I strongly agree with all of this. If your financial situation is solid and you have done your homework, this is a great time to pick up bargains on older gear that is unfairly unloved. But it’s also a great time to hand off gear to your friend who is in a tight situation rather than try to squeeze out another $50 on Craigslist. Kindness always pays off, and I have never regretted selling stuff cheap.
I bought a second hand Adaptec 1542B SCSI card in '93 or maybe '94, and it reeked of tobacco. Not a big deal since I put the card into my computer and the box inside another box. But I held on to the card and package until 2016 or so when I finally sent it to recycling, and it still smelled of nicotine.
Smoking is common enough in Japan that midrange hotels and train stations often have smoking rooms where you can hotbox with the other nicotine enthusiasts. They are usually packed, and I was only able to get a photo of the one above empty because I woke up at 3AM due to jet lag.
Interestingly, I didn’t notice any tobacco smell when I walked through the music shops in Ochanomizu (Tokyo), but I usually notice tobacco smell in US thrift stores. I’m planning on buying some second hand camera gear in Japan next spring, so will pay closer attention to smells.
You might put an open box of baking soda in the bag with the QY70, but that is likely to just reduce rather than eliminate odor. It is likely that all of the internal surfaces are coated. You probably need to disassemble and clean everything individually with high proof alcohol. At that point, you are probably putting in enough labor to have bought a new MC-707 instead.
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