Thrift Store Hauls 2026
17I didn’t see one for this year yet, though feel free to merge or delete if in error. What have y’all found while thrifting so far? I’ll start with this awesome Zenith J430W solid state table radio I got a coule days back while out with a good friend. This was apparently one of the last ‘real’ Zenith radios they made, sold between 1977 and 1982, the last year of radio production for the company. It looks awesome and sounds great…and both the dial and the signal strength meter are illuminated!
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VAN GOGH! MANGO! TANGO! AWESOME!
Calm and bright indeed @PooltoyWolf!
Very nice haul. I need to start thrifting again.
1936 hermes baby typewriter
@zippyus Did you find it’s parents?
/showme baby typewriter named named Hermes is in the park having a picnic with it’s parent typewriters.
@cfg83 Here’s the image you requested for “baby typewriter named named Hermes is in the park having a picnic with it’s parent typewriters.”
@mediocrebot Egg-salad! I was thinking of having the family “say” things on the paper, but that would have been pretty complicated to showme. I could actually take that picture now and add captions.
@cfg83 technically, i found its grandchild. 1966 hermes 3000.
@zippyus Wow. The AI knew about the 3000 because it’s in the image. Soooooo, the picnic is with the grandparents, not the parents.
@cfg83 one of the first things fed to AIs is Wikipedia so they know about anything in there for a start. Some AIs will also run a quick web search on your prompt to pull in more text to make them temporarily seem more informed about the thing you’re asking them about. But yeah Hermes had a good run from before WWII to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan or later, so AIs have plenty of data on 'em. They were to writers in the 1950s what Apple is now.
/showme the type of person into 1930s typewriters and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Style of Michelangelo’s famous “Sistine Chapel selfie”
@zippyus Here’s the image you requested for “the type of person into 1930s typewriters and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Style of Michelang…”
I saw this the other day. If it goes 50% off, then I might get it …
@cfg83 Stopped by today and the cover was slightly torn. This made me sad, so I officially rescued it for $9.
Got this for $2 yesterday. It has Kahhhhhhnnnnnn on it.
@cfg83
/giphy khaaaan
@cfg83 @zippyus tattoo must have passed him off
Couple of weeks ago, I scored a self-emptying Roomba i7 for only $25! And it works perfectly!
Easily the best ‘value’ of a thrift buy I’ve ever made.
/showme a Roomba i7 self-emptying
@haydesigner
/showme a robotic vacuum disgorging itself
@phendrick Here’s the image you requested for “a robotic vacuum disgorging itself”
@mediocrebot Ewww. Definitely regret asking…
@haydesigner Hmmm …
/showme roomba sweeping dirt under the rug when the humans are not looking.
@cfg83 Here’s the image you requested for “roomba sweeping dirt under the rug when the humans are not looking.”
@mediocrebot I like this but I think we can do better …
/showme roomba with little arms and little broom is sweeping dirt under the rug when the humans are not looking.
@cfg83 Here’s the image you requested for “roomba with little arms and little broom is sweeping dirt under the rug when the humans are not l…”
@mediocrebot He’s great but he can’t help but get in his own way.
For 8 bucks I got a Canon mx492 “Pixma” circa 2015(?) at Goodwill. It “just works” and even came with some ink. I tested the scanner before I bought it as my minimum requirement, so I was happily surprised that it even printed.
It may be a boring find, but my goal was met.
@cfg83 I run a thrifted Brother laser at work; currently 81k on the page counter, so I’ve printed over 25k pages on it already.
@narfcake Oooooh, Brother printer is a win. I’ve already scanned some olden precious photos, so as far as I’m concerned it’s paid for itself.
@cfg83 @narfcake I don’t print a ton but I’m still using my brother mf laser jet I bought as a refurb from like staples In 2004.
Unfortunately it no longer can scan on windows 11, even though it did on windows 10. Some driver bull shit/Microsoft crap since third parties can make it work
@narfcake @unksol I am connecting to the Canon from a Xubuntu Linux mini-pc. There is no official driver for this printer, but it gets the job done. The scan is at 600 DPI, and that is more than enough for me.
@cfg83 @narfcake
I just had to scan my license for some application. Brother scanner has worked for forever. They don’t offer a windows driver for 10 or 11.
10 was fine. Microsoft broke it in 11. Can’t access a basic scanner
But somehow vuescan can?
That being said I’m sure there is some app where you can take a picture and convert to pdf and send that. At least for some things
@unksol
Last time I had to do that, the process was baked into the app. It was painless
@chienfou it’s more the trope that every windows update is awful in some way/breaks something. Since like windows 95. I’m starting to feel old.
A few weeks ago I found the last of Alton Brown’s Good Eats recipe books, the only one I didn’t have. They also had a bunch of Good Eats DVDs, I managed to pick up the ones with “The Cookie Claus” and “Romancing the Bird” which are among my favorite episodes.
Over the past month I’ve been buying the detritus of the Gold Pyramid House gift shop at a Goodwill as I find it. It’s been bittersweet, because that means it’s closed, but on the other hand I now have 48 pewter thimbles that say GOLD PYRAMID.
@mossygreen
And spoons.
@mossygreen I just looked it up, is it the place in Illinois?
@sammydog01 I don’t want to sound disrespectful, but how many golden pyramid houses are there in the continental US? My understanding was one. You could see it from the highway AND the tollway!
PS Yes, Wadsworth, Illinois.
@mossygreen @sammydog01 This forum is so educational! I never knew about that.
@Kyeh @sammydog01 It’s extremely regional. I am morally certain that Ripley’s Believe It Or Not filmed a segment there back in the '80’s when Jack Palance was hosting, but I can find no evidence of it. Extremely regional it remains.
@Kyeh @mossygreen It’s the first golden pyramid I found but I didn’t keep looking. Sad about the fire. Have any plans for 48 pewter thimbles? I understand how you couldn’t just leave them on the shelf at Goodwill (which is why I try to not go there unless the siren call is particularly loud).
@Kyeh @sammydog01 I’M GOING TO HOARD THEM.
@mossygreen @sammydog01
Of COURSE!
@Kyeh @mossygreen @sammydog01 Thank you. Long live the Hoard!
/showme Frightened minimalists being confronted by the Filthy Hoarders!
@cfg83 Here’s the image you requested for “Frightened minimalists being confronted by the Filthy Hoarders!”
@Kyeh @mossygreen @sammydog01 48 thimbles are more than enough for chess.
/showme Chess set that uses pewter thimbles as chess pieces.
@cfg83 Here’s the image you requested for “Chess set that uses pewter thimbles as chess pieces.”
@mediocrebot Holy crap, those are RIGHTEOUS!
@cfg83 @mossygreen @Kyeh You should get one of these and fill it with identical thimbles. It might even fit a spoon or two.
Also I read the Wikipedia entry for all 77 Jack Palance episodes and couldn’t find it. I may look some more.
@mossygreen @sammydog01
@cfg83–HEY! Who the hell are you calling filthy! I’ll have you know everything in my hoard is clean, and so is my house. Just clutterd.
@Kyeh @mossygreen @sammydog01 I apologize, I was imposing my world on yours.
/showme Frightened minimalists being confronted by the Super Clean Hoarders!
@cfg83 Here’s the image you requested for “Frightened minimalists being confronted by the Super Clean Hoarders!”
@Kyeh @mossygreen @sammydog01 But did you read Jack Palance’ book?
@mediocrebot Wow, there is no middle road for showme right now.
@cfg83 That’s more like it.
@mediocrebot We gotta dial this in …
/showme Minimalists being attracted to the cool things that their clean hoarder friends have.
@cfg83 Here’s the image you requested for “Minimalists being attracted to the cool things that their clean hoarder friends have.”
@cfg83 @mediocrebot
YES!!! That’s exactly right! Just needs some pop cans in puffer jackets, Dr. Suess mugs, and Irk stuffies.
Oh, and I guess a bunch of pewter thimbles.
@mediocrebot What @Kyeh said.
@cfg83 I have a friend whose husband is a collector/dealer of vintage toys, and a daughter who’s a collector/dealer of everything Barbie. Their house is like a museum.
@Kyeh As it should be. A thousand years from now, Dr. Zaius won’t be able to learn anything when he digs up the homes of the minimalists.
@Kyeh @mossygreen @sammydog01 This case reminds me of this wonderful little shop in the ORIGINAL Farmer’s Market at 3rd and Fairfax in Los Angeles. It had rows and rows of Hagen Renaker figurines. I still have a lot of them stashed here and there. Maybe I will make my own shrine to that little storefront.
https://www.etsy.com/market/vintage_hagen_renaker_porcelain_figurines
@Kyeh @mossygreen @sammydog01 Ohh! I just remembered. I needed to repair the wing of my little Hagen Renakar penguin …
Dr. Crazy Glue says the prognosis is good.
@cfg83 @mossygreen @sammydog01 I love Hagen Renaker figures but wow, they’ve gotten super expensive! When my brother was a kid I got him the little green dragon. He took that with him everywhere.
@Kyeh @mossygreen @sammydog01 Ok, Hagen Penguin Renakar is reunited with his Peruvian friend …
@cfg83 @mossygreen @sammydog01
That’s a nice tableau! How many of the HR figures do you have?
@Kyeh @mossygreen @sammydog01 They are everywhere. I am guessing 20 or 30, but I hope it’s more. I got a baby brachiosaurus at Magic Mountain in the 1970s. I broke it’s neck at one time but I fixed him … I just realized he’s in danger in a frame on the wall. He must be saved.
@Kyeh @mossygreen @sammydog01
/showme how @cfg83’s baby brachiosaurus he got at Magic Mountain in the 1970s is in danger on a wall shelf
@therealjrn Here’s the image you requested for “how @cfg83 s baby brachiosaurus he got at Magic Mountain in the 1970s is in danger on a wall shelf”
@Kyeh @mossygreen @sammydog01 Holy crap, there is a youtube channel …
https://www.youtube.com/@TheHagen-RenakerChannel?app=desktop
@mediocrebot @therealjrn That about sums it up. Here he is. The black rhino and hippo little rubbery fellas you could get by the cash register.
@cfg83 @mediocrebot @therealjrn Yeah, you probably should get a display case. They’re on eBay & etsy for mucho bucks!
@Kyeh @mediocrebot @therealjrn I can go to Daiso (Japanese 5 and dime) and get a decent case for under $20. I just need the “staircasing” levels. If I use alien tape, then they won’t fall over and break (easily).
@cfg83 @mediocrebot @therealjrn I would be a bit leery of using Alien tape because I’ve seen people say that it’s really hard to remove things taped with it. Maybe do a test first with some small similar object that isn’t valuable? There’s a kind of wax used in museums to hold things in place. That might be safer.
@cfg83 @mediocrebot @therealjrn Oh, maybe not, on the wax - I looked it up and found this on Reddit:
@Kyeh @mediocrebot @therealjrn I agree. I have to be careful.
@Kyeh
@mediocrebot
/showme how cfg83 is protecting ALL his Hagen Renaker figurines by shielding them with his body
@therealjrn Here’s the image you requested for “how cfg83 is protecting ALL his Hagen Renaker figurines by shielding them with his body”
@cfg83
BTW - I said this -
I think it sounded like I was saying the display cases are mucho bucks, but I meant that the figures are now very expensive. So definitely worth protecting.
Black and Decker Toaster Oven for $8 …
I’ll clean it up and test it this week. If it doesn’t pan out, then I can return it within 7 days.
@cfg83 Toaster oven works like a charm. It only needs some easy-off in a few places. Toasty bagels await!
@cfg83
Looks like the same one I almost spent $60 online from Walmart yesterday! You got a GREAT DEAL!
“Vaultz” box for $4 …
It had this horrid red glitter on it, so I used an X-ACTO to cut it off. it was actually interesting because the glitter was on cloth. Once I started peeling, it came off super easy. None of that hours-long sticker/scraping work.
The red piece is the glitter. The white piece is the cloth under the glitter.
@cfg83 Are you going to cover it with something else or just leave it nekkid?
@Kyeh I was thinking of a carbon-fiber sheet sticker, but the exposed surface is a cardboard that is not smooth. I could either paint it or shellac it (for waterproofing) or felt-sticker it or sticker-sticker it.
Maybe I will try to sand it with a fine grit first to see how smooth I can get it.
@cfg83 If you paint it or varnish it the sticker ought to adhere, right?
@Kyeh Yes, but the sticker might be bumpy. I will test sanding it first.
@cfg83 I hope we get to see the results!
@Kyeh Oh crap, now I am on the hook to do it (that’s actually a good thing).
@cfg83 Haha!
@Kyeh Even though you are NOT the scapegoat for this month, I blame you.
I used this sheet from Daiso as the application sheet :
It looks pretty good :
The “staircase grid pattern” of the sheet made it easy to cut it accurately.
I had to do 12 patterns overall, but the sides had a lot of repetition. Where the sheet didn’t hit the edge, I used a black sharpie to fill in the gap, so it’s hardly noticeable. I think it took about 4 hours to do at a leisurely pace.
@cfg83 Hah! I’ll gladly take that blame. That looks fantastic!
Wasn’t bought this year but I finally did tested it out. Yay, I didn’t waste the $10 for this Z390 motherboard. I did
spendwaste $10 for a NIB CeleronCPUsocket protector, though, as I didn’t have any 8th or 9th gen computers at home in which I could borrow its processor for testing.The PSU was also a thrift store purchase. As was the CPU cooler. And the 8GB came from a thrifted computer.
Now to wait for a thrifted GPU …
@narfcake Wow, Similar Z390 is $179 motherboard on amazon.
@cfg83 Unless I run across a higher-SKU CPU for a reasonable enough price, I probably going to sell this board off. $120+ for a i7-9700k that gets beaten by a $60 Ryzen 5 5500 - it doesn’t make sense.
On a different paw, one of my other thrifted PSUs will be getting e-wasted. Even though it was $3 and completely unused, I still should have looked up some reviews first:
Besides, the EVGA N1 I use on the test bench is bad enough already:
(I have a few of those Thermaltake Smart PSUs as well. They’re also not good, but at least it has the decency to commit seppuku instead of taking everything else out when it goes out.)
One of my axe places went out of business which makes me very sad. But I did snag their chip display for $10.
{VMod edit: resized to 50%.}
@narfcake I don’t know how to make this photo reasonably sized but you might.
@sammydog01 Hmmm …
/showme cat lying inside clear glass bowl that is attached to pole that is attached to flat circular basel.
@cfg83 Here’s the image you requested for “cat lying inside clear glass bowl that is attached to pole that is attached to flat circular basel.”
@mediocrebot Oh wow, so comfy!
@cfg83 I guess I need four cats.
@sammydog01 Yes!
/showme Human named “sammydog01” with 4 happy cats on his couch.
@cfg83 Here’s the image you requested for “Human named sammydog01 with 4 happy cats on his couch.”
@sammydog01 That’s a very nifty thing! What sort of chips did it used to display - the kind you eat, or some other kind?
@Kyeh Just little bags of potato chips, they didn’t have a kitchen or bar which is probably why their sister site made it and not them. Drinking and throwing sharp objects apparently go together.
It works well for yarn balls.
@Kyeh @sammydog01 Make a yarn cat.
/showme cat made of yarn.
@cfg83 Here’s the image you requested for “cat made of yarn.”
@cfg83 @Kyeh I’m getting ready to start a mushroom guy but I have several cat patterns for later, I’ll give it a shot.
@cfg83 @sammydog01 Mushroom guy! I’d like to see it when you’re done.
@cfg83 @mediocrebot
That reminds me of the fish tank I’m thinking about getting…
Check out this video…
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DUCX6n6kTYl/?igsh=dWpzNGpxZTUzdmVo
@cfg83 @mediocrebot
Here it is!
@Lynnerizer @mediocrebot Hrmmmm …
/showme 1950s flying saucer Spaceship with goldfish as aliens. Human ignores cat that warns human about goldfish aliens.
@cfg83 Here’s the image you requested for “1950s flying saucer Spaceship with goldfish as aliens. Human ignores cat that warns human about g…”
@mediocrebot Looks like 1950s cat is in Classic Halloween pose. That is sure to confuse the human. Hmmmm, I wonder if the human is a young Kolchak?
@cfg83 @Kyeh @sammydog01
ME TOO!
@Kyeh @Lynnerizer @sammydog01 Hmmmm …
/showme A young Kolchak the night stalker talking to his goldfish. The goldfish is explaining to young Kolchak the nature of reality with lots of equations.
@cfg83 Here’s the image you requested for “A young Kolchak the night stalker talking to his goldfish. The goldfish is explaining to young Ko…”
@mediocrebot Egg-salad!
People don’t know this, but the original Kolchak scripts had a sidekick that was a goldfish, much like the one in American Dad. The problem was that they didn’t have the budget to “animatronic” the little guy, so he was written out of the scripts. If you look closely in Kolchak’s home, you can see the goldfish bowl in the background.
@cfg83 @mediocrebot Wait, he didn’t sleep in the office?
@sammydog01 With some dividers and hooks to feed the yarn it could be a mammoth yarn bowl.
@mediocrebot @mossygreen Not on cleaning nights. The custodians kicked him out.
@sammydog01
Of course you need four cats.
/showme 4 cats in glass bowls
@f00l Here’s the image you requested for “4 cats in glass bowls”
@f00l @mediocrebot I just realized that curled up kitties are shaped like croissants.
/showme croissant looks like curled up cat
@cfg83 Here’s the image you requested for “croissant looks like curled up cat”
@mediocrebot Ok. I guessed I phoned that one in.
@cfg83 @Lynnerizer @mediocrebot my cat would be in love with a fish tank like that. BUT I know from first hand experience fish tanks are far more work than fish despite how much my cats loved it. Kid wanted it for about 3 weeks. I finally gave it and the fish away after about 2 months,
By the way gold fish need about 5 gallons each as they live about 20 years and grow to over a foot long. They die young if they are in too small a tank.
@Kidsandliz @Lynnerizer @mediocrebot Get a 3d TV and put on the kitty fish videos. The hard part will be getting the kitty to wear 3D glasses …
/showme Cat wearing 3D glasses is watching 3D television show that is featuring fish in a fish tank.
@cfg83 Here’s the image you requested for “Cat wearing 3D glasses is watching 3D television show that is featuring fish in a fish tank.”
@mediocrebot OMG, the Paws Corn. Why didn’t I think of that!
@cfg83 @Kidsandliz @mediocrebot
Yeah fish tanks can be expensive, and tricky! We’ve had several throughout the years and they were beautiful but a few years ago we tried setting one up and it didn’t go so well.
Blenda for $10 …
Works fine. MVB, Minimum Viable Blender.
Western Digital 2TB My Book, circa 2016, for $8, ($230 new at Amazon) …
Now, I thought it might be busted because the light would come on and go off when I plugged it in. HOWEVER, it stays on when attached to a computer, so I was confused by a power saving feature.
When I mounted the hard disk onto my linux computer, I found an empty disk. All it had was the drivers and other programs it bundles to try to get you to buy services. It has “SMART” support (which I didn’t know about until today) …
So I am running this command as root user …
If it passes the command, then I will assume the disk is healthy (a dangerous assumption with ANYTHING Western Digital) and put some 2nd tier backups on it.
@cfg83 Correction, I am running the long command that takes 5 hours :
@cfg83 Yikes I didn’t know western digital sucks. I am backing up my computer as I type using a WD hard drive.
@Kidsandliz I wouldn’t buy a WD retail. If I lose this backup I won’t be too upset. However, I really need to … backup my backup … eventually. sigh.
Not good will but a garage sale. I found the original set of jarts with the metal points. I’m so happy, I’ve been looking for them for probably a decade. I’ve only wanted the metal ones that can hurt you, not crappy safety plastic ones. Only real dangerous games at my house lol
@Star2236 Yikes!
@Star2236
@Star2236 A real Toys That Don’t Care classic!
@PooltoyWolf. What does “FM AFC” setting mean on the radio?
@cfg83 Automatic Frequency Control. You tune the radio on regular FM, then press the AFC button to ‘lock’ in the station. It helps to keep reception from drifting around. A lot of modern radio tuners (and all digital ones) do it automatically these days.
@PooltoyWolf That’s cool. I would watch the signal strength dial to see the radio correct for drift.
@cfg83 Once you have manually tuned for greatest swing, the only variations you’ll usually see on the meter are due to the station’s gain, heh.
Sysmax My Mini storage cabinet for $6 and silly shades for $4.
@cfg83
The shades are pretty cool
@Kyeh Yeah, I’m a sucker for cheap crappy crazy shades. Why they have an LA Kings logo on the side is beyond me.
I may wear them here :
https://www.skirball.org/museum/outsiders-outcasts-rebels-weirdos-punk-culture-1976-86
@cfg83 Seems perfect! That sounds like a fascinating exhibit. The photo for the opening day reception is funny, though - everyone’s in such boringly respectable outfits.
I saw but did not buy this Vanity Fair turntable :
It keeps short-circuiting me because I can only think of the magazine.
@cfg83 OMG, Floppy records!!!
/showme Debutante taking flexi disc record, also known as a phonosheet, out of a Vanity Fair magazine and playing it on her Vanity Fair turntable.
@cfg83 Here’s the image you requested for “Debutante taking flexi disc record, also known as a phonosheet, out of a Vanity Fair magazine and…”
Forgot to post but a couple of months ago the slow cooker we have at work died (it was 40+ years old, heating element gave out). I picked up a large oval one for $8 at Goodwill, and we’ve used it a couple of times at work with good results. Also picked up a ~4 quart air fryer for $5 for a friend who wants to experiment before getting a ‘good’ one.
The local Goodwills are ok for stuff like this, books, DVDs, etc but they don’t have much in the cool and interesting stuff so many others find in their areas.
@duodec I was raised in thrift shops by my Mom, so it’s a comfy form of stress relief for me. Sometimes I find egg-zactly what I need that day, and other times I keep a list of things that I wait to go on sale. If they sell, then I save $. If they are still there then I get 50% off, so it’s worth the wait.
/showme 1970s Mom in thrift shop looking at plates while 10 year old son is looking at toys.
@cfg83 Here’s the image you requested for “1970s Mom in thrift shop looking at plates while 10 year old son is looking at toys.”
@mediocrebot Holy crap, I had that blue sweater!
@mediocrebot Holy double crap, corduroy pants too!
@cfg83 That’s a way better thrift store than any I’ve ever seen.
I got this gorgeous and incredibly sturdy future laundry rack the other weekend… Until it assumes that role I hope to make good use of it in its alternate role as a de-lazifier.
/image keiser m3
@djslack Gotta attach power generator to it to power the TV or the smart crap.
Brand new unused Proctor Silex toaster …
I waited for it to go on sale for 50% off and got it for $4.50 . When I tested it at the thrift shop it gave off a wisp of smoke. I was scared I would set off a fire alarm, so I never fully tested it. At home I ran it a bunch of times until it was normal. I figure it was burn-in + dust.
The best thing is that like most toasters these daze, it is bagel friendly.
Rockwell 63R “Scientific Slide Rule” circa 1976 for $10 …
This was a very dumb purchase, but I couldn’t stand the thought of it slowly being destroyed in the thrift shop.
The nicad batteries were dead, but thankfully didn’t sulfate enough to ruin the wiring. I couldn’t fit normal size nicad AA batteries because the positive end “nubs” made them too big to fit. Soooooooo, I got some 2/3 size AA, 3D printed adapters, soldered some springs to keep everything tight, and viola, it works!
Totally worthless venture on my part, but I like the idea of a calculator that has the Rockwell logo on it.
@cfg83 Hmmm …
/showme Anthropomorphized goat named cfg83 welcoming obsolete calculator to the island of misfit electronics.
@cfg83 Here’s the image you requested for “Anthropomorphized goat named cfg83 welcoming obsolete calculator to the island of misfit electron…”
@mediocrebot Yup, that about sums it up.
@cfg83 Very kind of you.