I just landed the score of the Millennium here in Warren, Ohio!!! I had the unbelieveable good fortune of scoring a complete Howard W. Sams Photofact library (Sets 1-2284) complete with 11 filing cabinets! Once I've cleared space for storing them, I will be picking them up from southern Ohio and bringing them here in two trucks. How much did the $34,260 worth of literature (2284x$15.00) and $550 worth of cabinets (11x$50.00) cost me? Anyone care to guess? I'll tell you after I've seen a few guesses posted here. The only downside to this is that I'll eventually need to build a medium-size building to serve as a library for them.

John,

The last time I saw an almost complete set at auction, this was a few years back, the auctioneer worked real hard to get $100 for the load. I was tempted but wasn't heavily into TV's and didn't have a place to store that much. Instead I went for the 20 volumes of Riders TV books ($3 each). I remember it well as it was 90+ degrees and I had to carry them down 3 flights of stairs.

My guess is they paid you to take them away.


Chuck

I got them for $100. Considering the high volume of tv work I expect to do in the coming years, I think I got a decent deal. I plan to restore all of the 18 sets in my current collection, sell them, acquire more sets, restore and sell them, and take on as many customers' restoration projects as I can find time to complete. This has the potential to keep me as busy as a 9-to-5 job and be much more enjoyable, plus pay more than any of the minimum-wage jobs this ghost town has to offer. Six months into this new business, it's still paying the bills nicely for us. The best part is making a living at something I enjoyed enough to do as a hobby for 20+ years.

Wow, it's great to hear from someone with a plan for self reliance and doing something that they enjoy doing.

Great to hear about your documentation score and I understand how important that would be for your endevor.

Now you just have to use the internet to make your services well known and you should be set for as lnog as you want. Nice nich that should keep you busy.

Lefty

:eek:

WOW! That is the score of a lifetime!

I have a DUMB question... are the Sams documents only TV? or or is it audio too?

As I understand it, the Howard W. Sams Photofact numbered volumes cover consumer electronics in general. Volumes before #1074 covered ALL types of devices. Later, Sams introduced the "AR" series for Auto Radio, the "MHF" series for Modular High Fidelity, "TR" series for Tape Recorders, "TSM" series for Transistor Radios, followed by several other series such as ComputerFacts and VCRFacts in the 1980's.

The library that I'm purchasing DEFINITELY covers --

Televisions -- 1946-1984
Car Radio -- 1946-1960
Hi-Fi -- 1946-1969

Some Hi-Fi gear is likely still covered in the folders 1-2284 well into the 1970's since Sams wasn't perfectly consistent in its classifications. For example, I've seen several devices covered in 1500-series Sams volumes that probably should have been in the MHF-series literature. If you have questions about a specific make and model, please consult a Howard W. Sams Photofact Annual Index to find the correct Sams volume that corresponds to it. If the index identifies a numbered folder between 1 and 2284 then I will have it in my library. If the index identifies an MHF volume from MHF-1 to MHF-242 then it will not be part of my library.

For those items in my library, I have not yet decided whether I will offer Copy Service as some people do. I want to fully research any copyright ramifications and determine what would be a fair price for such a service in the event that I do opt to offer it. Please be patient while I research the pro and con of this.

A few years ago, I scored SAMS folders from one of the techs jshorva mentioned in another post. I got the 500's through the 700's with a few folders missing. I am originally from the same town as jshorva. The lack of good jobs is the reason I left. I apologize for going slightly off topic.

We went yesterday to get the Sams library from southern Ohio. What I discovered after we had finished unloading them was that I actually had TWO libraries. The first was in seven standard 4-drawer cabinets and was sets 1 to 2284. The second library starts in the 100's and continues to the 1600's in several single-drawer interlocking file units. I will be listing the second set and my collection of Servicer binders covering most of sets 11-300 in bound volumes of ten consecutive sets (11-20, 21-30, 41-50, etc.).