CPUs collecting, new directions

[isa-d]

I'm curious to understand which are the new directions of CPUs collecting, we can divide the age in 3, until 1980, 80's + 90's, 00' to today

Pre 80's or the first wave.
I believe 7/10 collector around the world remain, no more
white intel like 4004, 4040, 8080, white MCS6502 and some others sell very well but I no see a very interest for this age

80's + 90's
here there are the most part of collectors, with high prices for some x86 but in general for any 386/486/586/686/Pentium
seem a lot of people likes boost his 386 to the limits
Mips, Sparc and other exotic processor are less appreciate

00's to today
low prices support this age, only some FX or EE are very expensive

in general ES/QS or similar remain stable, MCM's also remain stable with high prices cause their scrap value

others?

[Thandor]

At the moment I agree with you. However, I think it an evolution proces: people who grew up with a Ryzen CPU and start collecting in 2037 will probably have more interest in (currently) newer stuff rather than fiddling around with an ancient 386 or Pentium 4.

So each generation interest will shift a bit and interest in the real old stuff decrease when that generation is no longer alive.

[wren4777]

I agree with both of you. I started collecting around 2013-14, when I was about 10, and my collection (not just the noteworthy chips in my spreadsheet, but all my chips) mostly range from Socket 370 to LGA 1200. Most of them were free or very cheap, apart from the newer stuff which I bought primarily to actually use, and rare Extreme Editions and so on.

[cooperalp]

Era, brand does not matter for me. i am after samples mostly. Anything weird, eye catching will also work. MCMs and remarked chips are great. Does not have to be in working condition but all pins should be intact. Chipped ceramic is a no-go.

[wepwawet]

As CPUs come to age and their collectors this hobby starts to divide more and more. just like stapps in the late 1800s. At the beginning some collected the whole world but in 1900 ist was already impossible to reach that goal.

And when I see prices on ebay - while I do collect just the very old stuff (not modern chips like an 80286) - there is still enough interest to drive prices up.

So yes, some or even many people have just the modern stuff in mind but that does not mean that old stuff gets out of interest. We are just many more collectors now than a decade ago.