Everything is Illuminated...

[TheBilgeRat]

in the light of our past...  In another thread on another forum someone got me thinking about collecting and collectors.  How many on here are just collectors, buying up lots of amigas and sitting on them?  If you do such things, why?  Is it for some future time when amigas will sell for even more than they are now?  Or is it just the lure of the chase?  I ask because the thread in question involved an individual asking for a lower price on a item because they were a "collector".  I found it odd, as I figure anyone buying classic amiga hardware for ANY purpose would be considered a collector.

[Thorham]

I found it odd, as I figure anyone stupid/crazy as us buying classic amiga hardware for ANY purpose would be considered a collector.

I recently bought an A1200 mobo for 35 Euros and I'm 1) not a collector, and 2) not stupid or crazy. It's called a hobby, thank you very much :madashell:

[runequester]

in the light of our past...  In another thread on another forum someone got me thinking about collecting and collectors.  How many on here are just collectors, buying up lots of amigas and sitting on them?  If you do such things, why?  Is it for some future time when amigas will sell for even more than they are now?  Or is it just the lure of the chase?  I ask because the thread in question involved an individual asking for a lower price on a item because they were a "collector".  I found it odd, as I figure anyone stupid/crazy as us buying classic amiga hardware for ANY purpose would be considered a collector.

I imagine for a lot of people its the thrill of collecting and tinkering. For me, I want to actually use an amiga again, for gaming, writing, listening to modules etc

[Buzzfuzz]

Well as I'm picking up an A4000 again today I can say with the exception of my list, this will be my last A4000D, because I will have 4 of them.
The reason why I have 3 or 4 of models is because if one goes down I can send it to our in house repair tech :laughing:
I can then move to another system and play on
For me collecting is also making them work and be in top shape, upgrading them and taking them to Amiga party's, like:

the 25 years of Amiga party by http://www.amigascene.nl/
And the show people what Amiga's could do when the pc could just bleep and was still far behind.
 
Another reason for collecting is that back in the days when I had my first A500 I just couldn't afford a A4000 / A1200 with turbocards and so on.
I was lucky to getting to local club days because my dad drove me there and bought me disks so I could get more games and tools.
 
I'm not going to sell any of them, maybe trade the ones I almost don't use, but for now I'm pretty much done.
The only things on the list are:
- Cyberstorm PPC cards (max 2)
- Blizzard PPC 200/240 (max 2)
- A4000T Escom, just 1
Maybe a few A600/A2000/A3000's, max 2 of them each, but I won't upgrade those much.
 
I'm going to do a lot when my vacation of 3 weeks starts.
I'd like to finish my black painted A4000 an also my A1200 tower with A1260 and scsi expansion.
I hope to have them ready for the party, but I don't think I will make that.
 
And this is why I collect, I'm not like a few of my fellow Amigascene guys that have their room and garage full of Amiga's and parts.
It's nice to see yeah, you feel like a kid in a super computer store and you just want it all
But I don't see my self going much further, I've got enough stuff, including some C64's and some MSX and Atari's.
My PC is mostly up now again for upgrades.

[A6000]

I am not a collecter, I cannot afford to be.
However, a collection sort of "just happens".

My first amiga was a 1200 bought a month or two after they were launched, so new that the only software included was the operating system, the price of hardware and software was such that I did not do much with the amiga and it found it's way to the back of a cupboard.

A couple of years ago I decided to expand my 1200 and looked on ebay for an accelerator card, I bought a1200 with a 1260 inside it.

Adding a cd drive to a 1200 is neither easy nor pretty, so my next purchase was a 4000D, for which I subsequently bought a 3640 cpu card.

so, as I said it just takes you by surprise.
But I would never beg for a cheaper price for any reason.

[orb85750]

Are you a collector if you can actually justify and you use all the Amigas that you own?

[Buzzfuzz]

But I would never beg for a cheaper price for any reason.

Well you gotta admit that some ask large prices for such old hardware!
For example:
http://cgi.ebay.nl/Amiga-3000-4000-Cyberstorm-PPC-060-50Mhz-604e-233Mhz-/290443590037?cmd=ViewItem&pt=Klassische_Computer&hash=item439fc97995
1200 euro for a CS060/233PPC and I guess it didn't sell seeing it had 7 offers.
 
I also won't beg for a cheaper price, I state how much I am willing to spend on it, like I said a lot of times, it's just a hobby.
But seeing no offers, I may have to go higher, but I have to think about it, I thought 650 euro's would be enough for a 060/200 ppc or 233.

[cv643d]

Im not a collector, but over the years I lost count of amount of Amigas I had, turned out I had 15 systems in my house (came as a bit of surprise to me). I know this is not a large sum since there are quite a few here who have more than that.

I see no point in collecting something if it does not get any use, I dont like to keep two versions of a system either, if my A4000 goes down I just get a new one instead, they are not that rare here in the land of the wikings. I am also going to slim down my "collection" to just one system, either an A1200 or A4000 or maybe an A600 since that takes less space.

[Buzzfuzz]

Are you a collector if you can actually justify and you use all the Amigas that you own?

Me ?
Yeah I use all of them, not at the same time, but they have all run.
One of the A1200's has been in use by my father, but space is a bit of an issue here.
And the pc's / notebooks are primarly used, so these come first.
On the other hand a few of them aren't much in use, they are just for testing hardware.
I'm going to clean them up, tune them and then they will be setup.
But I have to create a new rack to set them up.

[Tenacious]

I have 16 Amigas and want to hang on to my hord.  OTOH, I acquired almost all of my collection by rescueing them from recycling or worse (My 3 A2000s were rescued from a public access station, a tech there wanted blow them up for his home video.)  I get them for a song and preserve them.  There is a finite number of these left in the world and it's getting smaller.  Besides, I have large, dry basement.  I'm also designing a compact display-work space.

After I get them, sometimes I'll expand them to some unique or logical purpose (a Toaster system, A500 married to A570, haunted house special FX, etc).  This is the fun part.

I would probably part with some of this stuff if there were local enthusiasts near me.  OTOH, I'd be furious if one of my former 500s were gutted and it's insides were replaced with an ATX mb.

[TheBilgeRat]

I recently bought an A1200 mobo for 35 Euros and I'm 1) not a collector, and 2) not stupid or crazy. It's called a hobby, thank you very much :madashell:

No offense meant, Thorham.  We all enjoy the hobby-I said stupid/crazy in the sense that we collect what most feel is trash left over from the dawn of personal computing.

[TheBilgeRat]

My 3 A2000s were rescued from a public access station, a tech there wanted blow them up for his home video.

:shocked:  Wow!  See-I wish I had the chance for such heroism as that around here...

[Tenacious]

Truely, Amigas are still cheap, especially 500s and 2000s.  At some point in the future, they will be rare and expensive.  

Have you ever been interested in early electronics?  In the 1970s, you could only give away a tube-type television or radio, if you could find a taker.  They were commonly viewed as outdated junk.  Now the few remaining radios are very collectible (Zenith's flagship 1930s Stratosphere now goes for thousands).  The far fewer televisions (more quickly obsoleted by color, UHF and cable) are becoming expensive.

[Plaz]

Every human is "crazy". Only the depth, color and expression vary person to person. Normally it's a good thing and it's what makes us the interesting bunch that we are. Is an Amiga user any more "crazy" than someone that spends $500 on a phone, or a taxidermist, an antique car restorer, model rail roader (toy trains), comic book collector?

Nah, we fit perfectly in the human spectrum IMHO. As has been said already... "it's just a hobby".

[TjLaZer]

I am a collector/user and like others have aquired almost all of my retro computers from Craigslist, PC recyclers  or Thrift stores.  Only a few have I bought for a lot of $ off eBay etc.  (Atari Falcon030 is one, as well as a A1200).  I really like to mess with them and most replicate models are for parts and spares as I am sure most will be dying off soon.  I definanetly dont want to recycle or throw them away so I just keep them.  I actually have like 5 A2000's that I got for free over the years and I plan on selling a few on CL if I can, shipping them is not a good idea due to the high chance of them getting damaged!  So to answer your question it comes down to nostalgia, hobby and sentimental value for me.