Computer Chess Club Archives


Search

Terms

Messages

Subject: Collector's Corner..Off Balance Sheet Collecting

Author: Steve B

Date: 17:57:40 08/30/05


Most serious collectors maintain some sort of listing of their dedicated chess
computer collection

the list will generally divide the collection up by Manufacturer indicating the
Model,condition and how complete the set is(Manual,pieces ,original box add on
modules etc,etc)
typically there will also be a separate listing of "Doubles" which are not shown
in the collection proper


the list is useful to see which computers are missing from a particular
manufacturer and provides a readily available search list for those missing
units
in addition Collectors Worldwide will send each other their current lists from
time to time ..even fierce  competitors will swap lists in an effort to see what
rare units the other has

less typical however is the so-called "Non -Listed " or what i like to call the
'Off Balance Sheet" collection

similar to Enron's Off Balance Sheet Liabilities these computers are owned by
Collectors but not mentioned  in the listing
generally they are unusual home made or modified computers

a computer that has in some way been tinkered with,usually cosmetically but also
electronically
perhaps the pieces are painted or the board itself
perhaps the computer has been over clocked way above normal specification

i know of a Collector that took a Mephisto Munchen board and totally rewired it
so that the program in the board cannot be replaced and no longer will accept
other modules

another example are the piece sets
some collectors will take their favorite boards and create special pieces to
play with using totally different wooden pieces then normally released for that
computer

these sorts of computers will typically remain "Off Balance " Sheet

i myself have a few of these concoctions

here is a Novag Jade II with funky hand painted pieces:

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/cpaa2@sbcglobal.net/detail?.dir=/dda9&.dnm=d0da.jpg&.src=ph

Off Balance Regards
Steve



This page took 0.01 seconds to execute

Last modified: Thu, 15 Apr 21 08:11:13 -0700

Current Computer Chess Club Forums at Talkchess. This site by Sean Mintz.