What crazy cheap items today used to be worth a fortune?

[Joe_Mahma]

@zenith

It’s possible that the list price of that VCR was $400, but lots of places actually sold them for $300 or less. I myself bought a “$400 value” VCR that year that actually cost me $299 and came with coupons from one video store good for 10 free rentals and 20 coupon freebies from another. IIRC, they also tossed in a couple of blank tapes ( those used to go for $5.99 back then!!).

What I miss most about the old machines was the full-function front panel as most modern machines have most functions in the remote ONLY and thus a lost/broken remote means a “universal” that really isn’t or an eBay search for a used original.

When the remote for my JVC VCR broke last year, I was able to get a new one directly from JVC for $50 or so. More money than a universal remote, but it has full functionality.

My first VCR was a Panasonic bought in 1980 for $995.
(edited for those dang spelling errors)

[JimmyFlair]

@beowulff

Rubies.

They used to be precious gems. Now I can buy a 1/4" perfectly spherical ruby (a miracle in itself) for $16.50": http://www.edmundoptics.com/onlinecatalog/displayproduct.cfm?productID=2050&search=1

I have never seen those before - what kind of application requires a ruby sphere?

[Ragiel]

@ralph124c

In the 1880’s amethyst stones (purple quartz) were as costly as diamonds. then huge deposits were found in Minas Gerais (Brazil). Within a few years amethysts were cheap-today, maybe $10/karat for exceptional stones.

The diamond market also took a heavy hit at the same time, with the discovery of lots of diamonds, many large and beautiful ones. Jewel merchants quickly started to say that Brazilian stones were softer and off-colored compared to classic Indian stones, which was hogwash. The Portuguese who colonized Brazil simply shipped diamonds to the Portuguese colony on Goa, off the coast of India, where the stones acquired “Indian” pedigrees.

Diamonds didn’t become actually cheap, but starting within a few years you can start to see portraits of wealthy women wearing diamond jewelry, where before it was shown only on powerful, and rich, monarchs.

The discovery of the South African mines should have knocked most diamonds out of the “precious” category for good. Prices were preserved by hoarding and stringent rationing. With a whole lot more hogwash poured on once again.

Today, a small imperfect diamond, a treasure to a Renaissance prince, costs a few bucks wholesale, less if the seller has a bad day on eBay

[samclem]

@Cisco

Are you sure it was 1984? We got our first VCR in 1984 - big clunky silver thing, must’ve weighed about 300 pounds - it had a wireless remote with every button except eject. We had it up until the early/mid-'90s. I seriously doubt my parents had $400 at the time or would’ve spent it on a VCR if they did.

My parents taped all the movies we had off of tv because, like someone else said, to actually buy one in the store was absurdly expensive.

Yep. A Sony cost about that in that year.

[samclem]

@beowulff

Rubies.

They used to be precious gems. Now I can buy a 1/4" perfectly spherical ruby (a miracle in itself) for $16.50": http://www.edmundoptics.com/onlinecatalog/displayproduct.cfm?productID=2050&search=1

This is, of course, a synthetic. Not that you can’t buy diamonds and “precious” gems rather cheaply today. Since the cutting and faceting of gems is labor intensive, and the cost of doing this overseas is so cheap, the wholesale price of such things is ridiculously cheap compared to earlier times.

[Yorikke]

Speaking of VCRs, how about DVD players? I worked at a video store just as the initial adoption of DVD was starting. The store owner bought a DVD player very early - would’ve been maybe 1996, not sure exactly. It was something like $850. My wife just got one as a gift. It was less than $50, and it’s a name brand (Sony).

Joe

[beowulff]

@JimmyFlair

I have never seen those before - what kind of application requires a ruby sphere?

They are useful when coupling the output of fiber optics. Remember that the focusing properties of a lens is purely determined by the curved surfaces, so a ball lens is just a special case of a convex lens.