Re: [vcf-midatlantic] OT: large # of Vintage items for sale
That is well beyond what I'd pay.
Agreed. That's nuts. On Thu, Nov 7, 2019, 9:39 PM madodel via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
On 11/7/19 21:23, Alexander Pierson via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
The pricepoint this kid has in mind doesn't seem to be based heavily on previous transactions. While I currently don't have my ear to the ground for Hero robot ebay sales, I used to for quite awhile. tl;dr: take my assessment here with a grain of salt.
Complete Hero-1 robots usually fetch a few hundred bucks, anywhere from 200 for ones in need of serious repair, all the way up to about 500 for a complete working unit. Sometimes you see them go higher, especially if they've got all the bells in whistles, in good shape, complete documentation with the addendums issued by Heathkit. Those schematics changed with time, and so they sent you little pieces of paper to cut out and tape over the old sections of schematics.
I've only ever seen one complete, sealed, mint Hero 2000 for sale before, and that went for 3 grand. Now, keep in mind that the Hero 2000 is by far the most elusive model, with the fewest total manufactured units, but also the most power. A base Hero 2000 has somewhere like 6 processors/coprocessors on board and can be maxed out at about a dozen, depending on installed options. I've never seen seen a Hero 2000 in meatspace before. I know this seller has one for just over 5 grand, but it's in rough shape from what the pictures show. I spot plenty of rust. At a tenth of that, it might be worth the gamble, but even that's pushing it in my book.
Back to the NIB Hero-1. Seeing as it was the popular model used by schools and hobbyists alike, they're far more common than the 2000 or the Jr. To put one of those at about 14 grand for a sealed kit? That's quite absurd. Unbuilt Hero-1's are something I've only ever seen once before, and it was a long time ago, so whatever it fetched has long since left my mental cache. Plus, it only looked like one box -- there's no way that includes a lot of the features that make a Hero-1 desirable. Thus, it's likely a very barebones unit from what I understand. You would have to confer with Robert Doerr, who is the defacto expert on all things Heathkit Hero, in order to reach a better assessment. Lastly, that same seller has another Hero-1, with no visible arm, and not all of the panels visible. I see manuals, but I do not see schematics. It's also dirty in ways that make me sad. There's also more circuitry than I've ever seen near the head battery cage, stacked on top of the sonar receiver. Maybe that's a later revision? Again, Mr. Doerr is your best resource there. Anyway, you could cut his price in half and I still wouldn't touch it based on this condition. Hopefully my rambling mess is helpful.
-Alexander 'Z' Pierson
Thanks. That is helpful. I know nothing about this and the seller told me to make an offer. I'd be just buying it to donate to the museum. He gave me no price. So if I offer $2000 would that be fair? I just want a fair price to him that doesn't Did he ask $14,000 for it? That is well beyond what I'd pay.
Mark
He asked for close to 15 grand in the listing. Again, absurd. I don't think I would personally drop more than 3 figures on any sealed NIB Hero-1, let alone one that looks like it was stored with two other robots, one of which is clearly dirty, and the other is rusty. The most valuable thing in that box is a cherry, unpopulated I/O logic board which is the most common part to fail on Hero-1 robots right after the batteries (which are understandably a consumable). Whisking that off to be scanned for preservation and replication efforts to serve other robots in the community? There's potential benefit there. Right now there is one photo of this box, and I call that one heck of a gamble at 2 grand. Maybe see if he's able to take more photos to confirm the packing seal on the box? I'm not sure what else to suggest. -Alexander 'Z' Pierson On Thursday, November 7, 2019, 9:43:19 PM EST, Evan Koblentz via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
That is well beyond what I'd pay.
Agreed. That's nuts. On Thu, Nov 7, 2019, 9:39 PM madodel via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
On 11/7/19 21:23, Alexander Pierson via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
The pricepoint this kid has in mind doesn't seem to be based heavily on previous transactions. While I currently don't have my ear to the ground for Hero robot ebay sales, I used to for quite awhile. tl;dr: take my assessment here with a grain of salt.
Complete Hero-1 robots usually fetch a few hundred bucks, anywhere from 200 for ones in need of serious repair, all the way up to about 500 for a complete working unit. Sometimes you see them go higher, especially if they've got all the bells in whistles, in good shape, complete documentation with the addendums issued by Heathkit. Those schematics changed with time, and so they sent you little pieces of paper to cut out and tape over the old sections of schematics.
I've only ever seen one complete, sealed, mint Hero 2000 for sale before, and that went for 3 grand. Now, keep in mind that the Hero 2000 is by far the most elusive model, with the fewest total manufactured units, but also the most power. A base Hero 2000 has somewhere like 6 processors/coprocessors on board and can be maxed out at about a dozen, depending on installed options. I've never seen seen a Hero 2000 in meatspace before. I know this seller has one for just over 5 grand, but it's in rough shape from what the pictures show. I spot plenty of rust. At a tenth of that, it might be worth the gamble, but even that's pushing it in my book.
Back to the NIB Hero-1. Seeing as it was the popular model used by schools and hobbyists alike, they're far more common than the 2000 or the Jr. To put one of those at about 14 grand for a sealed kit? That's quite absurd. Unbuilt Hero-1's are something I've only ever seen once before, and it was a long time ago, so whatever it fetched has long since left my mental cache. Plus, it only looked like one box -- there's no way that includes a lot of the features that make a Hero-1 desirable. Thus, it's likely a very barebones unit from what I understand. You would have to confer with Robert Doerr, who is the defacto expert on all things Heathkit Hero, in order to reach a better assessment. Lastly, that same seller has another Hero-1, with no visible arm, and not all of the panels visible. I see manuals, but I do not see schematics. It's also dirty in ways that make me sad. There's also more circuitry than I've ever seen near the head battery cage, stacked on top of the sonar receiver. Maybe that's a later revision? Again, Mr. Doerr is your best resource there. Anyway, you could cut his price in half and I still wouldn't touch it based on this condition. Hopefully my rambling mess is helpful.
-Alexander 'Z' Pierson
Thanks. That is helpful. I know nothing about this and the seller told me to make an offer. I'd be just buying it to donate to the museum. He gave me no price. So if I offer $2000 would that be fair? I just want a fair price to him that doesn't Did he ask $14,000 for it? That is well beyond what I'd pay.
Mark
participants (2)
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Alexander Pierson -
Evan Koblentz