The value of classic computers

[mozartpc27]

Recently, I have been having trouble with my Commodore 1084 monitor, and that has gotten me looking at prices of things for the first time in a while.  I had a non-working 1084S that I wanted to send to the incomparable Ray Carlsen for repairs, and wanted to know how much to insure it for.  Turns out one sold in the last two months for $660 (I probably paid

 

In 1999, after my sophomore year of college, after 6 or so years of more-or-less continuous usage (I got into Commodore LATE, obviously), I put my Commodore 64C away, and pretty much neglected it for several years.  Around 2003 or 2004, after I was out of school and working, I started getting interested again.  What I decided I was interested in was the Commodore 128 - a mysterious computer I had always wondered about but had never owned or even seen in person.  So I bought one, tested and working, on eBay, which came in a package with a 1571, another 1541 (I had one from my original set up), a Sanyo monitor, a modem, and I think maybe even a printer (although I also had a Commodore MPS 1200 from my original system), shipped to me in two boxes, for about $140 TOTAL (I paid $50 for the actual stuff, the shipping was well more than the items).  This is what I consider to be the beginning of my "retro" computing hobby (before that I had tried, more or less, to use the 64 as my main computer, through at least late 1996 anyway).  Around the same time I also bought the Commodore 1581, a 3.5" floppy drive that was the ultimate in exotic.  I paid $61 for it.  I also bought a Plus/4 around the same time for $10 in its box and obviously brand new, that I stupidly sold a few months later for $26 (I wound up buying another some time later for closer to $50).  Adding it all up, excluding shipping, I paid $121 for a Commodore 128, a 1541-II, a 1571, a 1581, a monitor, and a Plus/4.

 

Today, I have no doubt that without breaking a sweat, if I broke up the set, I could easily get ($300 for the 128 + $65 for the 1541-II + $100 for the 1571 + $300 for the 1581 + $150 for the Sanyo monitor, if I still had it [I don't] + $85 for the Plus/4).  Even once you subtract eBay fees and the shipping I paid in 2004, that's $800-$900 - a conservatively estimated 260% over the inflation rate over the same period.  So good ROI.

 

Now, of course, I have spent other money.  But the point is: Commodore has held its value and then some since it bottomed out (and some of the deal is that I bought a bunch of my stuff at the absolute bottom of the Commodore market).  But it's interesting to me that some hasn't.  I somehow acquired an extra TI-99/4A in my collecting phase, which I have up on eBay now.  It's tested, it works, it has joysticks, they are also tested, they also work.  The auction has about 8 hours to run and it has not attracted a single bid, and I listed the thing at $30.  I just want it out of my house.  Meanwhile, a tested and working Commodore 64 - the supply of which is presumably much greater - will reliably fetch you $150 or more in today's market.

 

I suppose the TI community is smaller and that accounts for it, but on the other hand TI is still an extant company like Apple - and NOT like Commodore or Atari (well the names are still around I guess).  Wondering what others have found recently in terms of the value of these old things.

[Keatah]

The value seems proportional to the intensity of nostalgia surrounding (any) product of interest. Certain Apple II items command hundreds or thousands of dollars. And whether it's hundreds or thousands depends on if there's a bidding war. Or if something gets press coverage. Other items sell for less than the cost of shipping.  It's all hard to say because neither the desire/nostalgia for a given item is directly measurable. It's all emotional. It's a sliding window, too, because things fall out of favor and new items enter. There's cycles within cycles.

 

Whether a company still exists or doesn't doesn't seem to matter much. It's like the Apple /// & ///+ I was unable to get rid of over the years. Very rare items, yet no one wanted them. That's because no one experienced those systems - certainly not like they did the II series.

 

It may also be simply that everyone "knows" C64, whereas no one "knows" TI-99/4A. At least people I talk with. They clearly remember the Commodore stuff, but definitely not the TI stuff. And if they themselves didn't own a Commodore, one of their buddies did.

 

[Hwlngmad]

It really boils down to supply and demand.  If there is (plenty of) supply and no demand, prices will be low.  However, if there is very little supply and high(ish) demand, then prices will be up.  Still, it doesn't mean that one cannot find deals and/or alternative ways to experience and/or enjoy older computers.

[phoenixdownita]

On 1/23/2021 at 11:23 AM, mozartpc27 said:

that's $800-$900 - a conservatively estimated 260% over the inflation rate over the same period.  So good ROI.

you mean good ROI when you buy low and sell hi?

 

Cause buying any of that lot when it was new would not break you even, just the Plus/4 according to wikipedia:

Introductory price	$299[1](equivalent to $737 in 2019)

[mozartpc27]

22 hours ago, phoenixdownita said:

you mean good ROI when you buy low and sell hi?

 

Cause buying any of that lot when it was new would not break you even, just the Plus/4 according to wikipedia:

Introductory price	$299[1](equivalent to $737 in 2019)

Yes, not from the time, but in my retro collecting phase.