I
bought this from a German eBay seller a few years back. What is it? I don't
know either.
The listing sold it as a "kleiner alter motor", which translates to "small old motor". That's all the seller knew about it.
Judging by the parts used, my guess is that this was constructed sometime around the 70's or 80's.
It looks like the sort of thing a school teacher might build to demonstrate a mechanical principle. That's my best guess as to its original purpose.
It still spins up when a 1.5V battery is connected to the two terminals on the back of the motor, but it's no longer as fast as it once would've been.
The
Lubitel 166B is a twin-lens reflex camera that was produced in the USSR
between 1980-1989 (approximately).
I bought this camera during a trip to Poland in 2024. The person selling it explained that it hadn't been used since communist times (e.g., since 1989).
Upon inspecting the camera later on I realized there was an old, partially exposed roll of Fomapan T200 film still inside. Undeveloped film is known for having a limited shelf life, so the chances of this ~35 year old film still having recognizable photos on it were slim.
Despite this, I sent the film to a developer to see if there was anything on it. A few days later, six photos were delivered.
The developed photos show signs of age - there are some dark spots scattered on the film where the emulsion layer has seemingly worn away, and fading at the edges (maybe the camera was opened at some point?) - but despite this, the images are remarkably clear!
Fortunately, I was able to contact the seller and send them the photos.
North
Korea (known officially as the DPRK) is well known as one of the world's
most mysterious countries, with very little understood about what life
is like there.
I find items like this comic book really fascinating. Everyday items from North Korea allow an objective glimpse into life in the country.
I bought this from an eBay seller in China who mainly sold historical coins. I believe it is authentic; it's too specific and obscure for anyone to even consider forging, and I've never seen any others for sale since. Many tourists to North Korea are Chinese, which would explain its location.
This issue in particular was published in 1992, during the later period of Kim Il Sung's rule. It depicts a story of North Korean soldiers fighting against the American army (presumably during the Korean War), a theme seen often in North Korean media.
Some research online suggests that this comic is a long-running series in North Korea dating back at least to the 1980's and remaining in publication today. Korean comics in both the North and South are known as manhwa, similar to the Japanese term manga.
My knowledge of the Korean language is non-existent, and the difference between the Northern and Southern dialects make machine translation a challenge, so I'm unable to write a proper synopsis of the story.
Some of the pages of the comic can be seen by clicking the Photos link at the top of this page.
Ideally, I'd like to archive this rare document for posterity. If you know of (or work at) a place here in the UK that has a book scanner and would be willing to scan this, please let me know. My email address is on the main page of this website.