Ebay madness

> > A big factor is the relative completeness of the unit. If a collector is > supposed to want it, it must be really complete, with manuals, brocheures, > diskettes, etc. A cheapie might be incomplete and non-fucntional as well. > Collectors don't always demand the units be functional, but they do demand

I think this depends on the collector, or at least how you define 'collector'. In my case, I want to be able to get the machine working. So I do care about _some_ manuals. I don't need yet-another-learning-BASIC-book. I do want schematics, ROM sources, memory maps, etc. System disks are, of course, essential, but only if I don't already have them/can't get them. Ditto for missing parts. Obviously if PCBs are missing, etc then the machine is good for parts only. But if it's missing 'cosmetic' parts like nameplates, then that's fine. I don't care at all about advertising flyers. If they're with the machine then of course I collect them and keep them carefully. But I wouldn't pay extra to get them. They are just not that interesting to me. I've bought a few HP calculators cheaply from other collectors because they're a bit beat-up. Damaged/missing labels, worn legends on the keyboard overlay, etc. I can understand why these machines are worth less than perfect examples, but they're ideal for what I want -- machines to use and to take to bits and learn about. Actually, I'd rather have a few more beat-up machines like this (provided I can get them working) than 1 perfect example which I would probably be afraid to use, and certainly wouldn't want to take a soldering iron to. -tony