If you were downsizing...

[deathshadow]

*NOTE* none of this is actually up for sale yet, I'm just thinking... made me wonder if others have similar issues with their collections. I'm also just thinking aloud here.

I've been considering the need to downsize my collection a bit, and was just thinking of priorities and what I use, what I don't, what's important to me, and what isn't... Simple fact is I don't have room to have them all set up at once, nor am I likely to so...

It's funny because what's rising to the top of the list to go isn't something I'd have expected -- my Apple IIe. I DON'T USE IT!. I might consider keeping it if I had the matching monitor, but right now it's just sucking down space on a bench doing nothing. (that could be better filled with a recently acquired Rainbow 100)

Maybe it's because I found Woz's alleged "cost saving" shortcuts (that still doesn't explain it costing more than more capable competitors -- oh wait, Jobbo the clown's greed) pointlessly aggravating... maybe it's because I never actually saw one in person (I honestly thought was advertised in magazines that nobody actually owned) until around 1988 (where my school had them all locked in a room as they cost too much to risk the students damaging them -- that's not a joke. I don't think they were ever even powered on once) despite being hip-deep in Microcomputing since '77. Maybe it's because I was a "Wayne Green country" TRS-80 or die child but...

...I'm just NOT an Apple guy. I thought having one and actually getting to used it would change that -- but the more and more I deal with it the more and more it aggravates me like everything else crApple has ever made which is why it has sat there without power since... hell, this time last year?

I find my Minus-60 more fun and interesting.

Much less I probably have enough spare parts in the bin to build another one sans case if the mood REALLY struck me. Got that spare duodisk too that I can't use since no controller and to make it more aggravating, it's the 25 pin version.

Apples still remain a "why the *** did anyone buy these" for me. A fact made worse by their revisionist history and overblowing their importance in same.

I'm pondering parting with my loaded out Coco 1 (with the full 2 keyboard -- kind of wish I had a melted for it)[/i], though the trio sitting in the garage gathering dust (two of them are 32k piggyback ECB, one is 4k standard basic with a shattered case) should go first. Because I have a 128k Coco 3 the others should go... but the Coco is near and dear to my heart. Partly because when I was taking Pascal classes in school I could go home and actually run the code under OS9-- when the classes at that point were PURELY theoretical because... uhm, see above.

The Sharp PC 7000 should go, one of the two floppies has problems (not good since they're technically one drive sharing the same spindle) ... but I just LOVE the lunchbox form factor. I've been half tempted to gut it, put the guts of my MSI Wind U123 in it, and then weigh it down with 12 pounds of LIPO packs. :D

There's my busted 4P... NOT happy about that. Needs caps, needs a TUBE now, needs a resistor replaced and is missing half the ram (it has the chip to go to 128, but I pulled the RAM for my Coco 1 after the tube broke)... IT's so screwed up now I'm not even sure its worth anything but as parts. I know the plastics are screwed as I had them removed completely, then we had unexpected flooding.

I do KNOW the C64, 1000SX, Jr, and XT clone aren't going anywhere. ESPECIALLY since that XT clone is now booting off a 9gb 15K RPM Seagate Cheetah. I was SHOCKED when my ST-02 card recognized it after adding the 68 pin to 50 pin adapter.

Thinking of my parts stockpile, I should condense all the 1000 EX/HX parts I have left over to see if I can build at least one more unit from the leftovers. Sadly I left one in a friends care and just my luck, some form of rodent nested in it. Pissed me off royally because in the process it totaled one of those semi-rare memory boards for them.

Could be worse though, could be my stack of MC-10's destroyed by said flooding.

In any case... I know many of you have faced this situation. Just curious in your own collections what would you put at the top of the list to go... and why?

Strangely the past year I've gone from struggling to get the stuff I want, to drowning in stuff I don't need. Though admittedly a LOT of that comes from buying whole lots or going to estate sales where they want to sell you "the whole box of stuff" and doing so ONLY because it is often cheaper than getting the single piece I want all by itself. Shocking how fast duplicates can suddenly pile up on you.

 

[Malc]

.....Just curious in your own collections what would you put at the top of the list to go... and why?

Everything i don't use / need / want, I 'downsized' my collection a couple of years ago and don't regret it one bit, My collection grew over the years to the point i had no space left, One day i had a good look at the amount of systems / parts i had and it was ridiculous, Most of it never saw the light of day from one year to the next and i made up my mind to get rid. I've still got stuff to get rid of but i've got a lot of space back and i like it that way.

 

[falter]

I'm sort of of two minds on this. As I've surpassed 100 machines, I've started realizing how much space it takes up. I'm also realizing I'm more into building and fixing stuff than really using it. Once in a while I'll run Kings Quest III on the PCjr or one of the old graphic adventures on the Apple II but most of my machines sit silent. You kind of get to a point where you wonder if you've crossed the line into hoarding without even knowing it.

On the other hand, I do love walking into the room I have set up and being surrounded by it all. I love that I have so many options, so many beautiful machines. I feel like I'm a kid again, let loose in thr family friend's old Compucentre store. Hard to let that go.

 

[jltursan]

Duplicates, I always need to get rid of duplicates, I've hoarded dozens of them and that's not good,...I'm starting to think about them as a parallel collection!
If it's not a duplicate, I'm always looking to make some space so big machines are in my top.

 

[lyonadmiral]

I think space has a lot to with it. When I had a house, I had plenty of room. When we lost that and ended up moving into civilization into an apartment, I have about 1/20th of the space I did now, but my wife and I (and I'm not sure which one of us is worse, we are both pretty bad) still have not adapted to the notion and the reality that our apartment is not our house and we can't try to live in it like it is. Of all the stuff I've ever had, most of it had some form of sentimental value, but we just, or rather I just can't keep it all. The 5150, 5152, 5153, and 5161 are it, the rest has to go and I've slowly been weeding it out either on eBay or on here. Our problem on this forum, is as has been mentioned in many previous posts, that we're marketing to the same people who are also trying to unload there wares. But there's always the chance that one of us is indeed looking for something.

 

[billdeg]

If I could find someone who knew what they were doing I could keep someone employed for a month doing nothing but putting vintage computers on ebay all day.. I figure eventually in 15 or 20 years when I retire I will hire myself for this. I honestly do use everything though, I don't have a lot that just sits.

 

[KC9UDX]

The only time I ever saw an Apple ][e in real life with the proper monitor, it was in my own collection. Even then, when I thinned things out that was the first setup to go because I didn't think it appropriate to have such a combination.

Most Apple ][es that I ever saw either had a monitor designed for the Apple ///, a //c, the GS, or a generic monitor not really intended for an Apple at all.

I don't see much revisionist history surrounding the ][e. They really were what people used, and wanted to use. They were the gold standard of home computer. Everything else was considered a compromise (even though there were plenty of technically better machines). It all started with the All-American, underdog story of the two Steves. I remember that I even had a Collier's Encyclopedia Year Book dedicated to Apple and the ][.

The thing about the ][e, as a collector, that I struggle with, is how different they were from beginning to end. A pre-Enhanced ][e is a whole different animal than a Platinum //e, and likewise the intermediate variations.

I'm not an "Apple guy", either. But I'd keep a ][e over any XT clone (in fact I have, over and over). If there's revisionist history, it's with these things. PCs didn't really become relevant until Windows 95, and everyone else was done by then, anyway. XT clones were never desirable, they were just cheap and plentiful. I unfortunately did scrap a bunch of Rainbow 100s, because at the time, to me they were even less useful than XT clones!

 

[Trixter]

In any case... I know many of you have faced this situation. Just curious in your own collections what would you put at the top of the list to go... and why?

I struggle every year with ensuring that my collection stays a collection and does not degenerate into a hoard; likewise, I fight with myself mentally to try to not become a hoarder. I have a lot of systems and items that are "projects", where I want to use or exhibit them someday, then sell. "Projects" are the gateway drug into hoarding. (I'm not trying to be funny; I'm genuinely concerned about this, both for my own collection and for some others that I know.)

If I had to IMMEDIATELY pare down my collection, I would start by defining my core focus of the collection: What am I an authority on? What do I enjoy to play with? What do I keep coming back to again and again? Then come the harder questions: What projects could I bang out in a weekend? In a month? In a year? After you ask these questions and get some hard, honest answers, it should be somewhat straightforward to let chunks of your collection go. And if you still have reservations, I highly suggest watching a few seasons of Hoarders, so that one can get a sense of the psychological issues that prevent us from letting things go.

For me personally, the first decade of the PC (1981 to 1991) is my forté; in particular, the first five years, which is also not a period well-represented by the vast majority of amateur historians in the wild. So those would be the very last to go.

Applying this process to myself, I'd let go of things in stages:

1. First, all non-PC systems would go: Apple II, Mac, Amiga, C64
2. Then, all PCs from 1992 and later: Pentiums, Pentium Pros, etc.
3. Then, all PCs from 1986 and later: Tandy 1000s.
4. Finally, all PCs that had no historical or financial value (note I didn't say personal or nostalgic value).

It is assumed that I'd let go of any software at the same time that fit the same rules -- don't need to hold onto Quake if I no longer have a period-appropriate system to run it on.

 

[billdeg]

very logical.

I have a rule - something comes in, something has to go out. I get rid of things I know I will never use.

 

[reenigne]

I struggle every year with ensuring that my collection stays a collection and does not degenerate into a hoard; likewise, I fight with myself mentally to try to not become a hoarder. I have a lot of systems and items that are "projects", where I want to use or exhibit them someday, then sell. "Projects" are the gateway drug into hoarding. (I'm not trying to be funny; I'm genuinely concerned about this, both for my own collection and for some others that I know.)

How do you draw the line between collector and hoarder? I do have a lot of items which are probably complete junk ("projects" to eventually fix up) but (to prevent filling up the house and emptying my bank account) I have very strict limits that I set for myself about how much I spend and what I spend it on.

 

[billdeg]

There are people who can proportionally afford the expense associated with their inventory and others who can't. I'd be reluctant to keep as much as I have in my basement now if I had to pay for a storage garage instead. I'd have a lot less real quick.

 

[mmruzek]

This is a timely topic for me, as I have been downsizing my collection for most of 2017. To echo what Trixter said, I decided to focus on what I really enjoy and know, which is the IBM 5150 and Accessories. From there I started listing the rare and unusual items on EBAY... like my Rainbow 100, Workslate, 8080 Breadboard, etc. Another thing that I have found helpful has been attending several Amateur Radio Shows and setting up with the rule that nothing comes back home! It is alot easier to handoff systems when you can see the new owner and their excitement about getting a bargain. I got rid of my IBM 286 that way to a teenager. Another rule of thumb that I use is to gauge whether I am properly treating the items I own. For example, are all the ISA card in static protective bags, etc. I still have a ways to go, but I also don't have any regrets. Focusing on just the one system has actually been kind of a relief. LOL. Michael

 

[Trixter]

How do you draw the line between collector and hoarder? I do have a lot of items which are probably complete junk ("projects" to eventually fix up) but (to prevent filling up the house and emptying my bank account) I have very strict limits that I set for myself about how much I spend and what I spend it on.

You are not a hoarder if:

• You adhere to limits (financial or otherwise)
• You know where every item is
• If you are standing on the same property as your collection, you can physically touch any collection item in two minutes or less
• Your collection items are not exposed to the elements

I know many people who don't adhere to one of the above rules. I've met one person who didn't adhere to any of the above rules, and that was sad.

Some musings:

http://www.vcfed.org/forum/showthread.php?29756-Hoarders-S03E16&p=215834#post215834
http://www.vcfed.org/forum/showthre...ARDER-and-have-Asperger-s&p=441760#post441760
https://trixter.oldskool.org/2012/01/18/collections/

 

[livewire]

Yup, a lot of the "junk" has eventually got to go. Gonna wait until I retire in a few years to clear the shelves.
Hope I don't die first. The wife will throw it all in the trash.
I have tried to teach my kids how to identify which items have value. (at this point in time)
Maybe I should write a book that also includes a primer on how to sell on ebay.
But then if I am dead, why should I care?

If they want to bear the fruits of my labors, the raw material is right there.

 

[paul]

Maybe it's because I found Woz's alleged "cost saving" shortcuts pointlessly aggravating...

I've always disliked that as well, a sense of doing things poorly if you can get away with it. He has a BSEE but may not have understood at the time the importance of design conventions and standards.

 

[KC9UDX]

I've always disliked that as well, a sense of doing things poorly if you can get away with it. He has a BSEE but may not have understood at the time the importance of design conventions and standards.

Put yourself in his shoes. Most of us wouldn't have finished something saleable. We'd have done what we liked and everyone else didn't, or feature creep would've prevented anything from happening, a la ///.

 

[Unknown_K]

I try to only keep working machines and parts. If I can't get it working in 6 months (fiddle with it, put it aside, fiddle with it some more) I part it out. I have stuff for a while and have been running into the reality that nothing stays working forever so a decent amount of time is getting things working again.

I also try not to have too many parts machines because I get the urge to turn them into full working systems. My whole collection is 90% in the basement, a few laptops and machines in my room, and misc. parts in the garage. If I ever get the urge to get a storage unit this shit has to go.

Oddly enough some of this stuff is rising in value every year, so anything you sell will be worth more down the road (and also cost you more if you change your mind and want it back). I did sell a 486 system this year without really trying, got rid of 2 or 3 items last year. Sooner or later I will get my ass in gear and flood a few duplicates onto ebay. I could spend the next five years listing stuff weakly on ebay and not sell it all. Heck once in a while when I am searching for something I find an item I forgot I even had.

As far as Woz and his floppy controller goes I would cut him some slack. The Apple 1 was a hobbyist machine and the Apple II was probably looked at being the same, so cutting corners to get a design done I can see. Once you reach a critical mass in sales you are basically screwed trying to redo a design (luckily they got his design for the controller integrated on a custom chip eventually). Once Apple decided they needed a real business machine they made the Apple III (piece of junk) and then the Lisa (very expensive piece of junk with twiggy floppy drives that didn't work). Apple exists because of the masses while the x86/x64 clones own business for a reason.

 

[tipc]

You passed the point of needing to cull your hoard when a good portion of what you have is in worse shape then when you acquired it.

 

[PeterNC]

Selling for $ is always good. Selling to free up space as well.

 

[bettablue]

Personally, I try to collect only those computers/periphals I had direct experience with when they were new like the IBM 5150 and Apple lle, and first generation of the venerable TRS-80 Color Computer, or Coco and Model 4 . At least that WAS my intent. The problem... People keep giving me their vintage computers, and/or other equipment they have found or bought and no longer want, or need. Either way, i end up getting vintage computers which I end up either giving away, or selling to other people simply for the cost of shipping.