Thread
New-In-Box Apple //c goes for $2,553 on eBay...!
Wow.
New-In-Box Apple //c sells for $2,553 on eBay
Ran across this auction last night and threw up a blog post about it. How I would love to experience the opening of that virginal unit, here 24 years later. Mmmmm.
blakespot
New-In-Box Apple //c sells for $2,553 on eBay
Ran across this auction last night and threw up a blog post about it. How I would love to experience the opening of that virginal unit, here 24 years later. Mmmmm.
blakespot
OK....now I need a change of underwear. If I had the money, I would most definitely purchase it even at that price. :O
That is incredible. It kind of makes you wonder why the original owner bought it and never even opened it. That would be like buying a brand new 20" iMac these days and leaving it in it's box in a cupboard.
I hope whoever bought the //c is going to use and enjoy it!
I hope whoever bought the //c is going to use and enjoy it!
It would really suck if they opened it and it didn't work. What would be even worse was if there was a bunch of bricks in the box and no computer at all. I don't buy the sellers story that someone shelled out that much money for a computer and then didn't even bother to open it, either. The boxes aren't sealed with security tape, just plain clear tape, so the boxes could easily have been opened and resealed.
I had thought about that as well. A similar thing happened to my father years ago with a VCR he had gotten off the back of a truck (literally!). My mother and I couldn't believe that he actually fell for this. All that was in the box were planks of wood, and he got taken for the money he spent on it (don't remember how much it was, but it was enough to get my mother and I pissed).
I saw this the other day and wondered how much it would go for. now I know. 
About 5-6 years back I remember seeing a NeXT Cube that was New-In-Box on eBay. It went for $10,000 or so. Indeed it's quite hard to find a excellent condition cube as it seems if you look at it some of the paint flakes off.
blakespot
blakespot
I would probably just keep it in box for a while and sit there with a nice Shiraz and just gaze at the collection of boxes a few times before opening.
blakespot
Using that system would kill resale value, but I would love to open a new never used IIfx box for the 1st time even if it made it worthless.
Well it seems that the buyer now has the machine and has opened it! He's put a very good set of photos on Flickr showing the unboxing:
This is the fabled Platinum //c with a 5.25" disk drive. And it doesn't really look all that different from the original off-white colored one. Lighting is everything, but if it shipped in May of 1988 and the IIc Plus came out in September '88, I seriously doubt any of the Fog //cs were still being packed new – a year and a half from the alleged "memory expansion" color change date.
I was also interested to see the newer plastic monitor stand. Not quite as elegant as Apple's first metal stand which was reminiscent of the current iMac's.
Like it or not, that is the Platinum //c, or there never was one.
At over twice the price of the original that's quite a mark-up for a collectable. My sympathetic feeling after looking at those Flickr photos, is one following a gluttonous meal: damn it was good, but I wish I hadn't.
I was also interested to see the newer plastic monitor stand. Not quite as elegant as Apple's first metal stand which was reminiscent of the current iMac's.
Like it or not, that is the Platinum //c, or there never was one.
At over twice the price of the original that's quite a mark-up for a collectable. My sympathetic feeling after looking at those Flickr photos, is one following a gluttonous meal: damn it was good, but I wish I hadn't.
I think someone should take a current Macintosh and shove it somewhere safe for 20 years and get someone to pay close to twice the amount for it. Even a mini someone will pay a crazy amount of money for it in 20 years.
Well that was silly. If he just wanted to relive his old Apple II days he could have gotten the whole setup for a lot less money by not getting it in the original boxes. Now he has spent all that money on a collectors item, opened it, and suffered a huge loss in value if he decides to resell in the future.
If you read what he says...
"I wrestled with whether I should open the box, or store it and let it accrue collector's value. In the end, I decided that the reason for my purchase wasn't financial. My very first computer was an Apple //c, and I can't see wanting to part with this computer, ever."
I can see opening it if he has the money and it's really special to him to open it up. I'd prolly do the same thing if I had money out the wazoo
Even with the most conservative of investing, it's not hard to double your money over twenty years. And most of those methods don't involve keeping bulky boxes around the house!
I'm not an Apple II guy, so to me it's a lot of money. But really, if I wanted something, especially something with significant nostalgic value, $2500 isn't unreasonable. That's not to say that I'd be willing to randomly spend two and a half large every two weeks on something like this, but I'd certainly save for a month or two for it.
I like that fact that I'm into retro computing. A lot of my friends are into old cars for nostalgic reasons, and old computers, even while considering the extreme example above, is far less expensive!
I'm not an Apple II guy, so to me it's a lot of money. But really, if I wanted something, especially something with significant nostalgic value, $2500 isn't unreasonable. That's not to say that I'd be willing to randomly spend two and a half large every two weeks on something like this, but I'd certainly save for a month or two for it.
I like that fact that I'm into retro computing. A lot of my friends are into old cars for nostalgic reasons, and old computers, even while considering the extreme example above, is far less expensive!
A IIc came out in 1984, so you are talking about $1300 new back then.
Interist at 7% (basic yield of the stock market overall AFTER inflation) compounded annualy for 24 years on $1300 is $5294.08. You would have made quite a bit more money just buying stock then buying a new IIc and putting it away unopened.
Interist at 7% (basic yield of the stock market overall AFTER inflation) compounded annualy for 24 years on $1300 is $5294.08. You would have made quite a bit more money just buying stock then buying a new IIc and putting it away unopened.
I did read what he said and it still makes no sense. He could have gotten a complete IIc setup for a couple of hundred dollars and tinkered around with it to his hearts content. He would have had money in the bank and a rare collectors item would have gone to someone who would have taken proper care of it and left it unopened. It is like someone buying a mint restored 1970 Plymouth Hemi Barracuda for $150,000 and then entering it in a demolition derby. He could have bough any old junker for that but now he is out a lot more than the cost of a junker and a rare car is no longer available to the collectors market.If you read what he says...
"I wrestled with whether I should open the box, or store it and let it accrue collector's value. In the end, I decided that the reason for my purchase wasn't financial. My very first computer was an Apple //c, and I can't see wanting to part with this computer, ever."
I can see opening it if he has the money and it's really special to him to open it up. I'd prolly do the same thing if I had money out the wazoo
I guess there are always going to be mixed opinions about things like these. At least the guy is enjoying it and I'm sure he's going to take very good care of the machine.
Uh, this is hardly a demolition derby. It is unpacking and using a new computer. It just happens that the computer is roughly 20 years old.
I can see the value of something that is new in box. You get the product. It is in mint or near mint condition. You get the documentation. You get the other miscellanenous literature (leaflets, packing lists). You get the original packing material.
But a never opened box strikes me as a modern telling of the emperor's new clothes.
I can see the value of something that is new in box. You get the product. It is in mint or near mint condition. You get the documentation. You get the other miscellanenous literature (leaflets, packing lists). You get the original packing material.
But a never opened box strikes me as a modern telling of the emperor's new clothes.
X-Rays my dear Watson. That'll prove what's inside. Notarized if need be.
I hear EPROM chips love X-Rays.
I can see the thrill of opening up a classic computer box and seeing an unyellowed and untouched machine. People have been known to spend countless thousands on old bottles of wine that are destined to never be opened (and if they did open it the odds are it spoiled anyway). Imagine spending a few thousand on a NIB Amiga 3000 just to open it up and find the battery leaked all over the motherboard and ruined it. I would rather spend alot less on a mint looking tested and functional machine, then I would not feel bad tossing the box since I have no room to store them anyway.
I can see the thrill of opening up a classic computer box and seeing an unyellowed and untouched machine. People have been known to spend countless thousands on old bottles of wine that are destined to never be opened (and if they did open it the odds are it spoiled anyway). Imagine spending a few thousand on a NIB Amiga 3000 just to open it up and find the battery leaked all over the motherboard and ruined it. I would rather spend alot less on a mint looking tested and functional machine, then I would not feel bad tossing the box since I have no room to store them anyway.
Does anybody here listen to MacBreak Weekly? This week they got the buyer of this on and talked to him!
I think it's really cool that there was still an Apple //C that had "never been opened," and even more cool that someone made the decision to open it up and start using it. Especially since that someone has a moderately decent digital camera, and has taken photos for the whole world to see.
Lol, I love that you call a 10MP DSLR a "moderately decent digital camera" ha...
I would open up a NIB Mac LC and NIB 12" Apple RGB if I ever found one. It would be just like March 1992 all over again.
Un-friggin'-beliveable ! lol
It gives hope that out there exists computers we all love that're brandnew.
And Blake -- your website rocks !
:b&w:
It gives hope that out there exists computers we all love that're brandnew.
And Blake -- your website rocks !
:b&w:
I spent $400 on a NIB Amiga 2000 back in 2000. It was lovely to open it.
http://pix.blakespot.com/view/computers/amiga2000
blakespot
Thanks! Makes it worthwhile, such comments!
blakespot
I would be worried about the battery leaking after all that time and killing something. Was there any problem with that?
$400 seems more reasonable too.
I would die to find a NIB Performa 400 with the Performa Plus Display. I still have the boxes to every new Mac we ever bought, although some of the papers have managed to get thrown away. My 6500 is sitting in its box right now, waiting for the day my roommate moves out and I can take over the newly vacated bedroom and set up some of my old computers.
My mom was smart in keeping those boxes. Whenever we moved we always packed the computers in those boxes and they could ride in the van rather than taking up space in the car. The boxes are so rare now.