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Gene Roddenberry's Mac Plus Is Coming Up For Auction
Harry writes "In 1986, Apple unveiled one of the most popular Macintoshes ever, the Mac Plus. The company gave the first one (serial number #F4200NUM0001) to Star Trek's creator, Gene Roddenberry. And now this very Mac Plus will go up for auction at a Hollywood collectibles event on October 8th and 9th, complete with a letter of authenticity from Roddenberry's son. The estimated value is only $800-$1200, which seems reasonable enough, given its double historical significance." Any bets on how high the bidding will go?
400 quatloos!!
10k? This is Gene Roddenberry, man. His fans will pay $10k for a ripped shirt stained with Shatner's sweat. I'll bet this could clear a quarter mil.
The CB App. What's your 20?
At a Hollywood collectibles event, it will probably go for $200k.
If they had listed it on eBay, and slashdotted the listing, they would probably get bids in amounts over $10 million+.
But I guess after eBay fees, they're better off selling it at the Hollywood collectibles event :)
It would, if Apple cared.
No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
I had a Mac Plus. It didn't have a drive. Just one floppy drive.
This the the Mac Plus with the formula for Transparent Aluminum on it!
Bruce Perens.
determined to be not as advertised
We've gotten several inquires about this by the fantastically loyal and knowledgeable Mac community. After further investigating the item, here's the information:
Firstly, this Macintosh was, indeed, presented to Gene Roddenberry by Apple. There is no doubt about this.
The conflict between the photo and the serial number is as follows. This computer, given by Apple to Mr. Roddenberry, is an early production Macintosh 128 (#776), which was then upgraded by Apple for Gene to a Macintosh Plus-thus the model number / serial number / panel that "belongs to" a Macintosh Plus. The 0001 led us to mistakenly believe that it was the first one off the line.
Again, the provenance of the item is perfect and it did belong to Mr. Roddenberry. I apologize for any confusion.
What are you guys talking about? Mac Pluses don't have hard disks.
The data might still be there
Nope. The Mac Plus had no internal hard drive.
The really problem is that every fan will bid $1701. Therefore, only a non-fan can possibly win the auction.
Doesn't everyone technically live at home, with home being defined as "where you live"?
It does indeed. Did you know that the 128k Macintosh was the very first Macintosh model ever produced? The very first, I tell you!
Plugging the serial number into the Early Macintosh Serial decoder yields:
Your Macintosh 128 (M0001), with serial number F4200NUM0001, was the 776th manufactured during the 20th week of 1984 in Fremont, CA.
There's a few ways to restore or prevent the yellowing. I can't find the original page I saw before, but this has more information.
Of course nobody reads the FAQ! If people read the FAQ, the Questions wouldn't be so Frequently Asked.
The serial number and the pictures are of an original mac, not a plus. However, see what the auction house said:
We've gotten several inquires about this by the fantastically loyal and knowledgeable Mac community. After further investigating the item, here's the information:
Firstly, this Macintosh was, indeed, presented to Gene Roddenberry by Apple. There is no doubt about this.
The conflict between the photo and the serial number is as follows. This computer, given by Apple to Mr. Roddenberry, is an early production Macintosh 128 (#776), which was then upgraded by Apple for Gene to a Macintosh Plus-thus the model number / serial number / panel that "belongs to" a Macintosh Plus. The 0001 led us to mistakenly believe that it was the first one off the line.
Again, the provenance of the item is perfect and it did belong to Mr. Roddenberry. I apologize for any confusion.