Cross posting from AtariAge's Apple forum as suggested. I'll keep both threads updated.
My father recently passed away, and I'm looking for the best way to offload this as most of it is sitting in a storage locker that I'd like to empty as much as possible within a month. I thought this might be of interest to the Apple II enthusiasts still out there. He had a small collection of hardware, a slightly larger collection of software, and an equally as large collection of magazines. Most of them are related to Apple II related, but some other classic platforms are represented. A lot of the software is still sealed in shrink wrap, as I believe he intended to start a business selling it, but didn't follow through. To give an idea:
Hardware: There's an Apple IIe and a 5 1/2" disk drive, and some other related hardware components floating by themselves. Unknown if they're actually in working condition.
Software: Very little in the way of games (these were sold off a decade ago), although there are still some empty boxes for those -- mostly I'm seeing word processing, Meca OS, SF Apple Core, and things like Basic, Pascal, etc; some tapes (Bomber!, Tarbell Zapple Z-80 2K Monitor, Air Raid, MCOS Source Code, Bright Pen, and a few that say TRS-80 like Galactic Empire), but mostly disks (I haven't started a list of these yet).
Magazines: They range from in quality from never touched, gently used, to heavy use but still mostly intact. Nibble, Computist, AppleSauce (seemed to be a newsletter group he was part of), Hardcore, Byte, SF AppleCore (seemed to be paired with the disks). There are also printed copies of newsletters like Tri-City... something, and an Orange County group.
Books: I haven't gone through them yet, but there are a couple boxes labeled Apple books and others that are general computer books, and there are manuals floating around like the user guide for Atari 400/800 (I know we had one in the house growing up, but didn't see it in storage yet--could still be hiding). There was a Z-80.. ZX-80, or something like that manual.
Apologies for the lack of a full list, the specifically named ones are from memory as we sorted through quickly this past weekend. I'll be back to the unit to do a full inventory over the next couple weeks. My current plan: List everything on eBay for auction all at once to get the most cross exposure of items.
For this thread, I'm looking for help from the community to answer these questions:
- What should I be looking for or keeping an eye out to set aside in case it comes to the point of junking everything in order to close the unit (it's costing money every month)?
- Where is this the best place to ask for help identifying hardware and software that may not be immediately obvious what it is?
- Is there a better place than eBay to list everything?
I'd like to find an archivist in the Greater Los Angeles area to digitize the magazines and newsletters if there's interest in doing that. I don't have the time or space to do it myself, and I'd rather not sell it on eBay (current plan) if it means it'd go into another storage collection without being made publicly accessible in a digital format. There's at least 20 banker boxes worth of magazines ranging from late 70s through the 80s. There's also a few tattered general engineering magazines (about the size of old Reader's Digest) from the 60s, not sure if those are of interest.
I wish I was in a place to make you an offer. Unfortunately I'm not and my wife would kill me if I bought a big collection like that anyway. But definitely those publications and software should be properly archived if they haven't already been. Someone like Jason Scott who runs textfiles.com and I think has some input to archive.org might be someone worth looking up. I'm not sure where he is, I know he was originally from Ohio but if he's like a lot of us he may have relocated to greener pastures over the years.
Oh, I forgot to say. Sorry for your loss.
In regards to scanning/archiving the magazines, two fellows I know of :
Jason Scott is in NY and works for the Internet Archive. His site is http://www.textfiles.com
https://twitter.com/textfiles
Kevin Savetz is in Oregon. His site is: http://www.savetz.com
https://twitter.com/KevinSavetz
Thank you. I'll reach out to them after I've itemized what I have and checked it against what's already been archived.
Hello,
Sounds like a nice collection.
I'd like to offer some small bits of advice, if I may. Please not take any of this as gospil.
Once you kind of have things sorted out, it should fairly easy to find what might be already archived. Apple II books, magaziones, manauls, software, hardware, etc is about the best archived computers in history. There is not much that has not been catalogged somewhere by someone.
That does not mean there is not cash value in what you may have. It is just that it should be not that difficult to determine value to what you have.
You have already started by becoming a member here. Archive.org, Google. com, Ebay listings (espisially sold items) would be a great place to start. If you then have trouble with a particular item, then asking here or Vintage Computer Federation forum's Apple II section (VCF.com) are excellant places to ask other for identification.
I'm sorry to hear you father passed, but am very greatful that you want to have that samll part of him move on to others that will enjoy it, insteat of it heading to the trash and dump as many of these have.
Good Luck
I completely forgot to say that I too am sorry for your family's loss. Managing the possessions of loved ones can be a daunting task to tackle and it's something that most of us will go through. Thank you for helping get these things into the hands of others who will enjoy them, just as your Dad did.
I don't have a lot of time to compose this post tonight, but I took some pictures:
Found three expansion boards - three pictures each for them, and it'd be great if I can get some help identifying them (even saying apple or not would help). I'll check out VCF.com next.
Following that are front a back pictures of some software (or possibly software?). It seems like most of it is business oriented. I'm not sure how much interest there is in this sort of thing.
Lastly some books that looked interesting. Are the manuals worth sorting through, or just recycle them?
Thanks everyone for the condolences. I'll have a lot more time to sort through this stuff over the weekend.
Did you attach the pics? I don't see anything?
Oh, thought I posted the link: https://imgur.com/gallery/DezY3gX
The bad news is none of the first three cards are for an Apple II. The first one is a VL-Bus SVGA video card. That's for a mid 1990s PC clone. The 2nd and 3rd ones one look like modem cards, from the same era, but they are ISA cards.
And as far as I know they aren't worth much. Probably not more than a few dollars each.
The floppy controller card, assuming it is in the box is for an Apple II, and is worth something.
The software and books are a mixture of stuff for the Apple II, Mac & PC stuff plus at least one item for an Atari. Most of that stuff is labeled for the platform. Some of that stuff is probably worth something but hard to say exactly what. You should be able to eBay it and get something out of it, but you're not going to retire to your own private island or anything. But it will be good if it goes to people who will enjoy it.
Thanks for helping, everyone. Things have been a little weird lately, but I'm getting back to cleaning out storage, and finally got around to getting a few things on ebay. The UniDisk interface card is in the box, still sealed I think (it's just a bit of yellow tape). I should have some more questions before the end of the month is up.
I put a couple bids in on stuff. Wish I was in a better place to be of more help.
Couple things have me puzzled about some hardware I found. First though, is this incomplete collection of conference recordings from AppleFest 1983 of interest?
https://imgur.com/a/Sgzb4xh
So, that 5.25" floppy drive doesn't seem to have any labeling. It might be an IBM PC Compatible drive if it's not an Apple product, right?
Lastly, there's what looks like an Apple ImageWriter II board based on the serial number CBE61-01503, but is there any other way to confirm that's what it is? The box it was in was unmarked. Maybe there's another box floating around it actually belongs in.
There's less floating hardware than I thought there was, so I don't have as many questions. I do wonder if it's better to bundle manuals with the hardware if I can find them, or just list everything as I run across it.
Thanks for the bids Softwarejanitor, every bit helps.
If you would consider making a copy of the cassettes, or loaning these out before you sell, I'd be happy to host the files. I'd also be willing to link each to your eBay page.
The floppy drive is a Shugart SA400 with what looks like Shugart's MFM analog board. Look at the edge connector and the chip count. It would technically work with an IBM PC compatible, except it is a SSSD drive -- 160K. Those would have only been used with the very earliest
IBM PCs. Most IBM PC drives were DSSD (320/360k). IBM mostly used Tandon made drives in the original IBM PC if memory serves. This SA400 drive would more commonly have been used with Z80 based systems like CP/M or maybe some of the Radio Shack machines -- Model III or possibly CoCo. Now it would be possible to use the bare mechanism with an Apple II if you put an Apple (or clone) GCR analog board on it. The SA400 drive itself is basically the same as the SA390 mechanisms Apple used in the Disk II, except I believe some SA400s had a 40 track cam instead of the 36 track one on most if not all Apple shipped drives.
I don't have the capability to make copies of the cassettes, and due to their age not sure how well preserved they are. Not sure they'd even sell on eBay, can't find any other similar item. If you're in the LA area it'd be easier to get them to you; otherwise, I wouldn't mind shipping them if you could preserve them (assuming they're readable). Send me a message so we can coordinate.
Thanks for the info software janitor. That might make some sense, could be a backup drive for the thing pictured below. Drive face looks similar too. I still need to get through all the hardware, and figure out exactly what's in there. This past weekend I just finished taking photos of all the magazines, and in the process of sorting them. I'll update once I'm done with that.
ColumbiaComputer.png
Finally got around to taking pictures of the remaining hardware: https://ibb.co/album/41wB1z?sort=date_asc&page=1¶ms_hidden%5Blist%5D=images¶ms_hidden%5Bfrom%5D=album¶ms_hidden%5Balbumid%5D=41wB1z
All the loose cards were in that Mountain Computer Expansion Chassis, but I'm not sure they all belong with it. The joystick doesn't have any identifying marks that I could see. Also between that and the molex cable seem kind of random that I might just make full lot with it.
It'd be good to know what kind of monitor that PCB is for as the only thing the box says is Monitor 2.
I'm not sure if both hand controllers are A2M0007. One pair has red buttons, and other has black buttons.
For the Apple II computers, I don't have any monitors to see them work, so will probably sell them as-is without trying to power them on. The dust is pretty thick in places, especially that IIe with its keys floating around inside. Any help identifying the cards inside would be great. I might consider selling them separately, but I'm not sure what's best. Oh, and I didn't take a picture of it, but I'm realizing I saw the serial mouse that goes with that card. Strangely didn't have an Apple sticker, so it might be a third-party serial mouse.
Thanks in advance for the help, and enjoy the pictures.
The IIGS has an accelerator and SCSI card in it. In working condition should fetch five bills easily. The II in its present condition should also fetch another five bills.