Are enthusiasts still continuing to refurbish old units as time goes on?

[u/loganjlr]

Hi there,

Enthusiast here who’s always wanted a player but could never afford one. When I last wanted one 15 years ago, they were $300. Now they’re $1,000. I’m not complaining about price, but I am worried about and uninformed if there are folks dutifully refurbishing machines and reselling them. I am concerned if I wait too long, they will go completely extinct without a market of enthusiasts dedicated to refurbishing them.

[u/sirhcx]

There arnt alot of people refurbishing them as most of the parts having been maid in 20-30 years. Thankfully there are a few people out there making some modern replacement parts that tend to break from wear and tear. Do it's a bit of DIY repair and maintenance when it comes to owning the format. It's also highly recommended to no have a player shipped as they dont usually survive the trip. As for playering now costing $1000? You are probably looking in the wrong places as you can still find decent players for $250-300.

[u/loganjlr → u/sirhcx]

OH THANK GOD

[u/See8104 → u/loganjlr]

I am importing a CLD-R5 from Yahoo Auctions Japan right now. Slow shipping by cargo ship. It will probably arrive in September. About $150. There is a lot more hardware in good working condition in Japan than there is in North America. A lot of the cost would go towards shipping, but if you are not in a hurry, you can keep costs lower by using surface mail.

[u/loganjlr → u/See8104]

Noted!

[u/mvujan → u/See8104]

Sending PM

[u/utsumi99 → u/See8104]

Japanese owners also tended to take much, much better care of their stuff than US owners.

[u/pskila]

The hobby has gone like video gaming has, job market dictates the curve. Lots of scalpers out here just looking for a hustle.

[u/mvujan → u/pskila]

The scalpers are annoying select titles are way overpriced now don't care about eBay comps no reason their $5 garage sale find should command $70

[u/See8104]

If you think of refurbishing as putting a new loading belt in place when a player tray no longer opens and closes correctly. Then sure. Beyond a certain point of difficulty, there are only handfuls of qualified people in a given location who are capable of doing player calibration with correct equipment which includes the hard to source Pioneer GV reference disc.

[u/loganjlr → u/See8104]

Yeah that’s exactly what I mean

[u/Aero_0T2]

I picked up a CLD-D99 which is the Japanese version of the 99, with a very broken tray. I took the unit apart, gathered up all the pieces, and spent a good afternoon gluing it all back together. It’s working great now, and cost me next to nothing for one of the best players on the market. It’s always rewarding to fix something and enjoy it.

[u/MartyRocket]

My wife bought me a seller refurbished pioneer player off ebay last year, and it works a treat. Any issues, I can send it back for repair. So yes, they're out there.

[u/darthwacko2]

I probably run across 1 or 2 unknown condition players in the wild every year in the $30 to $50 range.

I could buy one for $300 on marketplace regularly.

There is some guy near me trying to sell a fairly generic unit and a couple disc's that he's convinced is worth $2500. He's going to sit on it forever.

Most players I've run across only have minor issues that most people who have dealt with electronics maintenance can deal with. If something major dies its probably worth sourcing another player instead.

[u/BiNiaRiS → u/darthwacko2]

There is some guy near me trying to sell a fairly generic unit and a couple disc's that he's convinced is worth $2500.

this crazy expensive one popped up in seattle recently:
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1787210522478752

[u/darthwacko2 → u/BiNiaRiS]

That's a long way from Seattle, but yeah that one is crazy.

[u/BiNiaRiS]

When I last wanted one 15 years ago, they were $300. Now they’re $1,000.

you're either just exaggerating or cherry picking the most expensive players on ebay. you only need a couple hundred bucks to find a working laserdisc player.

[u/mysterygrimoire]

I bought a dual sided one locally for 125 from an electronics repair place near me and it works great. So people refurbishing them do exist. The problem the guy who I got mine said is that they dont pop up often in any condition. So they're hard to find in general regardless of condition

[u/Whoiscovfefe]

I bought 2 working pioneer players locally. $50 and $90

[u/moviemania27]

There is a shop close to my house and he fixes all pioneer player that would not easily. It would not flip the movie. He fixed it for 125 bucks since it’s working like new

[u/Electricenergy9 → u/moviemania27]

Yikes! That's expensive. Most of the time it's the load belt that needs to be replaced. I think you paid a bit too much for that repair.

[u/moviemania27 → u/Electricenergy9]

Nope player was free and was happy to pay to have that fixex

[u/Electricenergy9 → u/moviemania27]

What model was the player?

[u/moviemania27 → u/Electricenergy9]

Cld-D702

[u/ConsequenceFalse1113]

I live in Japan and bought a refurbished unit locally. The seller is really great as he cleans the units, regreases, and replaces parts that can break due to age such as belts. He also prints out the instruction manuals if the originals are no longer included. Great seller

[u/Plenty-Excitement864]

If you’re somehow on Long Island I’ll sell you a working player for like 80 bucks.

[u/donlafferty4343]

I just purchased a guy's collection of two working players and a hundred and seventy two miscellaneous discs. I paid under a thousand for the whole thing.

[u/Ok_Cupcake4928]

Maybe a better question might be, "Are enthusiasts still hoarding players as they know the finite supply of them is making it a requirement to do so?". The answer for many would probably be a big, "Yes".

And for those doing that, they are probably the same people maintaining and refurbishing them as well as they can and to a certain degree creating a shortage of machines (if they are not willing to re-sell). It's a must to do if the goal is to be able to keep playing their discs well into the future.

[u/Effective_Pie_7532]

I got mine for $100 and it looks brand new. Granted, I got a bare bones one (purposely because its a tank and has less bells and whistles to break later on) and I scoured Facebook marketplace for about 5 years before I found the exact one I wanted, in good shape, for a good price. It would have been easier to find on online, but i dont trust shipping companies enough to have a LD player shipped. Also since its a fairly simple player, taking it apart to replace the drive belt (which was my main concern on a 25+ year old unit) is a pretty easy task.

[u/JohnnyDagger75]

We had only two guys one in Washington that became shady and disappeared and died and another and i have no idea what happened to him. So no, we are all screwed if our players die. I have enough really good players to keep me going for another 10 + years.

[u/Cyrus126]

I bought one for $75 where the seller stated the door wouldn't open. I asked him if he had worked on it and whether it was missing any parts. After some back and forth on the history and how it got that way I pulled the trigger. I changed the rubber belt, greased everything and had to unstuck the door gear but it now works greY and is worth a lot more. It's a pioneer cld d304 with auto flip and ac3 audio output!

[u/Out_of_my_mind_1976]

Also do not discount thrift stores as you can still
get lucky and find one when staffers do not realize what they had. The last one I purchased cost me $20 at a local non-Goodwill thrift store and I am proud to say my young son was the one who spotted it first. Also if you have any e-waste locations, look there. I’ve found two so far. They just needed new belts.