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Subject: Collector's Corner..A New Trend In Collecting??

Author: Steve B

Date: 05:24:52 09/08/05


That  auction for the Fidelity Elegence i posted here a couple of days ago
has just reached $318 with over 2 days to go(as i write this)

seems to be yet another computer selling for unusually high prices
while it does have a module the price seems very high considering it might not
even be working

it should be noted that Elegences are a very defect prone computer
for some reason the reed switches in this one are very weak and generally
several go at once

i see more and more collectors bidding on defective computers paying prices
normally seen for working computers

of course some are doing this with the hope the computer can be repaired but
still,that will only add to the cost and generally the repair cost is not cheap
especially when you add in round trip shipping for the repair


for example..

if this computer closes at $318
a repair could be somewhere in the neighboorhood of at least $100-$150(depending
on the defect)

if the winner is sending it from Europe to a repairman in Europe add another $25
for round trip shipping

if the winner is from the USA sending it to Europe  add $50 Round trip

all in all we are looking at close to $500 for an Elegence


but i suspect something different is happenning here

i think collectors are becoming not so interested in if the computer even works
and just want to acquire an example of a computer..defective or not..
and i think perhaps they do not even care about repairing it

this is something i personally do not myself have an interest in

for me..as a collector as well as a chess player..i want to PLAY the computers i
collect
of course it is inevitable that sooner or later a computer in ones collection
will deveop a defect ,especially for computers hitting better then 2 decades of
age..
but too knowingly pay a normal price for a defective computer and to not care if
it works or not..and to not care about repairing it or not..is not really
Collecting
IMO this is more JUNK dealing



http://cgi.ebay.com/Elegance-Auto-Sensory-Chess-Challenger-Vintage_W0QQitemZ5238335975QQcategoryZ1182QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


Talk Of The Nation Regards
Steve





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