What are your vintage grail items?

[XodiumRetro]

Grail in this case meaning (for the uninitiated) an item that you've wanted for a while, but haven't been able to acquire (either due to timing, or it being so rare, etc.)

Curious as to what your deepest vintage computing desires are.

At least for myself, I kinda have 3, all vintage Macs, and all for nostalgia's sake:

Power Mac 8100: My very first PPC Mac. Was given to me by a friend who worked for a computer recycler in the early 2000s and it rolled across his desk. That recycler would actually take in eWaste and rebuild it and donate it to local schools that needed computers, and the policy was that for every two computers you built and shipped, you could build one of your own if you wanted and take it home. They later killed that policy but not before I got some sick scores.

Power Mac 9500: Happened in much the same way. Friend caught it, pulled it out of the pile of computers, and brought it home as a nice upgrade for me. Replaced the 8100 and was my primary PPC Mac until I upgraded to a iMac G3 a few years later.

Power Mac 9600/Beige G3 Tower: The "I wish I had this" machine of my youth. My friend who set me up actually built himself up quite a nice little machine by the end of the recycler's "take stuff home" policy, even scoring a Sonnet G3 for it at some point and a gigantic (well, to us at the time) 10GB hard drive for it.

The fun part is I actually had an 8100 with a Maxpowr G3 in it by the end of high school (2007 or so) that I scored from my school's ewaste bin, but alas, it got lost when I had to move after I graduated. So close, but yet...so far.

 

[trag]

I've been answering this question the same way for the last 20 years...

The docking card for the Outbound Laptop Model 125.

It installs in a Mac Plus or Mac SE and displaces the ROMs. When the Outbound is docked, it can use the desktop machine's screen and ports, supposedly.

The host machine won't operate without the docked Outbound, so the few machines that ever had the docking card have probably been scrapped as non-working.

An incomplete unit did turn up on Ebay and a member of 68Kmla managed to buy it. But it lacks at least one critical component that will cause guess work to replace.

Edit: A few photos of the Outbound Laptop Model 125 (but not the docking station, darn-it).

https://www.prismnet.com/~trag/Outbound/MVC-681F.JPG

https://www.prismnet.com/~trag/Outbound/MVC-686F.JPG

https://www.prismnet.com/~trag/Outbound/MVC-687F.JPG

https://www.prismnet.com/~trag/Outbound/MVC-691F.JPG

https://www.prismnet.com/~trag/Outbound/MVC-683F.JPG

 

[MindThreat]

Not many now but not likely I'll be acquiring any of them anytime soon either, if ever. That's ok, because honestly I'm pretty damn happy with my Retro Mobile Office as it is. It mostly quenches the retro nostalgia thirst and in some actual useful ways. I'm not a collector and really only want what I'll use in the end.

If, however, luck were to be on my side.... not that I don't consider myself already fortunate with what I have:

1. An Atari STBook - I was set out and determined to get one so I could add it into my studio mix for sequencing. Not because it's practical nor does it even make sense, but purely because I thought it was a seriously cool machine and one that I would just enjoy using. I give this one credit though because it's what sort of forced me into the retro-Mac enthusiast culture.

I've always been a fan of product families with matching peripherals and/or accessories and had stumbled upon some relatively cheap PowerBook laptops that included a color printer that caught my eye. Didn't end up winning that particular setup but it did force me to dive far deeper down the Mac rabbit hole than I would have ever imagined getting into. It brought me to purchasing a 1400c and 2200 StyleWriter that got my feet wet. It was all downhill from there...

2. Power Macintosh 5500 - I'm in the U.S. so that sort of makes it already a no-go possibility regardless of any lust or desire one could have. I still can't confirm one way or another if they actually released any black variants of the Performas in the U.S. or not (seems to be some saying they have or found one then reading elsewhere saying none were ever released in the U.S.) maybe someone here can confirm. Anyways, it would make a great corner system to the Kanga setup for when I'm wanting to run some other things having the A/V input but in the end, I realize it's not a necessity and actually obtaining one would seem highly unlikely.

...it would be either 2 or 3, never both as I wouldn't need or want both, but...

3. Blue/White G3 with Apple Studio Display - I think this one is reasonable to hopefully obtain someday but the problem appears to be that 99% of them are discolored and/or in awful shape. At least from what I've seen. Blake had an older photo of his blue G3 setup on Flickr and I've been kind of hooked ever since, feeling like it would be the desktop throne to shine alongside the Kanga. Since it has an ADB port, I could also still use it to connect with the QuickTakes.

 

[displaced]

Seconded on that ST Book! Another of mine would be an Atari TT030, but they’re insanely expensive.

I keep an eye out for an Intertec SuperBrain because, well, that name! And I’d really love to find a Spectrum 128K ‘toastrack’ model that isn’t north of £300!

 

[Kai Robinson]

For me, it's an Acorn 3010 or 3020 — hard to find one for a decent price these days, that's not been destroyed by the power of Varta battery explosion.

 

[Danny D]

An Apple Hard Disk 20. I should have never thrown mine out all those years ago. Thankfully there's much smaller options nowadays.

 

[larbob]

Off of the top of my head: Apple Network Server, a Tadpole Alpha/PA-RISC laptop, Silicon Graphics desksides (especially the Crimson or Onyx), if I ever have the space some large machines (e.g. VAXen, AlphaServer GS*, a large Origin cluster, Superdome), SGI Tezro, a Sony NEWS workstation, Luna 88k, a NeXTcube with NeXTdimension. There are definitely more that I'd absolutely love but don't immediately come to mind.

 

[displaced]

For me, it's an Acorn 3010 or 3020 — hard to find one for a decent price these days, that's not been destroyed by the power of Varta battery explosion.

Oooh yes, the 3020’s a wonderful machine — just tops the 3010 for me due to the on-board IDE, which frees up the Podule slot for an Ethernet card or something.

You’re right though, those damn Vartas. I took a chance on a very bad-looking 3020 a couple of years ago and to my amazement it worked great after a white vinegar/distilled water wash.

I often see those pop up on eBay and really hope someone buys and saves them!

 

[XodiumRetro]

Have another one to add now that I think of it:

An original/2nd gen iPod. Not that I'd ever daily it like my other iPods, but I've always kinda wanted one, even as far back as the mid 2000s (though back then I wanted one to actually fix up and use since I couldn't afford a new iPod at the time, and using a CD player was getting kinda cumbersome.)

For getting something that I'd daily drive the 3rd gen is the lowest I'd go because that thing is a pain in the half to use. (I actually have one. It's like trying to daily drive a perpetually broken project car. Sigh.)

 

[JDW]

• Backlit Macintosh Portable (because despite it's size, it's a rather attractive looking machine, and the first flat-panel portable Mac from Apple).
• Quadra 840AV (because it's the fastest 68k Mac)

Neither are rare. I've just never gotten around to paying the prices demanded for those machines, especially since shipping to Japan is so expensive. Living in Japan also means I'm tight on space too. I love my SE/30's and now love my newly acquired Color Classic, but my collection just won't feel complete without a Portable & 840AV.

 

[Mu0n]

I guess a color classic compact mac with acceleration, but I'm not going out of my way to find it, especially not at the current prices. I'm less keen on finding one compared to others, since this period of Macintosh isn't nostalgic for me, I was moving on to PCs by that time. I like to maintain compatibility with truly old stuff that can only run on Pluses and System 1-5. One could argue that I'd prefer a Mac 512k to run ancient stuff like ChipWits natively, but there has been a compatible hacked version by now, iirc.

So I'm kinda good - my wants are related to repairing what I have, not going out of my way to increase my collection. Of course, if the situation presents itself at easy prices, I'm only human.

 

[XodiumRetro]

3. Blue/White G3 with Apple Studio Display - I think this one is reasonable to hopefully obtain someday but the problem appears to be that 99% of them are discolored and/or in awful shape. At least from what I've seen. Blake had an older photo of his blue G3 setup on Flickr and I've been kind of hooked ever since, feeling like it would be the desktop throne to shine alongside the Kanga. Since it has an ADB port, I could also still use it to connect with the QuickTakes.

View attachment 419

As someone who owns a B/W G3, I can attest to this. The plastics on them did NOT age well at all, in my case. All the feet and handles broke on mine pretty quick after I pulled it from storage. I actually replaced them with feet/handles from a trashed Quicksilver chassis. Looks a little odd, but better than nothing, at least!

 

[KnobsNSwitches]

Maybe it's cliche, but for me it would a TAM...just the mystique (that may or may not have have been true) that you could pay to have an Apple guy with white gloves come set up your crazy expensive computer is something I'd love to own.

Prices have always been high, though, and now they seem to be astronomical.

 

[alex_santos]

Motorola Marco (no manual but I got someone to take photos of each page before selling their's on eBay). I have yet to get the manual on archive.org
Powerbook 2400
eMate
SE/30
Quadra 950
Colour Classic (note the u in color)

I have those above but …

What I would love to own again is an Atari 800. I owned one and sold it as a youngster. Would love to have one again.

 

[Certificate of Excellence]

Hmm, at this point, a Titanium laptop or a 15" DLSD ... a new lobo for my dead 17" SLSD would be great. A leaky PowerPC quad would be cool but not a bucket list item. It's kind of funny to me that I dont so much have an extensive computer bucket list. It's more a bucket computer parts list.


Oh yeah, I forgot one - a cube. Never owned one and would love to have something to hold up some books with.

 

[Kai Robinson]

Oooh yes, the 3020’s a wonderful machine — just tops the 3010 for me due to the on-board IDE, which frees up the Podule slot for an Ethernet card or something.

You’re right though, those damn Vartas. I took a chance on a very bad-looking 3020 a couple of years ago and to my amazement it worked great after a white vinegar/distilled water wash.

I often see those pop up on eBay and really hope someone buys and saves them!

I know Rob Taylor had begun work on reverse engineering a board, but if anyone has a dead one they want to strip and scan, send it my way to replicate it

 

[aradiogurl]

I have a fairly sizable holy grail list, usually machines I have experience with but never got to tinker with or really learn how to use.

Apple Lisa/Mac XL - I remember reading about the Lisa not long after getting online in 1997 and have wanted one ever since.
Amiga 2000 - Used one during my undergrad, was only good for video editing due to a failing hdd, but wanted one ever since
LNW-80 Production Model w/RGB ROMs - TRS-80 Clone. Grew up with one of these in my parents basement (it's a business machine, don't touch!), always wanted to learn how to use it. I picked up one built from a kit (being restored), but it did not have the RGB option/ROMs.
LNW-80/2 - Not even sure this machine exists outside of promotional photos/ads
Color Classic II
LC575/Performa 575 - First Mac I wanted, before I owned a computer.
Flower Power iMac
Daystar Genesis MP
SuperMac S900/S910
Macintosh Clones that aren't missing case parts
The missing covers for my StarMax 4000 and PowerComputing PowerCenter
SGI Indigo or O2
Sun workstation (almost any)

 

[fehervaria]

Wow! All of you have amazing list already about the dream machines.
Here is my list:

• original Macintosh from 1984 and its brother the Macintosh 512k --> in Europe they are crazy expensive
• iMac G3 Dalmatian and Flower Power
• eMac G4 1.42GHz
• Apple Alu-Cinema Display 30"
• Apple Lisa

I love the compact Mac series from the original Macintosh till the eMac through the iMac G3s. iMac G4s are also included...
The Macintosh, Macintosh SE, Macintosh Classic, iMac G3 and eMac are the "same" machines.

 

[Certificate of Excellence]

Wow! All of you have amazing list already about the dream machines.
Here is my list:

• original Macintosh from 1984 and its brother the Macintosh 512k --> in Europe they are crazy expensive
• iMac G3 Dalmatian and Flower Power
• eMac G4 1.42GHz
• Apple Alu-Cinema Display 30"
• Apple Lisa

I love the compact Mac series from the original Macintosh till the eMac through the iMac G3s. iMac G4s are also included...
The Macintosh, Macintosh SE, Macintosh Classic, iMac G3 and eMac are the "same" machines.

Oh you reminded me - I do have one bucket list item to add - a set of 30" cinema displays. Yeah baby

 

[reallyrandy]

My holy grail item is a Dash 30fx. Back in the late 80's, I was employee #1 at a company called Cactus. We developed and sold the world's first large format digital printing system. We used 3 Dash 30fx boxes for Imaging/color correction, RIP, and Print. I put a SCSI card in each one and cabled them to an external Micronet 1GB drive. It was blazing fast networking! I would love to recreate one of those workstations, I still have the Cactus software after all these years.

The other wanted items are in my signature.