The word "Mint" or "Minty" seems to elicit some questions about it's use so I'm curious what "Mint" means to us.

To me when I use the word Minty to describe a box I mean a box that looks new with very imperceptable flaws. If you were to stand 3 feet away and look at the box it would look new. Maybe it has a tiny mark or scratch here and there (just a few) but they are very insignificant.

Operational status to me isn't fully factored in to the use of the word Minty. So a Minty box can look like new but have a non-functioning tape deck. I expect disclosures of operational status to be seperate from the Minty label used to describe it's looks.

Just my two cents but I'd like to hear what "Mint" means to the rest of you since this seems to be a misused word more often than I'd like to admit.

To me, a box which has one or two very minor marks but otherwise looks brand new can be called mint. Apart from new-in-the-box unopened boxes, practcally all boxes have marks on them (scuffs on the feet). If the box looks perfect all-round apart from that, I'd still call it mint.

For me, the word "mint" means absolutely no blemishes when it comes to cosmetic appearance (except for the back and bottom - I can overlook those), nothing missing, all lights work, and at least the radio works.

"Minty" sort of means "near mint" to me - some blemishes but everything is there.

NIB - as it says. Happy for the kids to eat their dinner of it
MINT - cannot see any marks from pretty close. Happy to eat my dinner off it.
MINTY (aka NR Mint) - some very small marks / minor sctratches. Happy for the wife to eat her dinner off it.

Forgot to say - all 3 definitions should be fully operational/functional unless specifically stated that the Mint categorisation relates only to cosmetic condition.

quote:

Originally posted by Ewen:
NIB - as it says. Happy for the kids to eat their dinner of it
MINT - cannot see any marks from pretty close. Happy to eat my dinner off it.
MINTY (aka NR Mint) - some very small marks / minor sctratches. Happy for the wife to eat her dinner off it.

I agree with all the above, to me MINTY is a box that has had a vey nice life or has been brought back to such condition.

Minimal marks, most itmes work as should (although may have been repaired to make work or appear as MINT)

Nothing is MINT "NEW" or would be for long if it is used, even ocassionally. We are probably different from most "portable boombox owners" of the past we care how hard we set them down, what they are gonna rub up against, etc.

We understand that now matter how hard we hope or wish, the big boxes have no place in our world except the hobbyist, collector, or the WOW factor

That is my take on minty

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have a look :


link

quote:

Originally posted by Fatdog:
For me, the word "mint" means absolutely no blemishes when it comes to cosmetic appearance (except for the back and bottom - I can overlook those), nothing missing, all lights work, and at least the radio works.

"Minty" sort of means "near mint" to me - some blemishes but everything is there.

I feel the same way Bobby.
Unless your Ira,and thats a whole other deal......

quote:

Originally posted by skippy1969:
Unless your Ira,and thats a whole other deal......

Are you saying Ira is Minty?

I like fatdog's descriptions.

quote:

Originally posted by *TPR*:
have a look :

link

That's a good link, Jens!

quote:

Originally posted by Ewen:
NIB - as it says. Happy for the kids to eat their dinner of it
MINT - cannot see any marks from pretty close. Happy to eat my dinner off it.
MINTY (aka NR Mint) - some very small marks / minor sctratches. Happy for the wife to eat her dinner off it.

ewen = a riot .

very interesting thread , don -- to start it .

for me, i think the '3 feet away' bit --is sort of fair --
and the jens link is much too strict
--because it implies that mint=about new.

if a boombox has been used/enjoyed then its probably not strictly mint --

but - from a few feet away - it might LOOK brand screaming friggen NEW !!

about every week - i seem to be making that decision about how to call it /rate it ??
---------------------

an example-
the most $$$$ box i ever bought was listed on ebay as mint --when i sold it to vladi -- i told him it was mint (of course)

but - it had LOTS of nice aluminum on the gorgeous faceplate
--and there might have been 200 !!!! tiny, hairline fingernail type scratches all over EVERY part of the aluminum.

from 3 feet away - the box looked brand new - but
from 1 foot away --i could see every scratch.

its the same for any of us that have sanyo 920 or a big conion --LOTS of aluminum --and plenty of tiny marks -
and they may LOOK mint but not BE mint

bottom line -- i dont have an accurate answer

lets ask vladi

hey vladi --TWO years ago - you got a $$ 5350 from me --and we have never even ONCE talked about its condition !!!

asking -- was it mint ??
or did the 200 scratches screw up the looks ?

Well, yes - it was pretty mint. In the first pic you can all see what it looked like when I got it. And in the second pic what it looked like when I put my glasses on

thanks for your grand contribution to this topic

I am also with Fatdog on this. To me:

Mint is a heavy word- implies no blemishes.And not from three feet either. My 1st wife looked great from three feet, close up and inside a total wreck.
So mint has all parts, looks new except possible minor stuff on bottom or maybe back.

Minty to me implies a few minor blemishes but overall all there and clean.

Everything else is on a scale.

It's like when the clothing industry designs size "three" jeans for size ten ladies. That
crap doesn't help anyone!

can i get in ONE more example --

a few months ago skippy did the 'soft sell gig' on me --
he had a c100f missing the deck door and the bottom tray -
so he described it as "OK"

when it got here --it was/is CLOSE TO MINT!!!

so --the more accurate description should have been
"like mint with sh1t missing"
------------------

anyway --my point is -
that we are all different as to what we look for , expect and are happy with.

The best thing would be to post hi-res pictures, so everybody could decide for themselves how minty it is - according to their standards

ok -
pictures are more useful than the words

Ira, at one point you described my former Panasonic RX-5600LS as minty. I've since traded it to Driptip for some moolah and parts boxes.

Here's the only pic of it that I have online right now...

All functions worked, antenna was original and there were only a handful of miniscule scratches here and there.

It would be good to get Driptip's impresssion of it.

quote:

Originally posted by redbenjoe:
"like mint with sh1t missing"

I've known quite a few people that fit that description.

quote:

Originally posted by Fatdog:

quote:

Originally posted by redbenjoe:
"like mint with sh1t missing"

I've known quite a few people that fit that description.

JT, the 5600 is like some one here said, minty from 3 feet away but nice and clean from 1 feet away. so lets leave it at minty. lol

quote:

Originally posted by driptip:
JT, the 5600 is like some one here said, minty from 3 feet away but nice and clean from 1 feet away. so lets leave it at minty. lol

Right on... Minty it is...

Vladi you busted me up with the glasses comment then Ira knocked me off the chair with the "Like mint with sh1t missing".

quote:

Originally posted by vladi123456:
The best thing would be to post hi-res pictures, so everybody could decide for themselves how minty it is - according to their standards

That sounds good..... post a hi-res picture of the ~minty~ hotties in your avitar and will eat my dinner off of it.

There's a two months waiting list to eat them - I mean - a dinner off of them

P.S. They'll kill me one day - especially if they read this

quote:

Originally posted by vladi123456:
There's a two months waiting list to eat them - I mean - a dinner off of them

P.S. They'll kill me one day - especially if they read this

Yeah we all worry about you.... it seems like you are always out-numbered........

quote:

Originally posted by *TPR*:
.

have a look :


link

I know this is off topic a little.

I looked at the link and it says as is

"As is." This is the caveat emptor warning on eBay. Buyer beware. When you see this in an auction's listing, pay very close attention to what the seller has written. This could mean there's a hole in the blouse, the computer doesn't power up, the stroller is missing the sunshade, or the car comes without tires. It could mean anything, really, but it is definitely an indication that there is something wrong with the item. Be careful.

when I sell items on ebay I always say as is.

Normally nothing is wrong. I just do that to cover my own A*&. I have given warranties on items before. I had someone ship back an item and the serial number didn't match. or it came back with the screws in the wrong spots. like gold screws were black or silver screws should be. They took it apart and switched parts with another of the same kind then told me it didn't work. After that happened a few times I started to sell everything as is with no returns.

I even sold a cassette deck once that I repaired deck 2 the plastic peace was broken that kept the door shut. I replaced it with a new peace that was white. the oraginal was black. when they received it they told me deck one was broken. when I looked inside deck two the peace was black again. here the person sent back another tape deck of the same model. I was pissed. I wasn't going to refund their money. but here they did a paypal dispute and they entered the tracking number and it showed that I received the package and paypal refunded the money, and paypal wouldn't do anything about it.

Jason that's exactly why I informed the few buyers I had that wanted to return something that I would be verifying the serial numbers and pics to ensure it was the same item. I had a few people drop it at that point and few that followed through, of course the people that followed through were legit and all ended well. So it's not only buyer beware it's also seller beware.

quote:

Originally posted by 71spud:
Wow.... I never thought that (switching parts or entire items) would be a big problem, but I guess it could be. What's wrong with people anyway? I guess that is why when I have a legit issue I get treated like dirt and get threatened with physical violence.

It's even worse of a problom now. eBay took away the sellers right to leave neg feedback to the buyers. We can only leave good feedback. We have no way to let people know that the buyer tried to screw us.
That could be why or it's just a rude seller. I know enough about electronics that I could even switch parts out or change the back pannel so the serial number matches, or switch all the guts on the inside. not that I would do that to someone but I have switched them on my own items. like I had a mint case that was spotless that didn't work and then I had a beat up one that worked 100% of the same model. but some of these people were stupid. they put the wrong screws in the wrong spots and I had photos that showed black screws and it came back with gold screws in the side of a stereo receiver. A big red flag went off in my head. DING DING DING and I still got screwed. paypal wouldn't protect me the seller. They refunded the guys money.

It's even worse now since sellers can not give neg feedback to buyers. we have no way to let others sellers to watch out for this guy.