You may have heard of the TCF, the Trenton Computer Festival located near Trenton New Jersey. (More info at: http://www.tcf-nj.org) I have been going for at least the past 5-6 years and every year I have a great time. The festival includes talks, seminars, an indoor sales area, and best of all, the mother of all computer flea markets!
Every year there is something a bit different, but you can recognize some sellers from past years. George and Doug are the guys who usually bring a big trailer and have mostly Apple and Mac related items (my favorite stand). They have old wires, cables and software, basically anything Mac. They were selling an older Mac G4 tower and a G3 iMac. Their prices are fair and they give you great deals.
Another man there sells computers after they have had their data destroyed. For the last two years he was selling G4 iMac desktops, but this year he has begun selling G5 iMac systems, only 1 G4 iMac was for sale. He had an awesome vintage Macintosh accessory box which I picked up. I also bought a keyboard and a few cables from him, including a System 7 floppy disk set complete with it’s mini-box.
Indoors the vendors have an area setup, however their prices tend to be more high and strict. It’s harder to haggle with the folks inside so you can’t get the best deals. There was a nice TCF stand setup that gave me a free TCF 1998 hat however, that was fantastic!
The first day the flea market was packed, just like I remember from last year. Plenty of people and plenty of sellers. At one point my friend Todd and I grabbed a bunch of stuff that was free at one table, the guy was going home and didn’t want to take it back with him. Sunday however I arrived late at around 1pm, only two stands remained. This was due to the rain. I picked up an older D-Link G router for $4 which was missing an antenna, the guy mentioned it was his first sale of the day. The indoor vendors were still there, but it was nothing like it was on the sunny day of the 24th.
But for me the TCF is all about the flea market, every year I return and find something new. It’s amazing what things you’ll see, you never know what you may find when digging through a box of cables or parts. I was very happy with my haul this year and I hope to go back next year for some more fun! Photos and video to be posted soon. 🙂
