3DFX Voodoo5 that wasn't meant to be for me

A little bit of a different video. Last year I spotted a 3DFX Voodoo5 that just wasn't meant to be for me.
This video is sponsored by PCBway If you want your circuit board design realised and printed, You should check out www.pcbway.com/ Starting Prices as low as 5$ for a 1 or 2 layer design.

[@robertoXCX]

I hope this Voodoo 5 didn't ruin your passion for retro tech, we miss you!

[@Narayan_1996]

I miss you and your videos, bro... Come back, please... I hope you're well ♥

[@WalnutSpice]

Hope you're okay out there man

[@mirific87]

really hope you'll find the spark to do videos again. thanks for all of these.

[@bjornandersson6991]

Two years ago I put up a listing in my Home country (Sweden) that I wanted to buy retro PC stuff. Then a guy gifted me a box of parts containing among other items a Voodoo 5 5500 and Soundblaster AWE 64 Gold. He refused to take any kind of payment and threatened to throw the items in the bin if I didnt want them. I took the box, so sometimes things that seem too good to be true are in fact true :)

[@tsxownz]

where are you my friend??

[@wiliusundefined8666]

Hey man, I really miss you. I hope you're doing good. Obviously, you don't have to owe anyone a detailed explanation, on why you haven't uploaded for a while, but could you at least post something like "Hey, I'm busy at the moment, so there won't be any upcoming videos for an undisclosed while." in the community tab? Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to harass you, but a little insight on the current state of this channel would be much appreciated. Please don't feel pressured by my comment and take the time you need. If you return making videos again at some point that would be awesome, if not, that's okay too. It's your decision after all. But it'd be nice, if you could tell us about the future of this channel. Thanks in advance.

[@SyxxFtH8]

We miss you, man. Hope everything is okay!

[@oSpecialx]

hope all is well

[@ViciousBiscuit88]

RetroSpector78 where are you? Missing your video's, hope all is well. P.S. greetings from the UK

[@Kspcs909]

Hello, can't wait for new videos, Hope everything Is all right!

[@chrisbekker9698]

Its been more than a year since RetroSpector78 posted a video. Anyone know whats going on?

[@wdd6864]

We need new videos, watching the videos like reruns and really miss the videos

[@Ramdileo_sys]

Hey Dave!!... we miss you man!! 🙋‍♀​.... hope you are okay🥺​

[@coreyoliver3182]

We miss you bro.

[@burntoutelectronics]

Hopefully all is going well, your videos have been an awesome watch!

[@dj-datavirus627mike9]

hope everything is ok looking forward to more videos from you :)

[@RetroPC]

I shot him a message on Twitter. We'll see if he responds! Definitely miss his content. ❤️

[@cooldin]

hey, did you get any response from him?

[@chrisbekker9698]

Did you get any response from him? I'm assuming the worst now. Its like he just vanished into thin air.

[@maxtornogood]

I would hope you got a response. I've seen nothing from him on here or Twitter in over a year now...

[@FabioNicolasSchmidt]

Did you get any response?

[@rodhester2166]

I totally agree with you about once sold it is sold and I keep my word. What is also frustrating is when I have an item listed on ebay, someone outbids other buyers and then backs out after the auction ends. . Then the previous bidders will not bid when the item is relisted because they think it is a scam. ugh..

[@josephlunderville3195]

Not just you, that's basic contract law -- though it might be hard to claim much in the way of damages beyond the money spent. If the card never existed, it's of course also fraud, which might interest the police....

[@pghcoyote]

eBay used to have "second chance" offers. If the top bidder backed out, the seller could offer the item to the next highest bidder rather than relisting it (with the negative reception you mentioned). Back in the day, I was the lucky recipient of a few of these. It looks like this still exists.

[@hbkirb]

@@pghcoyote Definitely still exists. I’ve won a few this way and have had to use them as a seller after having my time wasted by the highest bidder.

[@slimyoyandexru]

I hope you will continue to create new video content!

[@cuttingedgeretro9164]

RETROSPECTOR COME BACK TO US WE NEED YOU

[@ncot_tech]

I wouldn’t have bleeped out their names. If they do this crap to you, they’ll likely do it to others. Reminds me of the mess that is Facebook Marketplace. Makes eBay look professional.

[@diskettenfett3161]

I had given up on eBay a decade ago. These days, I prefer buying from eBay with all the fuss you have with both buyers and sellers on other platforms...

[@ncot_tech]

@@diskettenfett3161 There are some very strange people on Facebook Marketplace. Like, don't be alone when they come to collect stuff weird. I think it's full of the idiots that are either too stupid to work out eBay, or have been banned from it.

[@MrArmadaskier4123]

@@ncot_tech but at the same time, would you not treat fbm like any other classified ad? Sure we live in the days of e-transfers, etc. but the concept hasn’t changed. Cash upon arrival or the deal is off 🤷🏻‍♀️

[@bennewnham3502]

So it’s been about 8 months, does anyone know what’s going on?

[@altbeetle1998]

Hello! I hope you are all right, because there have been no new videos on the channel for a long time

[@maxtornogood]

Are we ever gonna see RetroSpector78 again? Has anyone around here heard from him?

[@CoreyDeWalt]

This video was rated mature, but edited for tv and is now suitable for all audiences.

[@SpookyBytes]

Sometimes you find good people selling and other ones just find people with "lack of morality". I have been scammed twice by online sellers one that sold me a "Working" and 939 mother board and surprise! It didn't work, when I tried to contact him he just blocked my phone number, stop answering from Facebook market place actually he just blocked me from everywhere. The second one was a pair of used foglights for my car, I was on a rush because I needed those for my car's anual inspection and without them the inspection cannot be passed, so I make the mistake to send the money and he didn't send me the foglights, the most stupid deal that I have ever done. But at least I learned. In fact you are right, it is and feels therapeutic. You have my support, great video!

[@jamriki]

You are missed.

[@fabiolhf]

Hope you come back soon

[@haansolo6169]

When will be new videos coming?

[@AlejandroRodolfoMendez]

Are you OK? I Miss your videos.

[@daoneTM]

Well at least you got your money back. I "bought" a Roland CM-32l for 150€ in a similar way. Payed the money and it was gone. :( Sad world we live in.

[@AdamChristensen]

It's true. There are absolutely amazing deals to find out there. A while back I posted on a local "freecycling" site that I was looking for old computers. Picked up a 486, Pentium 133 and about 6 boxed games for free. Well, I'm glad you got your money back!

[@mesterak]

I’m glad you got your money back. I almost got taken for $75 from a guy selling GPUs sold as a lot. It didn’t mention all of them but there were some descent ones listed. When I got the box it had around 25 cards in the box but all but 2 were dead cards. There were broken off capacitors floating around in the box. I had to fight for a refund but luckily eBay easily sided with me after seeing the pictures and because the GPUs lot was sold as used not for parts.

[@breakingbadatron8874]

hey, RS, are you still with us? miss your content

[@ran2wild370]

The scariest and creepiest things with this KZbin AI. the guy has vanished quite a long ago but YT still pushes and promotes his videos. Almost like today's (13-06-2023) news about that woman in Ecuador who was recovered alive from a coffin.

[@themaritimegirl]

That's not really scary or creepy. The algorithm doesn't check how often a user posts. I get algorithm'ed stuff posted 15 years ago from channels where that was their only video. He's also only been gone for 10 months, so hopefully he's okay and just busy.

[@ran2wild370]

@@themaritimegirl YT from the fun to creepiness in so many years. I am not sure he's OK over there, but this channel was a great job done for those who missed the most stormy 90s in technology.

[@retropcdurham]

For ebay listings the sell wizard has an option to pick info from other listings, which includes images. This way the seller can skip adding specs and pictures.

[@BilisNegra]

What's more, if you happen to have the product's package you can scan the barcode using the mobile app and it will fill in a good deal of info for you.

[@STEVEO779]

Hi, like your videos….have you stopped making them or just taking a break?

[@keith303]

would love to see some new content, hope you're doing well!

[@UncleAwesomeRetro]

What a horrible experience! Thank you for making this video. I didn't think about searching for images.

[@maxtornogood]

It's been a little while since your last clip. I hope you're still out there keeping well!

[@dstter]

Hi RetroSpector78, are you okay? Please send news. Miss your videos

[@maxtornogood]

I haven't heard anything from him on here or Twitter in months, I hope he's still alive!

[@xephorce]

this is why i find it hard to sale some of my retro tech i have. I sold a retro sound card. It was a popular card for retro gaming. It worked 100%. I tested it for weeks before selling it. it was in fact from my old retro rig. So to the point, Card sales and everything seems fine, then after a few weeks I get a claim that the card isn't working. then the money is ripped from my account refunded and i am left with no card to verify that its broken and no money. it's a shady scam that has just caused me to close my vault of old tech. what has happened to honor in this world?

[@dorfschmidt4833]

Sounds like eBay, that's why I don't sell anything on eBay anymore since the new regulation that favours buyers.

[@FabioNicolasSchmidt]

Where are you my friend...

[@sunderark]

RIP channel.

[@chrisbekker9698]

Yeah RIP.

[@wishusknight3009]

This happened to me as well when going to get an Amiga that was literally 10 minutes drive. I was the first to respond and told him I would bring cash that very moment. And when I asked for an address he seemed to ghost me.... About an hour later he responded to me and said he got a message from someone asking for a few pictures and was willing to pay substantially more if it had what he suspected it had. Given that the amiga did have said upgrades, the other person offered him something crazy like $1500 for it. So he grabbed it. Which led to the guy being really apologetic to me and asking if he could have my email for transfer and he would give me some money for my time. As he stated he was a man of his word and such, but he was also a little hard up for some money. He sent me $100 and told me that he felt bad breaking a deal. And told him to not be as he made out pretty good. And I felt like I would have been ripping him off had I seen the upgrades upon picking it up.

[@diskettenfett3161]

It is really not fun anymore to buy or sell stuff. Dozens of ways to get scammed, it has gotten so bad… I remember the good times when I didn’t have a single bad buying or selling experience in years. These days you have to be so suspicious of every single transaction that it isn’t fun anymore. 😞

[@JoeyRivers]

I too have been missing this channel and wondering why the sudden silence from him after this video. An observation I made is that this video although released last actually appears to predate heaps of previous videos. If you look at some of the dates shown in various listings it appears to have taken place around July 2021. The video released prior to this one has a comment from him 5 months ago. So it appears he released the Voodoo 5 video about one year after the events within occurred and then no comments nor further videos from him. Very strange.

[@BilisNegra]

Hey people out there, does anybody know what's up with this channel? I'm seriously concerned as there's been no new content or update since last summer. Hope nothing's wrong with our friend.

[@fgaviator]

There's recent activity on one of his real-life/day-job "social media" accounts and I'm 99% sure that's him. So hopefully he is just having a temporary break. Maybe just "wife issues" after buying too much retro gear and spending too much time in the basement...

[@ran2wild370]

@@fgaviator well, that's something strange.

[@maxtornogood]

@@fgaviator That's interesting to hear as he hadn't given any clear indication of going on an indefinite hiatus. Would be good to hear from him directly.

[@JohnSmith-iu8cj]

@@fgaviator can you post a link to that account? You are the only source with that kind of information

[@klocugh12]

Great storytelling and investigative work there!

[@msthalamus2172]

Long time since your last video now. Taking a long break, or..?

[@itstheweirdguy]

I used to have one....I wish I would have kept it! I don't even remember who I gave it to.

[@MrArmadaskier4123]

Pls come back 💔

[@ran2wild370]

RetroSpector are you alive over there???

[@PixelPipes]

At least you got your money back, so it's not a TOTAL scam. But this is pretty shady. What's worse is people are profiting and potentially scamming people based on the popularity of 3dfx products (and retro PC parts in general). It really tarnishes the enjoyment of the hobby, and it's not an easy or cheap hobby to begin with.

[@MarcoGPUtuber]

This GPU may have not been meant for you, but this channel is definitely meant for me :P

[@matthewplehn4271]

to bad he refuses to make any more videos

[@sergiobisonte]

i also had one of those cards back them... cause it was not keeping with newer games back in the day, I sold it for 10€ or 15€... if i only knew...

[@laurencejohnson4106]

I'm glad to hear that you got your money back!

[@airfixer9461]

Jeeeeez..that's a bummer indeed......I can understand your disappointment ...lucky you got your money back.... Reminds me to be more vigilant when I go on that site here in Belgium...especially when browsing for vintage stuff....thx for sharing the experience !

[@FabioNicolasSchmidt]

I'm missing your videos

[@tigheklory]

In the USA if you send a money order and the person doesn't send you the item you purchased it's considered mail fraud with pretty serious penalties.

[@jinxterx]

The guy maybe just needed some temporary cash and that was an easy way to get it? Obviously he didn't even have the card but as long as he paid you back in a week then he can get away with it again with someone else? Dunno, but yeah, people like that piss me off too. Glad you got your money back and made this video!

[@chrysalide_aero]

Many thanks for the share. Regards It helps light the shadow stuff hiding there around. Will be more careful in the future. This video is a reminder crooks can get discovered, published and backfire. Jean-François

[@SquirrelMonkeyCom]

Wow, so annoying. Takes away the fun of online shopping. I had a comparable experience. I once bought a set of books through eBay. Fixed price. A few days after I had paid, I received a message from the seller. He wanted more money. He no longer agreed with the price he had offered himself. I told him that it was too late for that. After all, I had already paid. He kept asking for more money and portrayed me as some kind of scammer in private messages. I then suggested to him to cancel the purchase and give me a refund. He didn't agree to that. He wanted me to cancel the sale! Since that would make me look like a bad buyer, I didn't agree to it. I told him that it was perhaps better if we asked Ebay to mediate. He didn't want to do that either. He believed it was my fault. I should have known that the price was too low. After that, I contacted the customer's service of Ebay. They asked the seller to respond in a couple of weeks. He didn't. EBay gave me my money back, after a weeks. Since the transaction was canceled, I couldn't leave a review.

[@TheXwigone]

Heb ook met deze beste man te maken gehad, helaas mijn geld kwijt

[@RETROMachines]

Voodoo 5 best 3DFX card ever, where could it be today?

[@Queso305]

1) I always use PayPal (NOT friend/family option) when buying or selling. 2) when selling, I put a piece of paper next to the item with my username on it. When buying, I look for the same or ask for additional pictures. Maybe it's customary to wire money in different countries but I'd honestly rather not give away money with some kind of agreement contract

[@compugamesarg]

I thought that only happened in Argentina.😾💪

[@HeavyD6600]

Sorry to hear it, dude! Thanks for the video.

[@travisjones3615]

Between the scammers and people being flakes, buying and selling online has become a real pain.

[@LellePrinter82]

I hate when people does that. I have one with the original box, and another without the heatsinks (they were missing when I found it). Both are in working condition and both are 64mb cards. I also have 4 different VooDoo 2 cards in my collection, and also one VooDoo 3 2000 pci 16mb.

[@g412bb]

Seems there is no stopping to this guy, same guy just offered it once again.

[@aaldrich1982]

I bought a complete in box, original factory sealed voodoo5 this year. I gotta say, honestly yes it's nice to have but really the desire to own one is kinda "better" than finally owning one.

[@RetroSpector78]

Just ship it over and I’ll solve that problem for ya :)

[@aaldrich1982]

@@RetroSpector78 do you know of RMC / Retro Man Cave? It now lives there with my voodoo 2000, 3000 and 4500 complete in box

[@RetroSpector78]

@@aaldrich1982 was just kidding :) glad it found a nice home !

[@aaldrich1982]

@@RetroSpector78 I got the joke. I think it's good that there are now lots of people who appreciate the old hardware. Though it does mean there are people who are out to make money like the person in your video, it also means that more of the old hardware is being looked after for years to come.

[@Ramdileo_sys]

@@RetroSpector78 wow!!.. what's the deal with this board??!! 😟​... comes with stereo and air conditioner or what 🙃​..... here in my country is only ONE for sale.. as repair/refurbish (not even old stock) and just the board.. no box or manuals anything 🤨​........ and the guy is asking the equivalent of 240 Dollars!!!! 😳​🥶​....... For that money you can get here a current decent laptop.... or even decent used motorcycle!!!! 🤯​....

[@PROSTO4Tabal]

Retrospector still exist ?

[@angieandretti]

Yes, once in a while those too-good-to-be-true deals do work out. Two years ago I came across a 12MB Voodoo2 listed on Amazon only by the code printed on the board. It was $36 with free shipping. Basically I decided I was willing to lose the $36 if it was fake, but it was real and it works! It's a beautiful 12MB STB BlackMagic Voodoo 2, and I have it in a mini retro desktop to this day. But on the other hand, I have also purchased a lot of retro gear over the last three years that ended up being dead. Sometimes it's a gamble... but yeah, this guy's an ass.

[@mealot7613]

Thanks for the warning! Good vid.

[@SanzarBellow]

Had a similar situation happen to me. Made the payment, only to be ghosted for a week, and after much inquiry to learn that the guy had sold the computer to another person. It was like I should be thankful that he refunded me.... And wasn't just a card either.. it was a full computer with CRT!

[@pfloydphanatic]

I recently bought a video capture board off ebay. The auction said it included both half and full height brackets. Only included the half height! Naturally my PC needs the full height bracket. Still waiting to see if I get a refund or he sends the missing part. Really irritating.

[@ljrretropcs]

I once got a boxed voodoo banshee for £35. Snapped it within minutes of it going live on ebay. The next day I woke up to the sale being cancelled and after I checked it was relisted at £250... No contact or anything.. I did have the opposite once where a seller was selling a box of ISA cards and I saw an AWE32 and simply asked if I won could he wrap that card in something just to stop it bashing around with the others. Obviously that made him look into that card more and he saw how much they were selling for. That was when he sent me a message congratulating me on the bargain and that he would pack it well!

[@rodhester2166]

ugh, guess what just happened. I had a pc listed for 165, the bids climbed to 200 and the winner just contacted me and said they could not afford it. I cancelled the customers order but now, from past experience, others will think the item is a scam or there is something wrong with the listing. Just think someone else that bid just under the winning bid will most likely think there is something wrong now and will not bid on it. I think that once someone bids on an item and backs out they should at least be held accountable for 10% of their bid as a penalty. There is no protect for the seller on ebay. I have sold items that worked only to have the returned after the purchaser damaged them. so frustrating.

[@pghcoyote]

Doesn't eBay still allow a seller to offer a "second chance" offer to the next highest bidder? That way, the item doesn't need to be relisted and maligned.

[@rodhester2166]

@@pghcoyote I could not find or did not see a second offer option, they do let you relist at no charge.

[@pghcoyote]

@@rodhester2166 Look up Second Chance Offer or SCO. If winning bidder didn't pay and you cancelled the order, you can offer it to the next bidder in line for their last bid. You are NOT relisting in this case.

[@ghostofdre]

Yep, I listed something on eBay stupidly low and it sold, I was a little pissed but then I thought this is on me and I'm not going to be that person who cancels the deal

[@Leahi84]

I cant believe some people. So sorry you had to go through that.

[@homelessmike2068]

im gonna look im my old boxes, i might have a few cards, mobo's etc laying around, im from belgium vlaams braband

[@ouch1011]

This is not me poking fun, just an observation of cultural differences, but I got a laugh when you said you were unwilling to drive to pick up the card because it was a “very long drive” at 2 hours away. My daily commute (round trip) to work used to be 2 hours. Sometimes substantially more if there is a traffic jam. I got scammed a couple times when I was younger (back when eBay was still a new thing) and ever since, I am super cautious about buying things from individuals online. In most cases, I’ll buy used stuff locally (I’m typically willing to drive 3-4 hours one way, depending on the deal and the rarity of the item) and go pick it up in person, and I don’t pay before I see it. For deals that I have to do online, I never pay cash. Ever. It always goes onto a credit card. If you pay cash and get scammed, that cash is gone forever. If you pay with a credit card, in most cases you can file a claim with the credit card company and get your money back. I would never in a million years give some random person online my bank account information.

[@fhwolthuis]

Great video and warning. I always try to pick it up myself, or pay with PayPal if it is not possible.

[@alfabètagamma-k7p]

Very good you posted this Video. I had similar experience at Marktplaats, but also on eBay. Also for 6 euro you cannot drive to the other side of Belgium and back.

[@romanrm1]

When I had an older smartphone, I would routinely use Googled images in my (honest) listings, because the camera quality was really really bad. But otherwise I considered that phone to be "enough" for my uses, and was stubborn to upgrade. And I run multiple accounts on an auction site as well, because the site imposes per-account limits on the amount of listings that you can post for free each month. (I should clarify that I tried to choose googled images where it would be clear they are googled, e.g. professionally looking shots against a white background, etc. To not give the impression that this is mine exact card on the shot)

[@justsumguy2u]

I can certainly understand why you were/are upset; this seller is 100% unprofessional, and that's very frustrating. A deal is a deal, and he should've sold you the card for the agreed-upon price, even if he later found out it was worth more. But hopefully someone else that's thinking about buying from him will see this video

[@dorfschmidt4833]

How much is this stupid graphics card worth now?

[@greatquux]

This was not like one of your usual videos… but it was your funniest!

[@marccaselle8108]

Beeeeeeep! Beeeeeeeeep! Too hot for the internet. 🙂 Beeeeeeeeep!

[@maxtornogood]

It was interesting to hear of your interaction with *beeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.* He sounds like a real *beeeeeeeeeeeeeeep* artist!

[@orektez]

never dealt with this, though i'll keep an eye out, only issue i ever had was i tried getting a s3 virge, but the delivery truck got into an accident and burst into flames.

[@JoeyRivers]

Did this happen last year and you just released the video now? The dates of listing show Jul 21 .

[@kencreppin2146]

I still have a 3DFX Voodoo5 boxed never used.

[@O.Shawabkeh]

It worth $1000 easily. Currently there is one listed on eBay for $2,200. At this point it is just a collector's item, and no body sane should open it up and use it.

[@technixbul]

That is why we have an option to pay to the courier on receiving the package at the location (payment on delivery), then they give money to seller if everything is ok and you want to keep the package. No money where lost and you get the chance to see what you get and change the price on the go if the seller hide some defects ;)

[@MagikGimp]

Glide wrappers... everywhere...... ;)

[@TheMikeMan777]

I will give this video a like to make you feel better dude! 😁👍

[@MrKillswitch88]

Thankfully I haven't been through anything like this in years as either a buyer or a seller outside of eBay.

[@Shmbler]

Feels bad to get scammed. Two years ago I ordered one of those cheap LGA2011 boards on aliexpress for around 60€. I made hundreds of orders before, albeit never for something of such a "value". Never had a problem with aliexpress that far. The seller had tons of 5 star reviews, although there were only a handful for this specific product. In the next weeks, dozens of negative product reviews appeared with people complaining they got scammed and there was no delivery. In the end, I got the same fake tracking #. Aliexpress closed the dispute in favor of the seller and my money was gone. Try to remember the deals that made you feel like a winner instead!

[@SharpShoot3r_14]

Sorry to hear that. I think Phil(Philscomputerlab) used to buy those mobos and he never got scammed though...

[@mushroomsamba82]

I've been a mostly full time ebay seller for years and the people that do these things really erode buyer confidence for those of us looking to do good business. As a buyer, the best thing I can suggest to do would be to message the seller ahead of time to get an idea of who you're dealing with. Especially if it's a low feedback or new seller. If they give you a one word response or don't seem like they're taking it seriously... move on.