Another thing that would be fun to hear about is things people in the industry have bought which were absolutely amazing, once-in-a-lifetime "steals" of a bargain.
I haven't had many, but one is particularly satisfying to remember.
I was in Denmark, at the great studio PUK. In fact, I was their very first client, and "opened" the studio. It was located WAY out in the country, far from any city, in the middle of a huge farm. When we started there, it was February, and very bleak; much of Denmark's trees had been cut down years ago, and when you'd look out of the window, you'd only see flat, snowy, dreary fields for miles. I was there for about 3-4 months though, doing a production of a European rock band, so eventually the climate started to "Spring" up. (Don't know if this studio is still open today...this was about '85.)
The studio proprietor, a nice guy nicknamed "Puk," had become a good friend, and we would often talk equipment. One day, he had heard about a possible sale of some gear in a Danish city many miles away. I wanted to go, too, but couldn't, as we were tracking that day (and every day!) But Puk was going to go, and he promised that if he found any good stuff, I could pick out a piece for what he'd paid for it.
All day, during the session, I wondered what he'd find there. Well, it turned out that it was actually the state-owned Danish Radio station selling all of their "old" equipment, so that they could "upgrade" with brand new gear. What they were getting rid of was all those old Neumann valve microphones they'd had for so long. These mics, mind you, had only sat in one position every day; they hadn't even ever been moved! Puk, of course, bought it all. Since it was a government thing, they didn't really know or care what things were worth; they just wanted to dump it. So Puk came back late that night with a BIG box full of 47's, 48's, and 49's, including the V series power supplies. He had paid the equivalent of $400 each for them!!!!
Of course, I reminded him of his promise. He let me set all of the mics up, test them, and pick the one I liked best. I got up VERY early the next morning and spent about 3 hours testing every mic. I ended up picking an M-49 which seemed to have the best overall sound of the lot. Puk took my $400, and I still have and use that mic all the time today. It has a couple of "Radio Danmarks" engravings on the u-shaped holder, and the mic itself.
Terry