Most of the time I would think machines that make it to a recycler have "issues" or they would have gone to other people or ebay (anything non PC related). Most of the working gear that does make it there is too old to be usefull and too new to be collectable (that is why it is next to worthless and if you have space that is what you need to snag and keep a while, atleast the better models anyway).

All recyclers are bullshitters: "there is alot of gold in these boards", "I can get $X money for this elsewhere", etc. If you think the prices they ask for as-is gear is too much you need to walk away and come back another day. From what I hear from collectors of much older machines who frequent recyclers they seem to use you to figure out what things are worth (give a high price and see if you bite, then drop it a little for the next guy untill somebody buys it). They know some items are worth money on ebay and will hoard that in different sections of their junk. You will have a hard time getting deals from that guy now that he knows you will pay good money for junk, lesson learned.