Is TDK NOS tape really worth this?

[ferriteman]

I just bid on 2 TDK NOS tapes the other day on flea-bay...I bid at up to $140 which I thought was kinda high...but you don't see TDK tape that often, not as much as Maxell...some guy won it at $160! And the same guy bid $53 for an empty Maxell NAB NOS reel...only an empty reel!
Here are the auctions:

http://cgi.ebay.com:80/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260257917982&ssPageName=ADME:B:ONA:US:1123

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260257912439&ru=http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.ebay.com%3A80%2Fsearch%2Fse arch.dll%3Ffrom%3DR40%26_trksid%3Dm37%26satitle%3D 260257912439%26category0%3D%26fvi%3D1

At $80 each for old TDK, is it really any better than the current ATR or RMGI/EMEC? I really wonder, as I don't know R2R stuff that well.

Oh well, my rant for today!*fit*

[Des-Lab]

The TDK GX *IS* a VERY good tape, no question about that. So unless these tapes have been stored in an outdoor shed, they WILL perform very much to your satisfaction. IMO it is nearly identical to the new RMGI/EMTEC LPR-35. Except that the latter is >20 years newer.

But unless you want the whole 'package' (boxes, leaders, and reels), yeah. I'd have to say you overpaid a bit. If the tape is all you were after, you would've been better off getting current new stock.

And you know that the reels that the GX's come in are those trippy looking ones, right? See attached picture. That's what you're getting. Hope you like them!

And if someone is bidding $50+ for Maxell reels, send him my way. I can sell him some of what I have and make a fortune at that price.

EDIT: Sorry for me not paying better attention. I see that someone ELSE overpaid for them.

[ferriteman]

just to clarify...I didn't win either auction! But I kind of wish I won the TDK tapes, but who knows what this other guy would have bid up to...I mean we have to draw the line somewhere, right?

I remember once losing an auction for some BASF chrome tapes, the same seller had another 10 tapes up for auction a week later...and I won them for almost half the price of the previous auction! Go figure...

Cheers!

[Scorpion8]

And you know that the reels that the GX's come in are those trippy looking ones, right? See attached picture. That's what you're getting. Hope you like them!

Now THAT's a nice looking reel. Very stylish IMHO.

[Web Police]

A little too much for my blood. I'd buy the new stuff for those type of prices. But what do I know I sold all my tapes new and used tapes for $5 a piece about 15 years ago. *fit*

[Des-Lab]

I sold all my tapes new and used tapes for $5 a piece about 15 years ago. *fit*

Ouch. That has to be a nasty demon haunting you. I very nearly made the same mistake around 1998 when I was a "newbie" on Ebay and almost dumped my entire cassette stash (I was entirely fixated on R2R back then and for whatever reason, ready to abandon cassette entirely) Thankfully, I had a hard time getting the pictures to work. Back then, there was no nice and convenient upload program to use. Digital photography was still new and prohibitively expensive. So I actually had to take pictures on 35mm film, have it developed, scan the prints (on a very cheesy scanner), store them online somwhere and get Ebay to point to it. I was still relatively inexperienced with the Internet and PC's at the time and the whole FTP upload and HTML code to link the images were simply too far over my head.

So I gave up on it. Never bothered to try again. In time, I got more educated, tape began making its comeback. And I'm SOOOOO glad I never went through with the auction. I was going to list the entire stash in one auction. And I would've been tickled pink to have gotten $300 for it.

And you guys are in La-La land if you think I'm going to offer that lot of items for that price today. Remember. That was back in 1998. Offer expired in 2000.

Sorry. :D

And yes. Denon DX-4 is a GREAT tape.

[Web Police]

I sold my whole cassette stash back in the late 1990's for about $1 a piece too. *fit* Lets see that was about 1000 metal tapes for $1 a piece. Oh well someone just shoot me. *sarc*

Sorry for hijacking the thread. Just to summarize, no I wouldn't pay that much for those tapes.

[ferriteman]

I sold my whole cassette stash back in the late 1990's for about $1 a piece too. *fit* Lets see that was about 1000 metal tapes for $1 a piece. Oh well someone just shoot me. *sarc*

Sorry for hijacking the thread. Just to summarize, no I wouldn't pay that much for those tapes.

I don't mean to brag, but, I have every tape I ever bought right back to the beginning...including my first chrome tape, an Ampex, and then some Phillips chrome and even some Sony Ferrichrome. On the other hand, my original stash is quite minor compared to what you guys had....

Cheers!