That thrift store VHS camcorder turned out to be a blessing in disguise

I found an old VHS-C camcorder at a thrift store in Spokane for $15, mostly for the nostalgia of shooting like it was 1996. Last Tuesday it started eating tapes, making this terrible grinding sound that got worse every time I tried to rewind. I popped the battery out and shook it, cleaned the heads with a cotton swab and alcohol, and still it chewed up my only copy of a local punk show from 1999. Instead of pitching it, I pulled the whole outer shell off and noticed a tiny gear that looked cracked, so I 3D printed a replacement using a file I found on a forgotten forum. It runs perfect now, plays every tape smoothly, and honestly feels way more satisfying than buying something new. Is it smarter to fix these relics or just hunt down a working model online when the repair eats a whole evening like this one did?

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