Just wondering if there's any value in tape recorders? A search of the forum revealed almost nothing.

I've got about half a dozen of them, and find that it's the rubber parts that give most problems.

Thinking about it, I've probably been a bad boy for not checking out capacitors and so on, but in every case I've found the electronics to be fine, it's the moving parts that play up.

With the current move against all forms of magnetic media, perhaps someone has a tape recorder collection to show, or maybe a bunch of tapes?

I still have the Teac X-10R that I bought in 1980. I've kept it because it cost me $999 which equated to 6 months rent at the time (and is around $4,100 in today's money). It's had its power supply electros replaced once. I power it up monthly to keep the electronics "wet". The reels and capstan are directly driven.

There are people around the planet with very large tape deck collections, with some brands and models highly sought after.

I love the old reel to reel's, I want to get one some day, apparently the tapes are still available. I'd love to find a 4 track reversible one and use it for multi-track recording. The early Beatles records were recorded on a 4 track reel to reel, they still are apparently very expensive.