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Original Kenbak-1 on Ebay

falter

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Jan 22, 2011
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Not sure who this guy is but he has to be one of the premier collectors of all time. Or was, until he started offloading everything. He seems to have darned near everything. This, a C65, countless rare PETs.

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/ULTRA-Rare-...a-CTI-5050-Computer-1st-Personal/254187561426

There's about 10 of these in Nova Scotia for some reason, a bunch in the hands of a museum or something. I've never seen one come up for sale before so I'm genuinely curious how much it might go for.
 
He has some really nice stuff. Didn't see a C65, just a keyboard for one. He loves the words RARE and ULTRA RARE. One of my pet peeves (just me). Sent a friend his listing for the ADAM disk drive, he's been trying to get for a long time.
 
He had a C65 in a photo of the keyboard auction for comparison purposes. This guy has all kinds of stuff.
 
He has some really nice stuff. Didn't see a C65, just a keyboard for one. He loves the words RARE and ULTRA RARE. One of my pet peeves (just me). Sent a friend his listing for the ADAM disk drive, he's been trying to get for a long time.

Oh it's not just you.
 
Ultra rare.. well, I'm certain there are more Kenbaks out there than one of the things I've got in my collection, but I still wouldn't use "rare" (with or without "Ultra") in an advertisement if I sold it. It just looks silly.
 
I'm pretty sure there was one on eBay within the last ten years. I've no idea if it sold though.
 
I'm pretty sure there was one on eBay within the last ten years. I've no idea if it sold though.

Are you referring to the Kenbak or the VIC expansion? I've seen the latter several times.. usually a few hundred bucks or so, more if with box. Never seen a Kenbak though. I've seen replicas.
 
Ultra rare.. well, I'm certain there are more Kenbaks out there than one of the things I've got in my collection, but I still wouldn't use "rare" (with or without "Ultra") in an advertisement if I sold it. It just looks silly.

Apparently there's only a dozen or so known to still exist, and only 50 ever made. Whatever you have must be darned rare to beat that. :)
 
Are you referring to the Kenbak or the VIC expansion? I've seen the latter several times.. usually a few hundred bucks or so, more if with box. Never seen a Kenbak though. I've seen replicas.

Kenbak-1.
 
Apparently there's only a dozen or so known to still exist, and only 50 ever made. Whatever you have must be darned rare to beat that. :)
It is. There were only 6 made AFAIK and mine prototype 1, and there is at most only one more in existence, if that. But that doesn't make it very useful though. I briefly described it in that 'what's the ten most rare items in your collection' thread, a while ago.
 
The website of that now-defunct Nova Scotia computer museum is still around (and a bit of a museum piece itself). If you drill down into it a bit you'll find the Kenbak exhibit ... looks like the museum had seven of them, most purchased from a fellow named Robert R. Nielsen, who left a lengthy writeup of how he came to have so many. Interesting stuff.
 
https://www.ebay.ca/itm/ULTRA-RARE-...100127?hash=item3b2d6ba65f:g:OKsAAOSwA~5cg~eV

What?! What is this?! How have I never heard of this!!! I want it soo much... but not for that price! ITs like the bridge between my Pet 2001-8 and my Vic20,,,, And it will never be mine :(

I saw a bunch of these on E-bay probably way back in 98 or 99. If I remember right the guy got them from a school district after they replaced all there VIC 20's, but most were very worn and scratched up. I know it was in California somewhere. He was selling them for $30.00 or so. Not any help to you now I know. Sorry
 
If anyone around has a copy of this old eBay listing, that would be great. All the links are gone. As far as I could tell, soneone sold a whole lot of vintage computers on Ebay, which included a Kenbak-1, and a whole lot of Commodore computers. Herbert Eisengruber was the original owner of the Nova Scotia Computer Museum, who had the 7 Kenbak-1 computers, and he sold all ov them before this eBay auction occurred. He always told me that he sold one of his Kenbak-1's (likely a CTI-5050 branded one) and a whole lot of his museum collection to a fellow Nova Scotian fellow who had a massive Commodore collection, maybe the best one in the country. But that collector was very private, and wanted to remain anonymous.

I've tried on and off for 10 years to figure out who that Nova Scotia collector was, but never did. I suspect this eBay auction could have been that Nova Scotia collector. As far as I know, all Kenbak-1's which were labeled CTI-5050, were from the stash of 8 that Nielsen in South Carolina collected (unless a sales person from CTI someone kept one.)

If anyone has any information about this, I'd love to hear it. More information at kenbak.com web site.
 
Hi,

Why doesn't somebody grab the link to the seller's name? or the sellers store link?
 
If anyone around has a copy of this old eBay listing, that would be great. All the links are gone.

This is exactly why I archive any Ebay, Goodwill, Craigslist, etc. listings to the Wayback Machine that I find interesting or have good photos of a rare thing.
 
How? This was so long ago, all the eBay links are dead. I was hoping someone recalled something, or saved a picture. If the kenbak had holes in the top, it would have to be from the Nova Scotia museum. If anyone had any recollections, I'd be grateful.
I have a theory Lonnie Mims at Computer Museum of America bought the lot, and it's now the machine {with holes in top) he has on display at the museum. Lonnie has at least 3 original kenbak-1 computers.
 
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