Re: eBay madness

["mr. brad" <mrbrad@ll.net>]

not to knock the starcross thread here..but to maybe expond on it ... to 
continue the ebay madness theme..

my thoughts (dim thou they may be)...are that as apple II types that collect 
and use and post on these news groups..is there a LARGER or more unseen mass 
of apple II former users/students/or remember using the apple ii line fondly 
in some way that essentially we are underestimating?...i mean could it be 
who i see knocking about talking about apple //'s on various areas of 
internet/ebay/comp.sys.apple ii a "small" minority of people who 1x or 2x a 
year decide to fire up the apple ii and maybe get something on ebay?....at 
maybe too high a price? or too weird a purchase.....or whatever?

is an unseen apple ii collecting mass of lurkers??? an Iceberg underneath 
the water of people who fondly remember stuff ...maybe really exotic stuff 
like they never could have in their younger years and now with a little cash 
$$$ and (some would say little common sense) 1x or 2x a year pop up and grab 
something off ebay they consider a treasure/deal on ebay and then pass back 
into a fog of unseen apple ii types?

they see the old vulcan hd or sider or starcross game and rashly (or wisely) 
decide to pull out the old apple ii in the closet and fire it up with the 
vulcan or whatever?
full speed ahead....dang with the price?

my own version of this is I purchased a Meade 90ex telescope in around 1998 
or so for 900 bucks..because i always wanted it as a kid...i've used it 2x 
since then
....now I feel like i really had something when it arrived ..and was/am 
quite pleased with it (mainly childhood reasons) and should sell it..but i 
likely never will because i MIGHT want to use it someday...is that the kinda 
thing ...most people are doing on ebay with some of this apple ii 
collecting...they pay the high price because they assume after all these 
years ...and dim recollections of retail prices..that it is worth it to them 
therefore the price high thou it may be is worth it?

but to me that only feels like a correct view if their is a REALLY big group 
of people in that category with old apple ii's in their closets ..like 
secret little treasures..they plan to play with in their retirement years or 
that day all american's dream of..."when i get the time i'm gonna drag out 
the "insert item here" and
get back to "insert hobby here" for something to do....

if by some odd chance (again i'm dim) i'm right...then maybe that would 
explain the periodic high prices and or ebay stuff flying this way and 
that...maybe we think we are on a flat icefield apple II wise and really the 
mountain range of ice (apple ii users/lurkers/dabble'ing types) are under 
the water going to depths we are clueless about

or perhaps it is a worldwide thing...the market for old machines (like wine) 
gets better with age.although that don't seem to be the case for ibm pc 
stuff

anyway...i really don't get it....is it a bubble that is gonna burst in next 
10yrs when apple ii users/collectors start hitting baby boom days and thus 
cleaning the stuff out

or is it striking some kinda collecting/nostalgia theme of
old apple ii users who will drag their apple //stuff to the old folks home 
after they sell the house...it sure looks like from prices/collecting point 
of view.that maybe the plan..

(hey..its my plan....but then again i'm odd....)

but ...if i'm correct (unlikely).....and that is the logic about all this 
stuff...there is a lot more apple ii stuff/lurking out in the world then i 
previously expected....like 10x as much..whatever that may mean....maybe we 
are just seeing the tail of the dinosaur and assume it is a snake?

my 2 c worth.....

clueless

brad
former sysop lost gonzo bbs

(don't even get me started on the bbs software i have collected and plan to 
get back up....that is a whole other thread)