Cashing In On Antique Computers

mwillems writes: "The Economist posts this story this week about how old computer hardware can be worth money. At the Vintage Computer Festival East, a lot of old hardware was seen, swapped and admired. An industry is emerging, it seems: an Apple One apparently fetched $25,000 at auction. Time to dust off my Ohio Scientific OSI Challenger 4-p!" These festivals sounds like a lot of fun -- can anyone offer some first-hand reports from the Boston one? Hmm. The local thriftstore has a working Mac IIci for $1.98 -- maybe I should put it on eBay as a collectable.

Comments

Old keyboards

[Mike Schiraldi]

I'd pay big bucks for an old IBM AT keyboard in good condition.. I still have my IBM PC XT's keyboard even though it unfortunately won't work with modern computers (though the very next generation IBM made, the aforementioned AT keyboard, is very similar and does work with modern machines)

You know these things:

• good solid click when you type
  
• the ` key next to the ' key
  
• the \ key on the left, mirroring the / key
  
• the * key near the ., so it was easy to type stuff like "*.txt"
  
• Ctrl on the left, Caps Lock way the fuck out of the way where you could never accidentally hit it
  
• Esc next to 1
  
• Function keys on the left
  
• Only one set of arrow keys
  
• A gigantic spacebar that goes all the way from Alt (which is where Left Ctrl is on modern keyboards) to Caps Lock (which is where Right Ctrl is nowadays)
  
• Oh, that wonderful solid click when you type. I have to mention it again.
  

I have a barrel of RDRAM, soon to be a collectible

[Mustang Matt]

Get yours while it's hot!

Buying and Selling...

[Mike1024]

Hey,

The local thriftstore has a working Mac IIci for $1.98 -- maybe I should put it on eBay as a collectable.

Ebay has a Sinclair ZX Spectrum or two for £2.99... maybe I should buy one and put it on ebay as a collectable.

Hold on, there's something wrong with this plan...

Michael

Woz

[blair1q]

A few months ago, one of the local Silly Valley school districts (Los Altos, iirc) Yahoo-auctioned off a working Apple I, signed by Steve Wozniak, complete with a picture of the Woz signing it.

It went for $350.

I didn't buy it.

--Blair
"D'oh!"

Oddly valuable items....

[HamNRye]

I have long been a collector of old computer equipment. Not in the as a hobby thing, it just seems to keep piling up. I was selling alot of it on e-bay and found this:

Old (I mean pre 1975) monitors are at a premium. Many of these exhibits have working machines, but no terminals or monitors. (Note: This means you'll get up to 1,000 or so for verrrrrry rare ones.)(Yeah, it ain't much, but it ain't a kick in the teeth either.)

Anyone still got an Altair?? Some of the old Commodores? Nostalgia carries a premium.

Oddly enough on a side note, I sold 8 PDP7's, with terminals and keyboards (To the tune of 48 working sets) and only got 300$ And noone even wanted the old Sun INP. (SunOS 3.5 not good enough?) Heck, that thing even has an Apple I model processor from Motorolla.

I have also had good luck with front bezels and name plates in good condition, power supplies, etc...

Finally, the expansion boards. There things sold for 5K and up initially, and will still go for that if you're paitent. Post a web page with all of the names and model numbers and a contact addy. Someone will search the net and hit your page and buy that board. I have sold video boards for 8K, comm and memory boards have gone for as high as 12K.

I find that the old washing machine hard drives aren't worth the shipping, so strip em and sell off the parts. Same for most other large equipment.

Now, would anyone like to place a bid on 25 IBM 8585 models?? Featuring a 386/25 processor and a full 4MB of Ram... I think they'd make great doorstops. (Unless you already have an Apple IIci)

~Hammy

Apple Never Changes

[Anonymous Coward]

an Apple One apparently fetched $25,000 at auction

See, twenty million years after it's introduction and it's still OVERPRICED UNDERPOWERED JUNK.

AMD FOREVER!!

Thank You Slashdot

[SecretAsianMan]

With the Slashdot Effect you've now brought upon the classic computer market, the market will soon be gone thanks to everyone selling and no one buying. Thank you Slashdot.