Discussion
I found an Amiga 1200. There are quite a few for sale on Ebay but this is actually still in the box, and still in it's protective wrapping, it's never even had the polystyrene bumpers removed.
I can easily run all the games it had on an emulator on the PC but this thing almost feels too special to flog.
No doubt it will end up stuck in the loft amongst all the other vaguely useful crap.
I think it fascinates me mostly because I was never an Amiga man, always Atari ST's for me.
I know, cool story and all that.
I can easily run all the games it had on an emulator on the PC but this thing almost feels too special to flog.
No doubt it will end up stuck in the loft amongst all the other vaguely useful crap.
I think it fascinates me mostly because I was never an Amiga man, always Atari ST's for me.
I know, cool story and all that.
Almost the same story as you. Grew up on sts, found a cheap 1200 locally bought it on a whim to see what the competition was like.
I got a cf/ide adaptor off eBay with a pre loaded card with hundreds of games etc. About £35.
My machine cost about £40 but I'd spent about £60 getting it right, it also came with a blizzard iv card thankfully as it was terribly slow without it.
It sold for £450 a couple of months ago.
I really enjoyed my time with it and without doubt it was streets ahead of an st. But the Atari just has more soul. Hence why my STE is sat on my desk awaiting a few upgrades.
I got a cf/ide adaptor off eBay with a pre loaded card with hundreds of games etc. About £35.
My machine cost about £40 but I'd spent about £60 getting it right, it also came with a blizzard iv card thankfully as it was terribly slow without it.
It sold for £450 a couple of months ago.
I really enjoyed my time with it and without doubt it was streets ahead of an st. But the Atari just has more soul. Hence why my STE is sat on my desk awaiting a few upgrades.
If you do decide to unbox it and try powering it up, don't be too surprised if it doesn't quite work the way it's supposed to, as older hardware like this suffers from leaking/dried out capacitors which causes at best changes in how the circuitry responds (e.g. changed timings on clock signals) and at worst can cause damage to the PCB due to the corrosive nature of the fluids that leak out.
And if you do just decide to sell it on, don't be surprised if you get asked whether or not the capacitors have been replaced (aka recapping), as this is now quite a big deal in the retro hardware scene, and recapped units tend to be worth more to the serious collector even though they're no longer 100% original (in much the same way as a used car will be worth more if you sell it just after having its cambelt changed vs selling it just before it needs changing).
And if you do just decide to sell it on, don't be surprised if you get asked whether or not the capacitors have been replaced (aka recapping), as this is now quite a big deal in the retro hardware scene, and recapped units tend to be worth more to the serious collector even though they're no longer 100% original (in much the same way as a used car will be worth more if you sell it just after having its cambelt changed vs selling it just before it needs changing).
I'd agree with the above. I had a lot of people asking if mine had been recapped. I'd probably have got a bit more if it had.
There are people doing a recap for about £35 from memory. You will get that back if selling. As some of them are surface mount and need a hot air soldering gun it's not a job I fancied, old fashioned through board components I don't mind changing.
There are people doing a recap for about £35 from memory. You will get that back if selling. As some of them are surface mount and need a hot air soldering gun it's not a job I fancied, old fashioned through board components I don't mind changing.
wildoliver said:
Almost the same story as you. Grew up on sts, found a cheap 1200 locally bought it on a whim to see what the competition was like.
I got a cf/ide adaptor off eBay with a pre loaded card with hundreds of games etc. About £35.
My machine cost about £40 but I'd spent about £60 getting it right, it also came with a blizzard iv card thankfully as it was terribly slow without it.
It sold for £450 a couple of months ago.
I really enjoyed my time with it and without doubt it was streets ahead of an st. But the Atari just has more soul. Hence why my STE is sat on my desk awaiting a few upgrades.
Yeah I was an ST man through and through. I used to dabble with midi so the Amiga was out. I think I ended up with the 4mb one. All a very long time ago though.I got a cf/ide adaptor off eBay with a pre loaded card with hundreds of games etc. About £35.
My machine cost about £40 but I'd spent about £60 getting it right, it also came with a blizzard iv card thankfully as it was terribly slow without it.
It sold for £450 a couple of months ago.
I really enjoyed my time with it and without doubt it was streets ahead of an st. But the Atari just has more soul. Hence why my STE is sat on my desk awaiting a few upgrades.
br d said:
Interesting info, thanks guys.
So if I did decide to sell it then getting it recapped would be the first stop.
They go for decent money don't they? I think I would probably sit on it though, a nice thing to have.
They can go for decent money yeah, and since you've still got all the original packaging in good condition then even without being recapped it'd still attract the interest of collectors. So if I did decide to sell it then getting it recapped would be the first stop.
They go for decent money don't they? I think I would probably sit on it though, a nice thing to have.
Ultimately even a scruffy one with a working motherboard has a value as some people like to fit the board in a tower case (even now).
A good usable one has a better value, a mint white one with no yellowing with a box (my box was tatty) has an even greater value, and a really tidy boxes example a little more. In my computer's case though it was the card that really bumped the value up, if yours is just bare bones but mint £250-300ish at a guess. But I think you would want to be recapping it for that. I didn't recap mine and it did sell but I think I got that one guy who didn't mind. I don't think I would have got him if there wasn't a 2-300 quid accelerator card inside.
A good usable one has a better value, a mint white one with no yellowing with a box (my box was tatty) has an even greater value, and a really tidy boxes example a little more. In my computer's case though it was the card that really bumped the value up, if yours is just bare bones but mint £250-300ish at a guess. But I think you would want to be recapping it for that. I didn't recap mine and it did sell but I think I got that one guy who didn't mind. I don't think I would have got him if there wasn't a 2-300 quid accelerator card inside.
I still have my old one up in the loft but unfortunately the vast library of floppy discs with games, demo scene stuff and applications got thrown out over the years. I've also got an A2000 with twin 3.5" and a 5.14" floppy drives, 40mb hard drive and a PC CT/AT motherboard built in. Well over £2,200 in 1995! No idea what it's worth now.
wildoliver said:
Ultimately even a scruffy one with a working motherboard has a value as some people like to fit the board in a tower case (even now).
A good usable one has a better value, a mint white one with no yellowing with a box (my box was tatty) has an even greater value, and a really tidy boxes example a little more. In my computer's case though it was the card that really bumped the value up, if yours is just bare bones but mint £250-300ish at a guess. But I think you would want to be recapping it for that. I didn't recap mine and it did sell but I think I got that one guy who didn't mind. I don't think I would have got him if there wasn't a 2-300 quid accelerator card inside.
Cheers for that WO. A good usable one has a better value, a mint white one with no yellowing with a box (my box was tatty) has an even greater value, and a really tidy boxes example a little more. In my computer's case though it was the card that really bumped the value up, if yours is just bare bones but mint £250-300ish at a guess. But I think you would want to be recapping it for that. I didn't recap mine and it did sell but I think I got that one guy who didn't mind. I don't think I would have got him if there wasn't a 2-300 quid accelerator card inside.
To be honest I don't need the money, I think I'll just store it away. Maybe one day I'll unpack it and see if it'll boot. I'll certainly keep your info for future ref though.
Now if it had been an ST I'd be drooling over it right now!
Did anybody do both? Every body I knew was either amiga or atari, nobody could afford both back then.
I always felt Atari was cooler cos it was in Blade Runner!
Ive still got 2 Amiga 1200 and an Amiga 500 in the loft, with boxes and various accessories.
That includes 2 Blizzard 1260 accelerators and a Blizzard 1230 accelerator.
I understand the Blizzards may be worth a bit nowadays, one day I’ll have to see if they work and sell them on if that’s the case!
That includes 2 Blizzard 1260 accelerators and a Blizzard 1230 accelerator.
I understand the Blizzards may be worth a bit nowadays, one day I’ll have to see if they work and sell them on if that’s the case!
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