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FreeGeek Vancouver Museum Auction

NeXT

NeXT

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 22, 2008
Messages
8,114
Location
Kamloops, BC, Canada
If you wanted it, they got it and probably double.
Over the last few years they have been putting into a museum (a storage room marked "NO ENTRY") any interesting systems that came in that were not accidentally recycled (like an Amiga 3000 almost was).
Now however space and money is premium and they are selling it all off in an auction.

Here's a few pics of what is up for sale.
FG%20museum0.jpg

FG%20museum1.jpg


Almost 120 machines are for sale, including:

* Boxed IBM 5150 Personal Computer - The original PC from 1982, from which all modern PCs are still derived. Comes in box with accessories and manuals.
* NeXT cube and NeXT Stations - The computers on which the World Wide Web was created.
* Boxed Amiga 1000 - The first of a revolutionary line of computers. Comes in box with accessories and hardware upgrades.
* Atari 1040STE - One of Atari's best and well know in the world of music.
* Apple Macintosh 128k - The original Mac from 1984.
* In addition to systems, there are other goodies like Model M keyboards for sale



Please note that with the exception of one system (an IBM 5150 which is so new, it still has the boxes, wrapping and everything else that a 5150 originally came with...including ALL the books), no ducumentation or software is included. It's FreeGeek policy sadly that all software and books be thrown out (space limitations and the "linux is awesome and everything else sucks" policy) and if any hard drives can not be formatted using one and only one specific Linux formatting utility (and bringing disks from home will get you fired), the drives are also thrown out (so anything that used MFM/RLL has no hard drive any more however the ROM BASIC is still in the IBM stuff because nobody knows it is in there, otherwise it (the chips) would be removed and tossed).

Now for the where and when:

Where:
The Hackery warehouse
1914 Franklin (one block north of Hastings, just east of Victoria Drive)
*Wheelchair friendly*

Google Maps link

When:
VIEWING AND BIDDER REGISTRATION: Saturday Dec. 5th 9:00-5:00
AUCTION: Sunday Dec. 6th 12:30-end

Now for the Gritty stuff....

* NO REFUNDS, NO EXCHANGES, ALL SALES FINAL
* ALL PAYMENTS IN CASH ONLY, PAYMENT DUE ON AUCTION DAY (Sun. Dec. 6)
* YOU MUST TAKE YOUR PURCHASES WITH YOU SAME DAY (Sun. Dec. 6)
* In accordance with FG's software policies, no proprietary operating systems or software will be available.
* Due to data security procedures, all drives have been removed for data sanitation. Because of the added complexity of the wiping process for antique drives, none will be for sale during this auction. Successfully wiped and tested drives will be available at a future sale (date TBA).
* We do not guarantee the accuracy of the descriptions of equipment made during auction or viewing. You are responsible for doing your own research.
* VIEWING IS ON SATURDAY ONLY. Registration can be done on either Sat or Sun.
Click to expand...

the original ad is located Here just in case you think this is a bluff.

I'm unable to take the time off work to make it but I have seen the stuff in person (some of the unseen stuff is a TRS-80 Model II and two VAX desktop boxes and one of the Amiga 2000 systems has a partial toaster in it) but if you or anyone you know is in the area, I STRONGLY recommend you go. Anything that does not sell is recycled and lost forever.
 
Strikes me as one of those sales a guy could go into and probably come out with a nice pile of really cool stuff for not a lot of dough. Tempting, thinking Vancouver is only about 6 or 7 hours from here.

-Lance
 
Dammit! When is the Portland (aka: the ORIGINAL) Free Geek going to do this?!?!

They usually just round-file (well, recycle,) the older stuff. They have no sense of 'history' there.
 
I always feel I'm not in the right place for good finds!

I always feel I'm not in the right place for good finds!

Wow!

I have explored their web site and they seem to have sold previously items on eBay - maybe the items not sold on December 6th might have a suspended dismantling by being offerred on eBay? Don't know if they would ship in this case.

It is possible that some of this inventory was used at some point or another as props in movies - another service they advertise.

Anyways.....I'm on the wrong side of the country to take advantage of this and there does not seem to be the equivalent organization in the Toronto area. Maybe one day (in my dreams)?
 
BlueofRainbow said:
Wow!

Anyways.....I'm on the wrong side of the country to take advantage of this and there does not seem to be the equivalent organization in the Toronto area. Maybe one day (in my dreams)?
Click to expand...

Yeah, me too. I'm right across the lake from you. :( I have never heard of anything like this around here either.

Edit: is it just me, or is the //gs on the top of the pile in the first picture (Rightmost shelf on the bottom) incorrectly labeled as a mac? It looks to me like someone wrote "MACS-6" on the front in marker.
 
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BlueofRainbow said:
Wow!

I have explored their web site and they seem to have sold previously items on eBay - maybe the items not sold on December 6th might have a suspended dismantling by being offerred on eBay? Don't know if they would ship in this case.

It is possible that some of this inventory was used at some point or another as props in movies - another service they advertise.

Anyways.....I'm on the wrong side of the country to take advantage of this and there does not seem to be the equivalent organization in the Toronto area. Maybe one day (in my dreams)?
Click to expand...
From what I hear they have discontinued using ebay for now bwcause it was very poorly managed and they were spending more money shipping stuff then they were making selling the stuff.
 
Only three people showed up to register for the auction tomorrow. That was not enough for the auction to go ahead (at least 12 people were needed) and it has been cancelled.
What will happen is a single skid will be built up of the most valueable systems and the rest...well it will be recycled.

UPDATE:
DISREGARD THIS POST.
THE INFORMATION I RECEIVED WAS INCORRECT. PLEASE REFER TO THE FREEGEEK VANCOUVER WEBSITE FOR ANY FUTURE NEWS.
 
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What a shame. Hopefully they have people on hand there who know the whats what and don't end up sending some of the truly rare and interesting stuff to the scrapper.

-Lance
 
NeXT said:
Only three people showed up to register for the auction tomorrow. That was not enough for the auction to go ahead (at least 12 people were needed) and it has been cancelled.
What will happen is a single skid will be built up of the most valueable systems and the rest...well it will be recycled.
Click to expand...

Tell them to send it south to the Portland Free Geek! They'll get more than 12 bidders down here!
 
Thats actually a really good idea. Have your groups contact the Vancouver chapter. I bet you could acquire it basically to go up and pick it up or maybe a few bucks, only a few hundred miles

I'd actually drive up there from Spokane and buy the lot if it was super reasonable and see to it that it wasn't simply detroyed

-Lance
 
Darshevo said:
Thats actually a really good idea. Have your groups contact the Vancouver chapter. I bet you could acquire it basically to go up and pick it up or maybe a few bucks, only a few hundred miles

I'd actually drive up there from Spokane and buy the lot if it was super reasonable and see to it that it wasn't simply detroyed
-Lance
Click to expand...
I would think that if someone made them an offer that was bigger than what the recycling depot would give them, then they'd go for it. Show up with a pickup and hundred dollar bill. :)

On the other hand I hear from an old Vancouver geek that the FreeGeek organization isn't as geek friendly like it used to be. :(
 
Thats really a shame, I was very tempted to go down this weekend from Kelowna for that auction, guess it's a good thing I didnt spend the gas on it.

I'd still love to get a few of the systems they had in the pictures.
 
That seems like complete crap for a "geek" savvy group. Wonder if enough people ping them about selling the stuff if they'll reconsider. One would think perhaps one of the members wouldn't mind housing the equipment while sales pend. Even if you don't want to hassle with packing and shipping there are companies that do that as well if you include it in the cost.
 
Reading through the Free Geek wiki I really get the impression their mission is much less about preservation and more so about proper disposal of 'junk' and getting stuff that still has some life in it (say a P3 that will connect to the internet) into the hands of people who wouldn't otherwise be able to afford a computer. An excellent mission to be sure, just maybe not in line with what a vintage collector would expect

-Lance
 
It's also important to note that, as part of Free Geek's mission, they strive to bring computers to the non-tech-savvy, and bring the non-tech-savvy into their organization. Many Free Geek volunteers had never owned a computer before starting there.

As such, very few have much knowledge of or appreciation for vintage computers.

P.S. I have emailed the Portland Free Geek to see if they can convince their Vancouver brethren to send the auction gear to Portland for auction. If anyone here would be willing to *COMMIT* to attending a Portland auction, it would probably go a long way toward improving the odds of getting it done here. (I used the perfectly valid "couldn't get Passport fast enough" argument to justify why they should hold it in the U.S.)
 
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Please be aware I have made an error.
I said that the auction had been cancelled to the confusion of some however this was not the case.
While I am currently unaware of any future plans, all I will recommend people do is keep their eyes on the FreeGeek Vancouver home page for any future news.
 
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