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1400XL value...


geneb

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2 minutes ago, Sugarland said:

 

Since it doesn't lose value, it's an investment.  Important to ascertain it's market value and not pay over that. 

 

Doesn't lose value?  Investment? Come on now. I just explained how it loses value - the people that would buy it pass away.  

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2 minutes ago, Sugarland said:

 

Since it doesn't lose value, it's an investment.  Important to ascertain it's market value and not pay over that. 

 

Well some nutter just paid $9589 for a keyboard on eBay, so....  (and if the person that bought that keyboard is reading this and it's NOT going to be reunited with the machine it was designed for, it's my fervent hope that you come to a very bad, painful, and lingering, end.)

 

g.

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13 minutes ago, R.Cade said:

Doesn't lose value?  Investment? Come on now. I just explained how it loses value - the people that would buy it pass away.  

 

So no one today would buy a collectable car from the 1920's and 1930's because that generation are all dead?   Are you guessing or are you citing antiques markets trends?

 

Edited by Sugarland
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5 minutes ago, Sugarland said:

 

So no one today would buy a collectable car from the 1920's and 1930's because that generation are all dead?   Are you guessing or are you citing antiques markets trends?

 

OK, sure all computers will go the way of the Apple I and people will pay millions. Always... 


But yes, that is what I am saying. Not everything goes up in value forever, of course.

 

Edited by R.Cade
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23 minutes ago, R.Cade said:

Doesn't lose value?  Investment? Come on now

Remember:

 

Just because you can't buy it at current market price, does not mean it has not value or loses it with time.

 

Simply accept the basic economic principles of supply and demand: it would only take ONE (1) buyer willing to pay top $$$ in the future to push 1400XL prices even higher. That's all it takes.

 

I have never understood this bizarre notion of being "upset" because our fleets are appreciating in value  (and will continue to appreciate, under the right conditions). Sounds like self-inflicted poverty to me.

 

Instead, we should ALL be happy, especially those that have taken REAL care of the equipment.

 

It is part of our own legacy, one war or another.

Edited by Faicuai
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It's all based around demand.

 

Two things affect demand:

 

1. An actual desire to own the item, product or service (which could be a generational thing, time will tell).

2. Limited supply of the desired item, product or service.

 

Right now, for example, there is a very limited supply of PAL machines - Therefore they generally fetch higher $$ than NTSC machines.

 

As stated by R.Cade above, a working, genuine C65 sold for $15,000 on Ebay - Because it was in perfect condition, and working and because such machines are only prototypes and were never officially sold (which is a shame) so supply of such machines is very limited.

 

This particular 1400XL is rare, but they were sold in retail channels, so it's not as rare as a working C65 in pristine condition. Assuming it works and depending on PAL/NTSC, considering it appears to be missing the all important name badge, I'd say $4500.00 would be a realistic asking price.

 

But, you never know. You might get the fanatic that just keeps bidding. Which, at the end of the day, is what you hope for...

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31 minutes ago, mytek said:

I would say with 99.99% accuracy that none of the 1400 series machines ever made it out of R&D and into production ;-) .

Likewise. I've never, in all my years of Atari fandom, ever seen photos of a production 1400XL. I've never seen a production 1400XL box or any pack-in materials. The 1400XL and 1450XLD were most definitely pre-production units that never made it into full production.

 

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1400s never made it to retail.  In fact, the 1400 and 1450 were scrapped in Nov/Dec 1983.  The 1450 was then resurrected in Q1 1984 as the TONG board all in one; instead of the 1450 two board version. 

 

What is interesting about this 1400 board is that it looks like a sample run and not the usual prototype boards.  This is a dark green (like the sample run of 1450 boards). Most 1400 boards I've seen are lighter in color (almost with a yellow hue) and typically have the hand marked serial numbers on the board.  This one says "GROUND PLANE" is is not something typically seen so it was probably very close the 1450 board minus the floppy board/power headers.  I've only ever seen one other dark board 1400 and it had some wire reworks done on it.

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5 hours ago, Mazzspeed said:

 considering it appears to be missing the all important name badge, I'd say $4500.00 would be a realistic asking price.

 

The name badge missing is because people were dumpster diving at Atari and 'returning' the machine for a *cough* refund at stores. Consequently, Atari removed the name badges to stop that practice. The missing name badge adds some authenticity to the machine.  There should also be a handful of genuinely badged 1400/1450's. 

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2 minutes ago, Sugarland said:

 

The name badge missing is because people were dumpster diving at Atari and 'returning' the machine for a *cough* refund at stores. Consequently, Atari removed the name badges to stop that practice. The missing name badge adds some authenticity to the machine.  There should also be a handful of genuinely badged 1400/1450's. 

Very interesting, cheers for that snippet of information and valid point. It looks like Atari threw out a lot of great stuff (ET cartridges aside, although I think there was more than just ET carts in that landfill).

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3 minutes ago, Mazzspeed said:

Prices won't drop until GenX's start falling off the twig.

 

I like to think we've still got at least a couple of decades left.

Well, it depends on what the community does at retirement BUT I think what you'll find is a diminished interest in such things. As people retire they might move to retirement areas that have homes that will have the space to support their collection. Then, they might find other hobbies that are more in line with their retirement climent since they will be surrounded by others with those same interests. Right now,I think ,there are a lot of people in nostalgia mode right now but I don't think that will stay strong for more than 10 years. Just my prediction.

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9 minutes ago, Justin Payne said:

Well, it depends on what the community does at retirement BUT I think what you'll find is a diminished interest in such things. As people retire they might move to retirement areas that have homes that will have the space to support their collection. Then, they might find other hobbies that are more in line with their retirement climent since they will be surrounded by others with those same interests. Right now,I think ,there are a lot of people in nostalgia mode right now but I don't think that will stay strong for more than 10 years. Just my prediction.

My uncle was into HAM radio from his teens until the day he died, he had the biggest setup I've ever seen. Hobbies that involve little physical excursion don't nessecarily diminish as we get older, in fact most of the time it's the opposite.

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39 minutes ago, Mazzspeed said:

Prices won't drop until GenX's start falling off the twig.

 

I like to think we've still got at least a couple of decades left.

 

With some notable exceptions (Apple I, maybe Commodore 65...) I think you are correct. As much as I would love for my collection to be my kids' inheritance, I will definitely try to sell most of it when the time comes. My kids enjoy playing an occasional game or even writing some BASIC code, but the Pi + Python gets the most use, and I can't be too upset about it. 

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15 minutes ago, Mazzspeed said:

My uncle was into HAM radio from his teens until the day he died, he had the biggest setup I've ever seen. Hobbies that involve little physical excursion don't nessecarily diminish as we get older, in fact most of the time it's the opposite.

When did he die and how did they collection sell?

 

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1 hour ago, Justin Payne said:

When did he die and how did they collection sell?

 

He passed in the 90s. He had the whole rear section of his house devoted to HAM radio (from what I can remember, I was never really allowed in the hobbiest section of the house sadly) and had a huge tower in the back yard not to dissimilar in height to a large mobile tower.

 

I sort of believe that the HAM enthusiasts in the day were in many ways enjoying a form of pre cursor to the internet. I remember he had maps of the world on the walls all marked out with what I assume were contacts and fellow enthusiasts.

 

Unfortunately, I have no idea what happened to all his gear. I found the location a while back and it's all housing estate now. I remember he owned all the land for miles around.

 

He was a communications officer in the war based on what I'm told.

 

My Daughter has my love of tech, I'll leave everything to her. If she keeps it, great. If she doesn't, that's her choice.

Edited by Mazzspeed
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3 hours ago, Justin Payne said:

Well, it depends on what the community does at retirement BUT I think what you'll find is a diminished interest in such things. As people retire they might move to retirement areas that have homes that will have the space to support their collection. Then, they might find other hobbies that are more in line with their retirement climent since they will be surrounded by others with those same interests. Right now,I think ,there are a lot of people in nostalgia mode right now but I don't think that will stay strong for more than 10 years. Just my prediction.

I was always looking forward to having more time for hobby stuff in retirement (given I was late having kids) but then you always hear about retirees being far busier than working people. What I fear most is not having the reflexes to play games any more...

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