Awesome find at swap meet

[Zap!]

I went to the Englishtown Swap Meet on Friday, and picked up a few cool things. The ESM is about 70% car related, but they have lots of other cool stuff (and TONS of useless junk that I would be embarased to throw out, lol). It is massive (the size of several football fields), outdoors, and takes place over three days twice a year.

The first thing I got was the following, and HP 42S Scientific Calculator. Now, I have no use for this, but it was only 50 cents, and these things are worth $150 plus on eBay.

http://www.zaponline.org/uploads/swapmeet1.jpg

The next things I picked up were the following three handheld games, for just $2 each. They are Tandy Sports Arena (complete with two sets of three different overlays and instructions), Brick Game, and Wheel of Fortune. I never have heard of Brick Game, but it appears to be a Breakout clone. Wish I had batteries in the house to test it.

http://www.zaponline.org/uploads/swapmeet2.jpg

Well, that was my day. I didn't get anything else gaming-related, but did get some other stuff for dirt cheap that I'm sure no one is interested in. :D

[Superman]

Those are some good finds.

When I was in college I was always at the markets looking for a good deal on a scientific calculator for my classes, but I never found it.

You never know what we might be interested in here. Someone might be interested in the value socks you found!

[Zap!]

Those are some good finds.

When I was in college I was always at the markets looking for a good deal on a scientific calculator for my classes, but I never found it.

You never know what we might be interested in here. Someone might be interested in the value socks you found!

Yeah, I wish I would have had time to go a second day. You never see everything by walking around just once.

[noname11]

i have that tandy handheld.... never knew it had overlays. I just assumed back in the pre nes days, people loved led lights...

[squirrelnut]

I loved the hell out of my wheel of fortune handheld

[aaron7]

Hmm... a finds thread... might that belong in... the April Finds thread?

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=129881

[norkusa]

What's so special about the calculator that makes it worth $150? I know people collect vintage calculators and some are worth a lot of money, but that one doesn't look that old or special.

[Zap!]

What's so special about the calculator that makes it worth $150? I know people collect vintage calculators and some are worth a lot of money, but that one doesn't look that old or special.

I'm no calculater expert, so I hope someone more qualified answers, but my guess is it's because it's a scientific calculator. No idea if it's rare or not, but if you do a search you'll see how much they go for. It's from 1988.

[Pete Rittwage]

I love those old handheld games- I have quite a few of them. I haven't seen that Tandy before (at least not with the overlays) but it looks like a Conic design. Probably OEM or something. :)

[Steve W]

That Brick Game is a Tetris-style rip-off, and it's fairly new. I see those all the time, and even have one. It's just a generic kind of thing that China seems to churn out in a million different shapes and sizes, but this one is an earlier model (maybe early this decade).

Nice find with that Tandy Sports Arena. That's one of my most recent collecting geekitudes, hunting down old electronic games from the '70s and '80s. Good find!

[megasdkirby]

That Brick Game is a Tetris-style rip-off, and it's fairly new. I see those all the time, and even have one. It's just a generic kind of thing that China seems to churn out in a million different shapes and sizes, but this one is an earlier model (maybe early this decade).

Yes, however it's not that new...I remember my brother had one in the early 90's.

[Zap!]

That Brick Game is a Tetris-style rip-off, and it's fairly new. I see those all the time, and even have one. It's just a generic kind of thing that China seems to churn out in a million different shapes and sizes, but this one is an earlier model (maybe early this decade).

Nice find with that Tandy Sports Arena. That's one of my most recent collecting geekitudes, hunting down old electronic games from the '70s and '80s. Good find!

You're right about Brick Game. I assumed it was a Breakout clone but it is indeed Tertrs. Seems to be from 1993ish if I had to guess.

[Gameguy]

I still see those type of brick games in Dollar stores where I am, or they were common a couple of years ago. The ones I've seen are a bit different than the one you have(though I think I've seen that one at a thrift store recently).

I still have no idea why that calculator is worth that much, scientific calculators cost about $15 new. I should go through what I have, I know I have some early type of calculators around somewhere, I think one has a VFD display and is very basic with it's features. I haven't seen them in years though so I don't know where they are.

[rbudrick]

I'm pretty sure I've seen brick game around before. WoF, definitely. As for the Tandy one, never! Overlays? Super retro bonus points (on a handheld? wtf?!). Good find on them, though.

-Rob

[Zap!]

Calculator was sold for $182.50!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270396414851

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Brick Game = Dragon Boy!!

Any NAVA attendee knows how cool those are!

[JanLazer]

Calculator was sold for $182.50!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270396414851

That's insane..I gotta keep my eyes open for these things...Didn't know there was a market for older calculators. Congrats!

[Baloo]

Calculator was sold for $182.50!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270396414851

Now that's what I call a nice profit, you multiplied your investment 365 times.

[Jorpho]

I too wish to know what is so special about this calculator.

...Ahh, it's Reverse Polish Notation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_Polish_notation). Well, now I know what to keep an eye out for. (The big "Enter" button is a big giveaway.)

[jb143]

...Ahh, it's Reverse Polish Notation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_Polish_notation). Well, now I know what to keep an eye out for. (The big "Enter" button is a big giveaway.)

You know, I saw the picture when this was originally posted and never thought anything of it untill you just posted that. So I just looked back and was surprized I didn't notice it was an HP before. Yeah, that's a pretty nice series of calculators. Really nice deal you made there.

I still have my HP-48GX though it doesn't get as much use as it once did. After using RPN I couln't go back to a regular calculator. I had a ton of games for it too, even Doom...err...I mean, homework...yeah, that's what I used it for. Playing homework...I mean, doing homework durring class...I mean after class.

[Zap!]

I too wish to know what is so special about this calculator.

...Ahh, it's Reverse Polish Notation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_Polish_notation). Well, now I know what to keep an eye out for. (The big "Enter" button is a big giveaway.)

So basically, what does RPN do? I read the article but I need a plain English translation. :)

[jb143]

RPN is more computer friendly. Instead of typing "5 + 3 =" to get your answer you type "5[enter]3[enter] +"

On the screen it ends up looking like how you'd add in gradeschool...
5
+3
---
8
...so it actually does make some sense doing it this way. I found some things to be quicker and more effiecent like when working with a bunch of numbers and equations at the same time.

Also, people stop asking to borrow your $200 calculator because they can't fugure out how to use it...which is a big plus.

[Cauterize]

Wow.. That was a good price for that calculator.
We could say its mad that people would pay that for such an item, however were only doing the same in another area... gaming!

But in all fairness, there are only so many times you can write 55378008 and look at it upside down.

So can anyone here explain the desire for this calculator or any others that are worth that much?

[jb143]

So can anyone here explain the desire for this calculator or any others that are worth that much?

Unlike most scientific calculators it's programmable.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP-42S

[Zap!]

Unlike most scientific calculators it's programmable.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP-42S

But why does that option make it so much more? A new scientific calculator costs $15. Why would the programmable option make it more than $50?

[jb143]

But why does that option make it so much more? A new scientific calculator costs $15. Why would the programmable option make it more than $50?

Oh, I'm sure collectability plays a big role in that. It was one of the first. It's about like asking why someone would pay a ton of money for an old obsolete game system, computer...or anything else that someone collects for that manner. I was mainly pointing out that it does more than display words when turned upsidedown:)

I had the later HP-48GX graphing calculator so I kind of see why someone who used to have one of these would pay a lot for them. HP makes a nice calculator. Mine has a 131×64 greyscale graphics display, and you could download programs(and games) from the internet though.

[Cauterize]

I take back any negative vibes regarding programable calcs!

Look!

http://www.ticalc.org/archives/files/ss/324/32476.gif

http://www.dwedit.org/bubblebobble/screen0.png http://www.dwedit.org/bubblebobble/screen1.png http://www.dwedit.org/bubblebobble/screen4.png

http://www.dwedit.org/bubblebobble/

[smork]

Hmm, mine's probably valuable too as it's a vintage HP28S programmable from the late 80's. One of the first HP graphing calculators, too.

I still use it on occasion even though it's 20 years old.

[jb143]

I take back any negative vibes regarding programable calcs!

Look!



The images are small but here's some of the games I had on mine...
http://www.hpcalc.org/hp49/games/adventure/sshots/z49_03.gif
http://www.hpcalc.org/hp49/games/arcade/sshots/crazycar49.gif
http://www.hpcalc.org/hp49/games/arcade/sshots/cyclo3949.gif
http://www.hpcalc.org/hp49/games/arcade/sshots/doom.gif
http://www.hpcalc.org/hp49/games/arcade/sshots/hpworms10b.gif
http://www.hpcalc.org/hp49/games/arcade/sshots/hunterproject4049.gif
http://www.hpcalc.org/hp49/games/arcade/sshots/sf2.gif
http://www.hpcalc.org/hp49/games/misc/sshots/bubblehp.gif
http://www.hpcalc.org/hp49/games/misc/sshots/dune3949.gif

[Ye0ldmario]

a scientific calculator with rad racer? I gotta look for one of those

[Joe West]

great finds, with the size of 2 football fields, you should be-able to find something.....

[garagesaleking!!]

i am not higgky knowledgable on calculators, but i always keep an eye out for them because i know some go for crazy prices, it just all depends on what special features or programs the calculator has, they all look the same pretty much on the outside, but its what inside that counts.