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Subject: Collectors Corner..On The ..Wild Goose Chase

Author: Steve B

Date: 17:49:17 11/03/05


Sooner or later every collector will wind up on the dreaded ... Wild Goose Chase

this is when.. in pursuit of a rare computer.. a collector .. seemingly so close
to the holy grail.. winds up hitting a dead end

in my pursuit of the legendary Novag Robot i hit upon so many false leads and
dead ends i all but gave up hope

then out of the blue ..one fine day i was contacted by a causal acquaintance
with a Robot in hand(or i should say..arm)

once i went to the home of someone who swore to me he had a 6124 Fidelity
Phantom..only to find..after a 2 hour drive.. each way..that it was a 6126
Phantom

i am in constant 24 hour ..around the clock.. contact with an old collector not
far from me, who owns the Legendary Omikrom Bogol 5.0 ..
nothing i do or say or offer will make him give it up
not even  holding him hostage for 36 straight hours with no food and water
weakened his resolve

he promises me that when he"passes on to a better world" he will leave it to me

however the cost of arranging a "hit" proves to be more costly then the computer
itself

i could write a book on the number of Wild Goose Chases i was involved with over
the years

today, the exotic and ultra rare Mephisto Wunder Machine flashed before my eyes
and then just as quickly.. vanished

this historical computer was released in only 10 units in 1993 and was a bridge
between the old dedicated auto-sensory computers and a then modern PC
running R.Lang's Genius 3 on a PC it would respond to the moves on the beautiful
Mephisto Munchen board

a World Class collector just yesterday offered this computer up for private
bidding but after inquiring about it, sadly it turns out the computer was
modified from its original state(by the original owner..not the collector) with
a stronger PC and a different chess program that now could not be interfaced
with the board!

can you imagine someone actually doing that to the computer???

he mutilated one of the rarest computers ever made and cost himself thousands of
dollars in the process

so sadly..i turned away from it..withdrew my leading bid and will continue the
endless search..

the Mephisto Wunder Machine in all of its pious unadulterated Glory:

http://www.schachcomputer.at/wundermaschine2.jpg


The Quest Never Ends.. Regards
Steve



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