When I started soldering everything was big and had leads that went through holes in the board. You inserted the leads, bent them over to hold the component, flipped the board over, soldered everything, and trimmed off the excess leads.
Now I’m soldering things down to 0402 SMDs (1/4 the size of the smallest component in the picture) using a needle point soldering tip and a microscope.
A pair of 2N2222 transistors, one SOT23 and one TO-92.
I miss radio shack ! Yeah 2003 baby hah. I wish I could do microscopic soldering
I bought a Olympus SZ40 on an arm for $200 from a microscope shop in Montreal. It’s the best $200 I’ve ever spent. It makes soldering so much easier.