I bought a TAM new in box. I forget the price exactly -- either £1,001.01 or £1,000.01. I took it home, opened it with the camera handy and made sure the TAM was healthy.

I open it up from time to time to check its health and give it a quick run. I have a stack of upgrades for the day when I think "let's go for it". For now, though, I treat it like an original spec old car and treat it respectfully, which means using it.

Leaving it in the box is the worst thing possible for an old computer, even one's which don't have batteries that split their seams.

For cleaning the boxes, have a look at tips from antiquarian book sellers. Example:

http://www.bookthink.com/0069/69alt.htm