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Letting Go...


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I've been at a bit of a cross roads over the last year or so.

 

 

 

Little by little I've been letting go of my vintage computer and video game collection.

 

 

I started off with the things I rarely used or didn't enjoy much. I sold my HP 200LX hand held Dos machine (sounds great, but the screen is a VERY limiting factor)

And my Coleco Adam. (a great computer, but virtually unsupported)

 

Then I cut deeper. Last fall I sold My beloved TRS-80 Model 4, and computer I had "maxed out" to 128K, 2 DSDD drives and 2 720K 3.5 drives. I used to use it all the time, and still did from time to time to telnet in glorious Mono-chrome, But its a beast and it takes up a lot of room. So I sold it.

 

Next it was time to part ways with my Atari 2600 Collection. I had been collecting since 1985 when I got my first Atari and started heading to all the yard sales to find new carts. I sold it all 300+ carts 2 units, and a ton of joysticks. ( I did keep my complete 7800 collection, and have the 2600 harmony cart so I can still get my fix)

 

That was a tough one, but last month I let go of my crown jewel. A C128 upgraded to 64K video ram, a 521K REU, A swiftlink rs-232 cart for telnetting, A 1531 mouse for Geos, and a perfect 1084 monitor with 2 1581 drives and 2 1571 drives. A great system with over 500 disks and a LOT of useage. The problem is it took up half a room with all the disks. And I have moved to a house with limited room.

 

There were others along the way, two pong systems, a oddesy 2, an Atari XL, and 3 IBM models, the XT, a 5X86 133mhz, and a K6-3 433.

 

 

Of all of them I know I'll miss the 4D and the 128 the most, but I'm learning to use the Emulators for my fix. Still its sad to have to move on. These computers were the ones I lusted after when I was younger and couldn't afford them. As time passed they became cheap, and I picked them up. Playing with them and finding out what made them tick. Now I've passed them on, but I don't see myself lusting after anything that has been made in the last 10 years or so. Its all variations of the same thing. Modern gaming doesn't interest me, and other then My Timex/Sinclair 1000 collection that's massive, and yet so small it fits in a small tote, I don't see myself with any new vintage computing or gaming purchases any time in the future.

 

 

So how many of you have had to "let go" of part , most or all of your collection?

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I have done the same thing. Over the years I've "rescued" so many systems, and recently I've started the let them all go starting with the largest. The kids are growing up and we'll move to a nice cabin up in the woods, and I don't want to take most of it with me anymore.

 

Such is the usual path of a collector...

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I had 20+ different 8 bits plus multiple models of some and had been debating selling it off but... poof! I had a fire... debate settled!
I'm down to a handful of machines and I'll probably sell some of those those.
I can do about everything with software or hardware emulation and it takes less space.

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I've got a lot of spare/duplicate/parts stuff I need to get rid of one of these days, but there isn't too much of my collection proper that I'd want to get rid of. Even stuff like my Tandy 2, which I have zero software for aside from TRSDOSII, C/PM, and Scripsit, and therefore I rarely even fire it up...it's just too cool.

However, the hobby's gotten expensive, and I've been considering selling some of the stuff I don't care as much about or probably wouldn't miss (such as my ZX80 or my Sega Genesis collection, or about 85% of my NES library) to help finance things I *do* want (a clean 32/64K CoCo1, an INTV System III, Commodore PET, 2600 rares...).

I can also see the appeal of scaling back. My collection takes up an entire bedroom and a good chunk of my basement. I hate to think of having to move or store it someday if I have to move, especially into a smaller place. I can see how it would feel kind of freeing to not be encumbered by all that stuff.

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I haven't let go of anything in my collection yet but I stopped adding to it a few year ago. I've moved to pure emulation for everything too. In particular all of my retro Apple computing is done on my Macbook Pro. Having the money is nice but the space is an issue too. I just didn't have room to have all of these old computers, game systems, etc. hooked up. With how I've streamlined things, all I've got is my desktop computer and my laptop so everything is much more portable and easy to move.

 

I don't think I'll get rid of my 800 XL. It is boxed (bought from an AA user a few years ago) and mostly just a display piece now. I don't even really have a proper monitor for it anymore. I think I've kind of dashed my dreams of having a big 8-bit collection though.

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Kind of sucks getting old doesn't it? I always pictured my adult basement as a NORAD looking command center with at least a dozen vintage computer up and running on a wrap around 30 or 40 foot desk with a big screen at the end for vintage gaming.

 

As it turns out my bachelor days were the closest I'd ever get. I had an office with 5 systems set up. My at the time current tech 5X86 VIP main system, A 5 inch B&W TV hooked to my timex 1000, the 128 setup, TRS-80, and a pretty rare Kaypro 10 (the one with the hard drive). In my family room I had two recliners and cords everywhere that hooked from my 36 inch TV to my Atari 7800, Super Pong, and Colecovision. It was pretty cool, and I had always planned to out do myself, but the reality of getting further into my 40's and the changes in my tastes mean those days will probably not come.

 

I went through the same phase with cars a while back, selling my "toys" one by one until I realized they were more of a burden then they were fun. Now I drive a station wagon!

 

Now I dream of a day when what I have is all paid for. I guess our tastes get a little simpler as we age eh?

 

I do still dream of a nice original Pong arcade unit in the corner of the family room, but I don't think it will ever happen.

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Kind of sucks getting old doesn't it? I always pictured my adult basement as a NORAD looking command center with at least a dozen vintage computer up and running on a wrap around 30 or 40 foot desk with a big screen at the end for vintage gaming.

 

As it turns out my bachelor days were the closest I'd ever get. I had an office with 5 systems set up. My at the time current tech 5X86 VIP main system, A 5 inch B&W TV hooked to my timex 1000, the 128 setup, TRS-80, and a pretty rare Kaypro 10 (the one with the hard drive). In my family room I had two recliners and cords everywhere that hooked from my 36 inch TV to my Atari 7800, Super Pong, and Colecovision. It was pretty cool, and I had always planned to out do myself, but the reality of getting further into my 40's and the changes in my tastes mean those days will probably not come.

 

I went through the same phase with cars a while back, selling my "toys" one by one until I realized they were more of a burden then they were fun. Now I drive a station wagon!

 

Now I dream of a day when what I have is all paid for. I guess our tastes get a little simpler as we age eh?

 

I do still dream of a nice original Pong arcade unit in the corner of the family room, but I don't think it will ever happen.

I was into cars too....endless money pit.......that's one hobby I don't regret getting out of!

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I've been downsizing over the past few years. First it was the stuff I've never really had hooked up like the APF-1000 and Aquarius. Then it was stuff I never really played even though it was hooked up like the Jaguar and CoCo 3. Now I'm getting rid of all my cartridges and going to flash carts and multicarts. In the future I'm going to have to think long and hard about what I really want to keep and what I only keep around because 'maybe I'll get to it someday'. There just aren't enough hours in the day to play with all this stuff.

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I've built and let go far too many times to do it again and have eventually regretted it at some point every single time. Unless there is an absolute crises or severe storage shortage, there's no reason for me to part with hardware again. Games on the other hand are mostly flash based on cart, sio2pc, skunk, etc so it doesn't even take up space. I think the biggest thing is to just pick and choose a handful of your favorites and let that be it so it doesn't get out of control. For me, it's high-end PC so I can emulate the things I need or want to, 130XE, Jaguar with Skunk and soon to be modded Lynx with LCD screen and hopefully a flash cart as well. I've got Stella emu on the Dreamcast so there's no real reason for me to plunge into the 2600 but I will always love the look of the vader and dare I say even the jr. I think 5 is the magic number... give or take one =)

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I'm beginning to lose interest in my classic computer as well. It's hard to keep interest levels up when the wait for a talked about item stretches out over a year or more. My classic system has a small active user base and there are only a couple of guys capable and willing to do these hardware projects. Well, their plates are full, they have lives on top of all that, so this is all normal and to be expected.

 

I've tried a few projects of my own to fill the void, but I'm running out of ideas. Without new hardware or modifications, there is nothing left for me hobby-wise. It looks like the end of the road is approaching.

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I've been at a bit of a cross roads over the last year or so.

 

 

So how many of you have had to "let go" of part , most or all of your collection?

 

 

I've done kind of the same thing over the years. Around the time I got married and moved into a new house, I started getting rid of all my computers. It definitely wasn't my wife's doing... she didn't really care either way. We had 9 cars at the house (all ran, insured, etc.) She was a little annoyed by all the cars, but liked the fact that they were unique.

 

I basically got rid of all the computers that I didn't use. I do still have some old stuff, but it's far less. I've got a couple of small netbooks with Kali Linux and whatever else, a 386 DX-25 Dell small form factor w/ DOS 5.0 on the KVM, a Dual Pentium 2 with Windows 98 SE and most of the 90s games... also on the KVM, and my normal computer on the KVM (all which fit under the desk. My wife has a small form factor Dell Core 2 whatever sitting under her desk, and then... finally, I have my 8088 Kay Pro in the box. Sounds like a lot... but that's it. I used to have Apple IIes, TRS-80, Coco2s, Tandy 1000s, etc... got rid of all of that.

 

Then I got rid of all the cars... or most of them, even the newer cars which were also cool. Now we have two SUVs, and my grandfather's Crown Victoria that I inherited which just sits in the garage. (we also still have the VW Bus and my Pontiac Fiero, but those are in storage 4 hours away).

 

Then I started getting rid of the video games....

 

I had pretty much everything from pong units all the way to Sega Dreamcast era. I got rid of ALL my pong units, my Sega Genesis, Sega Master System, a BUNCH of Nintendos that were either NIB or CIB, the Nintendo 64, Game Cube, NEC Turbo GraFX-16, Atari Lynx, Game Boy, and dozens of other stuff that I can't think of... oh yeah, obscure stuff like Commodore CD-TV, and CD-32, 3DO, etc...

 

I have my 7800 collection, and my near-complete Atari Jaguar collection (missing Battlesphere and Gorf), and still have all my Atari 2600 stuff. I do still have the Sega Saturn, Sega Dreamcast, a Nintendo, and my wife's Nintendo Wii, but that's it.

 

 

All in all, I've gotten rid of 75% of my "collections."

 

I don't mind it so much, but as priorities change... I get stressed when I think about having too much stuff... so I like for my house to be as barren and minimalist as I can possibly get it. I have entire walls with nothing on them... just because it gives me calm... haha...

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I am in sale mode and it's hard. I had thought maybe my kid would want to play Atari with me, but she loves the Wii. All those games are on disk. Everything just takes up too much space. The other thing is the insane prices. I've been very happy with my recent sales. The NES stuff in particular is just ludicrous. I bought myself a new Mac after selling my doubles and stuff off on craigslist. Now my home office is usable again!

 

Somehow I do think I will regret selling so much but everything changes when kids come along.

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The nice part about having to sell is that we're at the point where everything up to the early 2000s runs quite well in emulation so outside of obscure hardware stuff we can run just about anything we might want to. A lot of my original stuff from when I was a kid has a ton of nostalgia and sentimental value to me that could never be replaced, even if I bought the exact same game.

 

My Zelda 1 cart for instance the case by the contacts is busted and a portion of the contact is exposed. This is from a friend of mine I haven't seen in 20 years accidentally stepping on it. I think about the dude all the time because of that.

 

That's the kind of stuff I would regret giving up if (when?) I ever downsized my collection.

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I find that the older I get the more stuff I add to my "for sale" pile. I don't ever see myself getting rid of all of it but I will be selling off consoles that have no nostalgia value to me or that I just don't play. I picked them up long ago either as a "rescue", it was a good deal, or because they had some historical value and they should be in my collection. Turns out I haven't fired up my Odyssey 2, for example, in probably 8 or 10 years. It's been consuming space, collecting dust, and providing zero value for that long. Meanwhile there's probably someone out there who could probably give it a good home and some love. I feel the same way about my Mac Classic, my Mac 512k, clamshell iBook, etc. I start to feel guilty for having them. When my "for sale" pile gets bigger than my "keep" pile it'll be time to start my big sale, I think.

 

I also try to justify keeping a lot of it for my son. But then I think "Would I have wanted to play with my dad's childhood toys?" and my answer would probably be "No". But then I think "These aren't toys, they're more equatable to books, music, or movies." and then I decide that the stuff stays. Now it's just a matter of cherry-picking what stays and what goes.

Edited by Emehr
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The systems I owned in the '80s were the Atari 2600, Atari 800, Atari Lynx and Amiga 1000. I had friends who owned Intellivision and Colecovision and got lots of playtime on those systems as well. I also worked as a student intern in a computer lab and had access to other machines like the Apple II, C64, TI-99/4A and Tandy CoCo.

 

During the '90s I acquired my nephew's 2600 and started a retro game collection. I added a 400, an 800, Atari 7800, Intellivision, Colecovision, NES, Super NES, Sega Genesis, Sega CD, Virtual Boy and maybe one or two other systems I forgot. I also had some rare accessories such as the 4-player tap with Super Bomberman for the Super NES, and the Super Gameboy.

 

I have very limited space to house these systems and keep them set up for use. I had to pass up on an offer of an Apple II from a friend, because he would only give it to me on the condition that I set it up and actually use it.

 

When these machines started collecting dust, in boxes in the corner of the garage, I decided it was time to sell. Around 2003 I sold off all the retro systems, cartridges and software I owned.

 

About a year ago, I got the calling to re-acquire an Atari 8-bit, being my first computer. Out of practicality I got a 130XE, rather than replace my original, beautiful-but-bulky Atari 800. Instead of the clunky 810/1050 drives I got a SIO2SD unit, as much for space reasons as convenience.

 

I've set myself a strict limit on the amount of retro hardware I collect - the 130XE is the only machine I'll permit myself to own as actual hardware. I agonizingly resisted the temptation to buy an Amiga for cheap at the recent 30th Anniversary celebration in Mountain View, CA. (They had 500s, 1000s, 2000s and 3000s for sale).

 

I have an Atari Flashback 4 and the Intellivision Flashback, but even these systems are a little more clutter than I can afford to keep on hand. I recently set up a Raspberry Pi 2 with the RetroPie distribution and plan to set up emulation for all my classic hardware on that setup, and maybe put the Flashback units in the closet.

Edited by FifthPlayer
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I'm beginning to lose interest in my classic computer as well. It's hard to keep interest levels up when the wait for a talked about item stretches out over a year or more. My classic system has a small active user base and there are only a couple of guys capable and willing to do these hardware projects. Well, their plates are full, they have lives on top of all that, so this is all normal and to be expected.

 

I've tried a few projects of my own to fill the void, but I'm running out of ideas. Without new hardware or modifications, there is nothing left for me hobby-wise. It looks like the end of the road is approaching.

 

NONSENSE! You haven't even STARTED with fbForth and TurboForth yet!

 

There's plenty to keep you interested! Don't lose heart!

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I've definitely been selling more than buying in the last couple of years but I still do add items and games, but very specific ones. Long gone are the days of buying games and systems to have them on a shelf and even now I take stock from time to time to see what can still go.

 

I doubt I'll get rid of everything because at this point, reacquiring what I sell will become difficult and price prohibitive (especially with systems and games like the Tandy coco) so the wise course is to ignore those nagging thoughts of "get rid of it all" and remember that I've unwisely gone down that path twice before in the past 20+ years and regretted it.

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Wisdom is expensive.

 

 

Hah... not always.

 

My neighbor is like 10 years younger than us... and I see him making a lot of mistakes that my other friends made ~10 years ago.

 

The guy just bought a house directly next to ours, a very nice house... but he just bought two new cars... both financed... and a ~$500,000 house. They're young... 23-24 in age... he keeps showing me all this cool stuff he's buying, whether it's a brand new riding mower, or whatever... and I kind of want to tell him... dude... save some of your money! You don't know what your situation will be in ~5 years...

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I had 20+ different 8 bits plus multiple models of some and had been debating selling it off but... poof! I had a fire... debate settled!

I'm down to a handful of machines and I'll probably sell some of those those.

I can do about everything with software or hardware emulation and it takes less space.

 

 

Gosh, that's too bad JamesD. :(

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I'm beginning to lose interest in my classic computer as well. It's hard to keep interest levels up when the wait for a talked about item stretches out over a year or more. My classic system has a small active user base and there are only a couple of guys capable and willing to do these hardware projects. Well, their plates are full, they have lives on top of all that, so this is all normal and to be expected.

 

I've tried a few projects of my own to fill the void, but I'm running out of ideas. Without new hardware or modifications, there is nothing left for me hobby-wise. It looks like the end of the road is approaching.

 

Um, what?! Dude! I figured you to have a much better attention span that that. Are you saying that using the machine on a day-to-day basis is not enough to keep you interested? What about doing new things yourself? I have to be honest here, you start a lot of threads with decent ideas obviously hoping someone will pick up the baton and run, but I cannot figure what stops you from carrying that baton, yourself? You put together really nicely done manuals and documentation, plus you have put together some great tutorials on serial-to-TCP for the TI. I seriously cannot believe that you, the guy who bounded into the TI forum with so much enthusiasm and energy, can be burned out so soon.

 

Sure, there are a few products I have wanted for some time now and have been waiting patiently, but in the meantime I am doing my own things. Hell, I have been working on writing music on the TI, learning more Rexx tricks for an ARexx script to manipulate ISR sound list binaries, plus learning a LOT of new things in 9900 assembly for my Arkanoid clone, and more. I am just working the tip of the iceberg. AND that is just on the TI -- I still have my Amigas and Commodores. Oh, and this bloody Atari 130XE I picked up for God-knows-why.

 

I will come to your house and drag you by your ear to the Faire if I hear you talk like this again, young man!

 

Yeah, I know I have said in other posts that some are good for ideas, some good for doing, and not everyone good for both... but I believe that spirit to do lives in all of us if pushed far enough. We are men, dammit! Doing is in our bones!

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