The find of a lifetime! The APF Imagination Machine 2 !

[Imagination Machine]

Was recommended to post to this forum from another member. Hopefully i picked the right sub forum for this post, if not mods please feel from to move it if possible. Hope you guys dont mind checking out my latest find!!

 

The imagination machine 2 is an unreleased console from the late 70s made by the company APF electronics. They started out in calculators before trying to compete in the video game market. Their first console/home computer was The Imagination Machine with an add on console. These are very hard to find and are rarely seen out in the wild.

A follow up release was planned, which was called The Imagination Machine 2. It contained the home computer and console inside one unit, but never released as the company went out of business before the IM2 went into mass production. Through my research I have only found two other known IM2 consoles to exist, but could not find a current location for them.

I was lucky enough to find and be able to purchase this amazing lot directly from the family of the president of APF Electronics, Steven Lipper. It contains the console, a bunch of games, two floppy drives, the BB-1 add on with cartridges, some demo games, 4 controllers, tv box, rf cables, tons of floppys, and some manuals, including whats most likely the only one still around, the IM2 Manual! I was also able to purchase one of their first calculators, the APF Mark-210. The one i got was a sample unit the company used, it was complete in the box and in basically mint condition.

I was able to test everything and it appears mostly everything is working correctly. Some small issues but nothing that i think can not be fixed.

I am a collector myself, but this is something that's a little far back then i like to collect for, so i am definitely thinking of selling this to someone who will give it a good home and appreciate it. I would prefer a private sale but will go the ebay route eventually if needed. Please feel free to PM if interested.

I have added an imgur album of pictures of everything and youtube linked 3 quick videos of it working. Please pardon the video quality as i usually don't make videos like this!

https://imgur.com/a/droRe

https://youtu.be/Mn90RRsno9s

https://youtu.be/NEWHgi8nA_A

https://youtu.be/7UlFiNOB1DE

[Atari_Bill]

Very impressive! This is a little outside my realm of expertise, but I definetely can appreciate this for what it is.

[pacman000]

Wow! I've heard of the Imagination Machine, & I've read of its history.

 

Apparently APF's backers thought computers weren't the way to go; they wanted APF to keep making calculators. APF's management knew calculators were becoming commodities, so they refused. The backers backed away, & APF shut down.

 

Never knew the IM2 wasn't released. Too bad. APF's console looks powerful for the time, but their selection of games looks dull. They had good engineers, but no game design experience. A computer might've been a better product for the company.

[Keatah]

Some number of years ago I saw an APF II move for just under $19,500.

[ianoid]

Some number of years ago I saw an APF II move for just under $19,500.

<<dislike>> this kind of unsubstantiated claim drags these things out forever while the seller tries to get his $20k (impossible) and then most of us give up hope and get bored hearing about the hope for student loan payback money.

 

Last one sold for something like $1.5k a little more than a year ago. Mind you it wasn't well listed by title as a "II" (although it was in the description) but it was from a seller with a lot of APF hardware and I'm sure it was well attended despite that.

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Keatah]

I have little doubt the seller will conduct his research and arrive at an appropriate asking price.

 

10-12 years is a long time and the market changes.

[Jess Ragan]

Did Ed Smith design this system like the other APF consoles? It'd be nice to hear what he's got to say about it.

[Turbo-Torch]

Cool find. It would be interesting to see what's on those floppies.

 

The cassette deck play function is most likely fine and simply needs a load command for it to start.

[Imagination Machine]

Cool find. It would be interesting to see what's on those floppies.

 

 

The cassette deck play function is most likely fine and simply needs a load command for it to start.

Thanks! I will try this out tomorrow and see if i can get it working.

[keepdreamin]

I have no idea what this thing is, but on something that old I'd go over the boards looking at capacitors and other potential leaky bits before tossing power to it.

 

Clean off any caked on dust etc..

Edited April 17, 2018 by keepdreamin

[Bill Loguidice]

Great find. I'm sure you'll have no trouble selling it. I wonder if the removable controllers are any better than the super fragile hard-wired originals?

 

Also, I wonder if the video output is composite or still RF? The quality of the RF-only display was definitely a negative factor with the original console.

[Tempest]

Wow. Just wow.

[+save2600]

Thanks for sharing! I love these computers with built-in tape drives.

[Bruce Tomlin]

I love the shape of those keyboard keys, very '70s.

 

I do not love the layout, very "we found someone with 50,000 surplus keyboards who sold us some cheap". Seriously, a "HERE IS" key?