Interesting Post on Ebay

[Oldstuff78]

I saw this on ebay. The listing is for a b&W Zenith, but the information in the description sounds interesting....it's all about a eccentric guy and his collection of electronics. The eBay seller is going to be selling the guys estate off. Could be some finds in there for collectors.


http://cgi.ebay.com/1970s-ZENITH-SPA...QQcmdZViewItem

[vintagecollect]

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[Joel Cairo]

Originally Posted by Oldstuff78

I saw this on ebay. The listing is for a b&W Zenith, but the information in the description sounds interesting....it's all about a eccentric guy and his collection of electronics. The eBay seller is going to be selling the guys estate off. Could be some finds in there for collectors.

http://cgi.ebay.com/1970s-ZENITH-SPA...QQcmdZViewItem

There already are some interesting items-- if you check the seller's other current auctions, one of them is for a factory-built Dynaco PAS-3X pre-amp that's still sealed in its original box!

-Kevin

[vinyldavid]

Originally Posted by Joel Cairo

There already are some interesting items-- if you check the seller's other current auctions, one of them is for a factory-built Dynaco PAS-3X pre-amp that's still sealed in it's original box!

-Kevin

I saw that.

I shudder to think what prices that the R2R's would commend.

[sampson159]

this guy sounds familiar to me. i am a salesman.once ,more than a few years ago,i had a lead in southern ohio.a recluse in a big but rundown home.i remember
him being really good person but kind of strange. all these items that were bought and repacked.i worked for the craftmatic company and he had 2 beds already.never slept on.i was ready to leave when he asked me to write up the order!i refused to sell him the bed.didnt feel right about it.told the company to send someone else out,i wouldnt do it.anyway,he was a gadget guy for sure. many new items dating from the 50s were there in the original boxes.though i didnt make any money,i didnt mind meeting and seeing him.great guy,just didnt care too much for people.i cant remember his name.

[Phil Nelson]

Do you remember the news story about the lady who embezzled loads of money from her employer and lived in a house stacked to the ceilings with unopened boxes? I think many were eBay purchases, as well as new items.

There's a name for this disorder -- hoarding syndrome, perhaps. Some people do it with animals. They are eventually busted when someone discovers dozens or hundreds of neglected animals on their property.

The advantage of hoarding electronics is that they don't get sick or need to be fed, and they don't cannibalize their housemates' corpses.

Phil Nelson

[mr_fixer]

Originally Posted by Phil Nelson

Do you remember the news story about the lady who embezzled loads of money from her employer and lived in a house stacked to the ceilings with unopened boxes? I think many were eBay purchases, as well as new items.
Phil Nelson

It's Ironic that you should bring that up, if you are referring to the case in Nashville TN, then that lady is one of my oldest friends "Becky". It is true that she loves to hoard stuff forever. Somewhere in that collection of stuff is the dress "and the original box and wrapping" I gave her in 1984. Her hoarding makes her look guilty "in the eyes of the media" although I have never known her to steal anything. After she is found innocent, the counter suit she will win, will make her a rich woman.
I also suffer from hoarding disorder to a lesser degree but I acknowledge it and it is a day to day struggle.
I was laid off from a company 4 years ago and i have been able to pay the rent, bills etc. just by selling off my excess, Logan

[Oldstuff78]

I know a Antique dealer that hoards stuff back. He even had some old sets at one time. His place is stacked like a house of cards and is a danger to the public. He even said one that he loves to buy, but doesn't care much about selling. He also has a couple of storage buildings full of stuff. He had some in a old house too, but someone bought it and made him get it out.

The places where he has the stuff stored are wet, moldy etc....it is decaying away. The old sets I remember seeing at one time were beyond repair. There were even birds/rats nest in there and grass growing through the floor....I could go on and on.

[sampson159]

in my life i have seen many hoarders.a few years ago in washington courthouse ohio,i ran into the ultimate one.he had a 100 lineal foot basement that was stacked to the rafters with boxes,etc.packed full.we went upstirs and the rest of his home was the same way.he even had a box full of empty big mac containers!just enough room to squeeze through.unreal.would not part with anything.his garage was the same and his two pole barns(30x25)packed too.very nice,clean,sensable man.interesting to talk with.never threw out anything.the electronics items were unbelievable.neat and organized.i sold him a waterproof system because he needed it and didnt want his stuff to be damaged.imagine,a box of velveeta cheese boxes!!4 zenith consoles from the 80s-same model,same cabinet.i heard it when they went to do the job.had to move everything in the basement outside.i guess he cried when something was misplaced.literally sat down in his yard and cried until the item was found.i never will forget him.

[drh4683]

I look forward to seeing what other items this seller will be putting up. I did ask about NIB zenith color TVs, and he said there were none from what he could tell. Perhaps more b+w sets.

Id like to grab one of these NIB zeniths. That one he is selling is from '77.

Its funny to mention all the people who hoard and never throw anything away. You read it in the description of estate sales all the time, talk to people who "kept everything" including newspapers and misc. However, the old TVs always got thrown out! I think TV's are the only exception! I cant tell you how many times Ive gone to sales that the home was jam packed with stuff yet I find either an empty TV cart or a new TV on an old cart. Where did the old TV go? They kept every other dang peice of junk since 1950 but not the broken TV!

[Oldstuff78]

One interesting thing I have noticed on eBay, is the Space Command remotes show up every week, but never the TV. I figured most people would whine about having the TV but need the remote.

[bgadow]

I've run into several hoarders, too. Used bookstores are notorious for this, I guess. One place burned to the ground years ago and the replacement now looks like the same kind of firetrap. One old fellow had his store spread between 2 buildings, with 12" paths winding through parts of the pile. When he died they had an auction and there were all sort of neat things-Atwater-Kent radios, speakers, etc. It was all spread out in the parking lot, I looked in one of the buildings and you couldn't tell they had even started carrying stuff out.

There are a couple "junque" stores I know of locally, both owned by women of a similiar age, and both are a disaster. If they would just pull things out of the pile as they sell things they might do okay, but instead they just keep buying and buying and buying. Last years stuff is rusting and rotting and the stuff from the year before that is hopelessly buried, ruined with cat urine & mold, and then there is stuff from the year before that and the year before that. There is some good stuff buried in those stacks, but it might take you all day to dig it out. (and I am not exaggerating-I've tried it before) The one woman has sent me on wild goose chases before, "Bryan, I think there is a big radio over in that corner, we put it there the week before last" and a half-hour later I can just see a corner of it!

[Phil Nelson]

When I was young, I worked at a senior citizen's center that provided free in-home services (cleaning, transportation, etc.) to old folks who needed help to remain independent in their homes.

There were a few sad cases in which the infirm person refused any help with removing the newspapers & garbage stacked up to the rafters. The Health Department finally had to condemn the houses as unfit for human habitation and do what they called a "shovel out." Everything, including the dead pets and live rats, went into dumpsters, and the occupants were taken to a healthier place. The houses were gutted or bulldozed.

Don't go there :-(

Phil Nelson

[mr_fixer]

There is a guy up north around NY who has a great business of cleaning up after hoarders, he separates the valuables from the crap. His site is called www.disposophobia.com check out his site for before and after pictures of hard core hoarders. He is one of the first persons, who has identified the problem and helps in treating affected people rather than just condemning them and their homes. P.S. I have no affiliation with him, I just admire his work, Logan

[zenithfan1]

Now that is some crazy sh*t! Why would anyone keep so much garbage! Think of how many tvs they could keep instead!{grin}