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Thoughts of downsizing

B

Big Blues

Experienced Member
Joined
Apr 14, 2007
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73
Does anyone ever think much about downsizing their collection? I don't have a very large collection, but I've been having thoughts of downsizing it lately (and probably will). I've got systems that I never use, and probably never will. They're just old and I picked them up somewhere. But also, having a young baby (3 mos), I don't have the time to play with it all.

I know that I'm going to downsize some of the collection, but I have to admit I'm leaning towards most of it going. It's probably in the neighbourhood of 15 systems -- not too large anyways.

Also, I recently picked up some of my old systems from my father's house where they sat for years. I was dismayed to find many things missing (my old 286 had been gutted at some point, leaving the old ESDI drives, but not the Adaptec controller), the tape drive for my Compaq 386 was gone (making it incomplete since the drive was original with it), my old ArcNET hardware is gone, and numerous other pieces. I wanted to play with much of the old missing stuff, however I don't have the interest in trying to reacquire it.

Oh well, that's my ramblings. Any thoughts?
Joel
 
If you have items you do not have space to set them up they will live in a box for the rest of time. I try to have my systems setup so I can boot them up and use them when the need hits me. If I have to move stuff around, box and unbox it, and re run all the cables I would probably not bother.

There are systems I have that do not get used every month, but when I do use them it for a while to get a project done. A few are newer support machines for the older ones (making disks, acting as a server, browsing the web for drivers etc).

While I don't think about downsizing, I do seem to be thinking of how to get the most uses out of the space I have. Most of what I have been getting lately is easy to store anyway (ISA/Nubus cards and some software).
 
I have recently downsized some of my collection. For example, I had a perfect Amstrad CPC6128 with original monitor, software and documentation, but it sat in the box all the time and only came out once every year or so, really just to check that it still worked. While I feel sad about letting it go, it did fetch a fair price on eBay and the new owner is enjoying it. Everyone is happy :)

I also got rid of some 'extra' 486's I had rescued (again, all to good homes), and a ton of old motherboards.

I have two main rules:

1. If I don't use it - or have a sentimental attachment to it - I don't need it.
2. Never throw anything away, always make sure it goes to a good home.
 
I started downsizing about 2 years ago. I originally started because I got that itch to play with old machines. Before I knew it I had over 100 different model machines. After I purchased my house, I was moving all the boxes of machines and I realized they were just going to waste. So, I started slowly thinning out the equipment. What I kept is the prize of my collection. I have about 10+ different makes and brands left of which I fireup and play with on special days.

There are a couple machines I regret letting go but who knows, maybe I'll run into another one someday. I just hate having machines go to waste in boxes.

Vince
 
It sounds like the four of us are generally on the same page.

My wife and I bought a 1200sq ft house. For our size of family right now, it's a great size. But room for enjoying old PC's is at a premium. Right now down here in the basement, I have old PC stuff all over the place (as I had it out last weekend to play with). I don't have the space to normally have it out, and now the rec room is the wreck room (no space to do anything). I just don't have the space to have this stuff setup.

Also, I hate the idea of these guys just sitting in boxes/piles doing nothing. I was very happy to give away my VIC-20 to a kid who was absolutely elated to get it. He was far more excited about that old machine than he was about a new one.

I'm sure others might enjoy some of these old systems more than myself. Now to give myself credit, many of these machines would have found their way to the landfill, so I'm happy I intervened there and can pass them on to people who will appreciate them.

The IBM 51xx stuff stays though ;).

Joel
 
You can should get double garages like Erik's ... computer collection on one side, Corvette on the other, and let your wife park outside! :)
 
I suppose that's another problem I don't have and one of the main reasons I haven't listed my collection of vintage "stuff".

Just as I don't have to sleep with one eye open in fear that my Lady is going to try and stab me through the heart with one of the pen mouses I have, I don't really have to worry about where to set up "the collection".

I have a 3,000 square foot home with a full 9 foot basement, but, any space I used (and I use a LOT of it) is more for storage and triage.

My enjoyment comes not from collecting vintage equipment, but, rather, from rescuing it from the landfill and fixing it. People give me this stuff and, inevitably, it's none functional, in some manner from missing pieces to garbage on the screen to completely dead.

As I've said before, I was fixing this stuff when it was NEW and, since I still have the parts (in most cases) and the ability (most days LOL) to still fix it, I do.

Granted, after i do fix it and test it all out, I post it on my site (when I remember) and sell it. Seems kinda mercenary, I know, but, it may take a couple of weeks for me to diagnose, track down parts, fix the sucker, restore it to "like new" condition, do up the listing, etc., but, I like to think that the people that buy them are enjoying them.

Like a lot of you, even if I was to turn on and play with one system a day, it would probably take me several months to get back to the beginning and I just don't have that kind of time with all the things I'm involved with.

I like fixing the equipment, but, to hoard it would be to waste it. I prefer to get it back in commission and let someone else enjoy using it.
 
Everybody collects for different reasons, and we all have different budgets and space limitations.

Most of my machines are x86 and Macs, so I use KVMS where I can to get the most out of the space I have. I like getting them, cleaning them up, upgrading, and running them. Sometimes I get into an acquiring phase, then more into a using them phase. I probably have 30 machines or so, hopefully I wont be snagging too many more.

How many years have you guys been into this hobby? I started with my first Mac back in 2000, and it seems like every year I am acquiring more stuff. Sooner or later I will hit a wall.

One of the things I want to do is scan in some of the manuals I have along with making disk images for the software and drivers I have for cards. Since I tend to keep most of the stuff I get, that is one of the ways I can give back to the hobby comunity.
 
I posted some photos of my collection in another thread, so you know what I'm talking about. Over the years I've often thought of downsizing or getting out of collecting altogether (I've been at it since the early 80's back when I was a little boy and the classic stuff was still new), particularly upon each move (which, hopefully this last one will be the last one, since it took me almost a full year to unpack everything collection-wise). I've decided though that collecting is an important part of who I am and frankly, I genuinely enjoy the stuff, even with the occasional frustration of things breaking or not working or just taking up too much space or time. Along with my family (wife and kids) and working out, videogames and computers (and technology like that in general) are my lifelong passions.

I've often fantasized what I would do if someone swooped in and offered me $30,000 (or whatever the relevant figure would be at the time) to take everything off my hands, what would I do? I could do a lot with that money and just get a tricked out computer and emulate everything I lost. But you know what, it just wouldn't be the same. Again, I've come to realize that collecting is part of me and I genuinely like the real stuff.

At the same time, I think we all have stopping points, save for the very, very rich where money and space is no object. I've been very close to my stopping point now for the past several years. Still, I've kept on getting more. I've slowly been weaning myself off the activity, but slow it is. At this point, with the volume of stuff I have, it should just be about filling the holes that are most important to me (a system or two here or there) and also only getting stuff that is too good of a deal to pass up. It's also high time I spent more time enjoying the stuff, which does bring me pleasure when I'm able to, but also ironically makes me kind of sad when I don't (boy, do I sound like something of an addict?).

Nevertheless, I guess my main point is, when you're a serious collector I think you can't help but wrestle with these issues on a regular basis. It's hard to only be half-way in. It's important to define what your own goals are and if you'll be happy with sticking with them. That's all we can really do I think.
 
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Bill_Loguidice said:
I posted some photos of my collection in another thread, so you know what I'm talking about. Over the years I've often thought of downsizing or getting out of collecting altogether (I've been at it since the early 80's back when I was a little boy and the classic stuff was still new), particularly upon each move (which, hopefully this last one will be the last one, since it took me almost a full year to unpack everything collection-wise). I've decided though that collecting is an important part of who I am and frankly, I genuinely enjoy the stuff, even with the occasional frustration of things breaking or not working or just taking up too much space or time. Along with my family (wife and kids) and working out, videogames and computers (and technology like that in general) are my lifelong passions.

I've often fantasized what I would do if someone swooped in and offered me $30,000 (or whatever the relevant figure would be at the time) to take everything off my hands, what would I do? I could do a lot with that money and just get a tricked out computer and emulate everything I lost. But you know what, it just wouldn't be the same. Again, I've come to realize that collecting is part of me and I genuinely like the real stuff.

At the same time, I think we all have stopping points, save for the very, very rich where money and space is no object. I've been very close to my stopping point now for the past several years. Still, I've kept on getting more. I've slowly been weaning myself off the activity, but slow it is. At this point, with the volume of stuff I have, it should just be about filling the holes that are most important to me (a system or two here or there) and also only getting stuff that is too good of a deal to pass up. It's also high time I spent more time enjoying the stuff, which does bring me pleasure when I'm able to, but also ironically makes me kind of bad when I don't (boy, do I sound like something of an addict?).

Nevertheless, I guess my main point is, when you're a serious collector I think you can't help but wrestle with these issues on a regular basis. It's hard to only be half-way in. It's important to define what your own goals are and if you'll be happy with sticking with them. That's all we can really do I think.
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I guess a key difference between myself and others here (including yourself by the sounds of it) is that vintage PC's aren't my main hobby. I'm far more interested in music, and probably own one musical instrument for every vintage PC that I have. If I had to choose between the two groups, the PC's would be gone in a second.

I was building PC's at the age of 13 (in 1990). I would get old XT/286 hardware and build and play with machines. It also allowed me to do things that I wouldn't otherwise been able to afford to do. For instance, my 386 in 1995 had 550MB of hard drive storage available, which I never could have afforded. 200MB was IDE, but 350MB was on a 286 file server that I build from scrap parts, with a couple big nasty FH ESDI drives (also free) and Novell Netware Lite (again free). It was fun to make the best of what I had.

I guess back then I loved the learning and the progress. I even was refurbing some machines and reselling them in the early 90's (so monetary profit was another incentive). But now I don't find that I learn so much fixing them up, and there isn't so much reward (perhaps some monetary). But that's just me.

Joel
 
That's funny because I too have fixed machines in the past. I really enjoy bringing a dead Lisa back to life and installing the software and seeing it as it once was again.

Some people are into vintage computers for the nostalgia, others as collectors. And still others as a combination. Once the fun of that machine is gone, they sell and move on or store it away.

There are 2 machines I would like to have to consider my collection complete: Altair 8800 and Sol-20. I refuse to pay top dollar for my items and even like them to be non-functional to add to the collecting experience. Donations accepted :)

Hoarding is a term I hear sometimes. Well, I have about 9 Apple II plus computers but mostly so I can have parts forever. Still, I think I have too many. Sometimes you come across machines for free or very cheap and it is too hard to pass up. Hoarding helps keep equipment from the landfill!

Vince
 
I'm a PCjr specialist. The original PC family (5150, 5160, 5170, etc.) appeals to me because they are related, the the PCjr is the hardest of the group to do anything productive with. Hence the appeal.

I have *far* too many parts in my basement, and a good deal in need of repair. The intent was to have enough parts for myself and like minded people, and to keep them out of landfills. I've been overly successful. :-(

To me 'hoarding' is accumulating with no intent to use or share. I look at my collection of spares as a mini parts depot. Most of it came to me for free or nominal cost, and so that is how I send parts out.

How many others are you are running informal parts operations for your favorite machines?
 
Those are interesting points. I guess "hoarding" is a bit of subjective term.

If you are collecting and repairing some older computers, other similar broken computers may be your only source of parts. In other words, you have to cannibalize the dead to save the living.

For example, I like NorthStar computers but I can assure you no new parts are being made. If I want to keep the one I have operating, I will need parts again in the future sometime and they are going to have to come from someplace. That is why I keep pursuing getting NorthStar systems and/or parts so that I can do repairs when I need to.

It all depends on your perspective. I do not think "hoarding" whatever the definition is necessarily a bad thing either. If you want a computer stuffed in a box that you never use, who are we to say it is wrong? Maybe just knowing it is there is enough.

Thanks!

Andrew Lynch
 
Well, the dust hasn't yet fully settled from my latest round of downsizing, but I'm pretty sure that I'll have well under a hundred machines in my collection by the time I'm done unpacking, setting-up, testing, selling, donating, etc. I'm dealing with less than half the space I had before the move, so I still don't know how much still has to go (most of it's still in storage).
Shortly after I started collecting, I figgered-out that the only way I could continue to do so was to make the hobby pay for itself, so I frequently sell off some of my stuff, to make room (&funding) for other stuff I'm more interested in at the moment. My 'permanent' collection consists of only a handful or two of machines that are too 'special' for me to ever get rid of, but otherwise, my collection is in a constant state of flux...'new' items coming is as 'old' stuff goes out, usually at a substantial profit over what I originally paid for it. My interest lately has been mostly in handhelds, ruggedized, and tablet PCs, although I don't usually pass-up a good deal on other items as well. My collection is probably much larger than it has to be, because I have two of almost everything, just in case. Some of my spares have been cannibalized, but for the most part they're all working. If I have to sacrifice anything else, those will be the next things to go.

--T
 
I'd like to say that the word "hoarding" I used may have been inappropriate if taken in the absolute sense.

I didn't mean it in a negative sense, just in the "stock-piling" sense.

And I was applying it to myself, primarily.

I suppose I have the advantage of having a very good inventory of the custom ICs and when I come across a unit that is just not repairable, I strip any custom chips off it and don't worry about the TTL and common CMOS chips because I either have them or can still get them.

Having made a lot of contacts over the years, even the custom chips I need aren't too difficult to come by.

I'm sorry if I offended anyone with the use of the term "hoarding" as it wasn't intentional.
 
Stockpiling parts reminds me of my grandfather. He must have had parts to repair any tube radio or TV (or any other pre-60's electronic device) 10x over. That was on top of the countless other parts, pieces, things he saved. He had a simple philosophy "I/Someone might need one of these some day."

The result was a house piled with stuff. Every level, every room, piled. Some rooms (especially basement) floor to ceiling literally. There were paths to get through the house.

Now I'm sure that nobody here lives as he did -- he is an extreme example. I think that most of his treasures hit the trash after he moved into a retirement home (without his knowledge). My father and my uncle, who share the "some day" philosophy kept most of the electronic stuff. Now my father has countless tube testers, capacitor testers, etc.

Anyways, the vast majority of my grandfather's "someday" items were never used. Many were discarded. My father has a heap of his own "someday" items. Because he has probably thousands of "someday" items, I don't plan on sorting through them all (when the time comes), and I'm sure many will be tossed.

I'm not sure where exactly I'm going with all this. I guess I hope that if you have any 'rare' parts that you're saving, I hope that family members know about them so some day they might be passed on to other enthusiasts. So many of my father's parts won't be, or else I might never sort through them in my lifetime.

Oh well, sorry for the rambling. I'm half asleep. But I guess talk of stockpiling and hoarding reminded me of my family history. Coming from a family who keeps everything (actually on both sides), I'm fighting the urge.

Joel
 
Real old people that went through the great depression tend to not throw away anything that works or can be easily repaired or gutted for parts. I guess if people were starving for a decent part fo their life they would not be throwing half eaten food in the trash either.

If all you saved was electronics (or whatever your hobby is)that is one thing, but if you never throw anything out then you need to talk to a shrink.
 
I suppose 2 things to think about and the resulting action will depend upon space & level of "obsessive-compulsive disorder" that you suffer from

1) when the new baby has grown up, you will have more time & all those things you threw out will be a whole lot rarer. I guarantee that the thing you thought twice, about throwing away, you will end up pining for for years.

2) the baby will end up being just as much a hoarder, and it's surprising how much space (small people's) toys take up.

it's also amazing just how much "re-distribution" a toddler can do in one day. if there's an endless supply of things to re-distribute, you will end up spending all day replacing them.

lose your stuff to other collectors, and keep a treasure or two.

Have you joined freecycle? brilliant! after a few months you realise that there is (almost) anything you want out there, just getting in someone's way.. and almost anything you have and don't want, someone else does. it's a good way of liquidising all those stagnant assets (and assuaging the guilt of throwing perfectly good stuff away).
 
Big Blues said:
Now I'm sure that nobody here lives as he did -- he is an extreme example.
Click to expand...

Hmmmm...sounds familiar...is there a support group for us? I'm not piled floor-to-ceiling (yet), but you wouldn't want to navigate my house (or office) in the dark...

I, too, grab a lot of ebay finds in order to keep "spare parts" around...but in my defense, doing so has saved my bacon a number of times.
 
nige the hippy said:
I suppose 2 things to think about and the resulting action will depend upon space & level of "obsessive-compulsive disorder" that you suffer from

1) when the new baby has grown up, you will have more time & all those things you threw out will be a whole lot rarer. I guarantee that the thing you thought twice, about throwing away, you will end up pining for for years.

2) the baby will end up being just as much a hoarder, and it's surprising how much space (small people's) toys take up.

it's also amazing just how much "re-distribution" a toddler can do in one day. if there's an endless supply of things to re-distribute, you will end up spending all day replacing them.

lose your stuff to other collectors, and keep a treasure or two.

Have you joined freecycle? brilliant! after a few months you realise that there is (almost) anything you want out there, just getting in someone's way.. and almost anything you have and don't want, someone else does. it's a good way of liquidising all those stagnant assets (and assuaging the guilt of throwing perfectly good stuff away).
Click to expand...

That's quite the psychological diagnosis there. I really don't see myself pining over old PC equipment years down the road. If I keep my 5150's and PCjr, I should be alright :).

I've recently sold off a bunch of non-PC stuff that I don't think I'll ever miss (pro Nikon camera equipment i.e. F4s, MF-23, 20-35mm 2.8 AF-D, 80-200mm 2.8 AF-D). No sentimental attachment, not really using them, haven't missed them once.

I've considered selling some musical instruments (namely my flugel horn and euphonium - you're an English bloke so you may know what those are). But those, I think I would regret selling within months. My euphonium helped lead me to my wife (who played in the same community band). Old PC's never did anything that cool ;).

Joel
 
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