Goodwill watches - either a watch guy died, got divorced or is about to get divorced.

LeeH · 10-11-2012, 10:53 PM

Was visiting my local Goodwill today when I saw the jewelry lady come out of the back room with a box of watches. I did a double take when I thought I saw a rare Seiko among the watches. I followed her to the jewelry counter and was shocked to find the exact watch I thought I had seen... plus a few others among the used up crud.

There were two Casio G-Shocks - both solar powered and auto-atomic setting, a Citizen Eco-Drive Aqualand Titanium diver's watch, and the one I'd seen through the box, a Seiko H601-5480 aka the "Arnie." The Seiko was worn by Schwarzenegger in a few movies in the 1980s earning it the nickname, "The Arnold" or "Arnie." One just like it, but not nearly as nice as mine just old on Ebay for $450. The Citizen should be worth even more. My price for all four... $54!

Like my title said, I figure either a watch guy just died, just got divorced, or is about to get divorced!

Paco Anton · Paco Anton's Garage

Lee. If you want to part with the one on the left, I'd be very interested.

It is a nice find indeed!!!

MMiller · 10-12-2012, 05:08 AM

That's an awesome deal...well done!

widgeon13 · 10-12-2012, 07:07 AM

Cool. I didn't know GW had that kind of stuff. Do they all work?

Great find.

Zeke · 10-12-2012, 09:30 AM

As they like to say over on the Garage Journal, "You suck."

It's meant in a congratulatory way.

VincentVega · 10-12-2012, 09:34 AM

Good score. I've been looking for a diver like that.

vash · vash's Garage

my GW store is not like your GW store.

i am not convinced i can find matching shoes at mine..

nice find.

scottmandue · 10-12-2012, 01:35 PM

Wow... nice find... I would kill for the "Arnold" (I collect Seiko's).

Wife would ill me if I got another watch... but if you would want to trade...

Zeke · 10-12-2012, 01:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vash

my GW store is not like your GW store.

i am not convinced i can find matching shoes at mine..

nice find.

No doubt. I've heard that the GW in places like OR can be a gold mine. This from an OR native living here. Her brother is still finding outrages deals. SoCal is PICKED over. Too many "vintage" clothing stores. Hell, they have them in malls now.

LeeH · 10-12-2012, 04:43 PM

Well, the G-shock on the top right was just returned. It seemed to have some issue with the analog section. The digital worked fine - picked up the atomic clock, set itself, but the analog hands wouldn't adjust automatically or manually. They ran, but the time was a random number. But that's okay. Can't complain.

The Arnie is really in amazing condition. I just put in a new battery and it fired right up. Too bad it didn't come with the original strap. The Citizen charged up and is also keeping good time. 3 out of 4 is pretty good.

Yes, our Goodwill is pretty unique in the quality of goods that show up. I can walk into any room in our house and point out the stuff I've picked up there. The key to Goodwill is to figure out their schedule and be there when they roll out the new merchandise. The people who show up half an hour after the merchandise carts have rolled think our Goodwill has nothing but junk, too. The good stuff doesn't last.

I'll probably run all three of these watches on Ebay. If anybody is interested in any of these, shoot me a PM. Considering how much I'll pay Ebay and Paypal for the pleasure of using their services, I can offer a pretty good discount from the expected Ebay selling price.

redstrosekNic · redstrosekNic's Garage

Cool finds! I am always hoping to find something cool at the Salvation Army near me!

LeeH · 10-13-2012, 12:28 AM

Paco... here's your watch - Casio Aviator - GW2500:

Scott... here's your watch - Seiko H601-5480, aka The Arnold (I still can't get over how nice this is for its age!):

VincentVega... here's your watch - Citizen Aqualand Eco-Drive Titanium:

Por_sha911 · Por_sha911's Garage

Great score. Congrats. Knowing what you do about the value of those pieces, I'm hoping that you made an extra donation to Goodwill (a non-profit organization that helps out the less fortunate) and raised the class average of humanity a little.

Tobra · Tobra's Garage

Just what I was thinking Joe

Goodwill does a lot of good stuff, won't hurt your karma a bit to shoot them some dough Lee. Not a watch guy, but those are pretty sweet.

bell · bell's Garage

I recently scored a set of 2 way radios at my local gw, still in the box.......threw them on Ebay and made a mint :-)

LeeH · 10-13-2012, 04:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tobra

Just what I was thinking Joe

Goodwill does a lot of good stuff, won't hurt your karma a bit to shoot them some dough Lee. Not a watch guy, but those are pretty sweet.

I'm comfy with the balance in my Karma bank.

Goodwill's main focus is helping people with barriers to employment find jobs. I support that mission by spending lots of money there and donating plenty of my own stuff there.

Tobra · Tobra's Garage

cool, you got it covered, I give them a lot of stuff

buy a lot of loaner crutches there, got a wheelchair I gave to a patient there too.

azasadny · azasadny's Garage

Great find! All the Goodwill stores around me have are Beanie Babies!

jyl · jyl's Garage

GW stores in Portland are fairly picked over. They have nice stuff, clothes and whatnot, but the sweet deals are gone. There are a huge number of vintage stores and the awareness of that kind of stuff is high. I've never seen a really good watch deal in a local GW store.

Quote:

Quote de vash

my GW store is not like your GW store.

i am not convinced i can find matching shoes at mine..

nice find.

No doubt. I've heard that the GW in places like OR can be a gold mine. This from an OR native living here. Her brother is still finding outrages deals. SoCal is PICKED over. Too many "vintage" clothing stores. Hell, they have them in malls now.

VincentVega · 10-14-2012, 05:53 PM

Thanks for the photo's, great score.