>I dunno - what do you think HN, sell the collection or keep them?
Take a full inventory of what you have. Then move into making a decision.
Ask HN: Should I sell my vintage computer collection?
31–40 of 83 posts
Re: Ask HN: Should I sell my vintage computer collection?
#32[deleted]
Re: Ask HN: Should I sell my vintage computer collection?
#33I'm an anti-stuff guy so just reading this is giving me anxiety! Why people need to collect anything? It's just stuff!
Re: Ask HN: Should I sell my vintage computer collection?
#34Donate to a tech history museum.
Re: Ask HN: Should I sell my vintage computer collection?
#35> Partly I hold back from selling them because firstly if I regret it then I'll never be able to build such a collection again.
This is probably the place to start.
Pick out one or two computers or accessories -- ones that you have duplicates of, ones that maybe you are least attached to, and sell them. Don't spend too long on this -- try to pick something out in a couple days or a week at most, even if you can't go through your entire collection to find the most disposable item in that time. Try to sell the item briskly; don't spend months trying to find the perfect collector, just get it done.
Then see how you feel.
If you got rid of your entire collection at once, it would be an insurmountable challenge to put it back together. But if you sold a half a dozen and then couldn't bear it, reacquiring them becomes an achievable goal.
Re: Ask HN: Should I sell my vintage computer collection?
#36Or 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…
The English word you were looking for is "lend"
I lend you the computer
You borrow the computer from me
Re: Ask HN: Should I sell my vintage computer collection?
#37Sell. It sounds like many are just sitting around.
Re: Ask HN: Should I sell my vintage computer collection?
#38How about picking the 10 that you feel a personal relation with, give them a proper display in your new home and sell the rest? I had a glimpse of that when i needed to clear the stuff from family members after they died. As soon as it feels like a burden, try to lessen that burden. I feel better thinking that somebody may have fun with it now, than grieving that I "currently" can't be the one.
I am one of these people but also recognize I should not have so much stuff.
The way I have dealt with it is with a few principles:
1. Emulation for the ones taking up the most space and also with the least power. I sold my Commodore 64 collection. 2. Get rid of games in favor of flash carts. Compatibility via using original hardware. 3. For buying a new system, it better have something cool I missed out on. After all, my collecting started because I felt like I missed out on a lot of things. Example: 3DO is a system which makes little sense to buy.
Re: Ask HN: Should I sell my vintage computer collection?
#39> 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"…
Locating another packrat who possibly has plenty of money is probably hard and an organization that would spend a lot of time and money to properly sort through and maybe display some of the gear even harder. It's somewhat painful to say but just because there are almost certainly people in the world who would monetarily value a bunch of obsolete stuff doesn't mean it's worth trying to track down those people.
And best case, you get a few $K for it? Probably not worth it.
That's maybe a cynical take on things but it's the conclusion I've come to.
Re: Ask HN: Should I sell my vintage computer collection?
#40I'm an anti-stuff guy so just reading this is giving me anxiety! Why people need to collect anything? It's just stuff!
Well, vintage computers are the ki d of stuff that there is less and less of.
It’s like trying to find and buy a CRT TV these days. Utterly impossible.