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Which macs are "Collectible"?

O

OneMoreMacUser

macrumors member
Original poster
Dec 23, 2013
30
0
Central Ohio
I have decided that I would like to start a Vintage mac collection of my own, and I was wondering, what macs are collectible?
I just fixed an all original imac g3 rev. A and that was the start of my collection so, what macs are worth collecting?
 
SkyBell

SkyBell

macrumors 604
Sep 7, 2006
6,603
219
Texas, unfortunately.
To start with, the early models are all of some value, of course.

The TAM is hugely collectable, so is the Macintosh Portable, and to a bit lesser extent, the G4 Cube.

There's other's of course, and only time will weed out the "biggest" and "best".
 
DeltaMac

DeltaMac

macrumors G5
Jul 30, 2003
13,462
4,408
Delaware
My short list of collectible Macs (my opinion, of course)
Macintosh TV - the black (LC-520) with black mouse and keyboard.
TAM - first time I heard the unique boot chime, took my breath away.
PowerMac G3 All-in-One
Bondi-blue iMac
eMate (not technically a Mac, I suppose, but cool anyway)
eMac
any black MacBook
PowerBook G4 (titanium)
 
K

kathyricks

macrumors 6502
Nov 26, 2012
292
20
1993 Mac Color Classic is certainly collectable. Display is nearly as sharp and vividly colorful as a retina iPad

2365634637_244a63097a_o.jpg
 
Anonymous Freak

Anonymous Freak

macrumors 603
Dec 12, 2002
5,561
1,252
Cascadia
Collectibility is absolutely in the eye of the beholder. Some collectors are of the "everything in the <xyz> line" type. Some are the "one of each family" type.

For old Macs, some don't care at all about the LC line, others ONLY care about the LC line.

There are a few easy guidelines, though.

1. Was it only produced in small numbers/for a few specific markets/etc?
This includes "unique" systems like the Macintosh TV, the not-in-the-US PowerBook 550c and PowerBook 2400c, and the limited-production-run Twentieth Anniversary Mac.

2. Is it particularly "historic" in the genesis of the Macintosh line?
Obviously any "first" system falls in here - the original Macintosh, the Macintosh II, the Macintosh Portable, the first Power Macs, etc. But this could also include the design historic systems. The original iMac, the flat panel iMac G4, the titanium PowerBook G4, even the Cube.

3. Does the specific one you are looking at have some specific provenance?
Things like developer machines, the "clear case" late-stage prototypes, machines that are verifiably owned by someone of importance (Douglas Adams' Mac IIfx, for example.)
 
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tevion5

tevion5

macrumors 68000
Jul 12, 2011
1,966
1,600
Ireland
I just bought a lovely Apple ii plus with an Apple monitor iii and appropriate stand. A rare find here in Ireland!

But I hear that the plus is the Apple ii plus is the one with the least value on eBay. I think this is strange, because the more "valuable" Apple iic is certainly more capable but it doesn't look nearly as cool as the plus. The plus runs most software and is nowhere as restricted as the original. Mine has maxed out RAM as well so games made up to the late 80's should be mostly fine too. Why the IIc is more desirable is beyond me :/

I also own a macintosh 512KE that is I think also one of the least beloved macs! I love it because it looks just like a 128k in every way but can even run system 6.0.8! Better than the 512k but far more "classic" than the Mac plus. Good middle ground I think :)

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Anonymous Freak said:
Collectibility is absolutely in the eye of the beholder. Some collectors are of the "everything in the <xyz> line" type. Some are the "one of each family" type.

For old Macs, some don't care at all about the LC line, others ONLY care about the LC line.

There are a few easy guidelines, though.

1. Was it only produced in small numbers/for a few specific markets/etc?
This includes "unique" systems like the Macintosh TV, the not-in-the-US PowerBook 550c and PowerBook 2400c, and the limited-production-run Twentieth Anniversary Mac.

2. Is it particularly "historic" in the genesis of the Macintosh line?
Obviously any "first" system falls in here - the original Macintosh, the Macintosh II, the Macintosh Portable, the first Power Macs, etc. But this could also include the design historic systems. The original iMac, the flat panel iMac G4, the titanium PowerBook G4, even the Cube.

3. Does the specific one you are looking at have some specific provenance?
Things like developer machines, the "clear case" late-stage prototypes, machines that are verifiably owned by someone of importance (Douglas Adams' Mac IIfx, for example.)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the Douglas Adams story, I really enjoyed that! :D
 
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