Great/Interesting Finds

[chzel]

Finally! I lost that Greek Honeywell to b***a...I hate him a bit!

[ohaimark]

I just found this site: http://movesurpluscom.highwire.com/

It's a bit sketchy, but I got a new-in-box Ortek MCK-201 with Chinese (?) legends for a decent price. PayPal checkout ensures a little bit of protection.

[seebart]

Nice catch ohaimark! Those caps.

That place actually has pretty decent prices:

SIIG K101

http://movesurpluscom.highwire.com/prod ... 01-vintage

Focus 5001

http://movesurpluscom.highwire.com/prod ... k-5001-htf

1390131

http://movesurpluscom.highwire.com/prod ... -is-actual

M0110

http://movesurpluscom.highwire.com/prod ... m0110-rare

DEC LK201

http://www.ebay.de/itm/Vintage-DEC-Digi ... SwwpdW8Iiq

Early Computers with Keyboards

http://www.ebay.de/itm/Vintage-Old-1970 ... SwFNZWzODA

Everex Enhanced Space Invaders

http://www.ebay.de/itm/Vintage-Everex-E ... SwP~tW5gFO

IBM Clicky Mechanical Keyboard w/ Trackball M5-2 92G7455

http://www.ebay.de/itm/Vintage-IBM-Clic ... SwwpdW51O8

Siemens 670C - the mothership has landed

http://www.ebay.de/itm/Alte-Tastatur-fu ... SwwpdW8YRd

[tigpha]

I just found this site: http://movesurpluscom.highwire.com/

It's a bit sketchy, but I got a new-in-box Ortek MCK-201 with Chinese (?) legends for a decent price. PayPal checkout ensures a little bit of protection.

Pretty! It made me think of a nice set of mahjong tiles.

[chiptea]

Finally! I lost that Greek Honeywell to b***a...I hate him a bit!

I really hope that Acer had white alps. To bid to that amount just for the CHANCE of it having blues is nuts. Even if it would be clear it had blue alps, it would be nuts. Let the little guy have a chance! throwing $800 in the wind for a white alps board might sting the ultrarich collectors for a while

[Redmaus]

More stuff from that site:

Possibly alps?

http://movesurpluscom.highwire.com/prod ... intage-ps2

Interesting trackball

http://movesurpluscom.highwire.com/prod ... tage-new-1

Numpad with windowed light

http://movesurpluscom.highwire.com/prod ... al-vintage

IBM numpad with sexy black/blue logo

http://movesurpluscom.highwire.com/prod ... yboard-new

Wonder what switches these are

http://movesurpluscom.highwire.com/prod ... vintage-9f

[ohaimark]

There is also a KB with Orange-ish Alps 4-tab clones of some sort on that site. Kinda fun if you're deep in the Alps vortex.

[seebart]

Kinda fun if you're deep in the Alps vortex.

The way things are going around here quite a few of us are "deep in the Alps vortex".

Just as long anyone doesn't take it too serious.

[Redmaus]

I'm in too deep help me

[Scarpia]

And these keycaps look interesting... I wonder what mount they are:

http://movesurpluscom.highwire.com/prod ... -rare-look

[webwit]

Better take care, no one who tries to conquer it survives the Alps Vortex. Well, Beardsmore did conquer it, but the damage was done and he sailed west to Valinor.

[E3E]

You must be kidding. That guy obviously didn't read the thread here... I'm quite impressed with the idiocy that just occurred.

Or maybe just a little jealous? Hahaha. I know this at least tempts me to part with my boards, but I still just can't do it. God dammit, and I could make so much selling them off right now, but... Most of them are dream boards that took a lot of effort searching or just plain dumb luck to find for affordable prices.

If this inflation doesn't go down, then finding them ever again for a reasonable price will be practically impossible and I'll have to wait till I'm b**a level rich to snatch boards up, or just get lucky elsewhere or through low priced BINs, lol.

Sooo, I'm probably never going to take advantage of this maybe bubble. Really, the prices don't make sense, but if the market leaders in terms of buyers with the most cash but the least brains for buying things at reasonable prices want to keep dictating ridiculous market values like this, then I guess we're all screwed.

It is really pretty stupid that someone spent as much for a vintage that one could spend for a Korean custom or some other fine keyboard, and even more so because it likely just has white Alps without a shadow of a doubt.

I hope they're a real big Texas Instruments fan. It probably deserves its own shrine in their collection.

[Firebolt1914]

I'm trying to solve this blue alps bubble through modifying white alps to be better; I just need samples and a bunch of white alps switches

[Tuntematon]

So many lost souls, and for what?

Blue Alps is one of the best clicky switches (if not the best) depending on who you talk to, we can give Alps that distinction.

Green Alps is as good as other really good linear switches, but not necessarily better.

There is a large tactile family that I'm not overly familiar with, but they are nice I guess?

[seebart]

Sure Tuntematon but remember there are other switches out there as you know, let's not overhype Alps even more. The price hype seems to be out of control already.

[E3E]

So many lost souls, and for what?

Blue Alps is one of the best clicky switches (if not the best) depending on who you talk to, we can give Alps that distinction.

Green Alps is as good as other really good linear switches, but not necessarily better.

There is a large tactile family that I'm not overly familiar with, but they are nice I guess?

I mean, it's subjective, right? I think hype is what causes this. Though I will say that most people who try blue Alps usually don't have anything negative to say about the switches and many of them become immediate fans, such as myself. My first Alps board was a blue Alps board, the NTC 6151N, and I'm glad, because it gave me a really positive impression of Alps.

The reduced travel distance and distinctively chunky bottom out of Alps makes every switch pretty different from your typical run of the mill, and for linears in the Alps family, I feel like it makes them incredibly pleasant. I'm always in a toss up between liking blue Alps or green Alps more.

Tactiles? Yes, indeed, there are certainly a lot to choose from and some of the most obscure Alps SKCM switches exist in that family. SKCM Orange are really nice and, imo, very close to blue Alps, but just lack the click. My favorite are the tactile greens in my Xerox boards, but I'm sure a lot of that is sentimental.

Actually, I say that hype is what causes this, but I'm unsure. Through this thread and channels of communication between friends, I've heard that a lot of collectors are the ones doing this insane buying too, not just green enthusiasts wanting to get something for their custom build project.

So it's possible that an enthusiast started the snowball that is this inflatiion, and collectors just kept pushing it. That Korean collector who bought the DC-3014 apparently has two more DC-3014s and several KB101AS boards and one KB101A.

Lastly yeah, I don't think Alps is worth that much more versus other switches. Not at all. I don't agree with these premiums. Blue alps are not worth $4.20 per switch, but then I'd say the same thing about switches like NIxdorf Blacks. No switch should be worth that much because their feel is not that drastically different from others in their family. Not enough to warrant that price difference.

[Blaise170]

Yeah and it's a bunch of 0 feedback bidders... Which could mean two things I think:

- Totally oblivious people who are just getting into keyboards.
- The seller trying to bid up his own listing.

[E3E]

Yeah and it's a bunch of 0 feedback bidders... Which could mean two things I think:

- Totally oblivious people who are just getting into keyboards.
- The seller trying to bid up his own listing.

Either way, the last seemingly legitimate bid was nearly $600 as placed by the infamous b**a.

That's still absolutely insane given what that board is.

EDIT: Looks like they might be legitimate or just trolls as they also had bids on the Epson board that just sold today:

[seebart]

At least when items are very rare and in super condition crazy prices are comprehensible on some level...but DC-3014s and KB101AS boards and KB101A? Now this...

Spoiler:

dough.jpg (200.78 KiB) Viewed 4359 times

[E3E]

Yeah, I mean. The aforementioned boards are somewhat rare, even though I'd place them more on the uncommon-rare scale and not significantly rare. They are also not as significant as a board like the Symbolics LISP boards and all that (don't know much about them, but I think I got that right? ).

Those are much more understandable given how scarce and significant they are.

[seebart]

Well in relation that Symbolics Space Cadet would have to go for like $ 7500 then. At least your getting something really rare and collectible with an actual significance.

[Blaise170]

One day I'd love a Space Cadet keyboard. But that seems totally out of reach these days.

[webwit]

I'd throw in a free blue Alps keyboard.

[ohaimark]

I'm not jealous, frankly. Whoever won that deserves it... Putting that sort of cash on the table for a *chance* of NIB Blue Alps, and a shitty chance at that, is madness.

[Chyros]

Wow, you got it?? =o

Damn dude, I really hope it's blue Alps now xD .

[seebart]

One day I'd love a Space Cadet keyboard. But that seems totally out of reach these days.

A "slightly rare item" to put it mildly Blaise170.

WOT Chyros?

[ohaimark]

Nice catch ohaimark! Those caps.

That place actually has pretty decent prices:

I seem to get lucky when Googling random keyboard models on eBay to see if they're rubber dome or not. That's how I found the source for most of the huge sale I just closed... Now it found me that keyboard + site.

[chzel]

Chyros? Did you understand something I missed? Who got it?

[E3E]

One day I'd love a Space Cadet keyboard. But that seems totally out of reach these days.

You'd have to be lucky and find a magnanimous collector who doesn't need or want money but only a passionate enthusiast to take his old junk away, like that one guy who has like 3 Symbolics keyboards he got from the basement of some super rich guy who was big in the computing business or something in the past.

Wow, you got it?? =o

Damn dude, I really hope it's blue Alps now xD .

I don't think anyone here bought the TI 101A. What gave you that impression?

[Blaise170]

A "slightly rare item" to put it mildly Blaise170.

WOT Chyros?

Yeah and when one does surface, people are going to trade their car for it.