Are all of these NOS tube inventories real? How have we not consumed them already?

If you see a dealer that has a bunch of "new old stock in white boxes" you should be wary. Especially if these NOS are not military (JAN) tubes. A box doesnt prove that the tube is NOS, but the lack of an original box usually is very telling. 

"new old stock in white boxes" you should be wary. Especially if these NOS are not military (JAN) tubes. A box doesnt prove that the tube is NOS, but the lack of an original box usually is very telling.

I find this to be true, of all the tubes I have purchased the only one that failed was one that didn't have an original box.

I am picking them up tomorrow. Will keep you all posted on what we find.

Well, I filled up the Tahoe with almost half of the collection. I thought this was a collection that was purchased from an avid McIntosh collector and where mostly NOS. I was wrong. True he was a McIntosh collector, however the tubes are not mostly NOS, but have all been tested with the bad ones decarded. There are quite a few ham tubes but thankfully no TV tubes, plus some really bazaar ones. This is just half the batch so far but I did get a look at his secret stash, now we are talking. Several bins of Genalex, Western Electric, RCA, Telefunken, Mullard, Valvo, etc. all tested on his Amplitrex tester complete with printout. I will be selling those after all the others are gone. Not sure yet if there are 30,000 tubes, however there are certainly 5 figures total. This project will take quite awhile.

Found 9 pc of NOS Western Electric 300b tubes in an attic a little over a year ago, been sitting for decades. So yea, stuff is still out there.Also purchased a tightly matched quad of old Tungsol 6550 that were NOS from a friend at a bargain price, tested as new on a Amplitrex tester. They were in a box that was normally sold to bulk purchasers along with a lot more of them. Bulk purchasers didn't get individual boxes for each tube, just dividers in the box to protect them. He found them at a garage sale for next to nothing and was not into tube gear at all. Hence selling them cheap.I'm sure there are still stashes out there but they are getting harder to find.
BillWojo