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Acorn electron and ZX spectrum prices?

Paul

Paul

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Hi all,

Friend of mine has been clearing out the house for his father-in-law who passed a few months ago and has come across this lot :

acorn electron.jpgacorn electron1.jpgjoystick.jpgspectrum.jpg

Anyone have any idea what it's worth??

Cheers
Paul
 
That spectrum is the model referred to as the 'toastrack'.

It's the most desirable one as it's the last 'fully Sinclair designed' model. It's worth cash. You're looking at frankly quite silly money boxed with manual etc.

The Acorn is also a great model but I'm less sure of its value, whereas I know for a fact that your hands would be ripped off to buy the toastrack Spectrum.

Assuming working, the Spectrum is hard to nail down a price for because prices have inflated like pinball prices lately. Hold out for 200 quid *minimum*.

If not working, pay to get it repaired and serviced, it will ROI

EDIT: bad typo - 300 is not 200....soz
 
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Lol when you said money I was expecting thousands...

I think the electron might be worth decent wedge also if you find the right buyer.

Neil.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro
 
Neil McRae said:
Lol when you said money I was expecting thousands...

I think the electron might be worth decent wedge also if you find the right buyer.

Neil.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro
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Hah - by ZX spectrum standards they're worth a fortune! All the other models you have an awkward time ever selling for more than 30 quid absolute tops, maybe 40-50 for a nice example of the rubber-key original.
 
Not amazing prices when you consider it was £125 new so adjusted for inflation that would be ~£400. Still, better than a kick in the plums.

With box and manuals, in the condition it looks like it is in, it should go for top money though.
 
Durzel said:
Not amazing prices when you consider it was £125 new so adjusted for inflation that would be ~£400. Still, better than a kick in the plums.

With box and manuals, in the condition it looks like it is in, it should go for top money though.
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Let's face it, anyone treating computer electronics as an investment was a few chips sort of a chip shop, never mind a motherboard... deprecation on these things is the stuff of legends to be considered in the same breath (or worse) as cars!
 
Paul said:
thanks to all for the feedback - Much appreciated!

Anyone know the best way to test the spectrum? 🤣
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If you aren't prepared with a reliable way of loading a program via a known-working and configured properly tape deck - or something like an mp3 player or your phone if you know those work - then as you've guessed you might have a bit of a sod of a time actually testing it out.

Either find a Spectrum nerd that can do it for you; send it to someone like these guys who will also do stuff like replacing capacitors (you will likely be able to get the money back on sale as a 'fully serviced' example of a toast rack); sell it untested; or roll your sleeves up and dive right in yourself.

Getting loaded tapes to work is an art in itself, so your first steps would be to find a TV with an RF connector still... and tune that sucker in. Hopefully you'll see a working screen and will be able to test some BASIC programs at least.

In all honesty these things aren't the most trivial to work on, and 99% of the time, the keyboard membrane rubber will have perished and the keyboard will be utterly shot - and even if it works, it will not survive the case being opened and it will need replaced on opening for service. I wouldn't take on the hassle of this if you just wanted to sell it on. But if you have an interest... then this fellow called Brendan Alford has written an absolutely exhaustive guide to repairing ZX Spectrums of many makes and models and I consider him the authority for repairs on these shores. It's heavy going and waaay too much detail in some places - but it will answer nigh-on everything, including all that might go wrong and how to repair them. https://spectrumforeveryone.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/ZX-Spectrum-Service-Manual.pdf

Actually, in fact that's an idea... he runs a Facebook group and if you join it, you'll be able to get advice and possibly free help checking it out from a local Speccy nutter. Almost certainly your best bet. https://www.facebook.com/groups/spectrumforeveryone/

Just be warned that they're not going to be the kinds of people that you'll sell it on for 200+... they're like us and they are used to hunting and buying toastracks for 80 quid or so... which is still a fair amount higher than 'free out of a bin' or '10 quid for a rubber key model in a charity shop window' or 'free from another group member because they couldn't be ****d with having an eighth copy of this model' that they usually brag about on there
 
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Sven Normansson said:
Don't need a tape loader anymore for a spectrum. There's loads of aftermarket ones that load from a SD card (or even from your phone).
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Very true, tape loading is just for the nostalgia feeling.

At the very least, it's easier to amuse oneself with tape media today, than it is floppy disks...cassettes are still made, cassette mechanisms are easier to repair and maintain, and it's far simpler to use them as a medium. Floppy disks... none of the above. All but the most 'factory OEM' hardcore of purists of users of systems such as Amiga, Atari ST, C64 etc are swapping out the floppy drives.

I absolutely hated having to rely on those damned things... but a small part of me will miss those flat little useless piles of crap.
 
HomerRamone said:
Im sure I have a QL in the loft.. Wonder if they are worth anything :)
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QLs do have a few people that appreciate them. They're not quite as overvalued right now as the ZX Spectrum+ models are compared to the rest of the Spectrum family, and it's hard to put a price range on them because they were rarer than the Spectrum family to begin with, by a long shot.

I don't believe they go for so much that I would be tempted to sell it if I had a QL, personally - but I do enjoy older computer systems so there's that.
 
And by the way @Paul - if that's you or your friend posting on the Facebook group now - it looks like there's a few sharks circling in on that group already!!!

There's a No Personal Sales rule in that group but it looks like a few of them have ulterior motives, lol
 
I threw away my old Jupiter Ace, ZX80 (made from a kit), ZX81, Spectrum 48k and Oric Atmos a few years ago....

Now regret it - as I probably would have stuff worth £3K on a good day.....
 
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