[GreenKeys] eBay prices for 8-bit machines lately

Mon Dec 16 13:13:12 EST 2013

Hi Paul,

This thread is turning metaphysical :) I like it.
I agree with you about the prices coming and going, nearly any 
technology will go from an initial rise, a more or less long plateau and 
an eventual downfall to obsolescence. After a couple decades forgotten, 
that "trash" becomes "vintage" and finally an "antique". By then, the 
collectors community more or less should be well established, and like 
all collectibles, they really don't have an inherent price... but rather 
what the extra money in the pocket sets... so you will have a huge 
correlation between economy and prices :)

Computers from the 70s and 80s are now becoming the new "vintage", in a 
couple years all these iPhones they come out every month will be 
collector pieces... and god knows what comes next.

Having said that, I disagree in one point. "So those vast collections 
will probably be worth very little in 20-30 years."
The peculiarity about computers is that they have arrived and will stay 
for a long time, same with programmers. And programmers being a 
technical creature and generally well paid, will always like to have 
something fancy, computer related from the early days at their office, 
even if they were not personally attached :)

In short, prices may go up or down, but I really doubt they will 
sensibly fall in the future.

Here down in South America, serious collecting of this stuff is 
impossible, things weren't readily available in its lifetime, and 
shipping is always ridiculously expensive... but the instinct is there 
anyway.
So the best way to drive these instincts is to get to help a museum, you 
really become part of the museum, you feed the beast, you teach the 
people and participate, and you end up with a sensation that the hard 
work was not in vain and will last, instead of leaving a pile of "trash" 
that will be a burden to your wife when you part away.

Ok... end of catharsis...
Have a nice day!

Javier
LU8AJA

On 16/12/2013 14:36, Paul Heller wrote:
> I used to collect older computers, including 8 bit machines, and 
> stopped about five years ago. I had amassed quite a collection, 
> although most of it is gone now. I gave away most of my collection 
> because I did not want to bother trying to sell and ship it. And even 
> giving it away was difficult to do.
>
> I'm from the old school (and dying) way of thinking where things are 
> shared....
>
> Anyhow, I watched prices closely on ebay from 1995 through 2010. I 
> watched them skyrocket and fall with the economy between 2000 and 
> 2009. Now they are headed way back up again.
>
> Back then it was baby boomers, and a lot of people from Asia, who 
> drove the prices for old computers up as they amassed their various 
> fortunes in technology companies. I recall one ebay buyer in the mid 
> 2000s who purchased just about everything with very high bids. I 
> tracked him up to more than $100,000 dollars of auctions that he won 
> before I stopped calculating. Basically nobody could buy anything. 
> Everyone in various forums was complaining about that guy. He bought 
> everything, even useless parts and junk which had a brand name 
> attached to it. It drove me out of the hobby.
>
> Silly prices now again. I'm glad I moved out of the computer hobby and 
> into thee teletype hobby where things are still reasonable. Except now 
> it seems for the 33s and 35s, although I do believe we are currently 
> seeing an anomaly.
>
> But your link on the Altairs is interesting. Look at the price of the 
> clones. I have a clone. It is a fantastic computer and does everything 
> the original 8800 did. I have it because I am interested in what it 
> does, not what it is. But clearly people don't want the clones. They 
> want the originals, and are paying silly prices for them.
>
> Now here is the thing: These things were bought by people who were 
> alive in the 70s/80s/90s and can relate to them. Attend any vintage 
> computer festival and calculate the average age of who is interested 
> in vintage computing. By my informal study, 8 bit and older technology 
> are bought by 40+ year olds who have the money to spend and have that 
> personal connection in some way to the original equipment. The younger 
> generation, who were not even born in the 8-bit era, don't care at all 
> about 8 bit computers. So those vast collections will probably be 
> worth very little in 20-30 years.
>
> Apple I computers sell for six figures. Will they be worth so much 50 
> or 100 years from now?  i don't think this stuff is like fine art 
> where it will be worth millions some day. I guess I could be wrong....
>
> Paul
>
>
>
>
> On Dec 15, 2013, at 8:05 PM, David Burns <dvdbrns at rcn.com 
> <mailto:dvdbrns at rcn.com>> wrote:
>
>> It seems as though eBay prices for M33 machines (and 8-bit ilk) have 
>> jumped rather markedly since summertime.  It was only 'yesterday' 
>> when a $199 asking bid for a 33 machine didn't get any takers, 
>> regardless of condition.
>>
>> This evening I sent the following link to my buddy Pete with whom I 
>> visited The Black Hole in Los Alamos (shortly before it closed 
>> forever) where he picked up an operational 33ASR (/sitting out in the 
>> parking lot!!!)/ for $20.  Now:
>>
>> http://www.ebay.com/itm/RARE-Teletype-Model-33-Vintage-typewriter-and-punch-tape-reader-with-stand-/321230326766?nma=true&si=l21KhQ67dVr6zzgKwTqBcKvNPrQ%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557
>>
>> After I wondered why 8-bit machines seemed suddenly in demand, he 
>> checked out what his $200 Altair microcomputer would be worth on eBay:
>> http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_sacat=0&_from=R40&LH_Complete=1&LH_Sold=1&_nkw=altair+8800&_sop=16
>>
>> I think he's solved the mystery of why 8-bit Teletypes are suddenly 
>> in demand:  All those Altairs need 33ASRs to go with them!
>>
>> -Dave in Boston
>>
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