7/22/06 Auctions of Note

Auctions of note for July 18 through 22, 2006

I've been trying to post to the blog for a few days now, but it keeps locking up and I loose everything. So, here goes another try, and we'll cover the 18th through the 22nd in one swipe.

In the never ending MC-10 sale, Dept:

radio shack TRS-80 MICRO COLOR COMPUTER MC-10 box vinta

Here is another MC-10 in collectible condition. Sans manual, unfortunately, but looks to be in the Good to Very Good range with a pretty sweet looking box.

TRS-80 Micro Color Computer MC-10 Complete in box

And another in collectible condition. Appears like all it's fingers and toes are there.

Vintage Tandy TRS-80 Model MC-10 (New In Box)

And the Mc-10 in collectible condition is now officially no longer notable. heh! :)

There's some competition going for nice looking CoCo 2s lately, from buyers we haven't seen regularly. Some good questions being asked from these sellers as well, indicating they are looking for CoCos in collectible condition. Interesting... Will definately be keeping on eye on this trend.

If you really, really need a disk drive:

*Collectables* TANDY Floppy Disk Drive FD 500 4 CoCo

A bit high (with shipping) for this model in Fine condition. This one is without the documentation, though. Dig that crazy startup sequence. :) Still, it appears to be in Good condition at least, and with the box (though no packing material is mentioned). See the auction for the CoCo 2 below from this same seller.

Tape Deck collectible:

TRS-80 Computer Cassette Recorder CTR-80A - LQQK!!

This is actually pretty darn rare in this condition. Most of us ended up with CCR-81s with our CoCos, but this deck was sold frquently enough with the CoCo to warrant a look from the completist collector. Good looking box and bits makes this one worth a gander.

Nice, very nice:

Radio Shack Tandy TRS-80 Multi-Pak Interface for CoCo

I said awhile back that MPIs don't come up in this condition very often and then another pops right up. Sheesh! Well worth a look. Appears to be a 3124 in Fine or Very Fine condition. Includes a photocopy of the service manual for the 26-3022 drive controller, which doesn't have anying to do with the MPI, but is very rare technical information. Worth a look.

I love the grays:

TRS-80 Color Computer / Games/ Manuals / Modem 16K RAM

Here's a good looking gray. Probably a 26-3002 or 3001 E-board (though you never know, could be the rarer D-Board, or nearly impossible to find C-Board). The pak collection included is nice as well and even a modem IIB with it's box. I always look closely at these for a couple of reasons. First, it's always worth ascertaining if it's an early board CoCo. Very rare beasts. Second, finding the "not-quite-done" manual Radio Shack original released with the first Color BASIC machines. It only had something like 13 chapters (or something like that, too tired to go look it up right now) when they shipped the first lot of CoCos, prefering to get the thing on the shelves for Christmas instead of finishing the documenation. There couldn't have been many of them, so it's be a nice collectible.

Rare software alert!

TRS-80 - Mark Data - Trekboer

With the cool looking retro-Trek manual included. The seller is a good guy and ex-CoCoists, too. :)

Mislisted:

VINTAGE TANDY COLOR COMPUTER 3 128K UNUSED IN BOX+BOOKS

A very nice CoCo 3, complete with all the trimmings and in the red, white and blue box (as opposed to the more common white and orange box). A bit pricey, perhaps, but worth a look if you need a really cherry 3.

Tandy Computer 128k Color 3 with games/joysticks,manual

Nice looking CoCo 3 with manuals and some paks. Price is a bit better as well, though it's not complete. If you need a good looking CoCo to show off, or solid usable machine, this might be worth a look.

If you're in the market for a CoCo 3, it's a good idea to look outside the TRS-80 listings. Sometimes you'll find a deal, since the CoCo 3 is often mislisted in other Vintage Computing listings. I've even seen a couple posted in the Commodore listings. :)

TRS-80 CoCo Assembly Language Programming book, 6809

The Barden book on 6809 assembler using EDTASM. Solid introduction to assembly language for those looking to learn. This one also appears to be in good condition, as well, for the collector. (I know my ancient copy of this book looks "well loved" and is horrible compared to this one.)

From the "What?", Dept. :)

Tandy TRS-80 Computer TOUCH PAD 26-1185 SEALED

Isn't it customary, or at least prudent, to lower the price when something doesn't sell? :) This was listed last week at $25.00 and didn't get bid on. Trouble is, this technique of using a higher Buy It Now price, instead of a bidding auction, actually works sometimes. This is still worth a look for the serious collector, but the price may be a bit of a barrier. It would be a shame to let this go in the trash bin, though. Sigh.

Radio Shack TRS-80 games with controllers

No comment on that one. At some point, it's not even optimism. Okay, so one comment. :)

CoCo collector Random_Rodder was kind enough to spot and send in this one:

RADIO SHACK TRS-80 COLOR COMPUTER 2 w/ MANUALS Cords

Optimism defined, I'd say. At least one hopes so. Lately, ya never know.


*Collectables* TRS-80 Radio Shack Color Computer 2-CoCo

Considering this one historically has normally gone for about US$5.00 to US$6.00, I'd call it optimistic as well. This is what we call "trying to cash in."

TRS-80 RADIO SHACK COLOR COMPUTER / MANUALS AND GAMES

At least this one comes with some paks and the manuals.

So the big question is, how optimistic are these auctions? Is the CoCo 2, even "near mint" and complete, worth US$300+? Is there a round of collectors out there, thus far silent, that are willing to go that far to aquire a museum condition CoCo 2? What about a Very Fine CoCo 3, or a CoCo 1 for that matter?

Why are these even being posted? That's actually an easy one. A CoCo 2 in "almost complete" condition runs up a US$315 price tag. There were at least four bidders on that auction and only one won. So there are at least three other bidders out there that may still be willing to pay, if not that much, a decent amount for the right machine. There's a list on eBay that shows these sorts of spikes in activity, so when heavy duty sellers see these spikes, they go rushing around trying to find something comparible to throw in the mix and cash in on the interest. What we're seeing this week is a perfect example of this process in action. If these high priced CoCo 2s sell, expect it to continue for a bit. If they don't, it'll drop off pretty fast.

I'm inclined to say that big 'un last week was a fluke, of course. But even if it was, there is definately a little action in the bidding for CoCo 2s over the last two weeks. Should be interesting to see how it plays out.

Angel's Luck,
Capt