Great/Interesting Finds

[JP!]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/323828511135

If anyone's in Utah. It probably has Micro Switch SD series of some sort.

Hmm, maybe it could be SW series. It's old enough. This is something way beyond a keyboard anyhow.

[raoulduke-esq]

Probably because unlike IBM switches, Alps are highly dependent on condition. That said, if someone put something like "condition 87.6523/100" that would be kind of funny.

I agree with all of that but find myself skeptical about the average seller’s (mm or ebay) knowledge and experience. What makes a switch 8 and what differentiates 8 from 9, or 8.7 from 9? What’s the difference between 4 and 6? I can’t remember seeing anything less than 7 and that was from someone who did a shit desoldering job, had rusted pins, and grime all over the sliders and housings.

It’s good if some rube buys 4/10 switches that seller listed as 8/10 (because thats what everyone else says theirs are and I want mine to sell so thats what they are) and then decides alps suck. More for us, and might help counter the Chyros effect!

[motoko]

$800 for a blue alps AT layout board…

https://www.ebay.com/itm/MINT-Vintage-D ... 3974675218

Price is disgusting! One could buy 3 or 4 blue boards, harvest the best switches from each of those, and still make all the money back flipping everything again. Hmm, actually...

[raoulduke-esq]

Price is disgusting!

Agree! Ghastly pricing is my favorite type of "interesting" lately.

[fohat]

The keycaps are staggeringly beautiful.

[Redmaus]

The keycaps are staggeringly beautiful.

They kinda look pad printed to me though, I could be wrong.

[Jan Pospisil]

I blame Chyros.

[Muirium]

I blame Chyros.

As one always should.

[kbdfr]

I blame Chyros.

As one always should.

Don't blame him, blame the system where "influencing" people is a source of revenue.
Oh well, yes, blame him as well

[Muirium]

Well, Chyros makes product videos like this one. You think he gets a cut? Besides free kit from the companies (most of which neither you nor I envy!) whatever he makes from his work is from YouTube or Patreon or whatever he does, and that stuff's geared to straight-up popularity by your own audience. Build your audience, grow your income. It's the same basic business model as writing reviews for an independent publication.

I must admit I thought he was being uncharacteristically clean mouthed for the first while of the vid, but then the part about the software comes up and the Chyros we know so well dives off the deep end! Can't picture Razer paying for content the like of that.

As for vintage gear, and his influence on that market, clearly no one's paying him to promote that.

[headphone_jack]

The effect of influencers on the market is unavoidable unfortunately. Chyros's affect on the market is (I hope) completely unintentional.

Won't stop me from cursing him every time I see someone (cough cough keebmeup) selling Alps for $3 a switch though.

[darkcruix]

I blame Chyros for making me a person like Don Quixote fighting windmills getting a IBM 4978 ... but you must have a dream in life to follow ...

[hellothere]

1973 Key Tronic. Probably Key Tronic magnetic reed switches. $127 US with two days remaining.

Sold for $317

[hellothere]

1970's Data General Dasher D1. $106 with about three days remaining. Remember: it's foam & foil, but looks tremendous. Maybe if I lose my other auctions I could pick this up ...

Sold for $403.

[raoulduke-esq]

Maybe if I lose my other auctions I could pick this up ...

I’m great at losing auctions! There’s always someone out there with at least $1 more than I have.

[MMcM]

1973 Key Tronic. Probably Key Tronic magnetic reed switches. $127 US with two days remaining.

Plus it's APL.

[hellothere]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/265130191939. Sold on the 26th, but it was in my watchlist. Xerox word processor keyboard w/brown Alps. Sold for $598.
.

Spoiler:

xerox.jpg (332.7 KiB) Viewed 5444 times

[hellothere]

Maybe if I lose my other auctions I could pick this up ...

I’m great at losing auctions! There’s always someone out there with at least $1 more than I have.

I have four I bid on and a fifth that I'm trading best offers on. They've been like that for a couple days, too. That's way longer than any I've ever bid on so far. While all are decent, they all need repairs, too.

[raoulduke-esq]

I have four I bid on and a fifth that I'm trading best offers on. They've been like that for a couple days, too. That's way longer than any I've ever bid on so far. While all are decent, they all need repairs, too.

I wish you great success! It seems like the key to winning might be completely losing your mind and all sense of restraint.

Example: I used to use a purple Sun Type 6 at work every day. It would be neat to get one. I might be willing to spend $50 shipped for one in decent shape because it really is not a pleasant board to use and would be just for nostalgia/collection. In the last 10s, someone decides that board is worth at least $156 to them. Nope. I'm not gonna lose my mind and dump a bucket of cash onto a collection board just to get one.

Example: I would like to try plate springs. I like my M122 with blue sub-legends. I would like to get a 124/125 key plate spring board with blue sub-legends. It's like $100 headed into the last 10s. I'd do up to $300 shipped on that thing because I had the $ at the time and the board was neat so I bid that. Well, someone else wanted it so bad they bid at least $500 shipped because that was the final price.

Example: I have the working guts of a m0110 from lousy shipping that destroyed the case. I'd like a case, so I'll buy a decent looking one that's known broke. This auction is already at $60 shipped so no point bidding. I'll wait for the next one to come along.

Lesson learned: If you REALLY want something, bid something stupid like $10k in the last 5s so you know that you'll win it, then hold your breath while you find out how much it's going to actually cost you.

I like keyboards, but I like getting a reasonable (by modern standards... I don't expect a $0.05 beamship like all you OGs have) price on them more. My collection grows slowly, and only via buy it now if it's coming from eBay.

[hellothere]

I used to just bid the exact amount I thought a thing would be worth, regardless of what the thing is, then I'd either win or lose. This wasn't extremely effective and I lost on auctions for things that I wouldn't have minded paying an extra $10 or so for. So, what I now do is bid higher than the current bid when the auction first comes out. I then watch that auction for the last few minutes and bid no more than what I'd think the max is worth. I've won several auctions using this strategy. You do have to fight that urge to bid $10,000 on something, though. Unless it's worth $10,000, that is.

The Make Offer/Best Offer thingy that ebay now has is excellent. I've had some great deals, both as a buyer and as a seller.

[motoko]

Don't bid $10,000 for any keyboard!!! Determine its maximum value (factor in sales tax and shipping) in advance and bid that amount in the last 10 seconds. If you're outbid, so be it! Wait for the next one to come along and decide if you need to increase that maximum value from last time. That's it.

[Muirium]

10 seconds? Ha! Real snipers leave no time for a return shot. One and done, that’s the rule.

[hellothere]

So, I mentioned that I had 4 things I bid on and 1 where it was a best offer.

* Best offer: I offered $50 less than asking price. That was accepted. IMO, the final price, incl. shipping, was just about the KB's real value in current condition, but it needs repair. A lot of repair.
* Auction #1: Hey, someone outbid me! Sweet! I bid a little too much on this one, that's why it's sweet.
* Auction #2: Won. This was for a Model M. The price I paid is less than the shipping cost. It's going to be an easy to repair KB.

The other two items are expiring in 5 or so days. I'm hoping on getting one or both.

Oh. $10K? I can get one of these. Or even one of these.

[motoko]

10 seconds? Ha! Real snipers leave no time for a return shot. One and done, that’s the rule.

10 seconds .... 5 seconds ... 2 seconds ... makes no difference. Either your max bid value is going to win or lose when submitted; messing about within that window is just going to reveal quicker if you've already been outbid.

[photekq]

Determine its maximum value

If only it could be done as easily as it's said.

[fohat]

Determine its maximum value

If only it could be done

This is what an auction is designed to to do. With sufficient time and a large pool of bidders, an answer will be found.

You will make yourself crazy unless you decide what your ceiling price is, put a snipe on it, and then forget about it.

Do not even think about it again unless you are pleasantly surprised when you get a notification that you won.

[Muirium]

Ach! Free markets are bullshit. This is capitalism, not charity!

What we really want is to get it for A Steal. Next best is to get it for Just More than that Cheap Bastard. Under no circumstances do we want to pay "head value" to the seller of all people. Scumbags! Know your enemy, soldier! This is war.

[John Doe]

A good chance to experience Acer switches, especially when you wanna type on prinstine one.

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre ... 4598092281

[Bjerrk]

A good chance to experience Acer switches, especially when you wanna type on prinstine one.

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre ... 4598092281

Absolutely - several of us bought one of them.

[motoko]

Although I really don't know what the seller is referring to as "pine" Acer switches? AFAIK, the only difference on this new batch from the other cheaper one is the keycaps aren't Spanish. I think the seller will accept $30 or less, btw.