MIT Flea Market

Wow, this was definitely an interesting flea market. I don’t know exactly what I expected, but my nerdy friends were awfully excited for the Enigma Machine. If I knew what that meant, maybe I would be excited too, but mostly I walked around trying to see if there was anything that might be useful to me and my crafting needs. I definitely found some cool stuff and walked out of there with a cute vintage travel clock and some other random things. Overall it was pretty fun I would say, but I am someone who likes Flea markets and poking through things to see if I can transform them into something. If you are not like that, AND you don’t like strange electrical things that you have no idea how to use, then maybe this place is not for you. Also it costs $ 6 bucks, which kinda sucked, but given that I got some good deals on things I totally didn’t need, I guess it was worth the price to pay.

This was neat. It’s less junky than your typical flea market and extra cool because you can get electronics real cheap. We left with a super-​computer that was 8-​core and had 12 gigs of RAM for under $ 400. We also got a super old camera, complete with case and kit for only $ 25 bucks, a color laser printer for $ 30 bucks and some neat old stamps too. I was hoping for more MIT students trying to sell their inventions, but hey, it was a ton of fun and we saw a lot of neat stuff.

There are a lot of reasons to go to the MIT flea market, one of the best being that when your friends invite you to Sunday brunch, you can decline, stating, «I’d love to, but I’m going to the MIT flea market tomorrow.» After which, their eyes will widen as they imagine you roaming the aisles filling your cart with all the parts you need to build Baby’s First Fusion Reactor. Being a flea market, you never know what you’re going to find, and the first one of the year usually stinks. A variety of cheap (some in price, others in quality) PC components invariably abounds, but there’s more interesting stuff too. I’ve come across some excellent deals on assorted electronic parts and various small tools, and if you’re the sort of person whose ears perk up at the idea of a «MIT flea market,» then it’s definitely worth a visit at least once.