I started collecting old computers as far back as 2000. Back then it was still relatively easy to get hold of some of the more obscure hardware. I practically went through every dumpster, second hand store and landfill I knew of and usually pulled something interesting out until about 2006. Then as copper went to the moon the incentive to recycle and process e-waste made them profitable and suddenly stores no longer accepted computers and the number of machines I was finding in the scrap heap fell through the floor as dumpsters started being locked and security was increased at transfer stations. A few years later the big rush for vintage computing began and the roof was blown off both the market and the hobby. Suddenly everyone wanted waaay too much for their hardware. $4000 for a PDP-8/e? $16000 for a PDP-12? You're nuts. $300 for an Apricot FP? $150 for a Mac 512? Come on now....
At this point in time I've basically been forced out of the hobby in terms of finding new machines or replacement parts. There's other people out there with way more money and time on their hands who are willing to travel great distances and pay huge sums of money for machines I can now only dream of. In several cases I also ran across some NASTY elitism. We do this as a hobby. Don't you ever tell someone "you aren't good enough for that machine". The only thing I am thankful for was those six years I spent basically hoarding whatever I could find. I now have enough spare parts to build
many machines in almost any possible configuration. I still have a large inventory of machines to play with but for the most part because of previous statements of MONEY, they can't really be traded or upgraded.
To be humble about it, Silicon Graphics machines are one of my favorites. Not the little machines like the O2 or Octane. We're talking the bigger machines like the Onyx and Crimson. The machines that were six figures when new. The first time I ever experienced realtime 3D was in a Personal Iris 4D/20 at my father's old office when I was 4 or 5. Ten years later I managed to bring that same machine back to BC and it now happily sits in the room next to me.
