Any Value in Boxed Software?

[Scott Baret]

I still have original boxes and manuals for some of my software. Does that make it more valuable?

The ones I still have boxed include MacWrite Pro, MacDraw II, System 7 (version 7.1), OS X 10.0, Virtual PC (I think it's 5), iLife '04, Kid Pix, Print Shop, Spelunx, and Oregon Trail II 25th Anniversary Edition.

None of them are shrinkwrapped (I do use these programs) but I have the boxes, all the manuals, installation instruction cards, and in some of them the original packet/envelope thing the disks came in. Some of the manuals are in better shape than others--I know I wrote notes in the one for Spelunx--but they are there.

What I want to know is if these are ever going to be worth something like the Macs have become.

 

[MacMan]

These boxed software packages are in some respects more unusual than Macs in that they often get disposed of or lost long before the computers. I would say they have some value to collectors but nothing amazing.

I once sold a shrikwrapped ClarisWorks 2 package for about £10 on eBay.

 

[Temetka]

I have a boxed copy of....Mosiac. I am keeping it for historical purposes. It's shrink wrapped.

 

[Unknown_K]

It depends on the software, it adds some value. I don't pay much over shipping for original disks without the manuals or box, and some money for the package if it has manuals. The box is just nice to store everything in so I don't loose it.

Most of my Mac software collection is boxed up, atleast 60% I would think.

 

[Scott Baret]

I bought a shrinkwrapped MacDraw II on eBay for $10 or so two years ago.

Some of the boxes I have are from when I was younger. I used to use some of them for storage and just saved some of the boxes because I thought they were cool. That was the case with Kid Pix and Spelunx, in particular, as well as that wooden limited edition Oregon Trail II one.

It's nice to read the manuals for reference. Sometimes the online help/trial and error aren't good enough (also the case with new programs--if only iLife came with a big thick book like, say, MacWrite Pro--I was sort of disappointed when I didn't find a 300 page manual in the box when I bought it until I reminded myself that manuals didn't exist in 2004). Recently I got the Factory with the original manual, worksheets, binder, etc. I had used the Factory before in school but with the manual I find out all these neat things about it that I had never known (and forgotten--it had been 12 years between the last use of the program and when I finally acquired it).

Sometimes manuals alone are notable. The ImageWriter II had at least three revisions! And sometimes the disks will change. I have two copies of MacWrite Pro, for example. One is on a ton of 800K disks and the other on two 1.4MBs.

Manuals can also be wrong/outdated. The manuals I got with that shrinkwrapped MacDraw II assume version 1.0. However, the disks had 1.1 on them. Missing from the manual was a comment about the "post-it note" feature (though I think there was an addennum in the box). Also, my in-box copy of OutNumbered! has the user extracting Compact Pro archives to install the software. My copy is newer and uses the Apple installer instead. (There were still two disks, though). No addennum in that box though.

I also keep all my Nintendo 64 games in their original box and yes, with their instruction books. I swear I'm the only one who reads video game manuals.

EDIT: There is a nostalgia factor though. I still remember unwrapping sotware on Christmas and birthdays so looking at complete boxes makes me remember opening something that I had no idea what it was and then using it and being surprised.

 

[MacTCP]

I bought used-in-box copies of Hypercard 2.1 and Claris Resolve. Neither were expensive. The Claris Resolve box was flimsy for all the manuals it held and got torn. The Hypercard 2.1 box was made of very thick cardboard. It contained many manuals, each 300-500 pages in length. It also had a Quick-Reference sheet and a registration card. I sent in the registration card just to see if anything would happen. Nothing did though. I also bought a NIB copy of Musicshop which had a brief but informative manual. It was about $30. I also got a NIB Apple Extended Keyboard II for $50. I think you can still buy them from We Love Macs. It's the best keyboard I ever used. The last NIB thing I ever got was a Quadra 700 accessory kit. It was $12.50. It's full of everything that came with a Quadra 700. The things in it are untouched. It has a NIB Apple Microphone and a ADB Mouse I in it's original plastic. This also has System 7, System 7 Tuneup, Hypercard Player 2.1, Network Software Update, and many manuals. I'm preserving this. I like getting old boxed software. Unless it's really special, I open it up. Although some old software will be probably collectable someday, I would never sell any.

 

[Scott Baret]

Resolve has a ton of manuals, only about 30 pages of which you need to read. I had a Resolve box but it got lost when I moved. Still have the other stuff that went with it right down to the quick reference card. I agree, that box was way too flimsy--but congrats on the score of that box.

Resolve should have come in the box that Macromedia Director did. It's a big hard plastic box that's a little bigger than a G4 cube. Inside are enough manuals to put Resolve to shame. It's like reading two Mac Bibles and with Director you almost have to read the manual. There are also like 15 disks that come with it.

Is your HyperCard branded Apple or Claris? I recently saw a boxed Claris HyperCard Development Kit that's Claris branded, had all the manuals but no disks. I think the envelope with the license agreement on it that the disks come in was in the box but as I said, no disks.

 

[MacTCP]

My version of HyperCard is the Claris HyperCard Development Kit.

 

[Scott Baret]

Awesome find on that HCDK. I've never actually used it, what exactly is different from regular HC 2.1 on it aside from the manuals?

 

[MacTCP]

The only place that mentions Claris in the software is in the Sample Movie included with the Quicktime Tools stack which is a short animation of the Claris logo. Even in the about box it says Apple and not Claris. I've never seen an Apple-branded Hypercard 2.1. I think Apple may have released 2.1 and probably 2.0 only under the Claris name because there's nothing unique about this version besides the Claris logo on the disks and manuals and in the sample movie. I've seen Apple versions of 1.x.x, 2.2, 2.3, and 2.4, but never 2.0 or 2.1. The "Development Kit" in the name seems to have no special meaning.

 

[Scott Baret]

Perhaps they came out with this development kit at the same time they stopped giving out HyperCard with the Macs and switched to the Player? The "development kit" name may have referred to the fact that you could actually program with this version as opposed to the player which only let you, well, play stacks.

I have HC 2.0 on an Apple-branded disk, it came with my Mac LC. There was a little skinny manual (Apple-branded) that came with it as well. You only got three stacks though--Addresses with Audio, Appointments with Audio, and Audio Help. I think they bundled that with the LC and IIsi to emphasize the new microphone features. The home stack was completely different from any other HC home I've seen. The manual didn't tell you how to program, just how to use the stacks. The HC on the disk was a full version but you had to type a script in to access the programming features, I think David Pogue and Joseph Schorr's "Macworld Mac & Power Mac Secrets" said what to type. (Apple probably wanted novices to not program so they didn't mess up those stacks because like I said, I think they were pushing the microphone features with the LC and IIsi around that time, then after realizing that people went in to activate it they went to the player--which was probably also to make more money by trying to sell the actual HyperCard program).

A version of 2.1 came bundled with Spelunx, actually. I think it has a 2.x home stack on the disk but nothing else. Remember that Spelunx is HyperCard based. The disk is a Broderbund disk, though, not an Apple or a Claris. They threw this in for people still running 1.x on their Macs who needed to upgrade, I think the installation instruction sheet (which I have so I can verify this) says about this.

I think 2.1 was still bundled with some of the Macs when they launched the Claris product. I may be wrong on this but I think full versions of 2.1 were often bundled with Macs, maybe as bundles. The one that schools used to get with the Educator HomeCard program was 2.0 or 2.1 if I recall.

I know HC 1.x was, I've got an SE that had them among the original disks.

 

[MacTCP]

Perhaps they came out with this development kit at the same time they stopped giving out HyperCard with the Macs and switched to the Player? The "development kit" name may have referred to the fact that you could actually program with this version as opposed to the player which only let you, well, play stacks.

That sounds like what must have happened. I forgot there wasn't a HyperCard Player 1.x, since HyperCard 1.x was bundled with macs before HyperCard Player 2 existed.

 

[LCGuy]

Resolve has a ton of manuals, only about 30 pages of which you need to read. I had a Resolve box but it got lost when I moved. Still have the other stuff that went with it right down to the quick reference card. I agree, that box was way too flimsy--but congrats on the score of that box.
Resolve should have come in the box that Macromedia Director did. It's a big hard plastic box that's a little bigger than a G4 cube. Inside are enough manuals to put Resolve to shame. It's like reading two Mac Bibles and with Director you almost have to read the manual. There are also like 15 disks that come with it.

Is your HyperCard branded Apple or Claris? I recently saw a boxed Claris HyperCard Development Kit that's Claris branded, had all the manuals but no disks. I think the envelope with the license agreement on it that the disks come in was in the box but as I said, no disks.

Off-topic, but what version of Macromedia Director do you have? I have Macromind Director 3.0, cicra 1989, which is in a huge box about the same size as yours, although is a cardboard box instead, and also comes with a heap of manuals and about 15 floppies.

As far as big boxes go though, nothing can beat AutoCAD Release 11.

 

[cobalt]

I love Spelunx! I used to play it all the time on my Mac Classic when I was young (before I was even in Kindergarten!). :beige:

Is there anything in the manuals/instructions for Spelunx worth noting? I've never seen them before.

 

[Scott Baret]

The biggest thing about the manual is the builder code. It is a tear-off strip which I think was attached to the back cover (it may have been right inside though).

Inside the manual it tells you a few basics about each activity and also gives you some factoids about the science behind some of them. There are also a few stories about Professor Spelunx and Mr. Seudo.

I should note that it says somewhere that the manual is "not an instruction manual". I believe that may be in all-caps; I'll have to dig it out this week to make sure of that. The Miller Bros. wanted you to play around with the software and explore yourself though the manual was probably designed for parents/teachers who needed to know what the kids were going to be doing in case they needed any help.

I read the entire thing in kindergarten when I got the program and also added notes (albeit rather sloppily given that my handwriting sucked in kindergarten and always has...but being that I could type before I could write may have something to do with that). Some things aren't in the manual that should be but it was one of the more fun manuals to read (in addition to Kid Pix).

There's also the usual manual fare...installation instructions, system requirements, etc. They're explained better on the installation instruction card that came with the program.

Also, for anyone else with a copy of Spelunx--did your program come on both blue and white disks? Mine did (there are five disks total with one including HyperCard, I believe it's 2.1).

 

[cobalt]

Builder code? You can make your own caves or something?

Were the stories of Professor Spelunx and Mr. Seudo the same as the ones inside the books on the bookshelf in one of the caves? (I remember there was stories or diaries to do with the characters)

My favourite thing to do in Spelunx was the Toaster game! Ah, many happy memories. lol

My mom's friend gave me the Macintosh Classic, and while it came with manuals and disks for the computer, there were none for the software on it. An interesting note though: when my dad opened up the computer once, we saw that there was a microchip inside (some stick of some sort) that said Reader Rabbit 2 on it! [8]

 

[LCGuy]

I got Spelunx back in 1993 as a Christmas present a few weeks after we first got the LCIII. Anyway, my copy came on five (5) black HD disks.

 

[Scott Baret]

To answer the questions here:

1. Cobalt: The builder code is for accessing the builder level. There were supposed to be additional rooms made but none ever were released (probably with the Myst project taking center stage at Cyan). Still, you can play around with how the actual cave structure looks, add warp rooms, and add a lock on a room (the manual suggested the Nemo room because of the private diary there). You can get there by dragging the elevator lever to the direct center. (I guess if you really wanted additional rooms and were good enough with HyperCard you could make them yourself).

2. Also to Cobalt: I was actually re-reading those stories in Spelunx last night. There are four books in the Nemo room. One tells you about the builder. There's one on the planets and another that has the history of Spelunx (the story I re-read). Bits and pieces of it come up in the user manual but you'll still want to read the book in the game itself--sort of like how you do in Myst's library. The final book is a diary that has nothing in it unless you write something--I have one entry in it right now but had many more back in the day (before I wiped all my old copies of the programs and reinstalled everything to prevent corruption). And yes, the toaster game is fun--although my skill has eroded after not playing it in a while, I only got like 4 points last night. I think my record is 27.

3. A third response to Cobalt--I've never heard of a Reader Rabbit 2 chip. Do you have a picture of it?

4. LCGuy, now it's your turn--my disks are all 800K's. I guess Broderbund switched to high density disks due to their greater availability just like most of the other software developers did. Around late 1993 the developers started doing this even though there were still plenty of 800K drives in use. Seeing a program that required a 68030 wasn't a big deal, but then one of my friends got a "disk not readable" message on a brand new master disk. I bought my buddy a copy of Number Munchers for his birthday in 1995 but he had to transfer the files to an 800K disk since he had an 800K drive SE. Thankfully I had an LC that we did this on since his dad wouldn't let him near his IIcx. My Munchers games, which I got a few years before he did (he got hooked on them playing them at my place) came on 800K disks. It was probably cheaper for Mecc to use one 1.4MB than two 800Ks, but when the box blatantly stated "Plus or higher" it should be able to run on Pluses and other 800K drive Macs out of the box, right?

 

[LCGuy]

Yeah...i got my copy in December 1993, so your explanation sounds quite valid. Still, i do think its quite wrong, as you said, for the system requirements to state things such as "Plus or higher" when you require access to a HD drive to install the software.