Who is the Top Dog Collector?

[gmanbc]

I see a lot of nice sites out there with some really awesome collections but I am curious to who is the top dog? Who has got the best collection in the world??? Shouldn't someone have that crown? And how would you decide which collection was the best? Would it be based off a number count? or value? Or would there have to be a vote? Maybe that would be a good poll? I know a lot of collectors don't have a site but this would be a cool way to bring out some of these closet collectors.

There can be only one!

Lee
gmanbc

[gshv]

It's not possible to tell this for multiple reasons:

- We don't know and don't see collections of many collectors. jrmunro has very big collection, but nothing is available online. I'm sure gmphillips has big collection of very rare early Intel chips, and probably not only Intel chips. I think Steve Emery (www.antiquetech.com) has only small part of his collection online. The same is probably true for www.cpu-museum.com. Naoto Kojima's collection is not online. I'm sure there are other collectors who has big collections but we don't know about them.

- All collections are different. It's not possible to compare Intel-only collection (www.cpu-museum.net) with a little bit of everything (like mine) or with ES-only (www.engineering-sample.com).

Gennadiy

[Minuteman]

Yes, it's not really possible to say who is "the king" as everybody collects different things. And you should look at all the other information a website gives etc etc...

[Tonyo]

[gmanbc]

I know from watching on Ebay that George Phillips and Bjorn (Ahia123) have awesome collection just because they always out bid me!
I still think it could be done though? You could do it through a vote process or maybe a poll. This might not give you the best collection but it would give you the people's choice. Kind of like the presidential election (Don't hold it against me but I voted for Bush).

[fRaSsL]

There are German collectors, who are not active in this forum and not in cpu-museum.de. I think there should be the largest collection I know of.

[gmphillips3]

I've got some nice chips, but my collection is not really that big. I tend to look for rare hard to find chips in the best condition. Most of my chips are pre-8088 era.

My collection currently contains about:

Processors: 300
Math Co-Processors: 8
RAM: 200
ROM: 9
PROM: 7
EPROM: 100
Peripherals: 120
Microcontrollers: 11
----------
755

I probably have about 150 more chips that are dups or chips I have
for trading. So in total I've probably got about 900 chips.

Some of my favorite processors in my collection...

Intel MC8080A/B
Intel C8080B
Intel "Godbout" G8008
RCA CDP1801UD/CDP1801RD
TI TMS1099JDL
AMI S2000 Sample
MOS MCS6502

I also collect other computer stuff like:

IBM Think Signs
Old Core Memory Planes
Early Point Contact Transitors
Old Univac Computer Tubes
Old Intel Data Catalogs and MCS User Manuals
Old IC Master Catalogs

As far a the "top dog", most of the serious collectors have chips that I want that I don't have. C. Bassow has some awesome stuff.
I would just about give my entire chip collection for that Busicom 141PF
he has. Steve E. also has some really rare chips. I'm not sure
how big his collection is cause I've never seen his inventory, but I've
got a feeling it would blind you:).

You can see my current collection at:
http://home.sc.rr.com/pphillips12/chips/Phillips Collection.xls

[gmanbc]

I got the purple C4040 today: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=5142468985&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT
I already sent a pic to George for his book. I managed to pull it out of the foam without breaking the legs off I have only been collecting for two years but I am very competitive and hope to be among the greats one day. Right now I am just trying to catch up to George and Mats but even if I manage that I only collect Intel at the moment so I will never be king

Lee
gmanbc

[CPUShack]

the almighty $$ (or eruo or whatever) often commends who has the best collection.

Lots of collectors are in college or on limited incomes, (such as myself) which really limits what we can do.

dropping 300 or 700 dollars on a chip is ridiculous for us.

although, they are nice chips.

[Minuteman]

Yep, but sometimes we manage to get VERY cool chips
I have a bit more 400 chips but x86 only, I really don't see the interest to collect ROM, RAM and EPROM chips, I like "active" chips and try to get working ones.

[gmanbc]

Trust me when I say I know about the money!!! I am enlisted, in the US Army and they don't exactly pay well. I don't see the value of these chips going down and actually see it working the other way. So I guess if you look at it as an investment then maybe the wife will buy off on it At any rate you can get a really great collection without spending more than gold value for most chips and I don't think Gold is going to bottom out anytime soon?

Lee
gmanbc

[fRaSsL]

Uhhhhhh... very strange argumentation. There will be only a value, if there is a buyer

[gmanbc]

[Minuteman]

What frassl means is that there are maybe 20 people in the world willing to pay 500$ for a chip...and for all the others it's a crappy little piece made of sand that you could throw away. It's like painting, who is ready to pay millions for a Van Gogh painting here? I don't, for me they look as good as some paintings made by friends :p

The "market" for old CPUs is quite restricted, for example let's take the Nx587 chip that was completely unknown about 1 year ago. At the beginning they sold for 120$ each and the seller was selling one every week on eBay, now you can have them for 10$. Some guy(s) here bought a little stock of them but now that everybody here has one, they are unable to sell them -> Owned

The same happened for Pentium II Overdrive chips.

For me, the "top dog" collector is the guy who collects chips because he likes them and has a story to tell about them. Good example are grampa and morkork (and me ), they always add a little story with the chips and that is the kind of stuff that makes a great collector. On the other side I less like people who "collect to have the greatest number of chips".

[gmanbc]

I have no problem with anyone collecting, and really have no problems with anyone's reason for collecting. I myself owned a computer shop and that is how I got started. I was pulling 386 and 486 chips out of old computers that people wanted upgraded or just wanted to get rid of. I then put them on a wall which generated a lot of talk. It wasn't until I sold my shop that I even found out that other people were doing the same thing but at a much grander scale. I now collect because I find it really interesting and because I think it would be a nice thing to pass on to my 10 year old kid who already has dibs on my collection. Of course I sell chips as well but I am not just trying to make a buck. I truly want to have a great collection. I think it beats collecting stamps

Lee
gmanbc