Tekserve auctions their vintage Mac collection | Hacker News Reader

Tekserve auctions their vintage Mac collection

new.liveauctioneers.com

50 pointstalos22 comments

I can't ID the Macs, because "Apple ][ Forever" people don't dig Macs. I can point out that there is an Apple //e, an Apple //c, a Lisa, and an Apple /// in that lot, none of which are Macs. The NeXT Cube isn't even an Apple.

> a Lisa

Could be a Macintosh XL

It's a Lisa. The auction page lists some of the computer models including the Lisa:

> Macintosh 128k (TED 25th Anniversary Edition), Macintosh 128k (Signed by Steve Wozniak), NeXTcube, Apple IIc, Apple IIe, Apple Lisa, Apple III, Macintosh 128k, Macintosh SE, Macintosh Classic, Macintosh Portable, Macintosh LC II, Macintosh PowerBook 100, Macintosh PowerBook Duo 230, Macintosh Quadra 700, Macintosh Color Classic, and others.

Not just a Mac collection as it has a bunch of Apple II's, but sadly no IIgs. That's the computer I first fell in love with. Most kids my age back then were into Playboys. I was lusting after the back cover of some computer magazine that had the IIgs on it. But then a friend told me how much better the Amigas were than any silly old Apple product and I switched allegiances. Those were the days...

I would love some of those cattle and auto auctioneers to run the show.

https://youtu.be/CITxLRXPk1U?t=6

Don't forget the 25% (!!) extra fee tacked on to the final price. Definitely not for the bargain hunter.

that's pretty impressive but just earlier today i saw this: http://denver.craigslist.org/sys/5732303316.html

Wow, those all-in-one type macs with the floppy disk slot just brought me back to middle school days.

I worked at Tekserve for 2 years. It's quite interesting to hear the strong emotional responses that many people express about its closing.

US$29,000? I think you could probably put that together yourself for quite a bit under that price (including a machine or two signed by Woz...)

You'd be surprised then. There are two things going for it, one it has a lot of machines in it, and two they seem to be in pretty decent shape. You could probably spend the next 3 - 10 years going around garage sales, haunting Craig's list and other auction sites, and put something together. But it will take time and the outcome is uncertain.

Remember there will be seasoned collectors bidding on this bunch, they already know all the places where things like this might be found, and they are still bidding.

Bottom line, unless you're a collector it is hard sometimes to see where the value comes from.

That said, you could try it and perhaps make a quick $5 - $10 thousand? I warn you though, you start and it gets weirdly addictive. I tell you this as someone who owned 63 variations of MicroVAX at one time.

I narrowly dodged a bullet a few years ago when someone outbid me on a pile of SGI workstation hardware. I was ready to become a hardware hoarder, but someone out there saved me.

Knock yourself out. For a serious collector that's not a lot of money and could save a lot of time in tracking down, vetting, and arranging for transport of the various pieces involved.

That and as I notice 'non collectors' are seeing online this is worth something and asking serious $. 5-6 years ago I picked up brilliant 70-80s stuff for next to nothing, now all that shot up to amounts I even do not think it is worth it. This is a good deal but the bidding is not over.

Some of those just aren't available. Well, at least one. The Outbound Portable original (not the laptop clamshell form-factor) is incredibly rare.

(I was going to say the eMate 300 was also rare, but there's a dozen on eBay right now.)

This is just heartbreaking.

They had a good run, unlike the Atari ST and Amiga shops that went bust not years after opening.

There was a store here that specialized in Newton hardware which, for a few years, was flying high and could do no wrong. Then the end came and they shuttered the store.

That was heartbreaking. We had a Concorde moment there and we still haven't caught up with it.

My favorite part about waiting at tekserve was always getting your ticket and then just watching the fish in that giant aqua-scaped freshwater aquarium they had. It was so impressive. I always wondered who maintained that thing.

I used to have an Apple ][ and it's one of my few regrets that I sold it when I did. Luckily, I've still got the IIGS but it's not quite the same. I never made it to Tekserve before they closed either...maybe that's 2 regrets now.

I really want to know what happened to that nickel coke machine. I bought a soda from it every time I went, which was often when I was working @ Yodle on W23rd.

It's up for auction:

https://new.liveauctioneers.com/item/47137408_vmc-33-5and162...

i'm sad that they're closing

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