While I love the original purple tones and the H960 cabinets, perhaps because
they fit with most of the other DEC gear I've collected, I think that the commercial
blue tones and Vax style cabinets are sexy as hell too. If I had loads of space,
money and time, I would love to have all of the varieties. Unfortunately, I only
have a minimal of money and time and my space is pretty full. I don't think that
I am alone in these conditions or more people would have collected all styles of
these machines. Finding a complete machine (sans disks) like the one recently
on eBay is pretty rare any more and I would not be surprised if someone would
pay the asking price. I recall passing on opportunities to add a Vax 11/780 to
my collection and now I wish I had, but also don't know where I would have put
it or how I would have moved it. That being said, I also worry that the number
of people who even care any more are dwindling and so when it comes time
for someone to decide what to do with my collection, it might not easily find
a home.
--tom