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Boxed 128k on ebay
- Thread starter Quadraman
- Start date
J English Smith
Well-known member
Wow! It will be interesting to see how high that one goes. Quite amazing to see all of the original packaging, etc.!
JDW
Well-known member
The machine has chew marks on it from someone opening the case improperly in the past. It also has a noticeable deep scratch in the front plastic, just about the CRT. It is also admitted that some of the keys stick.
This auction is similar to other auctions I see from time to time. So there is nothing too extraordinary about what is being offered here. It's not like it was used by Steve Jobs himself, which would differentiate it somewhat from other Mac 128k auctions that also offer original boxes.
I also took note of one of the comments at the bottom of the listing which states the following:
"Was this the one that had the wild commercial?"
If that is the mentality of would-be bidders, then it will likely sell for a high price. But that won't mean it is necessarily worth such an outrageous price. People who don't know much about what they are bidding on tend to drive the price into the stratosphere. (e.g., "Oh my, it's THE product related to that commercial which I never saw myself but have heard a lot about. OMG, this must be worth $3,000 these days.")
I myself picked up an original Mac 128k kit quite similar to this one, sans the outer box though, for $450 plus ocean shipping to me in Japan. That included a 512k logic board too, as well as an external 400k floppy drive. No sticky keys, no discolored spacebar on the keyboard, and no screen burn in. It included an amazing amount of boxed 3rd party software too, including Microsoft Excel, Multiplan, CopyIIMac and ProVue 2. It even included 4 boxes (2 unopened) of Apple branded 400k floppies. That was a few years ago, but the point is that I go that price because I was competing with others who pretty much knew the value of what they were bidding on. The price was not artificially jacked up by ignorance. That's also why I picked up my HyperDrive20 Mac on EBAY for under $100, plus shipping to Japan.
So as always when bidding on auctions like this, be careful. Note well the mentality of other bidders by considering the comments at the bottom of the listing. And one would do well to consider how much the machine will ultimately go for by reflecting on the the fact the current price is $560 but still with 6 days to go!
This auction is similar to other auctions I see from time to time. So there is nothing too extraordinary about what is being offered here. It's not like it was used by Steve Jobs himself, which would differentiate it somewhat from other Mac 128k auctions that also offer original boxes.
I also took note of one of the comments at the bottom of the listing which states the following:
"Was this the one that had the wild commercial?"
If that is the mentality of would-be bidders, then it will likely sell for a high price. But that won't mean it is necessarily worth such an outrageous price. People who don't know much about what they are bidding on tend to drive the price into the stratosphere. (e.g., "Oh my, it's THE product related to that commercial which I never saw myself but have heard a lot about. OMG, this must be worth $3,000 these days.")
I myself picked up an original Mac 128k kit quite similar to this one, sans the outer box though, for $450 plus ocean shipping to me in Japan. That included a 512k logic board too, as well as an external 400k floppy drive. No sticky keys, no discolored spacebar on the keyboard, and no screen burn in. It included an amazing amount of boxed 3rd party software too, including Microsoft Excel, Multiplan, CopyIIMac and ProVue 2. It even included 4 boxes (2 unopened) of Apple branded 400k floppies. That was a few years ago, but the point is that I go that price because I was competing with others who pretty much knew the value of what they were bidding on. The price was not artificially jacked up by ignorance. That's also why I picked up my HyperDrive20 Mac on EBAY for under $100, plus shipping to Japan.
So as always when bidding on auctions like this, be careful. Note well the mentality of other bidders by considering the comments at the bottom of the listing. And one would do well to consider how much the machine will ultimately go for by reflecting on the the fact the current price is $560 but still with 6 days to go!
Anonymous Freak
Well-known member
According to Wolfram|Alpha, the average inflation rate from 1984 to 2008 (the latest year available) was 3.75%. $2495 at 3.75% for 26 years comes to $6500. If this auction goes over $6500, then that Mac would have been a good investment.
Buy Iomega in early 1994 at $.30 per share and sell after the release and popularization of the Zip Drive at over $30 per share.
That's on my Time Travel Investment List. You know, the investment opportunities you have memorized in case you're ever unexpectedly flung back in time....
Scott Baret
Well-known member
Speaking of stock, how about if you had bought Apple in late 2002-early 2003 when it was $14 per share? Not only has it gone up big time since then (well over $200 now), it also split five years ago. One share at $14 would be worth about $430 now.
