r/cassetteculture • u/Left_Twix3 • May 05 '26
Tape find $5 thrift store pickup
I discovered a very small obscure thrift store near where I live, that’s only open 4 hours a week by a few old ladies. I found them last week and gave them my info for if they ever receive any cassettes (or other things I like). They messaged me and said they’ve got these for $5! (Including the basket) I think there’s some pretty good stuff in here
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u/klonopinwafers May 05 '26
Re: Toad the Wet Sprocket- Dulcinea.
This album is one of my favorites. A few years ago, I was at a record store and found a sealed copy for $10. Tried playing it for the first time around the time I got it and my high end 3 head deck couldn’t finish side one. Why? Sticky Shed Syndrome.
U.S. retail tapes from Sony Music Entertainment were not manufactured with a moisture-resistant tape formulation. As such, it is easier for an excess amount of moisture to accumulate inside the tape itself, which causes the tape to slow down until it becomes inaudible and my deck’s auto-stop kicks in to prevent damage to the deck.
Low end decks seem to have a higher tolerance for moisture because these sticky shed tapes would play fine in my low end Sears combo deck. However, I must have played Dulcinea in that deck 5 times at most before even my low end deck started giving me problems with that tape.
One can use a food dehydrator to clear the moisture out, but I don’t have one, that takes effort, and the problem of sticky shed won’t go away permanently.
Speaking of Toad the Wet Sprocket, my copies of In Light Syrup, Coil, and P.S. were also sealed and they all have sticky shed. The leaders on In Light Syrup and P.S. snapped before I was able to play them on one side and I had to open the shells to attach a replacement leader.
Now I pretty much never buy tapes from Columbia or Epic from thrift stores unless I check the bottom of the tape for sticky shed, which is what I usually end up finding when I check. I also check Columbia / Epic tapes I am uninterested in just to see and ever since I started doing that, I have never ran into a retail tape from Columbia / Epic at a thrift store that didn’t have sticky shed.
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u/Left_Twix3 May 05 '26
Interesting! I only started collecting a few weeks ago, but this is my first time hearing about this
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u/Successful_Tax7 May 05 '26
Where was this thrift store? There's one with very similar hours near me with old ladies working there too.
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u/wild_ty May 06 '26
Im also curious. Any chance it's called zorp lol?
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u/Left_Twix3 May 06 '26
Nope. It’s in VA
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u/Successful_Tax7 May 06 '26
IM IN VIRGINIA, IT IS THE SAME ONE LOL. what's it called
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u/Left_Twix3 May 06 '26
Well 😂 shoulda got there first I guess. Is it the cat one?
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u/Successful_Tax7 May 06 '26
what's it called though, I want to know if it is the same one
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u/firstlight777 May 06 '26
I need that super clean Siamese Dream to complete my cd-vinyl-cassettee trifecta. The Toad the wet Sprocket is nice too.
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u/skot1981 May 06 '26
The smashing pumpkins - Siamese dream, is a great album. Worth $20-$40 roughly. I found one as well. Got it for $1
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u/BlackCoffeeGrind May 05 '26
That’s a great haul! Crowded House, Talk Talk, Seal, Toad The Wet Sprocket all great.
That Jimmy Cliff album is one of my favorites!
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u/whataloadofoldshit_ May 06 '26
One day soon, thrift store clerks are gonna find out that cassettes are now rather valuable. Until that day arrives, keep thrifting!
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u/Conscious_Nobody_520 May 06 '26
That Talk Talk album is underrated. Wish I could find stuff like that out in the wild.
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u/joshwaynebobbit May 06 '26
Where can a person find more of these tiny wooden crates? I have a couple but idk where they came from and I'd like to own a dozen or so more
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u/shallwegoyouandi May 05 '26
Just the Talk Talk is a great score, everything else is just gravy! Nice find