Music lovers - I need your help!

Is the top right one John Bonham from Led Zeplin. Would be the year of his death. I just googled his autograph and there are similarities in character formation.

Would also make sense having the autograph on a symbol as he was drummer.

I'll give you 50 bucks for it

I just spent 30 mins trying to find out who played on 1.12.1990 at the PNE. I can't actually find anything that happened on that date.

I don’t know about PNE, but 1/12/1990 was quite something for a Bob Dylan concert. He played a show at Toad’s Place that lasted for 50 songs and almost 7 hours. He was rumored to be a tad drunk. There is a tape of the show that circulates.

I tried AI and it said Motley Crue played there that day. But I checked a Motley Crue fan page that lists all their tours and they weren’t there that day.

I cross-posted this on a Reddit forum for identifying autographs and some are guessing it’s Eric Carr along the outside (former KISS drummer and played with Motley Crue a bit). If that’s the case, I would guess that maybe they had a signing event or something at PNE on 1-12-90 but I don’t know.

That’s what I’m thinking (and hoping) and what some others have speculated. That would be great if it is!

I'm less interested in the autographs and more interested in the fact that you bought a storage locker. Is that something that you do on the reg? Like, you out and bid against Darrell and that German guy?

I do it on occasion. I used to go before the show came out and would get units super cheap. Then the dumb show hit and prices went through the roof.

I’ll tell ya, prices are back down now that the fad has ended. I highly recommend going to local ones or bidding in online ones if you like a treasure hunt, don’t mind dust, and don’t mind a little elbow grease lugging most things to the dump.

I liked how they used to cook the contents of the lockers on that show (probably still do but haven't watched it in years). I remember LOLing at the binder of Magic cards and lo and behold there is a Black Lotus front and center on the first page. What a coincidence!

I actually wouldn't mind taking a crack at one of those things for the gamba, but we are trying to de-clutter, not potentially add more crap

Yeah, they totally seeded the lockers. Honestly, I’ve been pretty lucky to pick out good ones so I would say I have about a 25% chance of hitting a home run on them. Other times, I might make a couple hundred bucks. Maybe 20% of the time, I end up losing money and just making dump runs.

But the treasure hunt is the fun part. I didn’t even know these cymbals were in this one when I bought it. They had some massive half stack speakers and speaker cabinets for concerts and nobody else was bidding so I got it for a steal. These cymbals make it probably my second best find to date.

Best find was a solid silver professional saxophone in a unit. The sax retails knew for around $12,000 and I can get probably $7,000 for my used one. Haven’t decided to sell it yet.

How do you get rid of the run-of-the-mill crap that has some value but isn't a home run. For example, assume that you bought a storage unit, and among other things, it contained a used socket set with all the pieces, an old weight bench, and ten clay flowerpots in good condition. Are you selling that stuff on ebay?

Some of it would be on eBay but the other stuff I either ask my neighbors if they want it and/or donate to a local charity thrift store.

What's the typical price range on buying the contents of a storage unit?

It varies significantly. Obviously, the more potential bidders, the higher the price. I always try to find low turnout sales if they are in-person and lesser known sites for online ones.

Then it depends on what is blatantly obvious to be seen. Large tool chests tend to jack the price way up. Beds and mattresses will bring it down. A visible safe makes it go through the roof.

Dusty/cobweb units are better because it means the owner didn’t recently return to remove any valuables inside.

Trash bags of belongings indicate the person either didn’t have much money or didn’t particularly care about what they owned. Whereas a locker with nice plastic totes or even boxes neatly stacked tends to indicate quality.

One can also look at any furnishing in the locker to determine potential quality of other items. Solid wood furnishings that are wrapped in plastic and cared for indicate better quality than particle board IKEA stuff.

I’ve seen a locker with hundreds of neatly stacked clear plastic boxes filled with vintage Nikes sell for $20,000. Other lockers that have nothing but trash piles won’t even sell for a buck.

The one where I found the solid silver saxophone, I paid $100.

The one I just got with the autographed cymbals and giant speakers/amps - I got for a buck.

I would say the average price for a typical unit is probably between $100-300.

Are you obligated to clean the unit when done or just haul the loot and junk out of there?

You have to have it clean. I usually bring a broom and sweep it out completely. You usually pay a cleaning deposit of $100-150 and you get it back once they check and see it’s cleaned out.

Some will pay the cleaning deposit then not bother cleaning it out and lose their deposit. Maybe if it’s filled with mattresses or other heavy stuff that needs to go to the dump. But then you get blackballed from future auctions so it’s not just the deposit you miss out on but future sales, too.

Oh so the units are open. How close can you get? Can you put a camera on a selfie stick and reach in?

If it’s online, they take pictures and that’s all you get to see. For the live ones, they cut the lock and open them in front of you. You can’t go in and you’re not supposed to reach in so I don’t think the selfie stick would be allowed.

pretty cool find

I know a guy who treasure hunted lockers for a few years as a side business, he and his partner were big enough that they got invited to the show but allegedly declined to participate

their best find was a fully functional Enigma machine that they sold for $70K

they made a few bucks overall but ultimately decided it wasn't worth their time to do it for profit

That’s awesome! Yeah, when I was putting in more spare time doing it, I was making an extra $3,000/month on average.

For just a side gig for some extra cash and fun, not too shabby. And you never know if you’ll find a $70,000 enigma machine!

Damn that sounds like fun. Only thing I'd be a little afraid of is coming across the ex-mother-in-law wrapped in plastic.

wow

Wouldn't they need to find another one to be able to use that one?