Looking for Craftsman catalogs on DVD

[Rileysan]

A number of years ago, someone compiled a complete collection of Craftsman catalogs that were converted to PDF and put on DVD. He sold it here as well as on eBay (see https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=289723 ).

There was a lot of whining about his price so he packed it in.

I am looking for one of these DVDs and willing to pay real $$ for it.

Please message me if you have one or know where I can find a copy.

Brian

 

[bmwrd0]

This is the only one I know of Rileysan.

 

[woody 73]

Brian this is your lucky day (well the post is only a year old) but the op left his aol anyway to send him a pm ? I figure he might still have that same web-address.

 

[Rileysan]

This is the only one I know of Rileysan.

I bought that one and it was quite disappointing. It's a collection of catalogs commonly found with a Google search and nothing more.

Woody,

Thanks for the heads-up. I didn't notice the email address.

Brian

 

[bmwrd0]

Yeah, that is what I was afraid of.

 

[tool_scrounge]

I emailed David at his AOL address regarding the Craftsman CDs. I'll post what I hear back.

 

[Gear Wolf]

I have David's phone number. I have been speaking with him for the last 3 years off and on. Last time I spoke with him was about 2 months ago.

I can ask him to see what he could do to hook you up with his catalog DVD.

 

[jtbinvalrico]

I’ve got them from 1925 to 1973....there’s a few gaps in there. They’re PDF’s. Don’t see why I couldn’t email them to you somehow. Then you could put them in whatever format you like. PM me and let me know.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Gear Wolf]

David Maher's DVD includes a significant deal more than what is circulating online. While not 100% complete, imagine having access to the portions of Sears catalogs dealing with any and all power, hand, and machine tool equipment as well as Craftsman specific catalogs/flyers, which includes the various seasonal or promotional materials on a year by year basis.

Unfortunately, a lot of what is circulating was David's original work with another website's branding on it. None the less, the DVD set was spendy, but sure beat having to page through literally dozens of aging Sears/Craftsman related materials as I did before buying the set.

 

[notlob]

I would love to have one of David Maher's Craftsman catalog DVD's as well. Did he ever try selling them at a more affordable price?

 

[Rileysan]

I have David's phone number. I have been speaking with him for the last 3 years off and on. Last time I spoke with him was about 2 months ago.

I can ask him to see what he could do to hook you up with his catalog DVD.

I would be grateful if you could do that. I sent an email Thursday but haven't heard back yet.

I appreciate the offers to email PDFs. I have most everything that exists in the public domain, including catalogs dating back to 1919. What David's CD contains is hand tool listings from Sears master catalogs during those years a specialized hand tool catalog was not printed (I am especially interested in 1930s-40s).

I think the asking price is miniscule compared to the personal cost he must have expended collecting, compiling, scanning, and printing DVDs. I want one of his originals!

Brian

 

[Gear Wolf]

His $60 asking price is more than fair.

He and I spoke specifically about that once for a good hour. People don't seem to understand the tremendous time and effort it took to acquire complete/decent condition Sears catalogs, scan over 15,000 pages of data, clean the images digitally, compile the data, and pay to have professional grade discs made with embossed labels/packaging

Much like when a handful of people whine about how much I have charged for rare/scarce excellent condition ratchets that are complete, where cleaned inside/out, and are guaranteed to work, as intended for their era, David's DVD set asking price is like buying the man a beer after he just gave you tickets to the Super Bowl.

 

[notlob]

I wasn't suggesting that his price isn't fair (although I thought it was over $100). My impression has been that he stopped selling them them due to negative reaction to the price; and I was wondering if lowering his price could greatly multiply his potential customer base.

Are the DVD's still available for purchase?

 

[Jbullfrog]

I have the full set in my collection. They are a great reference.

 

[Gear Wolf]

I bought a near complete collection of Sears catalogs from the late 1800s through 1993 from a farm estate sale about 10 years ago. I put a bid up for $20 for a lot called "Old Department Store Advertisements" and that was the end of the ball game.

I bid on the lot as a joke not thinking I would win. Much to my wife's dismay, I still have all of the Sears catalogs, among other retail store catalogs included in the lot.

That is why David's DVD set is key. Again, while not complete, it beats having to acquire, maintain, and store a small boat load, I literally mean that, of musty old catalogs.

Nothing beats the real deal in your hand; however, scanning through a database is significantly faster and easier.

 

[MrCraftsmanTools]

Actually, Dave's Craftsman DVD is complete.

 

[MrCraftsmanTools]

There are 6 copies remaining (plus 1 for me)

$65 including priority mail shipping. After that, i may upgrade with the technology and put them on memory sticks. Thoughts?
A garage journal member stopped by my place over the weekend. i gave him some extras, such as a Craftsman dogbone wrench made in Germany from the 1950's, and a list of all the Craftsman ratchets with photos and descriptions for all the ratchets ever made from the beginning to all the black and white catalogs. i figured the color catalogs gave good enough photos after that. Plus I gave him a file folder I had of all the logos, including one I made of a page of 4 early logos that contain both large and small sizes, to make a decal sheet. if anyone wants anything, just shoot me an email. i'll do my best.
Can someone teach me how to post a photo on here?
Dave

[email protected]

 

[MrCraftsmanTools]

My original musty catalog collection was one reason I decided to put them on the computer.

 

[MrCraftsmanTools]

Thank you Dr Doom for your kind words.

Dave

 

[MrCraftsmanTools]

The Craftsman CD set is complete up to the last tool catalogs from 2013, the last tool catalogs they made. Have any other Craftsman tool catalogs after 2013 been produced that I am not aware of?

Dave

 

[softailgarage]

I bought the CD from Ebay years ago. I was hesitant because of the price, $125.00, but then read something he wrote to the fact of nobody was buying and that he was going to destroy the CD's. I was heavy into restoring Craftsman machinery at the time, was unemployed, but knew this was something I needed so I came up with the $125 a bought what I thought might be the last copy to be available. Pissed me off when I saw the CD still available a couple years later at a much lower price. It's a great CD and I truly appreciate all the hard work it took to put it together, its been a valuable tool for me, but the way you went about selling it, the whining and complaining, the threat of destruction and then lowering the price still pisses me off. it wasn't easy coming up with $125 at the time and could have been put to better use...like food. Even though you did a superb job, my middle finger will always be flown in your direction.

 

[tool_scrounge]

I was really pleased to buy Dave's DVD's on Craftsman tools. I have a few of the catalogs but there were lots of missing years. His collection is much more complete and well indexed. I noticed at the end of a lot of catalogs he has included a few photos of vintage tools from that year's catalog. Included are tool pages from the "big book" and the tool specific separate catalogs. I am still exploring all of it but so far I am very happy with the purchase. That took a lot of work to compile.

 

[MrCraftsmanTools]

Softailgarage. I’m sorry you feel that way about me. When you think of the 125 price tag; also think of another tool collector with no computer skills, spent over $15,000 and years of work to make the Craftsman tool DVDs a reality. I would have preferred to have someone else do all the work and I only had to spend 125. You should think of it as you supporting the effort for all of us tool collectors. I haven’t made any money on this endeavor. It was done for the love of the tools and fellow tool collectors. Dave

 

[Rileysan]

I've had this in my possession for a couple weeks now and I have to say I'm impressed. It was well worth the asking price and I wish to extend my sincere gratitude to Dave for your fine work. It will serve me for many years to come!

Brian

 

[MrCraftsmanTools]

Thank you for your kind words Rileysan. I'm happy to hear that you are enjoying it.

Dave

 

[Dieselclunker]

I see one on eBay

 

[softailgarage]

5 years later and I'm still pissed, even more now as I have not been able to find my copy.

 

[Jbullfrog]

5 years later and I'm still pissed, even more now as I have not been able to find my copy.

He still has them, but just sends a thumb drive now. PM MrCraftsmanTools above.

 

[alinc100]

I have the USB drive from David. Worth every penny as a one stop resource.

 

[softailgarage]

I have it installed on a computer I don't use anymore. I wish I could burn a copy, but if I remember correctly it was set up to prevent copies being made.

 

[alinc100]

It should just appear on your hard drive as a series of PDFs. Should be able to copy/paste/drag drop onto a usb or even burn a fresh dvd.

 

[Dieselclunker]

Softailgarage. I’m sorry you feel that way about me. When you think of the 125 price tag; also think of another tool collector with no computer skills, spent over $15,000 and years of work to make the Craftsman tool DVDs a reality. I would have preferred to have someone else do all the work and I only had to spend 125. You should think of it as you supporting the effort for all of us tool collectors. I haven’t made any money on this endeavor. It was done for the love of the tools and fellow tool collectors. Dave

You did a fabulous job, I had purchased 3 dvd sets a ways back, the best, Thank You !

 

[softailgarage]

You did a fabulous job, I had purchased 3 dvd sets a ways back, the best, Thank You !

Mr. CraftsmanTools: I agree with Diesel, you did an amazing job. The DVD's helped me immensely while having to research, compare and price my work accordingly. Plus I got to brag about having all the catalogs on disc, lol. My issue, at the time, was the way you threatened to destroy your work, forcing me to make the purchase at a time I couldn't afford to, then finding it for sale months later at half the price I paid. Maybe I over-reacted making the purchase, but I knew how much work had to have been involved and knew the chances of it ever being done again where slim to none.

 

[MrCraftsmanTools]

He still has them, but just sends a thumb drive now. PM MrCraftsmanTools above.

I have them in both DVD and thumb drive.

 

[MrCraftsmanTools]

I see one on eBay

You are stealing my copyrighted work.

 

[5ubtle]

You are stealing my copyrighted work.

It's possible to compile someone else's property (Sear's), then copyright the compilation?

 

[alinc100]

It's possible to compile someone else's property (Sear's), then copyright the compilation?

Yes ,copywright laws are in place for reasons. If I wrote your biography who would get the copywright? You? or me as the author?

 

[5ubtle]

Yes ,copywright laws are in place for reasons. If I wrote your biography who would get the copywright? You? or me as the author?

If you wrote my biography, you would be creating original work, so I can understand why you would get the copyright. My question is, "can somebody obtain a copyright for simply compiling another's (possibly copyrighted) work?".

 

[MrCraftsmanTools]

If you wrote my biography, you would be creating original work, so I can understand why you would get the copyright. My question is, "can somebody obtain a copyright for simply compiling another's (possibly copyrighted) work?".

I didn’t simply scan catalogs. My work is digitally restoring each and and every page. It took me over two years and $15k to produce. Each page was rotated, cropped, and alighted with the adjoining page to make perfect photo spreads. I had to recreate any small or large pieces that may be missing from a page. Removed printing artifacts and owners marks. Restored the wear and tear and bring each page to its former glory. Thousands of hours of tedious work. Each page is flawless.
In addition, I have created a ratchet timeline with photos of my original tools. I did this by going page by page under magnification for accuracy. This is because the first few decades there were black and white drawings of the tools in the catalogs. It also includes photos of tools for each year, numerous detailed patent information, videos and more. My work cannot be compared to simple crude scans. It is my work and it is copyrighted.
Anyone is welcome to create their own work. Attached is a restoration I did with the 1905 Sears big book catalog.
It took 249 catalogs to create this work.

David Maher

 

[MrCraftsmanTools]

Sears 1905 catalog cover restoration.