Picked These Up Off FB Marketplace for $40 , (unusual story from previous owner)
Posted by Verryfastdoggo@reddit | aviation | View on Reddit | 41 comments
Back story on these:
I bought them from a guy who looked very well off, probably in his 60s, driving a brand new Corvette. When I asked where he got them, he said Edwards Air Force Base. He told me they were given to him by a tenant.
When I said, “Tenant?” he kind of puffed his chest out and started talking about how he owned a good bit of real estate around the base and rented to some of the pilots and higher-ups there. He said someone working there gifted these to him and mentioned they might be worth something.
Then he told me he was late for his “board meeting” at the local small-town airport and took off in his Corvette.
You know the type lol.
At the time, I figured he was completely full of it and just trying to sound important. I didn’t think much of it. Honestly, I still would’ve bought them even if he had said, “Yeah, these are fake.”
Today I was looking at them again, and my curiosity got the better of me, so I figured I’d post them and see if any story or history comes out of it.
Either way, I still think they’re awesome.
.
Isgrimnur@reddit
Do the backs say Wing Stop?
L0stAlbatr0ss@reddit
I instantly recognized these and could smell the grease…
fleshie@reddit
Ah yes, the ol' facebook marketplace seller story of "these are very old, rare, and valuable".
Hope you didn't pay too much for these, either way they are kind of cool.
14Three8@reddit
Same way that every aircraft on the secondhand market was always hangared, every gun on the secondhand market is never fired new in box, every car on the secondhand market is mechanic owned.
Verryfastdoggo@reddit (OP)
He could have told me they were from a sweatshop in China. I still would have gotten them.
He was a weird guy. This is hilarious part of the story I didn’t mention. In the post but when I met this dude on the side of the street. And he pulled up in his sweet car. He popped the trunk and said “$40” then showed me a rack of ribs. Then mentioned some local grocery store does half off on ribs if the packaging is damaged. I just looked at him confused as to what he thought we were there for. 🤣
Then proceeded to get the drawings out of the passenger seat and start his story. Anyways, I’ll still enjoy them.
ManifestDestinysChld@reddit
Oh dude, you passed on trunk ribs?!? You got got twice today, my friend.
Verryfastdoggo@reddit (OP)
That was the thing, he wasn’t offering. Just showing off his corvette ribs. This was a flex.
John_the_Piper@reddit
That buying experience alone was worth the $40.
I've had way more fun buying things off marketplace than I did during the Craigslist days.
TheAgedProfessor@reddit
"... But I'll let 'em go for just $40... because I like you, kid"
hegykc@reddit
Damn, I just tell people I make mine in my garage. That's probably why I don't have a Corvette.
JadedAF@reddit
Google the patent numbers
smackfu@reddit
So people realized that you could take patent drawings for famous things like Lego blocks, frame them, and sell them to fans at craft fairs and flea markets.
Then other people realized that you could just make up fake patent drawings for stuff that didn’t have actual patents, and sell them to different people.
That’s what you have there.
Verryfastdoggo@reddit (OP)
I was prepared for this answer. It was more so the appearance of the guy who sold them to me.
Even if there .0001% chance he was telling the truth I had to post and ask.
anon9276366637010@reddit
Typical boomer/genX type who claim to have hugely successful mysterious background yet firmly believe some hokus pokus shit someone told them at a flea market in 1993.
He definitely didn’t get them at Edwards AFB and the board meeting might have been him eating some fast food to wash down his medication in the leased corvette.
I suspect I’ll encounter this exact person driving an uber later tonight and explaining he’s actually a billionaire and just doing uber for fun.
There’s a fucking blueprint for these people.
neverbadnews@reddit
Know a few of these flee market hokus pokus types. The pattern fits. Definately a framed fake fucking blueprint out there for all of them.
Trickysparrow1@reddit
Typical poor ass gen A. who has to drive uber to make money, and still feel superior.
michigander_1994@reddit
You’re telling me the old guy in the polo and jean shorts didn’t discover some secret early pencil sketches of the B2 bomber?
ABoutDeSouffle@reddit
With the advent of AI, this sector of the economy is going to go wild.
ManifestDestinysChld@reddit
I am nonetheless prepared to believe that, if there is indeed a patent for the exhaust manifold of a B-2, the accompanying illustrations are blank and entirely devoid of details.
meesersloth@reddit
And I’d pay
xtankx@reddit
Haha indeed. If you look up the patent number on the A-10, you get a “coating application system for high voltage terminals and areas therearound and method”
2bbknack@reddit
My sister got me some of these for Christmas one year. I have the exact same copies that you have. She got them from amazon
Rodmfingsterling@reddit
I’m wet
PandaPhishes@reddit
They do look cool but they definitely aren't originals. If you look at the "stains" they're all exactly the same. Still cool looking and would definitely have them up for decorations though.
eruditeimbecile@reddit
AI generated slop.
Kerberos42@reddit
Shit, somebody patented the stealth bomber? Well back to the drawing board then for my super secret squirrel plane.
thetiredtypist@reddit
Here's one of the parents surprised they went through the trouble of reorganizing the text when it'd be cooler to print the original as-is on some paper and weather a bit like a frake prop for a movie and it'd probably cost 45¢
Verryfastdoggo@reddit (OP)
Ha! O well I paid for frames I guess.
OverDrawnRook68@reddit
Always love seeing the B-2, my uncle was in the Air Force and later on the design team as he had the clearances, we didn’t find out till after he passed as he couldn’t talk much about it.
altaccountidc2@reddit
Wow bizarre old man story and trunk ribs to hit the flex that’s worth 40 dollars never mind the posters
fake_jeans_susan@reddit
I worked at Edwards for a bit and I will say the enthusiasm for aviation is contagious once you're out there. It's perfectly possible his story of how he acquired these is true even if they're not worth anything. If you're working with a cool aircraft it's reasonable to want to decorate with memorabilia related to it even if the decor is not "legitimate"
Verryfastdoggo@reddit (OP)
Antique roadshow here I come!
Ohsostoked@reddit
"If you'll excuse me I'm running late to my very important board meeting at the business factory" lol
Verryfastdoggo@reddit (OP)
Whole experience was so over the top. Just on the side of the road. He also sped off like a madman. He was a in a sweet ass Z06. Kind of fitting he was in the cheapest really fast car. Dude loves a deal.
I know this story is growing, I left these details out because I figured people would think I was full of shit.
RandoorRandolfs@reddit
Ive got some of these fakes as well for my kids room.
Still cool!
RichardThund3r@reddit
$40 buck? Dang!
Subwaynzz@reddit
You can get these on Etsy
Verryfastdoggo@reddit (OP)
I know lol. People should laugh at me. I literally had the thought “maybe some retired pilot saw these hanging on a wall there”
99% chance these are from China or something
Redditnspiredcook@reddit
Can’t help, but this popping up reminds me of a few months back when everyone’s algorithms were trying to teach us how to fly Hawks, F-16s, and A-10. Guess we need the schematics and wiring diagrams too.
Sixguns1977@reddit
You just need that chair from Battleield Earth and then you can fly an A-10, easy peasy.
Brushdragger9000@reddit
You can buy these prints online