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Piecing out my collection

M

Micom 2000

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 6, 2004
Messages
1,284
Location
Manitoba North of 50 degrees Latitude
I've been collecting for years but now at almost 69 years I'm thinking
of selling it all off. I think I've burned out for my passion of getting old computers to work, and who knows, I could kick off at anytime.

It gets more frustrating all the time to ennervate a computer which used
to work and I've forgotten more than I remember about various innards
even when I can find tips in my voluminous usenet or classiccmp archives. Sellam is to be notified should I pass on but I could use bucks
to give me a holliday to somewhere as Walter Mathau said "where women don't wear tops"

I would like to offer much of my stuff to those like the people on Vintage
Computers, but I am embarassed to quote a price for various junk here.
The impersonality of EPay and the money-guys there is where I will go
for the rare stuff, and if it doesn't sell I will offer it for free or to bidders here. At this point I can't catalogue all the shit I've got, which goes beyond
particular models of computers, to cards, memories, docs, software,etc.

Some things I will retain. My Dec Rainbow, Atari Mega, Amiga 3000, my special IBM PC w/386 upgrade, an Apple GS, a Grid LT 1520, and a DTR 1.
Everything else is up for grabs. I think I posted some of my collection on the list a while back. All the IBM PC and PC2 stuff is there for any IBM
collectors as well as various MCA. VESA, and LCBus cards, old MFM and
IDE HDs and FDDs. Some stuff just for shipping, others for nominal payment.

I'd like to be able to go and holliday where "women don't wear tops".

Just once.

Lawrence
 
I haven't hit 69 yet, but if I get there I'll be pretty happy. I have no reason to think I won't get there, but as you point out, you never know.

That being said, old machines are fun to tinker with, but yes, there is more to life. I've been neglecting my machines for a bit to work on a pilots license before the eyes go bad.

I'll try to find your list and see what could use a home that fits in here. I like your point on eBay - I'd much rather see my machines go to people I know or like minded people before they go on eBay. (I haven't sold anything on eBay yet.)


Mike
 
Lawrence,

Good luck on your sales, I hope you win enough to make your vacation a long and happy one. If I might offer a suggestion, in OZ they wear no tops, AFAIK. (I've always wanted to go there and just go-walkabout). Anyways, may you enjoy spending your children's inheritance, I did. Over the past few years, I have completely gutted my collection, and done away with anything that was worth anything. Nowadays, I just collect for fun, not for fun & profit. As for eBay, I haven't felt badly about anything I've sold there. I have felt that everything went to good homes, with people who will enjoy them as much as I have. Mebbe I've just been lucky, tho. I have "met" many good people over the years, thru my dealings on eBay, most recently, patscc, one of the newest members of these forums.

--T
 
Wait a couple of weeks. Everyone's depressed around tax day. At least, wait until the next Windows service pack. That's surely enough to drive any one back into the comfortable world of old computers. At least with old computers, you're fairly sure the problem's been solved.

I don't think you should be embarresed to ask for a price. It can always be negotiated, after all, and personally I don't think an 'up-front'' price is a turn off. Though, appearantly, on eBay price reserves and high initial bids scare away a lot of the riff-raff.

Hey, here's an idea. That writer that wanted a better laptop from a while back, there's a post around here, somewhere, maybe we can entice her by tying a Dell Latitude to a stick and dangling it in front of her until she writes some articles mentioning some of your stuff, right before you put it on eBay. It does seem whenever something is mentioned somewhere, eBay prices go waaay up.

A lot of the European coast has nude beaches, and on the regular ones, most women go topless. (I used to live there), Italy. Corsica, Sicily...
Even im Munich and Berlin, you see topless sunbathers in city parks.
What's nice is that it's no big deal, very natural attitude towards it all. Never could figure out why it's such a big deal over here.
The food is also fantastic.

Of course, there's always Belgium, which, aside from having great( and strong) Beer, I've now discovered has all the computers we don't have. Any one fancy a quick raid ?

I'll consider myself lucky to make it to 69 and not sit in front of the Boob Tube drooling.

patscc
 
Hey, ask a price. Remember "one man's junk, can be another's etc"
EG. My 5160 XT has been dismantled, to be spare parts for my 5150.
To me the 5160 Chassis, Cover, & Mainboard (w NEC V20 CPU), are just junk cluttering up precious living area, in my 1 bed unit!
To others, the 5160 seems to be seriously collectable!
Also u put the WORK into the collection, at least attempt to get some compensation for that!
***************************************
Re Girls w/o Tops in OZ. Melbourne has some Topless & Nude beaches, but surely even the States has those? Other than beaches, it aint legal for girls to go around topless Outdoors, in any city/town that I know of.
As for going Walkabout? It's purely a Koori (Aboriginal) thing, done by very few of them these days, and that's mainly for National Geographic's cameras :)
***************************************
Best of Luck. You've earned it!!! :) :) :)
 
*tries to imagine an eBay-like auction where bids are placed in number of topless girls instead of dollars* :wink:

Maybe you can interest Hugh Heffner in your computer collection and make a fair swap?
 
Well I might be an "old fart" but I'm in seriously good health despite gaining considerable girth due to sitting in front of my computer too much during a particularly cold winter here, and consuming too much beer and edibles. I still see myself as in my 40s despite the evidence I am much older.

I was referring to a Walter Mathiau movie "Casey's Shadow" which I love when I mentioned the line about "where women don't wear tops". I lived
on a nude beach in the summer of 74 in Vancouver called Wreck Beach (supporting myself with a vending operation of sorts) which still is happening but with a multitude of vendors selling Tacos and Daquiris among other things.

I would prefer something like the Marquises Islands which unfortunately by now is likely contaminated with western culture and boom-boxes.

I had a roady business one time and worked a strip club once with a band. Believe me a profusion of T&A can be boring not titulating, after seeing the same tired moves 3 times a nite 7 days a week.

And yes, I'm still interested in sex, but choices are more limited. :^)

The biggest part of my collection are IBM PS/2 MCAs unfortunately and
lately this doesn't incurr much enthusiasm among collectors. At some point
I'm sure this will change and MCA will become the flavor of the week.

In the meantime I just have to dole out my CP/M, TRS, Atari, Apple and Commodore stuff. As well as a few oddballs and documentation (magazines and manuals). Won't get me to Tahiti but might give me some travelling cash and repite from interminable winters.

Lawrence
 
I've actually become fairly interested in PS/2 systems in the last couple of years. However, MCA parts are quite scarce at the moment, so it isn't possible for me to assemble one to my liking. I would likely be interested in something flagship like the Model 95. Do you have any of those?
 
model 30

model 30

yeah, it wasn't MCA but I used to have a model 30 and wouldn't mind getting another for old times sake ;)

-mikol
 
The newest PS/2 I have is a model 90. All SCSI peripherals. The 95 was
the epitome of PS/2 development. The IBM MCA models after that weren't PS/2s to me. Some of the PS/1s I consider as PS/2 non MCA machines and were interesting and IBM-quality such as the 2011 and 2023. To me the IBM PS/2 started with the 8580 which introduced VGA, the 386, and
MCA. Had IBM not tried to hold at ransom, by their stringent and expensive licensing charges, the other companies which formed the
EISA and the Local Bus architechtures, the computer world today would be much different. For better or worse is debateable.

IBM did do quality production and some other early giants like Compaq
followed in that mode as opposed to the clone manufacturers. Of course
that also came at a price which ordinary consumers weren't prepared to pay. I love the easy disassembly of these more expensive beasts.

I have always regretted the unsaleability of the 8580s (and 8560s) on
e-Pay because of their weight. Their carrying handle was not meant to cart them more short distances no matter the strength of the carrier to transport their 70 lb.weight. They were built like a tank but sold for $10,000 bare. I don't think that even included an ESDI HD.

I was uplifted when I saw one going yesterday for over a $100 on E-Pay with 2 days to go, and the leading bidder was from Portugal. Shipping cost
would inflate his bid to many times the auction price. But to me this machine is one of the most significant computers out there and when an Apple 1 can go for $25000 when there were many more advanced computers already in production at the time it was introduced, it is fitting.

I have an extensive IBM collection and I have to make a decision soon whether to sell it as a collection or piece it out. The various extra's I have
I will sell separately, but I have to catalogue exactly what I have extra
and whether to sell the non-MCA boxes separately, as well as testing them. Might be fun :^)).
 
My DEC Pro 350 has to go. I could use the bucks. It boots up to the password so I think the HD works, and I have links to many solutions to the password problem but lack the resolve to get this workstation PDP-11 functioning. Apparently many use it as a VAX controller. It uses the POS system which is freely down-loadable but apparently can also use DEC RT-11, which is also freely available. It was used locally by a Shell Oil distributer. It's cosmetically in good shape. Just have to get the pics and list it. "Soon come" as the Jamaicans say.

I no longer have the patience nor enthusiasm I once had for stray machines, no matter what their lineage. I'm planning on putting this up on EPay with a VR201 monitor, since I have the color one now for my Rainbow, the VR241A which was an unrealizable hope for many years and a 'Bow with a real color card. Like my Next Color WS, til death do us part.

Epay seems to have recovered a bit and I've sold some minor things lately for fair prices. I sold its sister box, without HD for around $120 last year so hopefully this should go for more.

The VR201 has to be the neatest little monitors of all my collectibles including the Apple IIc LCD which I sold over a year ago. It has a little extendable post for inclination and a handle for carrying. I used it with my earlier Rainbow and kept it for years before that tho I didn't have a DEC cord for it.

It's hard to define your essentials and at this point a computer museum is realisticly unrealizable. So as I've said I'm "selling off the farm". My E-Pay moniker is BigWok but I will alert the site-members on major items. I really have a shit-load of stuff including a lot of documentation. I'll also shortly be putting up packages with a Fortran and a Cobol programming books from 79 and 81, a Volkner-Craig 404 terminal, an H/Z 89, a couple of KayPros, an Osbourne 1, and other stuff that doesn't require soul-searching as to whether or not I really want to sell this. At some point the TRS-80 M.2 with OS, Zenix and other 8" software and the 3 5Meg HDs will also have to go. That does hurt. I even have the copy of "Peaches and Cream" CPM that Don Maislin sent me. But "Oh, well".

Commodores, Ataris, TI 99s, Apples, MACs and IBMs should also be flying thru my E-Pay door once I get off my behind. The complete ADAM package with the CollecoVision Gamer and about 20 cartridges. An ecclectic collection you can be sure. The peripheral ISA, MCA, LOCAL-BUS and EISA cards, MFM HDs, and TTL monitors are also innumerable. Just have to fixate on an island holiday "where the women don't wear tops" [film: Casey's Shadow, Walter Mathau 1978] ;^)) (giggle, giggle).

Lawrence
 
As for going Walkabout? It's purely a Koori (Aboriginal) thing, done by very few of them these days, and that's mainly for National Geographic's cameras
Click to expand...

Pardon my ignorance, but ya gotta remember, my only down-under experience comes from the other side of those cameras, along with the little knowledge I can pick up from the inhabitants like yourself who I communicate with. As for going walkabout, I've already found my dream-guide long long ago. While I was in my walkabout mode, I did share a campsite in Tok, Alaska for a couple of weeks with a guy who was from Australia. He was actually using the "college fund" his parents had saved up for him to spend two years traveling around the world instead of spending four years sitting in a stuffy classroom somewhere, on the theory that he could become better "educated" by experiencing the real world than by going to college. I got the impression from him that this was a fairly common practice in Oz. He spoke of several other people he knew who had done the same thing. I always thought that folks down there have a better attitude about what constitutes an education. Round here, it's all about getting a degree, not about getting an education. Everyone here is familliar with the term "educated fool".

--T
 
Going thru my collection it becomes clear that it may be as much fun selling it as it was collecting it. All of it has to be checked and my memory banks will be challenged in the case of non MSDos, or Atari ST systems(I'm drawing some blanks even on my favorite platform). Too much time spent on ($%#%$) MS$ point and click computing the last few years.

I usually grabbed anything non-standard in thrift shops and yard sales.
So in going thru my stuff I found a manual w/program of "MKS Lex and YACCs" for MSDos from 1987. Mortice Kern Systems was one of the great Canadian U of Waterloo initiated companies who did so much in the early days including the Waite Group, Volkner-Craig, and many others. I found
a site for it http://dinosaur.compilertools.net/

I'll copy the disk before I sell it, and likely most opened packaged items before selling them, illegal or not. The BS around outmoded programs is crap and usually most promoted by companies who bought the program and made big bucks off the original programmers labour, and then abandoned it's production or support but won't release it, in case there's a couple of bucks down the line.

Another program with manual is called ODysis produced in New South Wales and appears to be an interesting file management and DB sytem.
A weighty AST Multi-Plan system which was a rival or forerunner of Lotus. ISR it included a copy of Paint, a nonWin program. A new Lotus Symphony
package, an interesting pre-Office business package. A Key-Soft bunch of packages. KeySoft was a lo-cost software sweatshop marketing company based in Fliorida that was later taken over by "the Learning Machine".
And numerous other boxed programs.

And then there are the 100s of 5 1/4 floppies. Likely not saleable but which should be checked for non-archived programs. Noticed a bunch of badged Canadian Pacific RR "Merlin"? disks. I bought them originally for a source of disappearing 5 1/4 disks.

And there are all the old TTL monitors which will have to be checked with CGA, EGA, or Hercules cards. Not to mention the Full-page Radius monitor that I bought a weird adaptor for that would supposedly make it useable on a Mac Plus. Heard that it was also useable on my Mac IIci later.

CoCos, and OS9 which I've never tried using the FD cartridge, seeing if I can cable up the TRS-80 M II HDs, and if I can use XENIX with them.

All the Commodores from the Vic-20s to the Amigas and the raft of Software I got along with the Amiga 3000 from my neighbor along the block Jim Butterfield who was also a member of the old Toronto Free-net.
Not to mention the raft of peripherals I collected over the years.

The Atari 8-bitters. I'll only hang on to the xe130 (my mini 8-bit ST)
Have to check out some of the programs such as a hillarious porno disk
which animated a bunch of still photos of a felatio session, a strip poker game, some demos made by IIRC Jan Hammer and Michel Foure.

Seems my waning and selling years may be more a lot more fun than the infuriatingly frustrating years of trying to get these machines functioning.

Of course it could only being the brandy speaking, and tomorrow I'll once again wonder just what in the F--- was I thinking about when I originally enthusiastically and fixatedly accumulated this pile of junk.

Lawrence
 
Wow, since you're living in Manitoba, I can really understand your dream of going to an island where the women don't wear tops (at least not without some serious goose bumps). ;)

With your impressive collection, I'm sure that if you get a fair price for everything, you'll be well on your way to that island.

Unfortunately, since you live so far away, it's not really interesting for me to buy anything.

It's funny by the way: Is it just me, or has there been an increase in PS/2- and MCA-specific topics lately? Your timing might not be all that bad.

At any rate, I wish you good luck, good health, and lots of fun on your vacation. :)
 
Well, it's been a while and it looks like even in Manitoba May 2010 is going to be a lot warmer than May 2005, but AFAIK Lawrence is still only dreaming about those topless ladies (or maybe in the meantime he's forgotten why he was dreaming about them ;-) )...

How's the clearance coming along, Lawrence?
 
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