Future collectibles

[mdsalemi]

https://www.hemmings.com/stories/2020/08/13/the-increasing-complexity-of-electronics-poses-a-challenge-for-future-collectibles?refer=news&utm_source=edaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2020-10-18

[MikeSimon]

I have been saying this for a while now. The extensive use of electronics in new cars will make the majority of them non-working in a certain time. With suppliers only supposed to keep up  with replacement parts for 15 years after end of production, you can imagine what is going to happen.
I have some really early fuel injection motorcycles and the controllers for these are NLA. If they stop working, nobody will be able to repair these.
Just look at other areas,. All our computer stuff is made obsolete within 5 years max. No more floppy disk, no more USB stick, no more CD/DVD.
I don't even want to mention Compact Cassettes or 8-Track. Funny enough, I have a "vintage" stereo system with a linear tracking turn table and vinyl is making a small comeback.

[mdsalemi]

I have a a Steinway piano, made in 1918--yes, 102 years old. Anyone who knows anything about pianos knows there are nearly 6,000 moving and stationary parts that allow a piano to function.  Every one of these parts is available, and I can find, in most places in the country, a number of skilled technicians who can repair almost anything on such a beast, and a smaller number but still plentiful, of firms that can "gut" the unit and totally rebuild it. A "rotisserie restoration" in automotive terms.

Now, in the 1970s, there came to be "electric pianos", the most notable of these a Fender Rhodes. There's a very distinctive sound to these; you may not be able to pinpoint it unless you are a music aficionado, but trust me when I say "you would know it when you heard it."

So, why this contrast? Well, there are just a few people in the USA that are skilled at repair of an electric piano, and many of the electronic parts for them are simply not made any longer.

If you want that same sound as a musician, you are probably going to do it with a synthesizer.

Old electronics just don't last...

[Bonnyboy]

I use the following scenario when describing electronics / collectable value.  If you can fix electronics - go fill your boots but if you can't values can depend on cost of repairs and availability of parts. 

Years ago (1982) my Dad went to sale of an where an arcade was selling older machines and bought me a 1977 Gottlieb Mustang pinball machine for my 16th Birthday for $250.  It was 1/3 the price of the cool 1979 Gorgar machine that was still a hot ticket.   My machine was a simple (relatively) electro-mechanical relay-based machine controlled by a score motor and stepper units.     

Back in 1982 my machine was just another older machine and nothing special.   My Dad's friend bought the Gorgar Machine at the same sale which was one of the first speech-synthesized solid state pinball machines and it was amazing at the time. 

Within a year Gorgar was dead and my simple little Mustang was still galloping away.   I happened to run into my Dad's friend at my Dad's funeral several years back and asked about Gorgar - apparently components were sent away to be repaired over and over and over again and after a few thousand dollars and many years of not working properly the machine was sold to the technician for next to nothing.   

My simple Mustang is still running strong and is played weekly and I have only incurred expenses for new rubber bumpers, wax and light bulbs.

Average market value today - Gorgar $982     Mustang -$1,473


Sort of similar comparison to a 2002 Mercedes CLK with 90,000 miles or a 2oo2 Toyota Camry with 95,000 miles   both for $2,500 canadian dollars.