Gadgetabulous Adventures Blog | Sell Your Gadgets, Gizmos, Electronics

The day was looking grim! The streets were wet from the previous day’s rain and dark clouds loomed above. After spending several hours driving the length of town, I had only seen three garage sales. None of which turned out to provide even half decent items.

As a last resort, I decided to check out the local flea market, a trip that I had been planning to make on a day of desperation, much like yesterday.

I was tired, ready to go home and not overly optimistic. I backtracked through town, and just a mile shy of the flea market, my peripheral caught sight of a florescent sign. As I continued on I examined the sign fading away in my rear-view mirror and contemplated going back. And then with the last bit of garage sailing energy I had left in me I turned around.

As I neared the dewy lawn, a large woman greeted me with a loud and comforting, “welcome sweetie!” Her disposition put a good feeling in the dark air. She sat back down on her stoop and I rummaged through several large boxes packed with plastic bags. Inside each back, junk! More junk! Like a kid digging to China, I finally hit the bottom…the last bag. I felt some metal-like objects, pulled the bag out, and examined curiously.

I had come across a bag stocked with 5 Hitachi CCD Cameras (Model# KP-F1U), each complete with a Rodenstock Rodagon-WA 40mm Enlarging Lens

5 Hitachi CCD Cameras with Rodenstock Rodagon-WA 40mm Lenses

I didn’t know a lot about them, but being that the lenses were German made, I was hopeful they would prove to be winners. They are!

CCD Camera Assembly

The woman was more than happy to part with the cameras. And I left a happy camper!

Feeling revived from a great score, I headed to the flea market with confidence.

A hodge-podge of antiques, vintage electronics, Christmas supplies, specialty knives, baseball cards and other odds-and-ends, I was sure to continue my lucky streak. As I headed to the last isle of remaining shops, I met Joe, a vendor who specializes in buying estate sales and storage auctions. We chatted for a bit and he revealed a handful of Nintendo 64 games and an original Nintendo NES still in the original box. He sold it to me at a great price.

Original Nintendo NES in Box

If you’re interested in purchasing any of these items, please visit our eBay store. If you have similar valuable gadgets or other electronics that you want to sell, visit us at gadgetabulous.com. Stay tuned next week for more garage sailing adventures!

Peter couldn’t make it out this Saturday. Although I missed having my garage sailing buddy’s sharp eye nearby, I did alright by myself.

My first stop landed me in the south corner of Chico in a cookie cutter neighborhood that resembled the one in the movie The Truman Show. It was still dark, but as I got out of the car a glimmer from the moon’s reflection caught my eye. Tucked in cabinet low to the floor sat a vintage Marantz Model Twenty Six Stereophonic Receiver. I paid a fair price and went on my way.  It was the start of a good day!

The next hour treated me like a lost boy without his mother, searching for the next big sale.  As it became lighter outside, I finally came to find a decent sized spread, predominately clothes, but tucked in the corner I spotted an 11 lb plastic bin full of LEGOs, littered with speckles of cat food tree bark, and what must have been locks of the owner’s hair…but mostly LEGOs. Did you know that LEGO is based in Denmark and first started manufacturing LEGOs in 1949?

Last week Peter and I found a hand-full of vintage lighters and things “heated up.” But things got even hotter on Saturday! I know, right? I found a fire fighters suit, complete with boots and goggles. It was a bit too small for me so it doesn’t look like I’ll be wearing it for Halloween.

Some of my other finds included three Playstation 2 systems and a vintage scale, which has been donated to my kitchen.

Overall, it was a great day and I look forward to next week.

If you’re interested in purchasing any of these items, please visit our eBay store. If you have similar valuable gadgets or other electronics that you want to sell, visit us at gadgetabulous.com. Stay tuned next week for more garage sailing adventures!

I woke up before the Saturday morning sun did, picked up my buddy Peter, and we were off like Black Friday customers, on a hunt for the best garage sale finds in town.

Our first sale led us to a modest garage sale with plenty of antiques. The owner was an elderly man who watched his customers, proud of his belongings and told stories about particular items as people expressed interest. As we poked around, Peter spotted a handful of vintage lighters in pretty decent shape. We were off to a hot start.

While the elderly man and Peter continued to talk about the lighters, my attention was quickly broken by a vintage Osterizer Galaxie blender. I wasn’t really sure if it was worth much money, but it was worth the childhood memories of my mom blending strawberry banana smoothies with that same model.

Later in the day I spotted a tall case leaning on an oak tree. It seemed a bit out of place, beside a clothesline of country western shirts and a grass area covered in cowboy boots and hats. Inside that case revealed “The Cheetah,” a vintage AMF Voit Tournament water ski. After paying a small price, I was not too excited to learn that the top portion of the ski had minor damage. Lesson learned. At least I bought all the western shirts too!

Some of our other purchases included a Panasonic Micro Cassette Recorder – SN-108, Prominence Project a Gram Outdoor Image Projector, Envision Professional Series LCD Flat Panel Monitor 17″, Samsung SGH T469 Gravity2 – Deep Ocean (T-Mobile) Cellular Phone, and 4 Sony Playstation 3 games (Transformers: The Game, Rainbow Six: Vegas, Prison Break, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2011)

If you’re interested in purchasing any of these items, please visit our eBay store. If you have similar gadgetabulous.com. Stay tuned next week for more garage sailing adventures!