NeXT Station Color Collection for sale

[mc2]

Hi -- newbie here. But an early adopter of the NeXT computer -- it was my first computer back in 1991 and I used it to start my own graphic design company while finishing up university. I've been storing it safely for over 30 years, but it's time to let it go.

If anyone here has any knowledge they could share about the approximate worth of this collection -- or wants to make any offers -- I would greatly appreciate your input.

Thank-you so much!

++++++++++++++++++++

(original 1992 photo)


WHAT WORKS:
Fired it up and it turned on right away and booted in terminal. Display was nice and clear with no banding. Made it through some checks but got stuck on “waiting for drive”. Was able to cancel — so we know keyboard, monitor and computer all work, but unsure if drive will eventually boot up or if some handy pro or enthusiast can troubleshoot software or take this apart and bring it back to life. Not able to test printers.


PRICE WOULD INCLUDE:
All inventory below
Some cables missing (noted)
No warranty that all works (is 30+ years old!)
Buyer pays directly for all shipping, customs and insurance (or can pick up if local in Vancouver, BC). Will determine costs once buyer selected and location determined.


INVENTORY: SELL ALL TOGETHER
(Missing items noted)

NeXT MegaPixel 17-inch Color Display
Model N4001, June 1991
Power Cable
SCSI to computer and sound box
Original cost 1991: $1,729

NeXT Station Color
(“The Slab” computer)
12mb RAM, 2.88 mb disc drive, 105mb hd
Power Cable
SCSI to display and sound box
Original cost 1991: $4,899

NeXT Sound Box
(Speaker)
Model N4004
SCSI to display and computer
Cable to keyboard
Original cost 1991: $119

NeXT Keyboard
Model N4000A
Cable to soundbox
Cable to mouse
Original cost 1991: $?

NeXT Mouse (Broken but looks good)
Model N400A
Original cost 1991: $?

Logitech MouseMan
Model PK32
Cable to NeXT Keyboard

NeXT 400dpi Laser Printer
Model N2000
Power Cable
Missing SCSI Cable
Missing input paper tray
Original cost 1991: $1,569

NeXT Color Printer
(Bubble jet)
Model N2004
Power Cable
SCSI Cable (if correct)
Original cost 1993: $3,049

NeXT CD-ROM Drive
Model N3010
Power Cable
SCSI Cable (from Color printer?)
Original cost 1991: $?

Original Manuals in Box Sleeve (1991)

Am sorting through other boxes and will include all NeXT software disks/CD-ROM that I find. ** If I find any additional missing items during my “deep purge”, I will include them at no additional cost (shipping still responsibility of buyer).


(NEW PHOTOS)

 

[Kai Robinson]

Paging @eric - aren't you after one of these?

 

[eric]

Oh that would be a nice/complete collection - I have no idea what NeXT computers are worth - though out of my price range for sure.

 

[Paolo B]

It’s a very nice lot, it may easily fetch serious money (above 1k USD, for sure). My suggestion? Don’t trust your brain, trust your heart: keep it, it’s part of your life.
Else, eBay. If you look out for cash and have some time to spare, selling each item separately may even grant you higher profits.

 

[JDW]

If anyone here has any knowledge they could share about the approximate worth of this collection -- or wants to make any offers -- I would greatly appreciate your input.

In terms of "practical" worth, it can be argued that pretty much all of our vintage computers from the 1980's and 90's are nearly worthless. But most people don't think along those lines. They tend to value machines based on what similar machines are selling for at any give point in time. For example, there were times in the early 2000's when a Macintosh Portable could be found given away for free at some places in the US, or acquired for as little as $15. Those prices reflect the "practical worth" of the machine, rather than a collector's valuation. But as time went on, places like EBAY became popular, and prices for vintage machines skyrocketed as a result. Even so, Craig's List and vintage computing groups sometimes list machines for more realistic prices.

With all that said, people who wish to maximize their selling price, tend to go to EBAY. The big mistake in doing that is most people look at current listings for items which have not been sold. That would be wrong because some items are listed for outrageous prices, such that they never sell and are endlessly relisted. If you must base your own selling price on EBAY averages, you would need to do a custom EBAY search for COMPLETED LISTINGS. Then and only then would you get a general idea for how much something sells for on EBAY, which again, is a place for rather high priced items.

Sellers who are a bit more community focused and not out to squeeze as much cash as possible from people often opt to list on a FaceBook "marketplace" group or in a forum like this one. The key to selling in those venues is basically selling for a price that is competitively lower than EBAY. And because you can avoid those high EBAY fees by selling outside EBAY, it's not too hard to accommodate a lower price.

At the end of the day, the valuation of your machine depends on you. You have the power to donate it free of charge, sell it for $10, sell individual parts -- pretty much anything imaginable. But after seeing your photos, it would be unlikely you'd sell it as anything less than a complete kit. Those original boxes make it very complete, and I must say, it's a nice looking system.

I am not one to say it would be priced out of my league. You never know what someone is willing to sell something for until you ask. So I would encourage @eric to make you a private offer. And I can assure the seller, it would go to a very good home in that case. But as Eric said, asking price does matter.

I find the same to be true of a LISA. I've never seen much in those machines. They are slower than a Macintosh 128K at only 5MHz. They are huge and have many more problems that compact Macs too. But because they came before the compact Mac series, and because they are limited in number, most sell for thousands of dollars these days. I myself would never pay that.

And so it is with a complete NeXT system. You will find a lot of people dreaming about having it until they hear the price. So if your system were to be priced like a LISA into the $4,000+ category, then the number of potential buyers will be dramatically reduced as a result. You might find a wealthy buyer who would pay that, switch it on a few times for fun, then either closet it or put it behind glass.

I myself am a practical person who tries to keep my collection small so I can use all of my machines on a semi-regular basis. Because in my mind, what's the purpose of having a vintage machine you never use? So I think it would be a real shame for someone to acquire your amazing machine and then never use it. Finding a good home for it is key.

Anyway, those are my thoughts. Best wishes!

DISCLAIMER: No, I am not interested in your machine because (1) I have no space for it, and (2) I am located in Japan, and I know what the shipping charges would be.

 

[JDW]

Don’t trust your brain, trust your heart: keep it, it’s part of your life.

I tend to agree with @Paolo B here. You've had it for so many years that I doubt anyone else out there would treat it with as much respect as you have. Perhaps that doesn't matter anymore because you are out of space to store it or now have a wife who is making certain demands. And that's why I said finding a "good home" for it is perhaps more important than maximizing the seller price, at least if you are somewhat sentimental like I am.

At some point, we all will die though. We are all getting older. And I've seen far too many cases of an amazing collector dying, only to have his family sell it all as quickly as possible "to the highest bidder," not giving a care in the world to anything other than profit potential.

So if you decide to keep it, having a written will that dictates where the machine should go after your death would be a prudent decision.

One other thing that came to mind is, if indeed you and @eric cannot workout a deal, maybe contact some big name vintage Mac YouTubers. That would at the very least get your machine prime time coverage where thousands of people could watch and enjoy seeing what a complete NeXT kit looks like and see how it sounds and works.

The reason I even mention a big-name YouTuber is because when I reflect on my SE RELOADED giveaway a year ago, I have regrets. The person who won still hasn't put the kit together, despite my follow-ups. Seems he wasn't interested in it in the first place, but was just seeking something to win. Now in retrospect, what I should have done was donate the kit to a popular YouTuber like Macintosh Librarian or Colin of @This Does Not Compute . That's because my entire intent on doing the SE RELOADED giveaway was to spread awareness about the kit. I wanted (and still want) more people to try the build. I hoped the winner would not only build the kit but make a short video too or at the very least post about it online. I also felt that would honor the creator, @Kai Robinson . But that didn't happen. We live and learn.

I don't mean to overload you with information, but considering how complete your kit is, finding the right home for it is paramount, especially if you really are intent on parting with it, rather than change your mind and keep it.

 

[Paolo B]

It reminds me of when my beloved Ti book 667 DVI who had driven me through my final years at university and beyond became obsolete.
As I replaced it with a MacBook, I decided to donate it for free to a no profit youth organization, who could have still used it for basic administrative stuff (in fact, they didn’t).
I regretted it immediately. Even though just an object, I realized how important that object had been in my life.
Now, I know it may sound silly and that a good psychologist would have a lot to say about it, but I think it’s an important dimension to consider before getting rid of the objects of our life.

 

[Yoda]

It reminds me of when my beloved Ti book 667 DVI who had driven me through my final years at university and beyond became obsolete.
As I replaced it with a MacBook, I decided to donate it for free to a no profit youth organization, who could have still used it for basic administrative stuff (in fact, they didn’t).
I regretted it immediately. Even though just an object, I realized how important that object had been in my life.
Now, I know it may sound silly and that a good psychologist would have a lot to say about it, but I think it’s an important dimension to consider before getting rid of the objects of our life.

I have regretted every instance where I have parted with an old system which had been of importance to me. I've not typically sold them, but given them away, and really knew I should have kept them all. That includes a PB 170, SE, LC475 and G4 iMac.

On the other hand, I bought a PB1400/117 new in early 1997 and absolutely loathed it. It was almost never used, and in fact I thought I'd given it away, but found it in a pile of mostly discarded stuff years later. It's now one of my favourite vintage Macs.

I'm not sure the money I could make from selling any of these things is really worth the loss of having them.

 

[phunguss]

This guy looks like he could be a buyer, and can afford your price.

 

[mc2]

Thank-you all for suggestions and some places to do some more investigating. I would probably hang onto it all if I had room ... but I just got separated from my wife last year and have been on leave from work for 2.5 years, and find myself in quite a small apartment that I still haven't managed to set-up for all the boxes!! So this is unfortunately one of my "must-dos". And finding a good home is more important than the money, although I'd like a fair compensation.

Happy for any more suggestions and I'll post here with more info/queries as I come up with them

 

[Elemenoh]

It's a really lovely setup. Perhaps a museum like System Source would be interested in acquiring it. It'd be so great if it was able to be on a public display. I'll let a friend associated with the museum know about this thread.

 

[mc2]

Thank you so much @Elemenoh! Really appreciate the referral

I was wondering about museums or universities, especially as the NeXT was marketed heavily as a higher education computer. I bought mine from the university bookstore I was attending (UBC in Vancouver, BC).

 

[ScutBoy]

That's a beautiful collection, especially with the color printer! Definitely in the four figures, but how high? That depends on how bad someone wants it. Location/shipping is almost as big a factor as price for stuff like this - finding the right person - locally - is going to be the trick.

As an aside if you or anyone has a NeXT non-ADB soundbox, I could use one.

 

[JDW]

What does the Soundbox even do?

 

[mc2]

The soundbox is a dedicated speaker and has a headphone jack if I remember. They didn’t want just tinny sound coming out of the monitor

 

[mc2]

BTW @JDW , I loooved my G4 Cube and also bought the clear speakers Apple had made by Harmon Kardon. That was a sexy system!

 

[phunguss]

BTW @JDW , I loooved my G4 Cube and also bought the clear speakers Apple had made by Harmon Kardon. That was a sexy system!

I still have 5 cubes (1 working G4, 4 hackintoshes)

 

[Patrick]

wasn't the soundbox also the powersupply or something? basically you couldn't operate the computer without one? (i might me thinking of something else. I know the 20th anniversary mac is like that)

the NeXT computer (any one) and a G4 cube is on my would like to have one day list....

 

[Fizzbinn]

What does the Soundbox even do?

Apparently NeXT machines had proprietary displays that included speakers, sound in/out, and the keyboard connection (ADB) for the computer. The Sound Box along with a Y cable let you use "standard" rebadged or 3rd party displays.

Good explanation here:

 

[ScutBoy]

The early NeXT monitors included the connections for the keyboard (with attached mouse) and also provided the speaker, and connections for sound in/out. Later, as @Fizzbinn said, to allow for the use of more "generic" monitors, those connections were moved to the soundbox.

Instead of one cable coming from the back of the monitor to the workstation, there was a "Y" cable that had one leg connecting to the soundbox, and the other leg connecting to the monitor. There were both ADB and non-ADB versions.

I'm looking for a non-ADB version so I can use a color monitor on my NeXTDimension board in my Cube without having to have the usual mono monitor connected as well to provide the keyboard/mouse connection. With the soundbox I can run just the one monitor - and save a _lot_ of space on my desk!