Commodore 65 = $5,000

[Tony Duell]

> Likewise, it may come to a shock to many of the people on this list
> (but it should not), but the collectors with the deep pockets are
> generally the BEST collectors. They are the ones that know how to take

The counter-argument to that is that if such a person considers $5k to be 
'small change' then he may not worry too much about losing it. Whereas 
somebody who is poorer will spend $100 on a machine and look after it 
because every cent matters.

I've seen it work both ways...

> care of the things they spent a bundle of money on - proper shipping,
> proper storage, proper use. They generally do not have their
> collections arranged as stacks in the spare room, but as properly
> displayed artifacts. And GASP, yes, they actually use them as well!

You've made this sort of comment before, and I have no problem believing 
that you know collectors who act in this way. Conversery, I know of 
collectors who buy mildly rare stuff (the HP9100 is a favourite), then 
never allow it to be turned on, never allow anyone to press the keys, and 
certainly never open it up [1]. So I think perhaps it would be more 
reasonable to say there's little, if any, correleation between how much a 
collector generally pays for a machine and whether he uses it or not.

[1] I have a freind who was likewise interested in old HP desktops. He 
knew this chap woh had the HP9100 and who would never allow it to be 
turned on. When I met the (first-mentioned) friend, I dug out one of my 
9100s, not only powered it up and let him try it but also took it to bits 
and expalined the internals. That's why I have the machine after all.

-tony