My 17 year old daughter asked me this the other night when I started composing my first post for the CoCo Collector, and I had to stop and think about it. Cris and I haven't discussed our views on this a whole lot and I suppose we could have dissimilar views of what a 'collectible' item might be. Ultimately, I think each person may have slightly different views of this. For myself, I have a few units I leave covered on a shelf and only get out occasionally. These are my collectible units. I am not lucky enough to have a nice CoCo1, 2 or 3 in a box. But I DO have a CoCo1, 2 and 3, actually several of each. I do have an FD-502 in a box, that I will not touch.
For me, if there is something I do not have, but would like to have, it qualifies as collectible. If it's nice enough and shows little signs of wear, then I'll put it up and not use it much. I always buy 'well worn' stuff for everyday use. If I get the chance to grab an item in a box with all documentaion I'll do that, but, I do not see that as a requirement for MY purposes. Others may be die hard collectors and demand 'complete' items and, as such pass on the item I would jump at. Again, it all boils down to personal preference since these 8-bitters aren't worth a whole lot to anybody 'cept us.
Well, I just realized I stated my rational for what I buy, but, I didn' answer my original question. What's collectible about a CoCo? The fact that we Coconutz find them interesting and we like them. For many of us, this little gem was our first, and as they say, you always remember your first.. car, girl/boyfriend, house, computer, whatever.
That said, the following item is one I do NOT consider to be a collectible item at all. In fact, it qualifies for:
'Off the deep end' auction of the day...
Back in February when I got back into the CoCo community, I went to Radio Shack to get a tape deck that could be used with my CoCos I had purchased. The price was $42.95 for the tape deck... WITHOUT the A/C cable. That was another $9.99. To say my blood was boiling would be an understatement. I had about $200 of stuff I put back on the shelf, went home, got on the Bay and got one for $18.00, which included shipping. And then I see an auction like this:
New TRS-80 Computer Cassette
Friends, I have NO problem with someone trying to make some money on stuff they've got and wish to get rid of, but, seriously, this kind of auction is nothing short of asinine. If you MUST absolutely have to have a NIB cassette recorder, I guess this may be your auction...
Till next time,
Brian
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4 comments:
Hi Brian and Cris,
Yeah, I agree, unless you have owned a coco and all the what nots with it, you'll never understand how addictive it can get.
I thought I was long gone from the coco community, But 1 day, I hit the Net, typed in Coco Computers, And found a thriving coco community, Then the Coco bug hit me again bigtime.
I Haven't owned a Tape deck for the coco 3, since around 1988, since then it was all Disk Drives.
But I know I need to get another 1, So I can get a complete Hardware collection going.
laters
Briza
I agree with what you say there, Brian. My wife asks that question a lot, amoung other people, I collect three different style, and I'm constantly having to stay focused on what I need, rather than what I want. :) I'll write a whole article on that bag worms sometime. I hope that's what people get out of reading this blog and browsing eBay and such, though. Collect what you want! In the Price List and my posts to the CoCo Collector I use a very literal definition of collectibility, of course. "The more perfect, the more collectible." That's traditional. There's also collecting for completeness. Collecting to build the ultimate retro-CoCo system. Collecting parts for a mod or repak. Etc. I hope everyone will chime in here at some point along the way, and sound off on what they consider the answer to that question is!
As for the nutty cassette deck auction. While a very fine specimen, and rare in that condition, I too think that one is wishful thinking. Definately for the buy 'em and put 'em away for posterity collector, though even then I think it's askign a bit much. Nutters. :)
Angel's Luck,
Cris
PS The seller relisted it at US$49.99. If he gets down to 19.99 I'll bid on it, just for grins. :)
I guess I should clarify that the cassette player itself is a collectible item, just not at that price...
Brian
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