WTB Coleco cart for Pencil II, Spectravideo or just a Coelco

Please post details of what you are looking for here.

WTB Coleco cart for Pencil II, Spectravideo or just a Coelco

Postby YetiSeti on Sun Feb 13, 2011 11:23 am

I almost feel like I have all the types of computers and items in the collection that I wanted (many shameably just because of the names) - insatiable greed for more and computer lust aside of course. After yesterday's purchase, and a Dick Smith Cat the other week, a Dragon 32 is one of the last of the possibly attainable (not insanely rare) computers wanted and one of my few regrets of items I had to restrain myself from bidding on recently. I'm collecting items from NZ's computing past so I can't just import one despite their overseas commonality.

I have just purchased a Hanimex Pencil II, which was one of the first vintage computer auctions I made a bid for about five years ago. It was my disappointing intro to trademe where the auction passed in without bid at about $60 and when I received the offer after requesting a fixed price offer, I was unaware it was being made to everyone else, and that a seller is unaware from whom a request for offer comes from (I will fix this with 'my' auction site). Back then (which is not too long ago really) people didn't seem to bid on obscure computers or business-class machines, or perhaps just that there weren't as many people looking. Though I remember paying about $50 for Tempest pong consoles which nowadays can struggle to fetch a tenner. A Hanimex console with a few carts I was watching just sold for $1.50.

So it feels like a bit of a trophy bass, and for only about $30 more than the price it was back then (I factored some appreciation into the offer). It comes with one yellow cheddar chiclet keyboard, instruction manual, a few info sheets, basic cart, 64K RAM expansion cart (at least they were thinking big with a computer with 80K), 6 'Expo' programme cassettes plus power supply and cassette cable. Working? Who knows? The auction description didn't mention much so I'm glad it had the basic cart to make it do something useful.

Now, at the other length of my wind, I come to the wanted bit. I don't oft ask for much (and I wonder why I never seen to get much :) but I see there was a Pencil II Coleco Adaptor cartridge released that allows you to play Colecovision games. It is probably 'ludicrously' (i.e. Spaceballs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NbrAy9f4Gc) rare. I'd settle for a Spectravideo cart for the SV-317/328 which I saw mentioned on the net. But most likely if one's around, just a Colecovison console to go with my half dozen carts I bought last year. Cheap as chips overseas, but I doubt there's too many around in NZ though.

A Hanimex Pencil II looks like this : http://www.pcmuseum.ca/details.asp?id=19

It's listed as 'very rare' on homecomputers.de, but funnily everyone listing as owning one on old-computers.com have a boxed example. The 'very rare' classification seems to stretch quite wide and it has to be kept in perspective that it is relative to rarity in Europe.
YetiSeti
 
Posts: 368
Joined: Sun Jan 18, 2009 5:27 pm

Return to Vintage Items Wanted

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 16 guests