Two 1200 XL Keyboards, NOS, on Ebay

[andymanone]

That was a good long-term investment ?.

Original price $ 4.95 each, now both for $ 169.99 ?.

Lot Of 2 Radio Shack Keyboards 277-1018 Atari 1200XL NOS Never Opened

 

Gtx.,

andY

[+DrVenkman]

Jebus, that’s insane. When I bought my last 1200XL 3 years ago, it was missing one key with a broken plunger. A kind member on the forum here sold me one of these keyboards for $10 + shipping. 

[flashjazzcat]

Yep. I bought a NOS 1200XL keyboard on eBay UK about five years ago for 15 GBP.

 

[TGB1718]

Don't worry, he will probably keep them for a long time, but then again...........

[_The Doctor__]

lmfao, what a marooon

[jamm]

Well, "original price" is debatable.  They were on clearance years ago incredibly cheap, but the original price was probably much closer to what's currently being asked.   I've seen at least a few go for $90 individually recently, so $160 for two is actually relatively cheap.  I bet they sell.

 

Does anyone know during what period Radio Shack was selling all these different keyboards for $5?  Apparently they also had Commodore and other variants:

 

 

It looks like someone at Radio Shack just made a deal for a ton of old, unwanted keyboards and figured they could squeeze a few bucks out of them. 

 

I'm not sure what that last keyboard goes to.  The roman numeral keys remind me of the Coleco Adam.

 

Edited May 3, 2020 by jamm

[BillC]

2 hours ago, jamm said:

Does anyone know during what period Radio Shack was selling all these different keyboards for $5?  Apparently they also had Commodore and other variants:

I don't know about Radio Shack, but Princess Auto & Farm Machinery in Grande Prairie Alberta had some 1200XL keyboards for C$1.49ea. in the early 90's. 

I bought a few even though I didn't have a 1200XL at the time, it was over 15 years before I got my first.

Edited May 3, 2020 by BillC

[adam242]

The thing is, they might be "NOS" but they still won't work. Time and disuse are the enemies of 1200XL keyboard membranes. Hope whoever buys these isn't too disappointed...

[+slx]

Just add 25 bucks or so for a keyboard membrane from Best....

If you read the Charles Tandy biography you'll find that a lot of Radio Shack's success was based on buying huge lots of stuff and selling them on cheap. Would be interesting to know if they miscalculated with those keyboards, I simply can't imagine so many tinkerers needing keyboards years before the Raspberry Pi came along. 1.49 is a nice price for one, though.

[jamm]

1 hour ago, slx said:

Just add 25 bucks or so for a keyboard membrane from Best....

Try $40 ?

I just did mine a few weeks ago.  The membrane in my 800 keyboard was salvageable, but the 1200XL seemed to tear up like wet papier-mâché.  I just hope the new one lasts a few decades.

Edited May 4, 2020 by jamm

[tjlazer]

Imagine the poor sole when he installs that minty fresh Atari 1200XL keyboard and NOT ONE KEY WORKS!  Haha.  Some can be brought back to life by hitting each key about 50 times each.  Brought mine back from the deal after sitting for 10 years in the closet.

[+DrVenkman]

5 hours ago, jamm said:

but the 1200XL seemed to tear up like wet papier-mâché.

The key is to use a heat gun or hair dryer to heat the keyboard PCB and membrane as you very gently work it loose. I’ve repaired two of my 1200XL keyboards this way and while I did get a few small tears on each, they weren’t very large and easily laid back into place when the repair was done. 

[flashjazzcat]

Like this:

 

 

[jamm]

25 minutes ago, DrVenkman said:

The key is to use a heat gun or hair dryer to heat the keyboard PCB and membrane as you very gently work it loose. I’ve repaired two of my 1200XL keyboards this way and while I did get a few small tears on each, they weren’t very large and easily laid back into place when the repair was done. 

Oh, believe me - I used a hair dryer in both cases and followed FJC's video above.  The 800 Mylar went very smoothly.  I was extra careful with 1200XL Mylar, but it stuck around the screw holes much more, and despite my best efforts, it still tore in a couple of spots around them.  I'm not saying it was entirely impossible... I just couldn't quite manage it even though my first attempt with the 800 went really well.

 

[rockdoc2010]

I haven't purchased an actual mylar yet but i have two keyboards that have came preinstalled and they are great!

 

I have myself repaired two keyboards with silver conductive pen as well as drawing up a small nub of solder on the pads that mate to the mylar, to eliminate that wafer spacer.

 

Cheers!