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Are Apple II clones more sought-after than original units ?

bibilit

Well-known member
Apple II clones are fetching more money than some original units...

is this an ebay thing or some are pretty thin on the ground hence the expensive price ?
 

LaPorta

Well-known member
Not sure. I have some sort of unlabeled clone that I don’t have any idea of what it is. I’ve been holding onto it just in case.
 

bibilit

Well-known member
have some sort of unlabeled clone that I don’t have any idea of what it is

I have one also, was a steal at some point, because was able to sell some unwanted peripherals which came with it...so in the end the unit and one drive i kept were almost free to me.

But when looking around most are pretty expensive, even the ugly ones.
 

Skate323k137

Well-known member
Apple II stuff is [finally?] climbing a bit in price. I would wager since original systems are still present in such numbers that previously clones didn't garner much attention from the average person or collector. Now, since original systems are starting to command some $$, I can see clones starting to have a little value and perhaps sell for more, given I doubt most are present in numbers anywhere close to Apple's production runs.

I wouldn't mind owning a clone, but even as a pretty big Apple II fan it would mostly be a curiosity to hack around with. I'm not going out of my way to find or spend money on them at the moment.
 

bibilit

Well-known member
More likely a video card ?

this is mine ( the monitor was really cool, too bad) :
 

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Skate323k137

Well-known member
On those, an 80 Col card is a video card. Before the IIe, the 80 column videx cards had their own output, hence the switches or "soft switches" to toggle.

Awesome photos! Really cool to see these, actually :)
 

Juror22

Well-known member
Apple II clones are fetching more money than some original units
I'm curious if its the parts that are going for so much? I know that at one point I was checking out random mid-70's systems (before they skyrocketed!) for the chips/components, knowing that they could be used to restore/build other period projects, like an Apple 1.
 

LaPorta

Well-known member
Here’s mine. Basically no identifiers at all.
 

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bibilit

Well-known member
More pictures of mine, including the clone Disk drive card and aftermarket drive itself.
No brand or identifier either, most were sold as is.
 

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joshc

Well-known member
I would’ve thought an early serial number / boxed / complete example of an Apple II would be more desirable than a clone? Heck maybe even an average condition Apple II. In the same way that Mac clones don’t seem to be worth much compared to ‘actual’ Macs.
 

bibilit

Well-known member
Hard to say, many clones used the same space than the original to display a start message.
So your M-I-C is the equivalent of APPLE.
MIC can be the brand, modified to suit.
Some had « Ready Go » instead, again using the same spacing.
 
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