fly!**

As I continued my search, I stumbled upon some PS1 games that I hadn't seen in years - including Twisted Metal III and Tokyo Highway Battle. And then there was a complete-in-box copy of the game Fly!, which had been eluding me for what felt like an eternity.

**A Floppy Disk Holder**

But perhaps one of the best finds of the day was a floppy disk holder that would replace one of my broken ones. It was a small, humble item that seemed to have flown under the radar - but I knew it was exactly what I needed to complete my collection.

**A Loose PC Version of Fly!**

And finally, as I packed up my finds and prepared to head home, I spotted a loose PC version of Fly! - the Mac version being nowhere to be found. It was clear that this item had been left behind by someone who simply couldn't be bothered to pack it up.

As I closed the thrift store door behind me, I felt a sense of satisfaction wash over me. After all, sometimes the best treasures are the ones you don't expect to find - and today's haul was certainly one for the books.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en(keyboard keys click)(relaxed music)(door slides open)(sighs) Well, Christmas is over,I see it's still winter though.Let's go thrifting.♪ On the first day of thrifting ♪♪ It ended up snowin' a whole bunch! ♪And I ended up getting about 15 inchesby the time the day was done,it was just starting hereand the poor lucky rock out frontgettin' all wet and cold andicy and snowy and what notbut oh well, I headin' insideand noticed this right away,'cause of course I'm going to,it's a pretty large movie poster displayholder box light thing (laughs),had like neon around the edgesand I don't know, it was debatably uglybut kind of neat at the same time,$155 though, too largefor me to want to getand put anywhere, butstill, I like the idea,I don't know, the more I think about it,the more I kind of want oneand also want one of theseif I didn't have it already.This is the CD sleeveinsert for Baldur's Gate.It's just the insert though,it doesn't have the box, or anythingI've already got thebox and everything elsethat goes with it but Istill like seeing these.Same goes for VHS tapes andall the other related thingsover here on the shelves next to that,including these Betamax blank tapes.These are all L-750s.Got some chrome ones andsome other things in hereand even a head cleaner set.Most of it still sealed and I don't know,I just kinda like the packagingand they were all cheap, like 50 cents,so I just got one of each.Over in the glass case was quite a varietyof interesting thingiesincluding a box of rocksand one of those Sony highscan wide band radio receivers,some PSP and DS Gameboy,Gameboy advanced things,mostly loose, just all sortsof things, tossed in here.There is even an interestinglooking TI calculatorfrom the late 70s.I already have it, turns out,but just a whole bunch of thingsthat I don't normally see in this case.Like this basket of oldRolling Stone magazinesfrom 1970 and 71 and even a boxedWarcraft III: Reign of ChaosCollector's Edition set.It was 50 somethingdollars though so, nyeh.There were also a fewvery sad looking CRTshangin' out over here.I mean the CRTs themselveswere emotionally stablebut I mean just the wholeidea of all these CRTspoppin' up at Goodwill andthen nobody ever buys them.They just sit there for$1 or 50 cents each.And just knowing that 90something percent of themwill never sell.Oh hey, look at this, we gotone of these IBM Home DirectorRoom Expansion Kits.This is an X10 device set up.I've covered this before in LGR,I have a ton of these things,and yet I still get a wholebunch of offers from folkssaying do you want more X10 things?No, I don't, let mejust put that out there,I've got plenty, thankyou very much though.And hey check it out, anoriginal gray NES Zapper.They're askin' 12 bucksfor it, but I mean,you don't see 'em asoften as the orange ones,or at least I don't.Now let's see, we've got someassorted lenses over hereand some rather appealinglooking packages.I'm honestly not interestedin the lenses so muchas I am the cases.I wish more lenses came wrapped in leatherwith crushed red velour inside.Got some more camera things down hereand this was kinda different.This is a Kodak Kodamaticinstant camera, the 980L.It was mostly the formfactor that interested me,it's kind of that binocular style,but without lookingexactly like binoculars,it's just kinda a big plastic block.Mmm, hey what's this?I see red buttons.Alright so this is anEliminator Lighting ET-PRO 8,an eight channel lighting control systemfor performances of various types.Chase modes and flashmodes and sound patternsand I'm not putting onany concerts but if I was,I might want something like this.(laughs)Oh hey, I've got one of these,a couple of these actually.This is a Rabbit VCR system.A couple of different parts for it here.It's pretty much just a video transmitter,takes one signaland just wirelessly putsit all over your houseso that you can have thesame signal on multiple TVs.I might cover this at some point.Ooh, now this is even more my style.Got some classic Labteccomputer speakers here.The LCS-1012 variety. Never actually seen these beforebut I like the look of it,and honestly I really like that packaging.And opening it up, it looksto be brand new in hereor at least extremely well repackaged.So yeah, I am getting this, it was $5.I'm always looking for moreretro computer speakersif they're as immaculatelooking as these anyway.And my goodness, this particular Goodwill,half of the shelves right noware just completely trashedand full of trashand it makes me feel like trashbut it's okay, you neverknow what you'll find in hereand that is truly half of the appealof wandering these stores,especially this time of year,it's just all a crapshoot.Ya never know what's in here.Look at all these golf things.Upper Deck PremiereEdition 2001 Tiger Woods,like golf cards, like collector's cards.I'm not gonna pretend to know what that isbut I do know what this is.Check this IBM Supply Kit box out.It doesn't actually have anything in herethat was originally in here,it's just somebody's yarn and stuff.But back in the late 70s,the famous graphic designer Paul Rand,actually designed a bunchof these boxes for IBM.And a crap load of other things.Anyway it's kind of aniconic yet forgotten designand I did not expect to seethis hangin' out at Goodwill.Over in the toy section andthere were some PC games in herein their big boxes, like thisEscape from Monkey Island,and the later re-releaseLucasArts Archive edition.$5, it really didn't havemuch of anything in there,just the CD.I already got the originalrelease, don't need it,but cool to see.Ooh, 1972 edition of Clue.Anyway, found some more PCgames over to the left of thatincluding Monty Python'sComplete Waste of Time,again, already own a copy, don't need it.Did not have this Hoyle ClassicGames collection from Sierrabut my word was it in bad shape.It smelled like mildew.I was just torn up insideand now that is a shame.However in beautiful, immaculate conditionwas a copy of AdventureBarbie Riding Club.Yeah this was still sealed for $2.50.I am absolutely getting thisbecause, I don't really know.Well the snowfall is picking upso let's pick up the pace andmove onto another Goodwilland see what they got in store.Like literally inside thestore, oh my goodness,what am I doing?Yeah it's a bunch ofChristmas stuff, go figurebecause it's about Christmasas I'm filming this.They sure did have a lotof random tat lyin' aroundand doin' nothing but lookin'like discarded memoriesand sadness, let's not think about that.Yeah let's think happythoughts instead (laughs)because here's a big giant happy facein the back of the store.I guess it's, I don'tknow what this is for.It's made of foam, it'sjust a large smile.Now this is not large,it's actually rather small.A little toy piano over herethat almost looks handmadeor somethin', I don't know.It's just a weird little design comparedto other toy pianos I've seen,it didn't even make noise.Over in the electronicswe got an older-ishApple keyboard over there,interesting ergonomics goin' on.And an Olivetti Letters 22 typewriter.Kind of a neat design.I like the red return key.And I really like this, oh man,got a Sears PD12calculator, it's very brown.I don't think there'sanything too special about itso I didn't grab it,but look, it's so brown.Just like this thing isso all sorts of colors.Always something appealingabout electronicswith differently coloredplastics than you'd expect.Now let's see, the cableselection is pretty normaland down here we havean Atari Flashback 8.(keyboard keys click)Wow there were a lot of these things.Anyway, whatever, don't need it.Hey look another Apple keyboard.And then this caughtmy attention (laughs),what's Bosmere Aerator lawn sandals?That looks dangerous ina very enjoyable way.If I ever needed to aerate my lawn,this is the way that I would wanna do it.Just stomping on it with spikes.Over in the junk sectionthere was some junkas well as something thatkinda stood out a little bit.There's a Popular MechanicsVideo 2 Output Amplifier.It's just a splitterfor your RF connection.Nothin' terribly special butthe packaging caught my eye.Hey look it's Blelliet.Eww, everything tastesbetter with dog hair in it.I'm gonna have to respectfullydisagree on a massive level.That just is friggin' gross.Oh here's not the most commonsite in the world anymore,a bunch of Xbox 360games, three bucks each.And they're in good shapeand actually have the discsand all that kind of stuffinside of 'em (laughs).I think I still own all ofthese from when they were new,but you know, at this point in thrifts,I'm gonna show anything half interesting.Like check it out, there's awhole bunch of beanie babiesin their little casesthat somebody really put some care into.Again, the stuffinadvertently making me sad,like, man this wassomebody's pride and joyor somethin' probably, like what happened?What's the story?They're seven bucks each,is that even a good price?I dunno, it's beside the point.And the puzzles and boardgamesand this is still exciting for meto just look through herebecause I always just feel likeI'm gonna find something super neat.And I thought this was atfirst because it kind of lookedlike some packaging thatwas PC game-ish, but nope.However, take a ganderat this gigantic sectionof kids' books which isvery precariously stackedI might add.And it's not just like kid, kid books,they've got some comics in here,graphic novels, like fables.Some other run of GoosebumpsI'd never heard of.Goosebumps Most Wanted.Got some Pokemon books and who knows,there's just a big pile of stuff,I could spend a while in here.Then I run across a fantasticlittle blast from my own past,this is the Complete Idiot'sGuide to Creating a Web Page.I didn't have the fourth edition,I think it was like thesecond or something,maybe the first, I don't know.But it had this lovelylittle CD in the backfilled with a fantastic amountof web creation materials.I got a lot of images,line breaks and animationsand backgrounds and all ofthe late 90s webpage stuff.I spent a ton of timelearning how to code HTMLthrough these kinds of thingsand it got me into FTPand setting up early CSSand Java things for mywebsites in the late 90sand early 2000s.I still wanna find a completeversion of the book I had.And then look at this (laughs),that design is the most70s thing I've ever seen.This is kind of beautiful ina weird, twisted hideous way.I'm not even sure exactly what this is,some kind of little organ deal.I didn't see a modelor company or anything,but it was sold by the Eric L. Menken Co.from Charlotte, NorthCarolina back in the day.And yeah, it's just a littlecompact woodgrain thingwith 70s carpet on the front.I dunno, it just made my braindo a back flip of excitement.Alright, so another couple of days laterand it has snowed a whole bunchand spent a couple dayssnowing and then got scraped upand now we're movin'on to another Goodwillbecause I've been cooped up athome for days at this point.And immediately I found some stuff.Admittedly nothing terribly exciting,just an Allsop five and 1/4inch floppy disk holder,but it's in good shape and Ineeded another one of these.Over in the electronics I ranacross this little black boxwhich I actually don'tknow entirely what it is,but the fact that it hadone single dial amused me.It had this Fred Van Liew'sEssential Water & Air stickeron the back.Doesn't tell me much.I assume it's some kind of a thermostatbut again that one dial just amused me.Checkin' out puzzles andboardgames 'cause I have to.Didn't see a whole lotgoin' on but this (laughs),that logo and this familyfor Trivia Adventure.It's just one of thosethings that when I see it,I gotta look at it and flip it aroundand see what's goin' onand it makes me wish Ihad a logo like that.Oh my goodness, now thisbrings back some odd memories.This is like identical tothe entertainment centerthat I had as a kid.The door down here lookeda little bit different,didn't have that meshy materialbut everything else is identical.We had a record playerradio in the top left,a VCR in the top right,of course the TV over therein the square section,a whole bunch of books tossed in thereand a bunch of knickknacks,and one of our cats gave birthbehind this thing as a kid.She just had a bunch of kittens behind it,and man, weird memories.You never know what you'llcome across at Goodwill.Like this stunningpiece of art right here.That is, it was eye catching,let's put it that way.Whoever had this, it just makes me wonderwhat else they had hangin' up at home.Alright onto my final Goodwillthat I usually check out.This is the day before my birthday,just a handful of days before Christmas.Naturally there were lots ofChristmas things hangin' aroundincluding fully formed Christmas trees.Do you buy these whole treesand you get the lightsand ornaments with them?I don't know, that's justkinda what it looks like.And check it out,there's a Black Friday deal going on,this is way past Black Friday,but still, they had theirkinda crappy desktopsbeing sold for 90 bucks.That's a whole lotta Christmasjust dumped in one spot,and surprisingly nothing was broken.Mmm, got some sort of fountainfondue type of thing here.That's a rather industrial design.Maybe it's just a water fountain,maybe that's not meantfor food, I don't know.Now this definitely wasmeant for food though.This just cracked me up,this is literally just aBojangles' Tailgate box.This is just the box, you'resupposed to throw these away.It's just an empty cardboard box,they're selling it for $2.Panthers branding ain't worth that much.Ooh now this caught my attentionbecause of course, alright,say hello to this realisticClarinette 101 stereo system.You got a record player,a cassette tape player,an 8-Track player, anAM/FM stereo receiver,and some honestly satisfyingswitches and knobs.Plus some speakers, that's a pretty neat,although technically not superimpressive, all in one unitfrom back in the day.(laughs) And thenthere's things like this,I just imagine there's a story behind it,like somebody boughtthis Granite Ware thingand they just were sointent on getting ridof that stupid sticker and grrr,they just gave up andjust left it for years.Oh man, I haven't seen oneof these in a long time.It's just a clock but it'sgot one of those fiber opticfloral displays, I usedto really like these.I still kinda do,I just haven't thoughtabout 'em in 25 years.Got a Kodak Land camera, gota square shooter too up here,it's not a Kodak, it's a Polaroid,the heck am I thinkin'?Anyway, ah, check out theseneat little Sony bookshelf speakers.They appeal to me, I didn't get them.And we got some IBMcomputer speakers over herewhich didn't have the power or anything,and I already got some speakersearlier in this episode,but you know, IBM stuff,I always gotta look at it.Hmm, what is this, theygot a little Sync cradlehere for products (laughs).The serial connection looks like it syncswith Outlook 97 and 98.I assume for a personalorganizer or a PDA.Huh, well this is a little different.Looks like a marching bandgot, I don't know, dead.(screen beeps)Huh, well this is a little different,it appears a marching band or somethingjust evaporated and leftall of their equipment hereor at least their hats.They're just empty containersand Goodwill put the hats out there,that's a nice little display.Over in the CDs, and you knowlike nine times out of 10I never find anything here anymorebut today, today's a little different.I found a bunch of PS1 games,a couple of which I actually didn't have,that being Twisted Metal IIIand Tokyo Highway Battle.Actually I think I had Twisted Metal III,just it was greatest hits.And then finally in thepuzzles and boardgames,found a complete in boxcopy of the game Fly!And I have been lookingfor this flight simfor a very long time in box.It was made by Terminal Realityand this is the Mac versionbut I do have the PC one looseso that'll go and match withthis box and I'll be happy.Actually not too bad for $6.And that is it forepisode 41 of LGR thrifts.Got some neat Labtecspeakers that appear to benew in the box,a couple of PS1 games and a copy of Fly!and Barbie Adventure Riding Clubin the big boxes, some Betamax blank tapesand a floppy disk holder that will replaceone of my broken ones.And there's my loose PC version of Fly!That'll go in the box, soyeah, you have Mac and PCversions of that game.And well, that's about it.I don't know what else to say exceptthank you very much for watchingand thanks as always forsending in your own photosof all the stuff that you've found.Thrifting is continually fun.Honestly, whether or notI actually find anythingthat I want to buy,I just like making these episodesand I love seeing whatyou've found as well.So keep on sending things my wayand I will keep filmingthese things whenever I canand putting together episodes.Hopefully in 2019 I can get more togetherthan I did in 2018, I don't know,it's always just completelydown to luck and persistence,a lot of persistence.Once again, hope you enjoyedand many thanks forwatching what you just did.(relaxed music)\n"