cheap things that are unbelievably well made. (sell, items, old)

[MMTWGA]

Ever bought some cheap thing and it was way better than you expected. So good that people noticed and when they quit making it the price spiked on ebay or its hard to find? Or a knock off that is so good they knock off the kockoff? Post your item here.

The Hero 616 pen. This is a Chinese knock off of the Parker fountain pen. Its not made to be a fake but a copy. The pen is so good and cheap about 2 bucks, the Chinese knock off the knock off. You have to be careful buying one on ebay and only from one individual to know you are getting an actual Hero 616.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVWOPOF7ZPA

The Timex Indiglo travel clock. This little clock sold for around 9 bucks in the late 90s. Its no longer made but if and when you find one on ebay that is not broken, it sells for around 20 bucks.

[Brian_M]

Still have that alarm clock sitting on my bedside stand, battery cover has to be held on with tape now.


I'm thinking now, can't really come up with anything but I'll edit should something come to mind.

[MMTWGA]

Originally Posted by Brian_M

Still have that alarm clock sitting on my bedside stand, battery cover has to be held on with tape now.


I'm thinking now, can't really come up with anything but I'll edit should something come to mind.

My wife has one she loves, the glo does not work clock works great. She has had it for 20 years.

[tickyul]

Static hard-drives.

I bought a 100Gb static-drive for $40 to put into my cheapy laptop. The performance improvement with a static-drive is truly impressive.....startup, searching, reliability, shut-down, program-speed. Have had this drive for a couple of years now, no problems at all.

[stepka]

30 years ago I bought a gym bag from Aldi for $10 and figured it would be good for a year or two. It’s still my go-to bag for overnight trips and I have used it a lot. Recently I was downsizing and the bag is getting a bit raggedy looking but I couldn’t bring myself to part with it.

[jacqueg]

Originally Posted by stepka

30 years ago I bought a gym bag from Aldi for $10 and figured it would be good for a year or two. It’s still my go-to bag for overnight trips and I have used it a lot. Recently I was downsizing and the bag is getting a bit raggedy looking but I couldn’t bring myself to part with it.

The nice thing about fabric items? They can be fixed.

You can do it yourself or take it to a tent maker. Presto, good for another 30 years.

[GeorgiaTransplant]

I admit it’s not ‘cheap’, but it wasn’t expensive. Targus backpack. That thing lasted FOREVER, close to 16 years of hard, nearly daily use-and I bought it for 65 bucks in 2001.

[JONOV]

There were Reproduction Parker shotguns, made in Japan but with modern steel, that were so good that the parts were totally interchangeable.

I had a bargain-bin knife that held an edge, never broke, never rusted, for a long time til it met its demise under a duck blind.

[ukrkoz]

I have large screwdriver from Dollar Store. Bought in 1994. Still doing well. I use my tools routinely, it's been around many jobs.

[Bill790]

Originally Posted by JONOV

I had a bargain-bin knife that held an edge, never broke, never rusted, for a long time til it met its demise under a duck blind.

Sounds like a story there...please do tell!

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