Amiga.org
Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga Marketplace => Topic started by: BGary335 on August 28, 2007, 05:44:55 PM
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Looking for a hard drive for my A500. However, I will only pay a reasonable price. There are currently a couple of hard drives on Ebay that are ridiculously expensive or are steadily climbing and getting closer to ridiculous(I'm not paying US$100 or more). If anyone has one they are willing to part with for something more reasonable, say $50-$75, let me know. Also I'd prefer to buy from someone here in the U.S., only because I don't really want to have to pay for international shipping.
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While I agree with your ideas of reasonable vs. ridiculous prices, I think the chances of you getting one for that price onlune is nearly zero. You might get lucky and run across one at a flea market or from a friend who has "old computer junk" in the closet... but I wouldn't get your hopes up too much. Thanks, ebay!
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There are some DIY interfaces out there, otherwise you *might* get lucky and find a basic A590 for a reasonable price. You can also try googling and contacting some of the few joints that still sell old hardware.
Also, the ebay market does fluctuate a bit. Something that sells today for $100 may only fetch $19 six months down the road... just gotta be patient and keep the faith! ;-)
cheers
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Friend:
I bought a hd for my a1200 from software hut. It was like us$ 90, but it was a 2giga hd...new, and with the OS and magic pack software included. I never ever regretted that buy..in fact i am very proud to have a nice 2 giga hd in my a1200. The 2 gig is so big..i intalled tons of good stuff (like 200 mb)and still have a truckload of free space.
It was 90 us$ for sure, but it was well worth it.
Rednova
-mobilis in mobile-
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Wow, where to start.
First of all, rednova, I'm not looking for a 2Gig hard drive. This is an Amiga, not a PC. A 200MB hard drive is more than sufficient. Second, we're talking about a computer that's what, 20 years old? Good grief, I wouldn't spen that kind of money for a hard drive for my PC let alone for an old 200MB HD for an A500. The problem with places like Ebay and flea markets is that people think they have gold. In the hunt for the almighty dollar folks have forgotten just what it is we're dealing with.
As for waiting...well, I've been looking for well over a year and prices haven't changed at all.
Your probably thinking "Yeah, well that's why we're called ENTHUSIASTS". Well, I'm a huge Amiga fan, but if spending absolutley mind numbing amounts of money on 20+ year old computer parts is what is required for the title of enthusiast, count me out.
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First of all, rednova, I'm not looking for a 2Gig hard drive. This is an Amiga, not a PC.
Both my Amigas (1200 and 2000) have 4 gig drives. Start collecting games and demos, and you'd be surprised how fast that goes. I have 300 megs of games and about 400 megs of demos.
Second, we're talking about a computer that's what, 20 years old? Good grief, I wouldn't spen that kind of money for a hard drive for my PC let alone for an old 200MB HD for an A500. The problem with places like Ebay and flea markets is that people think they have gold. In the hunt for the almighty dollar folks have forgotten just what it is we're dealing with.
Well, while you're probably right feeling that way, you're also dealing with machines for which there is a thriving collectors' market, and regardless of whether or not these things actually are worth those prices, there are idiots willing to pay those prices. So, unless you find a seller who's never been exposed to a buyer willing to drop $200 on a 20 year old hard drive, there's not much you can do.
Your probably thinking "Yeah, well that's why we're called ENTHUSIASTS". Well, I'm a huge Amiga fan, but if spending absolutley mind numbing amounts of money on 20+ year old computer parts is what is required for the title of enthusiast, count me out.
You're probably counted out then. You will almost certainly not find what you want online. I and others have found old Amiga/Commodore parts by asking friends (who often are willing to give the stuff away free since they consider it junk) or check flea markets and pawn shops... though you may go years without seeing a single Amiga item at those shops.
Your choices are really limited to one of:
* Pay the prices on ebay or a collector's shop
* Find somebody who doesn't know what the stuff sells for and get them to give it to you for free or cheap, either through a friend, flea markets, or yard sales
* Build your own hardware
Get it expensive but quick, get it cheap but slowly (read: years), or learn enough electronics to make your own.
You'd probably be able to find an Amiga 1200 or 2000 with a hard drive for WAY cheaper than an Amiga 500 hard drive.
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I'm looking for A500 HDD such as AlfaPower,
will pay 10$ more than BGary335
:-P
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BGary335 wrote:
Looking for a hard drive for my A500. However, I will only pay a reasonable price. There are currently a couple of hard drives on Ebay that are ridiculously expensive or are steadily climbing and getting closer to ridiculous(I'm not paying US$100 or more). If anyone has one they are willing to part with for something more reasonable, say $50-$75, let me know. Also I'd prefer to buy from someone here in the U.S., only because I don't really want to have to pay for international shipping.
One quick and dirty suggestion. Forget the idea of buying a hard drive for your A500. You can probably get a used A2000 with HD off ebay for less than the price you would pay for an A500 HD. Shipping will cost more though.
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@Olecranon
in that case, he should probably go for a1200, they are not much more expensive (if at all) and offer a lot better gaming experience..
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I'm not looking for a gaming "experience". Again, this is not a PC. Although I will admit having a 1200 in my collection would be awesome!
Beleive me, 2GB is FARRRRR too much. I'm content with a couple hundred megs.
The prices that I've seen on 2000's would seem to indicate that my savings versus buying an A500 HD would be very slim, if any.
Trust me, I use all the methods for finding Amiga stuff. I leave no stone unturned.
LOL. You know, I'm only 21, but they way you guys talk I feel like I'm hanging with a bunch of teens bragging about their great gaming rigs. Shameful because most of us here almost have to be adults, and also shameful because, again, we're talking about Amiga's here.
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I'm not looking for a gaming "experience". Again, this is not a PC.
What the hell are you looking for then? As you say, this is not a PC. Running old games and demos are about all that old Amigas are good for (unless youre going to drop a ton of cash on frankenhardware like PPC CPUs and PCI busses... and even then...)
What exactly are you planning to use your Amiga for? Its not a very practical computer by modern standards. Its a great retro game/demo machine, but you say you don't want that either. Do you just want to say "I have an Amiga 500 with a hard drive!" and not use it for anything? I don't see the point.
Beleive me, 2GB is FARRRRR too much. I'm content with a couple hundred megs.
It doesnt matter if its 1MB or 200GB. A 2GB drive will cost you less than 10 dollars. Good luck finding a hard drive controller for an Amiga 500 for cheap though.
The prices that I've seen on 2000's would seem to indicate that my savings versus buying an A500 HD would be very slim, if any.
Trust me, I use all the methods for finding Amiga stuff. I leave no stone unturned.
Your first statement contradicts your second. You can get a nice Amiga 1200 for $150-200 and you can get a fully decked out Amiga 2000 for under $150. I got an Amiga 2000, 68030 accelerator, 4 gig hard drive full of software, a 1080 monitor, a Genlock, and a ton of disks and manuals all for about $160.
If you can find a hard drive unit for your Amiga 500 online for less than that, I will have to bow to your awesome skills. I'm pretty sure that will never happen though.
Shameful because most of us here almost have to be adults
While admittedly 21 is practically old enough to collect retirement benefits, I think the adult thing to do would be to accept that your wishes and reality do not match. You will probably not find an Amiga 500 hard drive for under $100. You probably can find an Amiga 2000 with a hard drive and probably a lot more for that.
If you want an Amiga with a hard drive, you have a few choices. You just have to pick one of the choices you actually have. Finding a $50 hard drive for your A500 online is probably not one of the choices open to you.
Good luck buddy.
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It took me almost 3 years to get my A590 at a reasonable price - about $75 - and I had to outbid others on ebay. Time and luck my friend! :-P
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I'm looking to play old games on an old computer. That's what most folks do on Amiga's, isn't it? The problem is that you folks are treating them like they're the latest, greatest gaming machine. Wake up to reality!
I want a smaller hard drive because I don't have enough software to warrant buying a 2GB hard drive, nor do I ever plan to obtain that much software.
Let's see...the HD I was talking about in my original post is currently going for $125 with only a few moments left. Better stretch those back muscles, cause your about to be bowing. BTW, here's another reality check for you: do you realize how much it would cost to ship a 20-30lb machine like an A2000? Add that to the purchase price and your looking at close to, if not more than, $200. Of course, we're not just talking about the machine itself. Its pretty useless unless it comes with a monitor, or your lucky enough to find one with a VGA card in it. A monitor adds another 10-20lbs to the shipment.
I have yet to see any Amiga 1200 for the low price your quoting. The 1200's I've seen on Ebay (as well as most dealer's websites) sell for upwards of $200.
You sir have lost touch with reality. If I don't find a HD for under $100, you know why? Because as I said before, people think they're selling treasures. It's all about the greenbacks. And the more the merrier.
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The problem is that you folks are treating them like they're the latest, greatest gaming machine.
No, the problem is that your ideas about the cost of Amiga parts and the requirements for a decent retro gaming machine do not have much connection to reality.
Let's see...the HD I was talking about in my original post is currently going for $125 with only a few moments left
But did you get it? No. And $125 is more than $100.
do you realize how much it would cost to ship a 20-30lb machine like an A2000?
Shipping cost under $20 for the A2000 I got with no monitor, and about $25 for the one with monitor.
By the way, the $160 was the TOTAL, including shipping.
I have yet to see any Amiga 1200 for the low price your quoting. The 1200's I've seen on Ebay (as well as most dealer's websites) sell for upwards of $200.
You haven't looked that hard then... there's been several threads on this forum in the last 2 days mentioning highly visible businesses selling Amiga 1200s for well under $200.
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I have not seen one A1200 for under $200 except for one that JUST went up. Every other one I've seen is at $200 or more with gazillions of bids.
That shipping cost is the most farfetched thing you've said so far today. Unless you lived next door to the guy who shipped it to you.
No, I didn't get the HD. I don't let myself get robbed of that kind of money for a piece of plastic and a 250mb HD.
My ideas are realistic. The problem isn't that my views aren't realistic. The problem is that what's realistic and what's actually happening are two very different things.
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Have you LOOKED anywhere besides ebay? Like perhaps some of the vendors listed on amiga.org? An Amiga 1200 is pretty easy to get for under 200 bucks. Shell out anothe $5 on ebay for a 4 gig 2.5" drive and you've got a pretty fantastic system that will have plenty of room for all kinds of games, including the excellent AGA games that will not run on a 500, even with a hard drive.
I agree that ebay prices are retarded and not very connected to the actual worth of these old machines. However, if you want the stuff, there are other people willing to pay more than you, so theyre going to set the prices. You can complain about it, but thats not going to change the facts. If you want an Amiga with a hard drive, you can either pay a stupid price for an A500 hard drive and then have a pretty wimpy Amiga, or you can get an A1200 or A2000 for a somewhat reasonable price. The 1200 will be a much better machine. Or, you can just settle for your Amiga 500 with no hard drive.
You might find what you want for the price you're willing to pay, but I wouldn't count on that. You certainly won't find it on ebay... and I doubt you'll find one online anywhere. Maybe you'd luck out on CraigsList or Freecycle, but again... I wouldn't count on it.
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Well, even if I don't find anything for the price I'm looking to pay I'm willing to at least try. I picked up my 500, an A520 modulator, an A-Max emulator unit, and a bunch of software for $25 from a guy on Craigslist. So I've already been successful with Craigslist, and you can bet that I will continue to try and find better prices, where ever I can.
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So I'm currently bidding on an A1200 that just went up a little while ago on Ebay. My max bid at this point is $100. The current bid is more than halfway there already at $51-and the auction has only been up for 2-3 hours. This doesn't look good. :cry:
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Hi Bgary335
I don't think you're being unreasonable. If I had paid big bucks for my collection I would have much less of it. Some it jumped into my lap.
I think you are after a controller and memory expansion as well as a hard drive. The expensive controller is GVP's models. Supra made the XP, would take upto 8 Megs of ram and a SCSI HD, SCSI CD drives (in seperate case) could be interfaced to the back. I don't think they support DMA, but still very usable. I have one of these and see them on eBay regularly, it seems in the price range you want. I think the Supra XP is compatible with their Turbo 25Mhz accelerator, too.
It can be discouraging when people (wise and well meaning, of course) tell you that your lowly machine is only good for retro games in this modern world. There are other ppl here who do amazing things with simpler systems. I have surfed the net with an A500. It wasn't fast, but very gratifying to use a 20 year old machine this way! There is room for many perspectives on this site.
I say listen to your passion for the machine and selectively to some of the "common wisdom" routinely dished up here.
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I don't think that Bgary335 is saying that the A500 is not a "lowly machine"... he seems to think its just good for old games as well. His statments actually seem to be saying that Amigas aren't worth much money because they are just good for old games. I dont think he's completely right, but then I don't think you are either. Amigas were cutting edge, now they're old. You can still do cool stuff with them, but Commodore going out of business really kinda froze Amigas in time.
Thinking you're going to find this hardware cheap on ebay or web sites is kind of unreasonable though. It SHOULDNT be, but due to the ebay mentality and some people having too much money to waste on toys, the fact is that online prices for Amiga hardware are pretty inflated. Since many sellers know that now, many sellers now only sell on systems like ebay where they can get top dollar.
I have gotten a few free or cheap Amiga and C64 items... but those are mostly accidents like yardsale finds or having a friend clean out their closet and find "old junk" they want to get rid of. You may luck out and get things that way, but if you want a specific item it can take years before you'll find one that cheap.
Since gary apparently didn't take the suggestion to read the site links and other threads here, I'll go ahead and suggest getting an Amiga 1200 from amigakit.com... dont buy a power supply (your A500 supply will work on it) or a hard drive (a much bigger one on ebay will cost you only 5 bucks). That'll get you a like new refurbished Amiga 1200 thats plenty good for most retro needs (and if you want, even pushing it to the limits and surfing the net etc) for under $200.
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Well, even if I don't find anything for the price I'm looking to pay I'm willing to at least try. I picked up my 500, an A520 modulator, an A-Max emulator unit, and a bunch of software for $25 from a guy on Craigslist. So I've already been successful with Craigslist, and you can bet that I will continue to try and find better prices, where ever I can.
You can actually get some deals on CL! I got a A1200 setup loaded with BliZZard 1230 IV card, external Floppy, monitor etc for $20! Also got a Free A2000, and $10 A500. My recent deal was a FREE A4000 desktop!
But if you are not patient and can't wait 2-5 years for deals like the above, ebay is your friend.
Also you state you don't want or need a 2GB HD. Fine. Would you rather pay $50+ for a 500MB HD or $10 for a 2GB HD? ;)
I installed a 1GB SCSI HD in my A590 and it runs great. I got the huge 1GB HD for FREE.
I think you were failing to see the obvious points that people were trying to make.
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I'm tired of arguing with people. Apparently intelligence is hard to come by (only two of us here have it). I posted a wanted. If you can't help me, don't post. I don't want to exchange beliefs about pricing or anything else. Either you can help me or you can't. If you can't, move on.
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You talking to me? I am trying to be helpful man! You need to grow up, that's what I see.
I think people were trying to be helpful. So what you expect is if nobody has a cheap A500 HD (that is worth more than $100 as you now know) nobody should of replied to this post? Fair enough. But I think we were all trying to communicate and be helpful, not argue or bash you. You are just NOT going to find a descent Amiga 500 hard drive under $100. Thats the bottom line. Those are highly collectible.
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Apparently intelligence is hard to come by (only two of us here have it).
It's good to see that in your looooooong 21 years on this earth you've learned to appreciate helpful advice as well as your vast Amiga knowledge.
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Thats the bottom line. Those are highly collectible.
Dude, don't be silly! That's like saying that old Babe Ruth rookie year baseball cards are worth more than a few bucks. He hasn't even played baseball in years, much less been a rookie!
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Er...I don't get it. If the prices on E-Bay aren't realistic then how come there are people paying them? Simple economics if you ask me, supply and demand.
Also, whatever happened to that 50MByte HD you had connected to your A500? Can't you just swap that for a 200MB one? (Since you're so intent on having a 200MB one specifically).
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Dude, don't be silly! That's like saying that old Babe Ruth rookie year baseball cards are worth more than a few bucks. He hasn't even played baseball in years, much less been a rookie!
Look like it or not, an Amiga 500 external Hard Disk is worth more than your Dad's old 486 Hard Disk or even a modern SATA HD! Amiga computers are highly collectible and fetch a lot these days. It doesn't matter that it came out the year you were born!! :roflmao: It's AMIGA! :smack:
People need to remember that even though it's old computer "junk", it's worth a lot to most Amiga "Enthusiasts". If you are on this board you should know this...
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what about getting A1200 motherboard only, should be fairly cheap with postage, and if you are a real fan, you'll enjoy building 'powertower'. I have just seen one on amibench.
but of course the cheapest would always be friend/flea market as mentioned.
I believe A1200 has been massively produced unlike say A2000 turbo cards. One friend even told me he threw away his 030 A1200!! such a shame.. :-(
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The reason why Amiga stuff sells as high as it does (in response to the person who commented on it) is because people with deep pockets pay it. That doesn't make it realistic. It just means that some well off prick had his sight set on it and was willing to shell out whatever it took. Its a basic economic principle. Things sell for what people will pay in a setting like Ebay. I personally don't have the money to compete with most other Amiga buyers out there.
BTW, I got a PM from a gent who wants to sell me a hard drive he no longer uses for just a little more than the cost of shipping it to me. Don't tell me there aren't people here who will sell equipment reasonably.
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"well off prick"..
sounds like you're a little boy without a job. If you want something in this world you have to work for it.
Supply and demand, son. Save the drama for yo' mamma.
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In another forum Alexh had a good point for the prices:
(sorry can't remember the title of the forum)
So as he explained after '94 when commodore bankrupted, and there were no new powerful machine, everybody wanted to buy a pc. So everybody sold his amiga. So the prices of amiga hw was low. About '98 when winuae came out, and year by year it worked better, the prices dropped again.
After 2003 the prices continously going higher and higher. Reason: The whole generation which used amiga grow up and get a decent job. Means: We have the money to buy the amiga hw. We're not poor university students anymore witout money.
Last year i had an idea to upgrade my old a500. When i was a "little" child I don't have the money to buy an accelerator card etc to my beloved machine. But now i have. Soon after i get some 68030 accelerator card etc to my miggy, i decided to buy a 1200, because its far cheaper to upgrade. And has more sense. As mentioned above I Higly Recommend to buy an 1200 an upgrade that.
Anyway i love my a500, i has plenty not used 80MB-250MB hd in my cupboard, but i simply don't want to sell. For $10??? or similar why? tell me please...
So now i build and use my 1200 ppc. For the money i spend it i can buy 3-4 ultimate gaming PeCes, but i decide i want the feeling of using the ultimate amiga. Which got a price...
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Alright, since the so-called "adults" are acting more childishly than I am (yet make me out to be a child), I've got to once again ask for no responses unless you can help. The stupidity here is just unbelievable. So unless you have something to offer, don't post.
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I do have an AlfaData A500 HDD controller with ram in it... I would gladly trade it for a preassmbled minimig :D
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OK I can't help you. Last year i also think that some prices are simply robbery. You know, AMD Athlon AM2 3000+ is under €30 so a ppc 603 board must be under €3. But the reality showing the opposite. So on the pc world an usb card is €4 or less. In amiga world about €70-100. Do the same, but if you can't manufacture or write a driver, the only thing you can do is to wait.
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I take it your offer is serious, in which case I'm sorry but I don't have one.
Yup your absolutley right derringer. And wait I will.
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Maybe you could make me an offer in €.
And yes, I'm serious :)
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I'll think about it. But as I said in my first post, I would prefer to buy from a person/place in the U.S.
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I'd prefer my Amiga to spew free drugs out its PCMCIA slot every day, but if you're as much of an "adult" as you claim, you'd realize reality isn't always going to conform to your expectations. You'd also probably realize that hurling insults at people who've offered you actual helpful advice is probably not going to get you the best results.
Course you'd probably also have actually read the offer you got haha. :crazy:
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And the fact that the dollar isnt worth anything doesnt help either ;)
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murple, only a couple people have actually said or done anything helpful in this thread.
Everblue, I'm sorry but I'm not buying internationally. Is that alright with you murple?
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No problem, its not really for sale... unless someone drops a bomb of an offer.
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Hi, I'm a well off prick. What's this post about again :lol:
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only a couple people have actually said or done anything helpful in this thread.
And unfortunately for you, those have been the ones you've been dismissing and insulting.
Why are you still here, troll?
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TjLaZer wrote:
Look like it or not, an Amiga 500 external Hard Disk is worth more than your Dad's old 486 Hard Disk or even a modern SATA HD!
Not really; the drives are utterly disposable. Now the box with the controller inside? Yeah, that's worth something.
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ok, this was interesting.. if anyone has something for the kid, email or PM him.
thanks