6. Where can I buy 8-track tapes and players?
Description
This article is from the 8-track Tapes FAQ, by Malcolm Riviera malco@interpath.com with numerous contributions by others.
6. Where can I buy 8-track tapes and players?
The only retail outlets that still sell new 8-tracks are truck stops in the
mid-west and the west, but they're mostly country music titles (see
answer #3). However, I did find a still-sealed Blue Oyster Cult track
at a truck stop in Texas in 1993! The only sources that remain for
tapes and players are the usual: yard sales, estate sales, auctions,
flea markets, thrift stores, etc. Also, let all your friends know (no
matter how embarrassing) that you're collecting 8-tracks, and the word
will get out. People will suddenly start giving you 8-tracks and
players that they find in their basement, their parents' attic, etc.
Run ads in the local paper; strike a deal with local thrift stores or
flea markets telling them that you'd like to have first dibs on 8-track
goodies; go to junk yards and look in '60 and '70s cars for still intact
car players (also, a lot of junk yards pull the players out of the cars
and offer them for sale separately). Also, use the Internet! Put the
word out on alt.collecting.8-track-tapes, or run a free ad on the
"8-Track Heaven" web page in the Classified Ads section
(http://pobox.com/~abbot/8track/) and check out the dealers' page
there as well.
And since Radio Shack (the last bastion of 8-track wares) dropped
8-track players from their catalogs a few years back, there is no
commercial source for 8-track tape players. For years, rumors have
floated around the 8-track community that vast warehouses of Radio Shack
8-track equipment sit quietly, somewhere, waiting for a well planned
8-track commando raid...
If you're lucky enough to live in New York City, though, Canal Street's
many offbeat shops sometimes turn up new, in-the-box 8-track players.
Otherwise, the above mentioned places apply.
Finally, check the back pages of 8-Track Mind magazine for current
listings of dealers that may have tapes and/or players for sale. Happy
hunting!
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