IBM Keyboards in a barn
- taylorswiftttttt
- Location: USA
- DT Pro Member: -
It all started with this blurry picture, the 11th and last image in a craigslist ad for "old computer parts". I almost passed it by, but then I remembered that a long time ago I had seen a Dell-labeled M on clickykeyboards' website. Upon further inspection, there were 4 or 5 dell AT101s. I was hooked.
It was an hour drive there, and to be honest I wasn't expecting very much. I wasn't sure the 2 hours of driving was worth it for some trashed AT101s. I was wrong.
When I walked into the barn, the first thing that greeted me was a filthy silver-label model M. he had 3 boxes of keyboard downstairs. 2 full of boring rubberdomes, 1 full of AT101s (including some of the old-logo ones) and 2 silver label Ms. One was filthy and missing a few keys, the other was extremely clean, complete, and even had its original dust cover on the cable. As an added bonus, there was a Dell-branded IBM model M (identical to a 1391401, only with a Dell logo).
At this point the drive was definitely worth it. But then he said "do you want to see the ones upstairs?"
"You have more upstairs? how many?"
"100 or so..."
He wasn't wrong.
(sorry for the blurry images, I was in shock)
My dad and I sorted through the keyboards. Spread out through the boxes, there were 7 oval label 101 key model Ms, 5 model F122s, one Model F from a 3178 Display Station, 3 or 4 of the oval-label M122s, and 50 or so silver-label M122s. We didn't have space for all of them, so we ended up taking home the three best F122s, the 3178, the 2 silver label Ms, the dell-labeled M, and a regular M.
Of the ones we took home, here's the filthy silver-label:
2 of the Model Fs (the display station came with the original manual tucked in the back)
The clean silver-label and the Dell branded one (plus an M122 I got somewhere else)
One of them was covered in anthrax or something
Here's a link to the imgur album: http://imgur.com/a/PrIwR
I'm not going to say the price I paid, but it was a good deal. He definitely knew what they were worth, but he doesn't have time to clean and sell 100 old keyboards. Please don't spam me with offers until I have a chance to clean them and take better pictures.
I'm definitely going to go back once I get more cash to pick up the rest of the keyboards. He said he would give me a bulk discount if I bought all of them. Apparently he bought a 40 foot storage container full of old computer junk, and now his barned is FILLED with old computer stuff. I really want to look around more (unfortunately I had limited time there).
Sorry for the terrible pictures. I'll take better ones later.
It was an hour drive there, and to be honest I wasn't expecting very much. I wasn't sure the 2 hours of driving was worth it for some trashed AT101s. I was wrong.
When I walked into the barn, the first thing that greeted me was a filthy silver-label model M. he had 3 boxes of keyboard downstairs. 2 full of boring rubberdomes, 1 full of AT101s (including some of the old-logo ones) and 2 silver label Ms. One was filthy and missing a few keys, the other was extremely clean, complete, and even had its original dust cover on the cable. As an added bonus, there was a Dell-branded IBM model M (identical to a 1391401, only with a Dell logo).
At this point the drive was definitely worth it. But then he said "do you want to see the ones upstairs?"
"You have more upstairs? how many?"
"100 or so..."
He wasn't wrong.
(sorry for the blurry images, I was in shock)
My dad and I sorted through the keyboards. Spread out through the boxes, there were 7 oval label 101 key model Ms, 5 model F122s, one Model F from a 3178 Display Station, 3 or 4 of the oval-label M122s, and 50 or so silver-label M122s. We didn't have space for all of them, so we ended up taking home the three best F122s, the 3178, the 2 silver label Ms, the dell-labeled M, and a regular M.
Of the ones we took home, here's the filthy silver-label:
2 of the Model Fs (the display station came with the original manual tucked in the back)
The clean silver-label and the Dell branded one (plus an M122 I got somewhere else)
One of them was covered in anthrax or something
Here's a link to the imgur album: http://imgur.com/a/PrIwR
I'm not going to say the price I paid, but it was a good deal. He definitely knew what they were worth, but he doesn't have time to clean and sell 100 old keyboards. Please don't spam me with offers until I have a chance to clean them and take better pictures.
I'm definitely going to go back once I get more cash to pick up the rest of the keyboards. He said he would give me a bulk discount if I bought all of them. Apparently he bought a 40 foot storage container full of old computer junk, and now his barned is FILLED with old computer stuff. I really want to look around more (unfortunately I had limited time there).
Sorry for the terrible pictures. I'll take better ones later.
Last edited by taylorswiftttttt on 12 May 2017, 18:09, edited 5 times in total.
- emdude
- Model M Apologist
- DT Pro Member: 0160
An excellent find!
It looks like the fellow you bought the IBMs from has other keyboards that might be worth taking a look at! The old-logo Dell AT101s are definitely worth picking up as well as they can often have Salmon Alps and PBT dyesubbed keycaps (the ones in the photo look like they do). They're highly sought after because of that.
It looks like the fellow you bought the IBMs from has other keyboards that might be worth taking a look at! The old-logo Dell AT101s are definitely worth picking up as well as they can often have Salmon Alps and PBT dyesubbed keycaps (the ones in the photo look like they do). They're highly sought after because of that.
- Touch_It
- Location: Nebraska, United States.
- Main keyboard: Unicomp Classic USB 103 key (work) IBM F 4704 107
- Main mouse: Logitech g502 Proteus Core
- Favorite switch: Buckling spring (yet to try Beam Spring)
- DT Pro Member: -
Nice find. Nothing quite holy grail (yet).but stumbling upon this from a craigslist add......what an awesome thing. Something most of us could only dream of happening. Looking forward to hearing more on this find. From your pics, the board with the blue flip switch is model F. Hopefully there are more to come .
tl:dr
Grats, I'm a bit jealous and excited to see pics.
tl:dr
Grats, I'm a bit jealous and excited to see pics.
- Mattr567
- Location: Socal
- Main keyboard: Many things
- Main mouse: G502
- Favorite switch: Alps in general
- DT Pro Member: -
Great finds! For sure take all Model F's, and Dell AT101's!!!! (old logo especially). And if you find anything like a Zenith for example take it too. Who knows what kind of treasure (hopefully Alps) is there. Some 122 key Model M's for example may not be worth taking though. The 101 PS/2's are worth it
Yes some of those are, if you zoom in you can see the nubs on the F/J keys indicating Alps PBT.emdude wrote: ↑An excellent find!
It looks like the fellow you bought the IBMs from has other keyboards that might be worth taking a look at! The old-logo Dell AT101s are definitely worth picking up as well as they can often have Salmon Alps and PBT dyesubbed keycaps (the ones in the photo look like they do). They're highly sought after because of that.
Last edited by Mattr567 on 26 Feb 2017, 07:57, edited 1 time in total.
- taylorswiftttttt
- Location: USA
- DT Pro Member: -
removed
Last edited by taylorswiftttttt on 25 May 2022, 11:02, edited 2 times in total.
- Mattr567
- Location: Socal
- Main keyboard: Many things
- Main mouse: G502
- Favorite switch: Alps in general
- DT Pro Member: -
Good. They all are worth saving (well expect maybe the 122 M's )taylorswiftttttt wrote: ↑Turns out I got one of the first Model Ms ever made, and it's in very good condition.
I would've taken the AT101s and the 2 other model Fs, but I literally ran out of cash to pay him with (I didn't bring very much). Definitely going back soon.Mattr567 wrote: ↑Great finds! For sure take all Model F's, and Dell AT101's!!!! (old logo especially) If you find anything like a Zenith for example take it too. Some 122 key Model M's for example may not be worth taking though.
- seebart
- Offtopicthority Instigator
- Location: Germany
- Main keyboard: Rotation
- Main mouse: Steelseries Sensei
- Favorite switch: IBM capacitive buckling spring
- DT Pro Member: 0061
- Contact:
Nice IBM M and F find indeed, congrats. A find like that here in Germany would primarily consist of Cherry keyboards.
- fohat
- Elder Messenger
- Location: Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
- Main keyboard: Model F 122-key terminal
- Main mouse: Microsoft Optical Mouse
- Favorite switch: Model F Buckling Spring
- DT Pro Member: 0158
He said that the seller knew what they were worth, and that he had run out of money.Chyros wrote: ↑
Also, you left some behind?! You should've made multiple trips!
My guess is that it would take ~$1K to snag the lot.
- E3E
- Location: United States
- Main keyboard: Blue, Neon Green, Striped Amber, Cream Alps, Topre
- Main mouse: Logitech, Topre
- Favorite switch: Alps, Topre
- DT Pro Member: -
If they're 100 keyboards, then I doubt that. I bet it's something a lot lower like $300-400 or something. You know these craigslist guys are crazy.
- XMIT
- [ XMIT ]
- Location: Austin, TX area
- Main keyboard: XMIT Hall Effect
- Main mouse: CST L-Trac Trackball
- Favorite switch: XMIT 60g Tactile Hall Effect
- DT Pro Member: 0093
That's great! I'd love a Dell logo Model M. They come up infrequently. Dell is based here in the Austin area so it would be a special board.
- DeChief
- Location: Sydney, Australia
- Main keyboard: IBM Model M SSK (JIS ISO)
- Favorite switch: ALPS Buckling Spring (Sega TeraDrive)
- DT Pro Member: -
- Contact:
Please tell me you picked up one of those IBM PS/2 era monitors in the background, I would KILL for a reasonable price on one...
- taylorswiftttttt
- Location: USA
- DT Pro Member: -
removed
Last edited by taylorswiftttttt on 25 May 2022, 11:01, edited 1 time in total.
- DeChief
- Location: Sydney, Australia
- Main keyboard: IBM Model M SSK (JIS ISO)
- Favorite switch: ALPS Buckling Spring (Sega TeraDrive)
- DT Pro Member: -
- Contact:
I live in Sydney, Australia. You sure you could post a whole monitor to me for less than a trillion dollars? ;P
- lancre
- Location: Nottingham, UK
- Main keyboard: Realforce 104UW
- Main mouse: DeathAdder
- Favorite switch: Topre, Space Invaders
- DT Pro Member: -
- Contact:
Flood the market! Cheap model M's for us yay!
Unbelievable find. I get the impression this is very much a US thing, a product of a huge tech industry in the '80's when the UK was lagging behind.
Unbelievable find. I get the impression this is very much a US thing, a product of a huge tech industry in the '80's when the UK was lagging behind.
- taylorswiftttttt
- Location: USA
- DT Pro Member: -
removed
Last edited by taylorswiftttttt on 25 May 2022, 11:01, edited 1 time in total.
- Ratfink
- Location: North Carolina, USA
- Main keyboard: IBM Displaywriter
- Main mouse: CST L-Trac
- Favorite switch: Beam Spring
- DT Pro Member: -
Really? Your profile says Tokyo.DeChief wrote: ↑I live in Sydney, Australia. You sure you could post a whole monitor to me for less than a trillion dollars? ;P
- Mr.Nobody
- Location: China
- Main keyboard: IBM Model M/F
- Main mouse: Lenovo Big Red Dot
- Favorite switch: Buckling Spring
- DT Pro Member: -
Great find, it seems the dell M catches a lot of attention according to the replies, I always thought dell-logoed Ms are less sought-after than regular Ms...How to convert the 3178 blue switch F ? xwhatsit?
- PollandAkuma
- Location: London
- Main keyboard: keyboard
- Main mouse: mouse
- Favorite switch: switch
- DT Pro Member: -
Lucky!!