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Roland LAPC-1

P

Pablorock

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Joined
May 22, 2023
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Stamford, CT
Hello all. New to the forum. I have a Roland LAPC-1 sound card that I am looking to sell but have no idea on value. I picked this up at a friend's mothers house who was a hoarder (yes, like the show on tv. every room filled with crap). It looks to be in very good shape with the original box (it has a tear), two cords still in sealed bags and the manual. I really know nothing about these and not a collector. When I first got it around 10 years ago I saw a few on ebay for a few hundred. Now the only thing I see is one that sold for $1400. If anyone has any thoughts it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. Paul. (p.s. I also have a TI 99/4A looking to get rid of).
 
There's no correct answer; the value of the item is what the collectable market will bear. If you do a search for LAPC-I cards (it's I, not 1) on ebay and search for Sold (not completed, but Sold) items, you can get a sense for what they're actually going for.

Doing this, one sold for $1400 two months ago. It would probably be reasonable to list with a starting bid of half that. Take lots of pictures.
 
Trixter said:
There's no correct answer; the value of the item is what the collectable market will bear. If you do a search for LAPC-I cards (it's I, not 1) on ebay and search for Sold (not completed, but Sold) items, you can get a sense for what they're actually going for.

Doing this, one sold for $1400 two months ago. It would probably be reasonable to list with a starting bid of half that. Take lots of pictures.
Click to expand...
The one for $1400 is the only one that comes up as sold on ebay. I was thinking around $700 since that is what I saw people mentioning in other forums (nothing recent though). I just really didn't know if it actually had that much value.
 
"Value" is in the eye of the buyer, since they're the ones handing over the money.

The vintage hardware and software market is a fluid market where value rises and falls with time and interest. You can always list for a high price, then if it doesn't sell, lower the price by $100 and try again. Repeat this until it sells.

The alternative is to set a value yourself and only sell when someone meets your price, but then you run the risk of holding onto it for years, even decades, waiting for the right buyer. And collectables aren't financial instruments; they don't always go up in value. I bought some collectable software 15 years ago for $100 -- a fair price at the time -- that I would be lucky to sell today for $10, because the interest and demand is gone.
 
I have one of these myself, and it still works fine, so I'd expect this one to still work as well.

Please note that this card NEEDS an 8 bit slot, although a 16 bit slot will work as well but might have some problems. Needs ISA slots, not the newer PCI slots. So MUST have older computer.

The reason for the interest in this card is the interest in playing the older computer games. Some of these were designed to use the Roland MT-32 sound module, or the compatible CM-32L box. The LAPC-I (as noted, this is I as in IBM, not 1 as in 100) is an on-card version of the CM-32L, with a midi interface as well. Many of the games that used these devices needed special sounds creating, incl sound effects, and these could be programmed into the device. Playing the games with the original/proper sounds is much appreciated by the fans of this sort of thing, there are web sites devoted to this side of things as much as the actual games. Look up about the MT-32 as much as the LAPC-I card.

So, the interest will come and go in step with the interest in the games that use it. As with the prices that might be paid.

There are now emulators (look up the MUNT project), also modern sound modules may have a CM-32 mode (or just C/M) which has the MT-32 sounds (but I understand NOT the ability to load the special sounds as the real devices can do). So you are looking for an increasingly specialist buyer, BUT, those are the sort of people who may pay the better price.

Geoff
 
GeoffB17 said:
Please note that this card NEEDS an 8 bit slot, although a 16 bit slot will work as well but might have some problems.
Click to expand...
If it might work in a 16-bit slot, then it would seem it doesn't actually NEED an 8-bit slot. Isn't it the bus speed that's the issue?

I bought a boxed LAPC-1 and breakout box about 15 years ago for $300. I thought that was really steep at the time, but prices have gone nuts in recent years. I wouldn't be surprised if OP gets $1000+ on ebay.
 
As an FYI, I did put it on ebay and got a bid. Set for a 10 day auction so still time a 16 people watching. Thanks for all the feedback.
 
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