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As long as Apex stays open, there's hope for humanity.

Oh yea. Good ole Apex Electronics. A fabricator's dream and a tweaker's nightmare. It is easy to get stuck in this store. The thing is that about a half a block up on the left hand side of the street there is a whole other warehouse brimming full of stuff. It's just as big but a whole lot more organized and it's not open to the public. So if you can't find what you are looking for ask the owner because it might be at the warehouse and he knows what he has there. Now this will make you laugh. One fine Saturday morning I decided to head on over to Apex and check out what they had. I arrived in the late morning time, around 11:00 AM or so. I spent a few hours picking through boxes and trying not to get carried away with my "don't really need it but I got to have it" purchases. You know what I'm talking about. Any ways. I venture out into the yard. The yard is where you can find some real gems. The stuff you find outside is generally considered scrap so it is priced by the pound. Another plus about the yard is the fact that trucks are coming and going all day long constantly bringing more stuff to the back gate. You never know what will show up. It's crazy. So there I am in the yard way back in some nook where I found some boxes that had not been pilfered yet. I was like yea I'll get this and this and.....you get the point. On Saturday Apex closes earlier than they do during the week. 2:00PM if I remember correctly. When they are about to close they will announce over the PA that they are closing. If they announced it this particular day I didn't hear it and no one knew I was back there. So I finally have my couple of boxes full of items that i plan on buying and I'm slowly making my way back to the front and I realize it is awfully quite. Then I got to the back doorway into the building and realized why it was so quite. There was nobody there. The roll down door was closed and the back gate was locked. Yep. Everyone was gone and here I am locked in the back yard. Shit! About that time I started to worry if they had a watch dog guarding the place like a lot of other businesses in that area do. Lucky for me there was no dog. Looking around, the entire yard is surrounded by 10' chain link fence topped with razor wire and I'm starting to wonder if I could get out. Lucky for me there was one spot in the fence that didn't have razor wire. Right by the back gate. So I went to their gigantic pile of scrap aluminum and found a slightly tweaked extension ladder. I pulled the ladder apart and placed one half on my side then lowered the other half over the fence and climbed out. But not before I found a good place to stash my couple of boxes where no one would find them till I could get back there to buy them. (NO I didn't steal anything) I did come back the following Friday and get my stuff and told them the story. I thought that after I told them about being locked in they would say something like " yea. that happens now and then" but no. As it turns out I was the first person to get locked in. Boy that made me feel special. I do love this place though. I don't live in that area any more so I don't get to go there much any more. I'm sad now.

All children want to go to disneyland these days, but I want to go to this place!

Who else is here after watching the BTTF documentary? I think it's rather appropriate they used some EEVblog footage being you're such a big fan!

Wow, that place is insane :D If i would go there, i would never leave... Thank you for filming the visit!!!

Used to go there all the time back in the 80's and 90's. One thing he didn't mention is the smell in that place - imagine an old library, old books splashed with a bit of used motor oil.

Been there about 20 years ago. Bought some tubes for an old Galvin army hand radio. Great place for old surplus electronics.

Seriously Dave, your face lit up like a kid in a candy store as you walked through those doors. Wish I could go there too!

Hilarious, Dave! When I lived in Pasadena in the '80s, I frequented this haunt. It looked just the same 35 years ago. That part of LA had a huge aerospace industry after WW2. Thx for sharing!

Why can't we have anything like that here in AUs

Need a place like this in Australia...

@heroineworshipper It was either come inside and help film, or stay outside in the dodgy industrial neighborhood!

I was just in that store a couple weeks ago and they have really cleaned the place up. Much easier to navigate! I guess the fire dept paid them a visit. Love the store.

@shiftplusone80 It's easy - you don't. You buy it by the pound and class it all as scrap I suspect.

hopefully there isn't a mild earthquake anytime soon

@Bracerjack It is California!

Holy... :| Damn, I HAVE to go there before I die... With a huge truck. Thanks for the great tour, Dave. And thanks Nicole for the filming and following Dave all over the place. That place really is nerd nirvana. I never knew those surplus shops were as huge and as messy as this (the messier, the better. I love junk!).

Many of the parts used to build the time travel DeLorean from Back to the Future came from this store. 👌

Next time I'm in cali, I'm going there! Looks like a electronics guru's playground!

I kind of expected Dave uncovering some menacing looking robot, just like the one in Judge Dred:)

.....rockets? not the case,Dave. Drop tank racers in SoCal are (still) active.. You missed a trip to the stunning Nethercutt (Merle Norman)car collection(it was right around the corner from Apex). Another miss was the TRW swap meet (electronics heaven)in Manhattan Beach. The cream of the surplus centers in SoCal (I'll keep that place a secret)stocks aerospace carbon fiber components at dirt-cheap prices. Btw,I think those were 20mm shells(not .50 cal.). Thanks for the video,Dave...

we have one up here in Toronto; Active Surplus....but it's 1/10th the size of this place; shit, I could stay in this place the whole weekend.

I live about 30 minutes away from there... I'm quite surprised that I've never been! Guess I'm going next week!

So much stuff! I'd just love to look around in a place like that. It's a shame though, all equipment would be for 110V 60Hz.

That place is a lot more organized nowadays, but that's not saying much. Wow it was a mess in 2010

Should you ever find yourself in Orlando, Florida - check out Skycraft Surplus. Thats our local and it a bit tidier than Apex, but has an equally odd mix of random old and new bits.

Quick, we must start our own in Sydney!

@Desmaad Her official response is "through gritted teeth"

I hate that kind of stores :) it's hard to find something you need and even if you manage to find what you need you'll probably won't be able to get it out in one peace :( it's more like a junk yard or museum than a store :D it's fun to walk around, but you probably don't wanna buy that stuff for your projects

Reminds me of Mendelson’s Liquidation Outlet in Dayton, Ohio - RIP 2020. I wonder how many places of scale, such as this actually existed over the years?

I could spend a whole day there! I wish I had something like that here!

The place is crazy-making. One full aisle stacked with cool stuff. Fills one's head. Then another aisle. And more and more. To the ceiling. Last time there I saw 3" rotary cannon from a fighter jet. Wake up the neighbors with that one! And a Cray comuter!

lol, "I grew up in this store!" I've been playing in this store since I was about 15, that was 1975? Stuff changes because sources change, but over time it looks the same because old is old lol. Most of the stuff is from manafacturing and aerospace industry. Out back was cool to wander around in if you told them you were out there. Kind of like checking in with the Park Ranger before a hike. They do not let the general public outside anymore since some stuff fell on someone & they got hurt. If you are building an EV, You'll find some good stuff here.

Vintage, but awesome. I wish I had a junk yard like that nearby. From 50 cal bullets and rockets to production equipment and test equipment, that place has everything. Not sure why they would put half the stuff outside. I'm sure half the crap gets damaged by rain.

Lol, good old Apex. When I was in high school in nearby Glendale my electronics class teacher back in '81 put us budding tinkerers onto this place. After a military career and getting my BSEE I still live in SoCal and still hit this place for parts. Yes, the stuff outside does get rained on. Some of the stuff inside is old aerospace parts like circuit breakers and relays with date stamps in the 50's. But for fixing old gear or looking for basic parts cheap it's a gold mine. Just be aware that if you handle stuff your hands will get dirty, just part of the experience. Also, it seems like everything there will have a lingering musty odor like something from an old museum, because basically it is...

Relics of the days when Made in USA meant something and was the norm. Thanks for the video Dave.

How do they keep the stuff out side from getting rained on? Or do they just let it get wet because it doesn't work? That place is awesome, doing inventory must be a nightmare.

I am reminded of 'Jobstocks' in Walthamstow, London E17. That was very similar to this, but on a smaller scale. It stopped trading in the mid 80s I think. Anybody remember Jobstocks?

Place to fortify during apocalypse.

Some times you have to spend time there to mentally catalog the whereabouts of stuff for the future visits. Bring a good flashlight, grubby clothes and maybe some gloves if you want to keep your hands clean

I think that I caught a glimpse of Exceter down one aisle, buying spare parts for his interoceter.

@Zwank36 I know, it was every electronics nerds fantasy!

I would spend far too much time on a daily basis looking round that place. Nothing like that in the UK. Edgeware Road, London was probably the Electronics Mecca in the noughties. Bull Electronics still exist but it's appeal is rather mediocre now. Places like Apex electronics had me hooked in electronics from the 70's.

@verymaddog The cameraman is my wife. She really didn't want to be there, be thankful. Show us YOUR video tour. Oh that's right, you don't produce any content...

If I'd ever go there, I'd probably have to buy like half of the whole store... =^.^= That stuff would be worth millions, if they actually bothered to sort and sell it..

Wow, looks like paradise :)

@7:37 The "crystal ball" is obvious. It's a surplus beryllium sphere for an NSEA Protector class starship.

Nice, Just contacted this place to see if they have a power cable for my Tektronix 310A scope I was recently given. Thanks for the video. I also let them know I heard about their place from this Video. :)

Several times I have bought oddball items at Apex and then gotten home and several years later used I actually used them. Then another year later I go to Apex and buy some more of the same oddball item and the guys at the front counter asked were they are, ie he did not know were they were actually in their own store. Stuff is is odd places, hidden

OMG. I wish i had electronics store like this in my country. I bet prices too aren't very expensive. What can i say it's every electronics hobyist paradise :)

Thanks for going there. I have know then since 1980's. You should have said hi to Don. my friend. Did you know, Hollywood goes there for props in moves where need electronic or space looking stuff.. did you know, the movie "close encounters of the 3rd kind" got props there, so did "Back to the further" and i bet "Plan 9 from outer space" got the gauges there. OK, Apex also have other warehouse building filled with stuff in that area. HI Don if you see this,, Ray from Norco.

There used to be a similar surplus store here in Warsaw, except a trifle smaller (the size of an average KFC joint). They used to have 300 baud modems, hard drives the size of a dishwashers, etc.

Man I was in there in 82 while I was in the NAVY submarine service I was in school for advanced electronics . I could stat in that store for days but at the time I was married and only spent a few hours in there . I seen some Mark 19 parts that come off a ship there and it was the same used in the subs I was on. I wandered how they got it. I remember getting parts from there one time for the sub I was on at the time . I sure miss those days!!!

I wonder how many roaches and other creepy crawlies you'd get as a bonus freebie if you dared to buy any of that old gear.

Oh man, I thought going to the local Ax Man surplus store was awesome. Added Apex to my list next time I get a chance to go to southern California. 0__o

Only an hour drive or so; Next weekend I am so there!!!!

Absolutely insane place!! Do they have a database of items in the store?! Also, it's a total health and safety nightmare!!... You must have to to sign a disclaimer before you enter! Somebody out there must know what the crystal ball is.

it shut down recently, but the shop is still there so can get an idea. long st queenstown next to the primary school

@14:35 .50cal is 12,7mm, so i would say those are more likely 20mm, unless you got slim fingers :)

agree it's sad to see all this stuff just laying about. I would have my house full if i was close to this place! I'm dulling over what i could build with just a hand full of stuff

Great tour! Although I'm pretty sure your video gave me motion sickness.

HOLY CRAP!!!!!!! It's the electronics mecha!

Wow.. I feel find of bad most of the stuff at that place is probably broken through rain / water damage and other environmental stuff. The stuff probably isn't worth preserving nor selling, otherwise they would have had a way better building for it

6:03 Dave found the holy grail!

ah, it sucks to know that theres so much stuff that will go unused. Theres tons of good parts there! I could spend all day. I wonder what the prices on everything is.

Such envy... Also, I think this has been said a scrillion times but I don't think those are rockets, I'm pretty sure they're external fuel tanks

So what did you buy Dave? Forget excess baggage, just grab everything that catches your eye then fill a container up with it and send it by sea. That'll give you time to rent a lock-up in Oz to keep it all. ;-) Apex should put up camp beds and advertise electronic nostalgia holidays.

I have an almost idenitcal scope to that HP 54512, a HP 54501A (It's only 100 MHz, but it's quad channel like the one in the video.)

Did you happen to see any flux capacitors or 1.21 Jigawatt power supplies? ;-)

I'd love to work there.

ya who would buy old recording equipment from the outside storage? do they cover it when it rains??

Why did you not buy anything big there and just mail it to yourself? ( the shipping costs? )

those bullets were bigger than 50 cal

Dreamland for any one . never need to buy anything more

It's a ball of crystal! It's got a couple of resistors stuck on it, as you'd expect. I almost spewed my coffee laughing. :)

This is HEAVEN!

Very cool place

Fraid not. Wife's orders... Luggage was already maxed out.

somehow I'll get there! That's wonderful

There's a place in Widnes Cheshire called The Computer Junk Shop that I used to go to in the 80's and 90's, I looked it up the other days and was surprised to see that it was still going, it's minute compared to that place but just as rammed.

Quick dave, lets start own in sydney!

For once I would like to say thanks first to Nicole for the fine video. Thanks to Dave also for the great dialog. Nicole, you probably would prefer looking at flowers etc. but this stuff is flowers to us geeks :-)

An antiques shop for obsolete electrickery?! Well, only in America...

Damn I wish they had stuff like this here :p

Actually Dave, those are fuel tanks not rockets. :) They used to make race cars out of them.

Don't even let me go there. I'd never get out from that black hole! The place is soooooooo bloody awesome. I could bet my ass you'd even find the DSKY somewhere there, haha!

I wish there was something similiar near my location

that place looks like a law suit waiting to happen... but jeebus what a lot of stuff!

11:46 if there was one in australia, dave would never be seen again

MY GOD I WANT TO LIVE THERE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Damn, that is heaven. Fuck my place, I am moving to CA.

at 11:08 there is what looks like a sony trinitron PVM on Dave nose

try to use steadyshot for the next video!

How the hell does anyone find anything in that place? Plus, I'm worried about all that stuff out back: I know it doesn't rain much in California, but still.

@johnfranks About as long as the video unfortunately...

D: ROCKETS! :D

I could spend EONS in there. Reminds me of a guy I used to know who would buy Trailer loads of misc electronics from auctions for pennys a pound. he had several acres full of everything you can imagine. Im only about 2 hours from that place, im gonna have to go check it out

jesus they could rebuild the colossus with all that.

You just visited heaven :D

really I love this place............