Twiggys [was: Re: ka... ching!]

[Corey Cohen]

Been following this thread a bit a realized it's time to chime in. 

The Mustang analogy is a good one.  This hobby is becoming like collecting cars.  You really can't predict which stuff is going to be worth big money but the stuff that does always surprises the guys who owned one back in the day.  

Think about all the guys who basically threw away or sold for next to nothing their muscle cars in the 70's.  How many split window corvettes survived the gas shortage.   Today one of those cars needing restoration could go for more than the average home price in the US, make that more than two average homes.  

Parts can go for ridiculous amounts for someone who wants a complete set.  I can remember searching for 6 months for a perfect tool set for my Porsche a few years back.  If I would have found a NOS tool kit, I might have paid big money just to keep myself sane.  

As for stuff in vintage computer that is going up, it's not just Apple.  It has to do with how mainstream and how rare something is.  That Cromemco set went for good money, actually a little less than I would have guessed but more than it would have been only a few years ago.   What do I mean by mainstream...  we'll just because only two of an item exists, someone has to care.  The dazzler was a big deal because of the display on the street in NYC which might have been the first time people saw computer generated video in person.  So while the general population doesn't remember the name Cromemco (if they did it would have gone for more than 2k) the set itself is mainstream enough for people who know a little about 1970's computers who collect to want one and spend the money.  The increasing price is because of unobtanium.  Those joysticks are very rare.  Sure this may bring more out of the closet, but unless they turn out to be C64 common, the price is set now.  

As for other stuff that is gaining in price, I do agree the rare Apple stuff is growing faster, but that's because it can pull from the business community as buyers who love the comeback story of Apple and what it represents.  Here are some other non Apple examples...  a Sol-20 could have been had for a few hundred bucks not too long ago.  Now unless you want a rust bucket they are minimally 1k and a good working example can cost 2 to 3k.  ALTAIR are another example.  Grant Stocky's replica kit used to be more expensive than buying a real rev-0.   Don't even get me started on ASR-33 or an ADM terminal.  

So does this mean you should hoard everything you have until the price goes up?  I don't have a crystal ball to tell you what is the next item of value.  Who knew that a movie about the Tucker automobile would make a Tucker one of the most desirable cars to a rare car collector.  Before then they were just a failed car company along with many others so they stuff wasn't worth big money.  Or the fact I could buy a vintage Maserati for 10k back in the 90's when it looked they they wouldn't survive which is now worth 200k or more since the company not only survived but became a "hip" car to own. 

Now if you'll excuse me I'm off to draw some tarot cards to set my eBay search list...

Cheers,
Corey

corey cohen
uǝɥoɔ ʎǝɹoɔ

> On Oct 7, 2016, at 11:46 PM, Brent Hilpert <hilpert at cs.ubc.ca> wrote:
> 
> 
> On 2016-Oct-07, at 5:17 PM, Noel Chiappa wrote:
> 
>>> On 10/7/2016 5:21 PM, Chuck Guzis wrote:
>> 
>>> That simply defies logic. I *really* don't get this collecting business.
>> 
>> It's Apple-related. Some Apple devotees seem to have an, ah, excessive
>> attachment to things Apple. (Q.v. $1M Apple I's.) I'm suprised that some of
>> them didn't commit suttee when Steve died.
> 
> I agree this valuation is primarily "Apple"-driven rather than say "vintage-computer" driven,
> but here's an interesting non-Apple sale, just completed:
>    http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cromemco-Dazzler-JP-1-Joysticks-D-7A-S-100-Card-Docs-Games-for-MITS-Altair-IMSAI-/291888851989
>