Rare Apples, eBay, Goodwill

[Vintage Computer Festival]

On Mon, 21 Mar 2005, William Layer wrote:

>  - 'Rare' Mac128.. The original 128K Mac is the unit that put Macintosh
> on the map, and tho I haven't got production numbers handy, it's clear
> that a goodly number of these were made. That said, it is the *first*
> one, and from a collecting standpoint, is a good piece to have.

The later model of the 128K Mac has an emblem on the back that says
"Macintosh 128", which is to differentiate it from the "Macintosh 512"
model that Apple began producing.  An original "original" Mac will not
have that emblem.

>  - What's rarer, is to find a 128 that is un-tampered. Vast portions of
> the 128s eventually got a 512 or 512e motherboard (FatMac) - others just
> got the 512/512e PROMs which enabled them to work with additional
> software, and to boot directly from the Mac Serial Hard Disk, which is
> itself much rarer than the 128. So, I'd tend to think that an untampered
> 128, with no scars from ham-fisted 'cracking' and a serial hard drive is
> fairly 'rare'. Devils in the details, as usual.

I agree.

>  - While eBay prices are to be taken as a general mix of legtimacy,
> ignorance, greed, stupidity and outright scamming, Goodwill prices
> aren't that much more 'helpful' either. Unless they have a good 'picker'
> doing the pricing, Goodwill and their ilk have a mission to sell old junk
> for the cheap. We've all had impossibly lucky finds at these places..

I agree.  If you want an average "value" then you should consult with an
appraiser.  I happen to know one ;)

>  - My favorite eBay canard re: Macs is the "I opened it up to have a
> look, and it's SIGNED on the back cover!!!!". Of course, they are all
> signed up until the Classic era (I think the sigs went away with the new
> case, but I could be wrong).

Yeah, and I have a //gs SIGNED BY WOZ!!  L@@K R at RE!!!

-- 

Sellam Ismail                                        Vintage Computer Festival
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International Man of Intrigue and Danger                http://www.vintage.org

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