[vcf-midatlantic] Bill Loguidice's Collection Auction Date 5/31 Edison NJ

[Evan Koblentz]

Well that was interesting!

Several of us were there: me, Doug, Chris F., Dean, Chris L., Brian C., 
Bill Lange (not Bill L. the auction seller), and Jason Scott. All of us 
but Bill made it into a photo (https://tinyurl.com/ydbuy6pd) kindly 
taken by Chris L.'s girlfriend.

The auctioned started at 3pm. I was the last to leave at midnight -- but 
the auction was still going strong! They had another hour or two remaining.

Some people got amazing bargains (valuable nuggets discovered after 
buying boxes of inexpensive items) and other people paid full retail or 
higher for various things. We spotted a few people who were professional 
sellers, but most of the people (maybe 100?) were individual collectors, 
and most of those were gamers, not computer collectors like us. However 
we did see a few people who said they attended VCF East, and I couldn't 
help myself from recruiting a few new folks.

VCFed itself had a good night:

- Dean purchased a box of stuff which happened to contain a CGA/EGA/VGA 
adapter -- exactly what I posted about us needing a few days ago -- so I 
commandeered that item for us. :)

- VCFed has several S-100 computers, but there was one item I'd never 
seen: an industrial (rackmount) chassis with a keyboard built into the 
front edge of the case. It is from a company called MBR. No boards 
inside, but it looked unique. At my request, Dean entered an absentee 
bid for it (it would be one of the last items auctioned due to placement 
in the room). He'll donate it to us if he wins. We will find out tomorrow.

- VCFed has an Amstrad 640 and various Sinclair computers, but we didn't 
own a BBC Micro. There was a first-gen (1981) unit available in the 
auction. At my request, Bill (and his wife Lucy) successfully bid on it 
and donated it to us. It also has some nice software. We'll have to get 
a power adapter for it to use an American outlet.

It was fun hanging out with several group members all afternoon/evening. 
There were a few times where some of the group members bid against each 
other ... a little healthy competition!

Overall a very successful time for Bill Log. and all buyers.