Yes.

But i have to admit... I dont care 😁 ... Too much parts? Get more space 😁

On a little side note, it was curious for me to recently note that more and more people that I know of around me, as well as other collectors and even youTube related collectors are deciding to actively sell most if not all their retro collections, or just retro stuff - let alone dealing with surplus hardware and extra bits and bobs.

Realising that, I asked one of them why all of a sudden he decided to do it: "I've scratched my nostalgia itch already, and I've realized I've spent way more time fixing, problem solving and tinkering rather than enjoying this stuff. It's no longer a source of pleasure in general, so I think it ran its course for me. Once you finally get that thing you wanted you find out you end up using it as much as anything else really".

As for me what I have are basically some builds, and some stuff that came with the cases for these builds that ended up being surplus. I'm recycling some non salvageable stuff too so even less stuff will remain. If I need a certain component to replace something and I don't have it I'll just buy it. But I do think I'm slowing to a halt as well by now.

I'm also trying to slow the things down.
Not because of loss of interest, but lack of time.

I don't keep a lot of cases and uses a test bench when I need to use a system a few days/weeks.
I only have cases for "finished" systems .
Not having PCs in cases also remove the need to keep a lot of CD/Floppy drives. I keep 2 beige, 1 black that's all. Same for the cables.

I try to keep only the best of a series. I sold my Radeon X1950XT when I got an X1950XTX.

I sell less interesting parts for cheap (<10€). Cards i got in a lot. Like a Radeon 9250 i sold 3days ago... It actually sells quite well over time for 5/7€. But testing before selling takes a lot of time.I sold once to a 13yo kid who was interested in old computers. Obviously with a super tight budget. I managed to squeeze extra goodies in the box for free without exceeding the max weight of the package. I hope he will keep enjoying retro stuff.

I also sell not working but rare/valuable parts. Some people just want them on display. So it sells as well.

I avoid throwing away things that work. So I generally give the rest for free. Things like 100Mbps PCI network cards. Wifi PCMCIA, Via USB cards, FireWire stuff 😂. I have a friend that sells this kind of things to recyclers but I really hate to waste working stuff.

Sell or give away.

Unless something is completely beyond saving, I'm reluctant to dump anything at recyclers in case it could have been useful to someone.

andre_6 wrote on 2023-08-10, 20:34:

... I asked one of them why all of a sudden he decided to do it: "I've scratched my nostalgia itch already, and I've realized I've spent way more time fixing, problem solving and tinkering rather than enjoying this stuff. It's no longer a source of pleasure in general, so I think it ran its course for me. Once you finally get that thing you wanted you find out you end up using it as much as anything else really".
...

That depends on the type of collection...
I do not collect to get specific parts i had when i was young, or the best of the best. For me the fun is to get things going, see how things work and save / document stuff.
Fixing, problem solving and tinkering is exactly how i remember the times back then... and i dont want it any other way... A working machine is boring. A broken machine is a challenge.

Now that basically everything is RARE!!!! and VINTAGE!!!!! i can understand that people forget why they once started collecting and sell off parts to get some cash. We have reached the bottom of the barrel... You can get either overpriced stuff or "untested" crap...

I give them away for free. There is a thread for it here, but even that can be time consuming, so i bundle them to lower the effort.

You can send anything that is unwanted to me =D 😀

I save drives even if I don't need them. A couple of years ago just happened that for whatever reason a good chunk of optical drives just stopped reading CDs. At the same time. CDs only. The DVD combo drives read DVDs. And while just 2 years ago they were common and cheap, IDE optical drives started to become less common and less cheap.

Same with hard drives. Sub-80GB IDE hard drives are starting to get rare so I never throw them out.

For the rest, I bulk list them on trading sites as auctions. I make some beer money even on common trash. And if absolutely no one is interested, I list them as free pick-ups.

I think the main problem is really the ATX cases which take up the actual space. But somehow I feel bad when throwing out any grey tower. It just feels wrong 😀

RandomStranger wrote on 2023-08-18, 10:51:

I save drives even if I don't need them. A couple of years ago just happened that for whatever reason a good chunk of optical drives just stopped reading CDs.

Some time ago a sold a Compaq Deskpro. I got it with an old Mitsumi CD drive which I kept but promised the buyer a DVD drive. I had to test 3 drives from my box before I found a working one. Should I find the time someday I'm planning to test them all. Is it possible that optical drives are all dying? When I get new hardware I usually only test if it boots but not the drives. So it is might very well be that many in my box are dead without me knowing.

I've amassed a huge pile of stuff (currently a temporary pile of boxes, crates and cases filling my bedroom and garage - sitting room was cleared for fitting carpet yesterday 😀 ) that I'm going to be sorting onto shelves shortly. Going to test what I can (some CPUs with sockets I'm less interested in will remain untested, and be sold as such). Much of my collection will be sold after testing and sorting, with the exception of parts I want to try writing drivers for (I'll keep most high end stuff and a few rare parts), just because. I want room to move around in my bungalow more than I want parts now that will probably never get used beyond basic testing.

it why i choose to collect only a restitect kynd of item, only IBM ond no more than one for socket from 5150 to Socket 478.

AlessandroB wrote on 2023-08-18, 17:05:

it why i choose to collect only a restitect kynd of item, only IBM ond no more than one for socket from 5150 to Socket 478.

🤣, that's what I wish I had done from the start. My original intention was just to have one of every stepping / revision of every x86 CPU for testing and optimising code I was writing at the time. This quickly turned into hoarding far more than my home is suitable for 😀

I don't have that huge of a problem with different components. But different systems yes and not only PCs. I have for example four C64s with three different MB revisions (all longboards), all of which needed smaller or bigger repairs and some were in many ways simply in disgusting condition. Of my PCs, I also have few 486s, two of them for all practical purposes same computers. Although I've tried to make them a bit different (other has 5.25" 1.2MB floppy and no CD, other has CD and external 5.25" 360kB floppy, they have different sound cards, other has MPU-401 card and so on).

I have probably 35 working vintage systems both old computers and consoles as well as several CRTs, controllers and other accessories and I'm simply running out of storage space. It would be a good idea to sell something so that I could get space and perhaps buy some new interesting systems that I haven't experienced. But it is just so damn difficult to start selling those, like the C64s I mentioned. I have spent time repairing, restoring or modding many of them and because many of them have taken quite a lot of effort and time, I've sort of grown fond of them. It sounds extremely silly as they are just obsolete technology, but that's the way it is for me.

But I have also tuned down my purchases a lot during this year and I nowadays mostly buy components and other smaller stuff and my aim is that instead of getting new desktop or tower boxes, I focus on making new builds into the few standard cases I already have and continue improving my repair skills, that is find defective MBs and other components for repairs and so on.

HanSolo wrote on 2023-08-10, 19:35:

I often get old PCs from various sources (family, friends, friend's friends) but even with interesting stuff comes along a lot of stuff that I don't need. I try to keep as much as I can because 'you never know'. So meanwhile I have a boxes full of IDE HD-, CD/DVD-, floppy-drives, ATX PSUs, several old grey ATX-cases, and LCD-monitors.
The cases are easy because the eat up the most space so they will be dumped when I need that (the hard part is deciding which cases shall go). But for all the rest, I justify it by saying that one box more or less doesn't matter.

Do you guys have similar problems? I mean it's not really a problem to have 3 boxes full of IDE harddrives (unless they need to be moved around...) but it's also pretty pointless, isn't it? And selling such stuff isn't worth the time since those are no valuable items.

I see the situation like this:

On one hand, when you start collecting something, your interest usually spreads out so you never know what you'll need tomorrow, so why not to keep every piece of vintage hardware and software you got.

On the other hand, 95% of the stuff you don't need today (and some % of the stuff you thought you need today but it turned out that you actually don't) you won't need tomorrow also. So why not to sell all of that stuff as soon as possible since money can buy anything you need, also things that are outside of your hobby.

Which way to choose? It depends on what actually gives you more satisfaction, keeping lots of vintage computer stuff or keeping lots of money.

ThinkpadIL wrote on 2023-08-18, 20:11:

I see the situation like this: […]
Show full quote

HanSolo wrote on 2023-08-10, 19:35:

I often get old PCs from various sources (family, friends, friend's friends) but even with interesting stuff comes along a lot of stuff that I don't need. I try to keep as much as I can because 'you never know'. So meanwhile I have a boxes full of IDE HD-, CD/DVD-, floppy-drives, ATX PSUs, several old grey ATX-cases, and LCD-monitors.
The cases are easy because the eat up the most space so they will be dumped when I need that (the hard part is deciding which cases shall go). But for all the rest, I justify it by saying that one box more or less doesn't matter.

Do you guys have similar problems? I mean it's not really a problem to have 3 boxes full of IDE harddrives (unless they need to be moved around...) but it's also pretty pointless, isn't it? And selling such stuff isn't worth the time since those are no valuable items.

I see the situation like this:

On one hand, when you start collecting something, your interest usually spreads out so you never know what you'll need tomorrow, so why not to keep every piece of vintage hardware and software you got.

On the other hand, 95% of the stuff you don't need today (and some % of the stuff you thought you need today but it turned out that you actually don't) you won't need tomorrow also. So why not to sell all of that stuff as soon as possible since money can buy anything you need, also things that are outside of your hobby.

Which way to choose? It depends on what actually gives you more satisfaction, keeping lots of vintage computer stuff or keeping lots of money.

A third consideration is space. I think it's healthy to declutter every year and get rid of stuff I don't need. Old computers can take up a lot of room, especially for those of us in apartments.

Ensign Nemo wrote on 2023-08-18, 20:18:

ThinkpadIL wrote on 2023-08-18, 20:11:

I see the situation like this: […]
Show full quote

HanSolo wrote on 2023-08-10, 19:35:

I often get old PCs from various sources (family, friends, friend's friends) but even with interesting stuff comes along a lot of stuff that I don't need. I try to keep as much as I can because 'you never know'. So meanwhile I have a boxes full of IDE HD-, CD/DVD-, floppy-drives, ATX PSUs, several old grey ATX-cases, and LCD-monitors.
The cases are easy because the eat up the most space so they will be dumped when I need that (the hard part is deciding which cases shall go). But for all the rest, I justify it by saying that one box more or less doesn't matter.

Do you guys have similar problems? I mean it's not really a problem to have 3 boxes full of IDE harddrives (unless they need to be moved around...) but it's also pretty pointless, isn't it? And selling such stuff isn't worth the time since those are no valuable items.

I see the situation like this:

On one hand, when you start collecting something, your interest usually spreads out so you never know what you'll need tomorrow, so why not to keep every piece of vintage hardware and software you got.

On the other hand, 95% of the stuff you don't need today (and some % of the stuff you thought you need today but it turned out that you actually don't) you won't need tomorrow also. So why not to sell all of that stuff as soon as possible since money can buy anything you need, also things that are outside of your hobby.

Which way to choose? It depends on what actually gives you more satisfaction, keeping lots of vintage computer stuff or keeping lots of money.

A third consideration is space. I think it's healthy to declutter every year and get rid of stuff I don't need. Old computers can take up a lot of room, especially for those of us in apartments.

Well, if it is important enough for you, you always can buy or rent some more space.

I try to sell them at Marzaglia, and soon on the classifieds too (pickup only of course) 😀

But it confirms what I first noticed selling DS games in 2007 at the age of 11: getting rid of something is a necessary condition to regret doing so 😁
It helps that one such computer was assembled last week out of parts I found in a forgotten box in the garage…

I have a bunch of stuff I wanted to sell or give away but time ran out before my move, so they moved with me. Few boxes full of various cards that should get better homes, eventually I'll see how I can distribute them so they become someone else's problem 🤣.
Some things I do cannibalize, but they are usually things beyond repair or lesser things that can fix up a more valuable thing.

ThinkpadIL wrote on 2023-08-18, 20:42:

Ensign Nemo wrote on 2023-08-18, 20:18:

ThinkpadIL wrote on 2023-08-18, 20:11:

I see the situation like this: […]
Show full quote

I see the situation like this:

On one hand, when you start collecting something, your interest usually spreads out so you never know what you'll need tomorrow, so why not to keep every piece of vintage hardware and software you got.

On the other hand, 95% of the stuff you don't need today (and some % of the stuff you thought you need today but it turned out that you actually don't) you won't need tomorrow also. So why not to sell all of that stuff as soon as possible since money can buy anything you need, also things that are outside of your hobby.

Which way to choose? It depends on what actually gives you more satisfaction, keeping lots of vintage computer stuff or keeping lots of money.

A third consideration is space. I think it's healthy to declutter every year and get rid of stuff I don't need. Old computers can take up a lot of room, especially for those of us in apartments.

Well, if it is important enough for you, you always can buy or rent some more space.

For sure. Where I live, storage is super expensive, so it would be cheaper for me to give stuff away and buy it again later, rather than keep it in storage. My options are to either keep stuff in my apartment or pay a lot for storage. Personally, I'd rather get rid of stuff I don't to keep the clutter down in my apartment. I'm not passing judgement. That's just my own choice.