Tag Archives: bid

Apple-1 computer auctions off for $211,000

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Earlier this month it was reported that a rare Apple-1 computer was going to be auctioned off at Christie’s in London.  Italian private collector Marco Boglione offered the highest and took away the ancient Apple-1 for a whopping  £133,250, or about $$211,535.  Back when Steves Jobs and Wozniak manufactured and distributed the Apple-1 it cost exactly $666.66, mind you.  But Boglione is a collector and certainly realizes how awesome it is to own the original Apple computer boxed up by current Apple CEO Steve Jobs back in 1976.  And this is a collector’s item–only 200 of these were made.  Wozniak was on hand at the auction event and signed a letter for the top bidder.  Now he has signatures from both Apple collaborators.  In addition to the computer parts, a letter to the original owner concluded with warm regards from a “Steven Jobs” was included with the auction item.  I still think this item belongs in a museum; oh well.

[Via Engadget; BBC]

Apple-1 computer about to be auctioned away

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Calling this particular auction item a rarity is a bit of an understatement.  This here Apple-1 computer is 1 of 200 made by original Apple founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak.  You’ve heard the tales of Jobs and Woz tinkering inside the walls of Jobs’ garage; this fascinating piece of machinery imagined, designed, and eventually sold in 1976 during those primitive days of early personal computing.  The sale will include all the original contents of the Apple-1: an Apple-1 motherboard (number 82), printed circuit board, three capacitors, a heatsink, cassette board connector, 8kb of RAM, and a keyboard interface.  In addition to the bits and pieces, the item will ship in its original packaging, along with printed manuals and a letter from Jobs himself!  Said letter was a typed response to the original owner of the computer answering some questions.  The item goes on the auction block at Christie’s in London on November 23, with a starting bid set at £100,000 – £150,000 (or $160,300 – $240,450).  Curious to see where it ends up; dontcha think an item as exceptional and rare as this should find a home at a museum?

[Via Christie’s; Engadget]

‘Lost’ auction nets over $1 million, fans revel at The Island one last time

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From August 21-22 the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California was transformed into a Lost fan’s wet dream.  Not only did it house Lost memorabilia for the show’s most diehard fans and collectors to bid on, but it also contained key set pieces from the show (ie. the Oceanic 815 plane, the hatch, pieces of The Black Rock and The Temple) and actors (Sterling Beaumon (Young Ben Linus), Andrea Gabriel (Nadia), and Daniel Roebuck (Dr. Arzt)) for fans to see and take pictures with.  The auction was a smashing success; people in-person, over the telephone, and online paid a pretty penny to call themselves owners of some of Lost‘s most recognizable items.  The first day of bidding netted around $900,000, and early estimates speculated that the second day would exceed sales of $1 million.  Though it has not been disclosed where all the money will go, it has been made public that an undetermined portion of the proceeds will land in the hands of Hawaii-based charities.

So how much did some of the most exciting items go for?  The Dharma Van proved to be the most valuable item at the auction; it sold for $47,500!  Not even Hurley’s hot Camaro, which sold for $20,000, could top the vehicle that turned Hurley’s luck around.  Somewhat fitting, isn’t it?  Other top prizes include: Jacob’s dial mechanism and mirror array from “The Lighthouse” ($27,500); the frozen donkey wheel ($22,500);  Faraday’s journal ($20,000); the Dharma Swan station computer ($16,000); the pilot script signed by J.J. Abrams & Damon Lindelof ($15,000); 12 cans of Dharma beer ($5,000); Locke’s wheelchair ($3,250); and Sawyer’s paperback copy of Watership Down ($2,750).

Look after the break for a slightly more extensive list of the top-selling items from the auction.  Also after the break is a 12-minute video that will take you on a brief tour around the hangar.

[Via EW-PopWatch; TheWashingtonPost] Continue reading ‘Lost’ auction nets over $1 million, fans revel at The Island one last time →

Lost memorabilia up for auction; ultimate Losties inquire within

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Make your own kind of music, sing your own special song; make your own kind of music, even if nobody else sings along.

Who could forget the season two opener “Man of Science, Man of Faith”…when we first discovered a mysterious man living underground inside a hatch?  This man, who we would later come to know and love as Desmond David Hume, was minding his own business and listening to a catchy tune called “Make Your Own Kind of Music” by “Mama” Cass Elliot when another man named John Locke interupted his life of ever-lasting solitude with a loud blast of dynamite atop the Dharma-constructed hatch door.  The song abruptly stoppped when the needle fell off the record and the rest, as they say, is history.

And now you have a chance to be part of that history by owning the very record player that was used in the show!  On August 21-22, LOST: The Official Show Auction will take place at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California.  Literally hundreds of Lost props and costumes will be available for fans to bid on.  Everything from Dharma beer cans to Charlie’s DriveShaft ring to Desmond’s photo of himself with Penny to Mr. Eko’s Jesus stick to the blue Dharma van to Jughead to Faraday’s time travel journal (“Desmond Hume will be my constant!”) to Locke’s wheelchair to Carl’s brainwashing googles to Naomi’s Iridium 9500 satellite phone…ugh I’m out of breath…will be up for grabs at the live auction next month.  But don’t expect to get away with any of these items easily.  The Apple-II Plus computer with an Apple III monitor (aka the Swan Station computer Desmond then Locke then Eko used to type in the Numbers every 108 minutes) starts at $1000.  But then again the Swan Station film projector and screen (the medium that first introduced Locke, Jack, and us to Mr. Pierre Change) is given a range of $400-$600, so item pricing will vary.

Interested in bidding?  You have a few options.  You can attend the live action in Santa Monica or you can bid over the phone, with absentee forms, or over the Internet at Live Auctioneers.  Interested in eyeing the goods?  Look in the gallery below for just a handful.  You’re going to want to hit up Profiles in History to view the full catalog (organized by season).  Each item is tagged with a description that’ll job your memory concerning its use in the show.  Minutes will quickly turn into hours when you browse this ultimate collection of Lost shwag.  Have fun, and happy bidding!

[Via Engadget]

Microsoft employee bids $35,000 to tour boss’s (Bill Gates’) home

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Microsoft holds an annual charity campaign.  When fall comes around MS “donates products, services, and experiences” for their elite employees to bid on.  It’s a yearly extravaganza when it comes to watching for the highest bid to tour of Bill Gates’ Lake Washington home.  Last year the winning bid was a measly $8,600.  One lucky Microsoft employee and a few of his friends will be taken on a personal tour of the Gates estate by Bill himself–in exchange for $35,000!  MS matches the donation too, so this philanthropic venture is whole-heartedly (very) good in nature.

Oh, what I’d do to go on a personal tour of Bill Gates’ home…  I bet there’s all kinds of insanely awesome gadgetry and futuristic, out-of-this-world stuff that would just make my tech heart melt.  For some reason I can imagine a Massive Dynamic feel to the place, with Melinda taking the place of Nina Sharp, of course.

[Via Gizmodo; TechFlash]