jsarchibald's Conquests

[jsarchibald]

Hi all,

I probably should have done this thread years ago, there are so many great things I've scored over time.

I started with a Mac 512K upgraded to a Plus for $25, a great little system, back in 2010.  Shortly thereafter came 5 SE's from a hoarder (his property looked like something from Fallout), where I found my Levco Prodigy SE upgrade (love me a Mac with fangs!).  I then hit the motherlode:

https://68kmla.org/forums/index.php?/topic/15304-possibly-the-biggest-conquest-any-of-us-have-ever-made/

That one put me on the map, and pushed my count to well over 100 machines.  That was in 2011, and I am still selling off the excess to fund new and exciting machines.  Every once in a while, something exciting happens, like having a Mac Portable from that haul restored, now running like a champ and tucked away safely in it's carry case.

I've gone on to import a TAM and a Drexel 128K Mac from the US, found a TAM locally for $200, a Macintosh TV locally for $275, as well as my lucky score of a boxed G4 Cube with monitor for $50, and found new and innovative ways to upgrade my collection, making certain boxed items complete whilst making more money to fund the hobby.  I have a real knack for buying well but selling even better, and guaranteed, every item I get is always dusty and leaves my house clean as a whistle.  A little elbow grease is the key to selling well, and I now have a smaller collection that I am very proud of.  A few of my faves are in my boxed collection, most being complete, as in my signature.

As for recent Mac things:

PowerBook Duo

Looked great, and supposedly ran but was missing the power supply.  Adding power to this unit produced a sweet fishy smell, so check caps on that one.  I was actually given a full refund on that one, including the postage, so a free Duo it is!  Was happy to work out something but they wouldn't hear it.

G3 Lombard

Snagged it for $20, the screen is cracked but it runs perfectly apart from that.  It complements the other Lombard I got for $40 in beautiful condition a few months earlier.

SE/30

Bought with no video for $40, turns out the cable was loose and it powered right up!

Mini Bulk Lot

I bought a boxed LCII, which came with two HD20SC's, a PM6100, an LCIII, and sold everything but the LCII.  I netted the LCII AND ended up in front, mind you a lot of work went into cleaning the dust out of everything.  Oh, and I got a sweet little 12" Color Mac monitor too.

Color Classic

Grabbed one in box for $315, which seems a little expensive, but pretty good when I sold one by itself for about $250 the year before.

PowerBook 3400c

This one was complete in box, and had barely been used.  Was an ex-display for an Apple Rep when these first hit the market 20 years ago, so it has a bit of history to it.  Not bad for $50.

Drexel 128K

This was a USD$199 buy it now steal, but after sourcing the mouse separately (with many many thanks to Unity for helping me out), shipping, etc, it set me back over AUD$500 landed.  Still money well spent I think.

Newton Messagepad 100

Sold as Brand New, never used in the box, and for $120, I couldn't resist.  Turns out it was well used, but being an honest mistake by the seller, they let me have it for $50, which I thought was very generous.

TL;DR - I might try to keep this thread updated as I score the good stuff, to save the essay!

Picked this up the other day, think I did well: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Apple-Product-Professional-Pins-/112382080025?hash=item1a2a7e7419:g6AAAOSwzqFY~XF0

 

[just.in.time]

It's always interesting how quick a collection goes from one machine to "where do I put all these" types of numbers.

 

[jsarchibald]

Exactly, but it all fits neatly in one bedroom, plus there is other stuff in there too, so it's perfectly managed.  And if anything goes south, I have a little treasure trove I can liquidate.

 

[jsarchibald]

So, I've decided to move on some of my goodies as I'm back into Nintendo 64 stuff.  I didn't realise just how much PAL N64 stuff had increased in value since I was last involved 5 or 6 years ago, so now is the time to secure what I really want before the prices increase to stupid levels and stock comes harder to find.  So now I have about 20 boxed games and another 35 loose, and all the accessories in boxes too, which makes for a fun and compact collection.  We are looking to have another child, so my Mac room disappears and I need to find space elsewhere in the house, and moving on the bulky items I never use seems like a good idea.

However...

Just picked up an SE/30 for a steal, and it turns out it has a Daynaport E/30 card in it.  I'm a little excited as it has the current ethernet port, so plug and play baby!  Needs a lot of cleaning and a de-yellow, haven't yet done my routine of disassembly, cleaning and testing, but it was shown as working when bought so that should be a non-issue.