Only Worldlam would pay these prices

Centallica · Post by **Centallica** » Fri May 18, 2007 7:58 am

http://stores.ebay.com/Collecting-Dust- ... -Recyclers

Guess nobody will pay these prices as these are his auctions

Leif, you should sell your Max Wizard of Wor cart to him for 1/2 that price and he'd think he got a steal

damnstraight · Post by **damnstraight** » Fri May 18, 2007 10:23 am

NUTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think he is the one that just purchased a sid cartridge for $160.00. Whats up with that, must be a loon.

Doppleganger · Post by **Doppleganger** » Fri May 18, 2007 2:18 pm

He smells of vinegar and water.

gklinger · Post by **gklinger** » Fri May 18, 2007 2:51 pm

Zing! Nice one!

If you haven't been following comp.sys.cesspool, you really should check this thread out. Worldlam is coming unglued and it's fun to watch, in a sick sort of way. He has already threatened to sue me. Fun fun fun.

eslapion · Post by **eslapion** » Fri May 18, 2007 3:42 pm

Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on where you stand on this, I think this is the future for the commodore community.

Recently, on Amiga.org, I was totally blasted for saying I was going to trash a pile of Amiga 500 because I don't have the time or energy to ship them and can't afford to storage them anymore. I offered people to come and pick them up.

Recently I also had to trash a pile of C128 I couldn't afford to keep either.

This is what's going to happend. There's a lot of people who have been stockpiling Commodore equipment for decades now and these things sell for peanuts so its not worth keeping.

Inevitably, a good number of people who can't afford to keep the stuff anymore will get rid of it. And no matter how much we may be used to see VICs and 64s sell for peanuts on eBay, these things have been out of production for nearly (in the case of the VIC, in excess of...) 20 years now and the price is going to go up in a very non-linear manner.

Whether we like it or not, that is the road ahead.

Personnaly, I think it just might have good consequences. For one, if people are willing to pay a high price for some items such as joysticks and floppies, there might be some companies willing to manufacture new batches.

For two, there is going to be more demand for the services provided for vintage computers such as those I offer.

On the downside, this might attract a new type of clients of a totally undesirable kind... such as the one who recently asked me if there were scratches on the SID chips I was selling on eBay...

or the one who refused to give me feedback because the Supersnapshot V4 cartridge I sold him had cigarette stains on it... a cartridge i had sold him for 12$ !!

damnstraight · Post by **damnstraight** » Fri May 18, 2007 4:56 pm

what do you guys think about selling raffle tickets on ebay. My friend and I were discussing its legality. I say I could put up a brand new Vic-20 and have buyers pay $5.00 for a ticket number. At the end of auction I send all buyers the winning number. Do you think it is legal on ebay, or possible? Just thinking it would be a fun and not too expensive way for someone to get something good.

Centallica · Post by **Centallica** » Fri May 18, 2007 5:24 pm

Anyone that gets 863 feedbacks in 1 month from buying has a serious problem personally:

http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.d ... llFeedback

So if he spent on average $40 X 863 = $34,520

This dude's either rich or in serious financial problems and needs to sell at these prices to pay off some debt...

damnstraight · Post by **damnstraight** » Fri May 18, 2007 5:46 pm

maybe he won the lotto and is getting revenge on everyone he lost out to before. Personally I would be on a beach somewhere sipping on a soda and play with my Vic. I mean, with an inverter.

Post by **Jeff-20** » Fri May 18, 2007 7:55 pm

I had never heard of this guy until now (and on espalion's recent buyer list). Now I will forever have a mental image of him as the guy in Centallica's signature pic!

863 feedbacks. Maybe this guy has some personal problems. Maybe OCD. Maybe none of my business. But I will say that is really strange to me. I even bookmarked it to show others.

PaulQ · Post by **PaulQ** » Fri May 18, 2007 8:10 pm

Worldlam...I haven't been to Lemon in a while, so it looks like I missed out in some fun. He is right in one respect; Golan does like drama. However, Golan is also someone I'd trust.

Here's what I think: It's no secret that Commodore computer hardware is hot right now. This is to be expected. Consider that the people who grew up with the stuff in the 80's are now starting to crash into their midlife crisis. The Commodore 64 was to us in the 80's what the '57 Chevy was to people of that generation, and so on. Basically, they grew up with it, got rid of it when it was deemed "Obsolete," rode the upgrade train for so many years, then they discover something that ignites a memory at the right time, and they realize that they MUST have it to recapture their youth. Okay, I haven't hit my mid-life crisis just yet; I'm just planning ahead.

In Worldlam's case, he sees this as an investment opportunity. Unfortunately, he doesn't see the waves that are created by something such as a Commodore 64 web server or a demo on Youtube such as Robotic Liberation. The waves come; people buy and are willing to pay up to a certain point, then they ebb.

Here's the kicker: A Commodore 64 is NOT a '57 Chevy or other rare relic! Although I was born decades after the '57 Chevy, I can get behind the wheel and really appreciate it. With the Commodore 64, it's pure nostalgia. There's nothing about it that "Stands out" in contrast to today's machines; there's no abundance of chrome, craftsmanship, style, power, or workmanship. As such, the Commodore computers will always appeal only to those people exposed to these machines during a critical time. There are plenty of Commodore's in the world to satisfy their thirst.

My guess is that Worldlam saw this as an "Investment Opportunity." He didn't win the lottery; he sees this as a way to make a quick buck. Unfortunately for him, by the time people are willing to pay the prices he wants, inflation will have caught up; by then, I wonder if it's likely if the stuff he bought will even work anymore. I can still buy a brand new Chevy smallblock V8 for a '57 Chevy for a decent dollar, but I suspect that Commodore stuff will have faded into obscurity in another 30 years or so.

Of course, we all know what the bottom line is; if the stuff he has is really worth even half of what he's selling it for, then we all know darned well that it would be manufactured again.

Centallica · Post by **Centallica** » Fri May 18, 2007 8:49 pm

DigitalQuirk wrote:Worldlam...I haven't been to Lemon in a while, so it looks like I missed out in some fun. He is right in one respect; Golan does like drama. However, Golan is also someone I'd trust.

Here's what I think: It's no secret that Commodore computer hardware is hot right now. This is to be expected. Consider that the people who grew up with the stuff in the 80's are now starting to crash into their midlife crisis. The Commodore 64 was to us in the 80's what the '57 Chevy was to people of that generation, and so on. Basically, they grew up with it, got rid of it when it was deemed "Obsolete," rode the upgrade train for so many years, then they discover something that ignites a memory at the right time, and they realize that they MUST have it to recapture their youth. Okay, I haven't hit my mid-life crisis just yet; I'm just planning ahead.

In Worldlam's case, he sees this as an investment opportunity. Unfortunately, he doesn't see the waves that are created by something such as a Commodore 64 web server or a demo on Youtube such as Robotic Liberation. The waves come; people buy and are willing to pay up to a certain point, then they ebb.

Here's the kicker: A Commodore 64 is NOT a '57 Chevy or other rare relic! Although I was born decades after the '57 Chevy, I can get behind the wheel and really appreciate it. With the Commodore 64, it's pure nostalgia. There's nothing about it that "Stands out" in contrast to today's machines; there's no abundance of chrome, craftsmanship, style, power, or workmanship. As such, the Commodore computers will always appeal only to those people exposed to these machines during a critical time. There are plenty of Commodore's in the world to satisfy their thirst.

My guess is that Worldlam saw this as an "Investment Opportunity." He didn't win the lottery; he sees this as a way to make a quick buck. Unfortunately for him, by the time people are willing to pay the prices he wants, inflation will have caught up; by then, I wonder if it's likely if the stuff he bought will even work anymore. I can still buy a brand new Chevy smallblock V8 for a '57 Chevy for a decent dollar, but I suspect that Commodore stuff will have faded into obscurity in another 30 years or so.

Of course, we all know what the bottom line is; if the stuff he has is really worth even half of what he's selling it for, then we all know darned well that it would be manufactured again.

The secret to investing is to buy low and sell high but this dude is buying extremely high and selling for extremely extremely high with I doubt any buyers...

http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?M ... ompleted=1

The guy's just plain nuts with some issues that he seems he can't control

Best to him, what ever turn's his crank...

Wonder-Boy · Post by **Wonder-Boy** » Fri May 18, 2007 10:42 pm

The guy has NO business sense. I wonder how he made his money, but winning the lotto sounds plausible.

carlsson · Post by **carlsson** » Sat May 19, 2007 10:14 am

Has anyone considered if he put those selling prices just to tick people off? Bragging what rare items he has access to and maybe, just maybe there will come someone by and want to buy. In the mean time, he can lie down and sport an evil giggle at the upset people on Lemon64, c.s.cbm, here and everyone else where his eBay Store is mentioned.

eslapion · Post by **eslapion** » Sat May 19, 2007 4:13 pm

Let me ask you all this question...

If you stumbled upon a WORKING PDP-11 in a warehouse full of obsolete computer junk and knew that the owner of the place didn't know its value and was willing to get rid of it for the cost of transporting it to your place, would you take it and then try to sell it to collectors?

I think most of us would answer yes. A functional PDP-11 can be sold for a small fortune to collectors yet it doesn't have anything that stands out in contrast to today's machine. And yet nobody seems interested in making them again.

DQ mentioned the Chevy '57. Chevy '57 ARE worth a small fortune but I don't know of any company that manufactures them again.

I have seen VIC-1001 computers sell for more than 500$ on eBay, yet nobody makes them again.

The only computers that are really going to be worth a fortune are those made in the 1980's, just like there's nobody making Chevy 57s because... they wouldn't have been made in 1957... and therefore would be worthless.

I tried selling my 32k expanders on eBay and nobody wants them... because they weren't made in 1982...

Worldlam may not be the best businessman but he's right about one thing. Eventually these things are going to be worth what he asks for and maybe a lot more.

Post by **Jeff-20** » Sat May 19, 2007 6:00 pm

eslapion wrote:Worldlam may not be the best businessman but he's right about one thing. Eventually these things are going to be worth what he asks for and maybe a lot more.

If it's about money, I suppose real estate would be a better investment.