I’m interested in the signed Apple 2.
Ha ha yes they're probably my most valuable machines - I have two of them. They're the ones I'm most likely to keep I think.
Ask HN: Should I sell my vintage computer collection?
11–20 of 83 posts
Re: Ask HN: Should I sell my vintage computer collection?
#12Or find a museum with nice people who know what they are doing and are looking for this. Gift or sell to them or borrow it to them (I don’t know the english word) like collectors do with paintings to museums. I have 1000s of vintage computers myself and different places are showing and keeping them. Right temperature etc and fixing them when broken and having many people who can see and try (some of) them. I kept 20 of them to play with which I had many doubles of anyway; MSX, c64, 2600, zx spectrum, Amiga and Atari st.
If you decide to sell; I am interested.
Re: Ask HN: Should I sell my vintage computer collection?
#13Or find a museum with nice people who know what they are doing and are looking for this. Gift or sell to them or borrow it to them (I don’t know the english word) like collectors do with paintings to museums. I have 1000s of vintage computers myself and different places are showing and keeping them. Right temperature etc and fixing them when broken and having many people who can see and try (some of) them. I kept 20…
Yes if there was a really great museum I trusted this might be something I'd consider. Here in Australia there's not much in the way of technology museums. There's Powerhouse, but I don't know if they would care much about such a collection.
Re: Ask HN: Should I sell my vintage computer collection?
#14I didn't have anything like a collection myself, but I did own an Amiga 500 and breadbin C64. I sold them, for lack of time to actually use them.
I sometimes regret selling the 500.
Re: Ask HN: Should I sell my vintage computer collection?
#15> In favor of selling them I would probably get maybe a number of thousand dollars which would help buy a house
Prepping them for sale will be real work; which you sound like you have enough of already. If you believe their value to be high and it turns out no one will bid anything like that much on them, you may become discouraged and more attached to them.
It may be worth turning of the stack of "to be disposed of" to someone else for selling or etc and ignoring the details as they can only lead to distress.
Re: Ask HN: Should I sell my vintage computer collection?
#16Or find a museum with nice people who know what they are doing and are looking for this. Gift or sell to them or borrow it to them (I don’t know the english word) like collectors do with paintings to museums. I have 1000s of vintage computers myself and different places are showing and keeping them. Right temperature etc and fixing them when broken and having many people who can see and try (some of) them. I kept 20…
Yes if there was a really great museum I trusted this might be something I'd consider. Here in Australia there's not much in the way of technology museums. There's Powerhouse, but I don't know if they would care much about such a collection.
Where in Australia are you? (Roughly)
Re: Ask HN: Should I sell my vintage computer collection?
#17Keep, sell, or donate the collection. But please, don't throw all that stuff away. Although I lived the personal computer revolution, I'm just getting started with retrocomputing and I realize more than ever how valuable that stuff is.
Re: Ask HN: Should I sell my vintage computer collection?
#18Re: Ask HN: Should I sell my vintage computer collection?
#19My brother in law died last year and left over a hundred vintage computers and game consoles - mostly in boxes (stacks of Amigas) - it was hard for us to work out what was rare/valuable from what wasn't. He was also saving them for some mythical time in the future where he would sort them out and play with them.
At least find the time to open the boxes and document what you've got and whether it works. Ideally you'd find somewhere to put the cream of your collection - a cheap display/book case with glass doors doesn't take up too much room and an area nearby with a monitor/tv would mean it would be easier to play with them.
If you have a working Amiga 1000 or Apple 2 do you need another? Selling duplicates might fund purchases of different machines.
Re: Ask HN: Should I sell my vintage computer collection?
#20Or find a museum with nice people who know what they are doing and are looking for this. Gift or sell to them or borrow it to them (I don’t know the english word) like collectors do with paintings to museums. I have 1000s of vintage computers myself and different places are showing and keeping them. Right temperature etc and fixing them when broken and having many people who can see and try (some of) them. I kept 20…
Yes if there was a really great museum I trusted this might be something I'd consider. Here in Australia there's not much in the way of technology museums. There's Powerhouse, but I don't know if they would care much about such a collection.
> Here in Australia there's not much in the way of technology museums.