Good or Bad idea?? ??

I have a Fidelity Research FR1 mk3f cartridge that sat idle for 25 years. I put it into a scout/phd system and guess what? It was perfect, none of the horror stories aluded to.No aging process, or rusting or dried up suspension,in my case I would have to call them urban myths.BTW my cartride sat in it's plastic box,with no protection or wrapping. Point is like most other vintage components,check them out in person but don't write them off because of age.I use the 25 year old cartridge daily and consider it a gift I gave myself 25 years ago.

Hi Guys!!,
you hit it as usual right on the nail! it's pretty much what I thought, but I was not 100% sure. Thanks for your enormous support. Aoltes

Just as a positive counter-balance to the above, these old Koetsus and Kisekis, like the current Allaerts cartridges, are said to have a stylus life in excess of 10,000 hours. My own Kiseki Purpleheart Sapphire is still an incredible-sounding cartrdige after more than 15 years of on-off use, probably some 5,000-6,000 hours on it, perhaps more, still going very strong, still out-details and out-Arts most current designs. Having recently pulled it out for demonstration purposes, it has received universal gasps of admiration, and offers. So, assuming you can trust the seller or even audition one of these older classics, then it is not such a terrible idea. In the world of vintage MMs, I have had roughly a 10% failure rate, which is quite good. For a return, I find most vintage statement MMs to be superior in all kinds of ways to current designs, so the return, considering the investment, is very good, but there is a risk. No Pain, no Gain!

As Swampie says, you should factor in the cost of rebuiding the cartridge unless it is much less than ten years old and stored properly. Use should also be factored as well as the price of said cartridge. I believe a rebuild is around 1200.00 for Koetsu.

canteliver can fall right out if it is too old

I would pass

Depending on storage technique, there can also be corrosion issues. I have seen aluminum cantilevers that have corroded over time due to being stored in a humid climate. The copper wires of the generator and the suspension wires can also corrode if not stored in a dry climate. Suspension rubbers drying out is another problem. That can happen even if the cartridge is stored in a dry climate.

I think the consensus is that you may have some issues with the suspension drying out. You should probably factor in the cost of a rebuild, unless the maker tells you otherwise.