On 9/13/2012 9:16 PM, jimpdavis wrote: I think the majority of the world would not assign these much monetary value. It would also be fairly trivial to reproduce them. They are just blocks of wood and plastic. No rich guest would know if they weren't original. For $5,000 you probably could set up production in China for as many fairly exact copies as you wanted for a few bucks a set.

At 8:43 AM -0400 9/14/12, Toby Thain wrote: Keep in mind that these machines had value as scrap at a time when no one even considered their historical value. Plus some of those name plates were saved by people other than those involved in the scrapping. I was able to save a digital nameplate and the console scrapped. Besides there is absolutely no way I could have handled saving a VAX-8800. Something else to consider is disposal requirements based on the classification of the data that was on the system. Zane -- | Zane H. Healy | UNIX Systems Administrator | | healyzh at aracnet.com | OpenVMS Enthusiast | | | Photographer | +----------------------------------+----------------------------+ | My flickr Photostream | | http://www.flickr.com/photos/33848088 at N03/ | | My Photography Website | | http://www.zanesphotography.com |

http://www.ebay.com/itm/360492715631 1960's Sperry Univac Model 418 Computer Desk Set "This is a unique desktop pen holder that features the early 1960's Sperry-Univac 418 mainframe." (I have no connection to this listing or seller)

On 9/13/12 8:29 PM, Evan Koblentz wrote: A museum-grade model like that today would cost well over $5K The seller was a moron for making it a reserve-price auction.

Al bid a lot too, didn't get it. He may be the real bidder if my guess is right. Mr #5 found out how much he had bid, and mr #1721 is also fake. should be interesting to see if mr. Brainfart comes back with a second chance offer. On 9/13/2012 8:29 PM, Evan Koblentz wrote:

On 13/09/12 11:29 PM, Evan Koblentz wrote: I just saw a large permanent exhibition of model ships, in the basement of the Art Gallery of Ontario. It was donated by one of Canada's richest men. Practically all of the ships depicted are sunk or broken up - likewise Univacs. But the models themselves have very definite value, of the five-six figure sort. (And there are nearly 200 models in the AGO's collection...) I haven't paid close attention to the Univac model on ebay, but apparently it's 1) contemporary and 2) almost unique (there's a 2nd in the Smithsonian?). That makes $5K a bit of a lowball, in my opinion. --Toby

On 9/13/2012 8:57 PM, Al Kossow wrote: If you asked your local model railroad or military modelers club I bey they could make you identical copies just for fun. I don't see anything there even slightly hard to recreate. They wont be originals but, for display purposes that's some simple stuff there.

On 9/14/2012 10:46 AM, Zane H. Healy wrote: It actually sounds like a really fun hobby. If you were good at it I would imagine there would be a small market for selling your creations too. Recreate all the famous systems. I would totally do this if I had any model making talent. I learned long ago I don't.

On 9/14/12 10:54 AM, mc68010 wrote: Sellam has been making decent bucks doing this with full-size PDP-1s

On 9/14/2012 11:17 AM, Dave Caroline wrote: I didn't really mean you could make a living on it. Just meant I am sure there would people willing to buy your models after you were done. It would obviously be more about the enjoyment of making them and then sharing them.

I'm not sure if they're on this mailing list but someone did start making keychains based on old computers. I unfortunately don't recall who or if they ever made enough to sell. I think he had posted on vintage-computer.com forums. I sorta recall it being an Apple II and made out of some sorta stuff their CNC was doing. How cool would it be to come up with a pattern for a 3d printer for these :-) There have been quite a few of these models from what I've seen lately (unless they're all related and were questions prior to the sale). Not sure how the others ended in price. Was this one is such high demand because it was complete or just an uncommon part?

Better yet a micro fpga version. A functional micro datacenter. How awesome would that be lmao. I'd pay to see that at a computer museum.

On 9/14/12 10:52 AM, Zane H. Healy wrote: My guess is LCM. Rich may be willing to say one way or another. The bidding pattern matches what they do.. There are a handful of deep pockets collectors and speculators that would have been following this. By making it a "you have to guess the reserve" auction and the way he phrased the description "Bill Gates will buy this" and "pick it up with a limousine" I seriously underestimated the reserve. He could have set a buy it now at 10K and have gotten it. Like I said, the guy was a moron. If it was a speculator, we'll see it again at 10x the price.

On 9/14/12 12:44 PM, Rich Alderson wrote: oops. It was the person who bid $75,000 and lost on the last apple I I knew the ID looked familiar. http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBids&_trksid=p2047675.l2565&… http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBids&_trksid=p2047675.l2565&…