In the late 1960s a surplus dealer near the Oakland, California airport was obtaining barrels of rejected and sometimes unmarked semiconductors, presumably from scrap yards where the Silicon Valley semiconductor manufacturers were dumping them. He was retesting and selling these to people like Radio Shack. I recall him saying that many of the i.c.s had failed infrared heat distribution tests, but would be fine for non-military use.
Bruce, KG6OJI
ebrucehunter