‘Apple Revolution’ Auction Offers Up an iPad Prototype, Signed Apple-1, and More
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There’s another fun auction on for Apple memorabilia fans. While many of us aren’t fortunate enough to have sufficiently deep pockets to bid on the best of what’s on offer, it’s always fun to take a wistful look (or two).
As usual, this latest lot comes from RR Auction, a company well known for putting up fascinating bits of tech history, particularly from Apple. In the past, we’ve seen the auction house put up such items as a rare factory-sealed original 4 GB iPhone, a prototype of Apple’s short-lived Pippin game console, a signed Steve Jobs business card, and even the founder’s bomber jacket.
Now, RR Auctions has another Steve Jobs and the Apple Revolution auction running until August 21, giving fans the ability to bid on memorabilia, from the premiere February 1984 issue of Macworld with Steve Jobs on the cover (currently going for $1,367 with seven bids) and a baseball signed by co-founder Steve Wozniak that starts at $200 to the piece de resistance: a fully operational Apple-1 computer set signed by Steve Wozniak and Daniel Kottke.
RR Auctions describes this as a “Museum-quality Apple-1 ‘NTI’ computer set, signed by co-creator Steve Wozniak and Apple employee #12 Daniel Kottke.” As you can probably imagine, it won’t come cheap. It’s already at $99.926 after 11 bids, with the next bidder required to pay $109,919. By the time the dust settles, it’s expected to fetch over $300,000, and that’s on the low side, as we saw one go for $375,000 earlier this year, and that only had a letter from Kottke and no signature from Woz.
The Apple-1 is the most expensive and collectible item of the bunch. Still, those who have been saving vast quantities of their pennies for an event like this may also be able to cash them in for something slightly more modest, such as a fully functional Apple Lisa Computer with ‘Twiggy’ Drives and a ProFile hard drive. That’s currently at $25,286 with 11 bids and expected to sell for $65,000.
There’s also a clear-case prototype of Apple’s first laptop, the Macintosh Portable, circa 1989, that could be had for as little as $13,000, although bids will likely push it above $50,000 by the close of the auction.
Starting low but expecting to fetch over $12,000 is a 2009 prototype of the original first-generation iPad, which currently sits at $500 after only one bid.
According to the description, it “boots up the SwitchBoard utility, an in-house Apple launcher program for diagnostic and debugging tools used in development.”
A particularly unique item is a prototype of the Apple Interactive Television Box (AITB), the spiritual ancestor to today’s Apple TV.
The description notes that it was “developed in the mid-1990s in partnership with a number of global telecommunications firms,” and ran a custom version of the Macintosh operating system and connected to a central server via telephone lines.
Another baseball with Tim Cook’s autograph joins the Woz-signed baseball. Both start at $200 and have yet to receive any bids, although Cook’s is only estimated to fetch $400, versus the $500 predicted for Woz’s signature (sorry, Tim).
The “bargain bin” also includes an Apple III computer and monitor with two ProFile hard drives and “various software.” That’s also only at $200 right now with its single opening bid, although it’s expected to rise above $2,000.
There’s also a wealth of other paraphernalia that could only be of interest to diehard Apple fans, including a set of Apple Lisa manuals, an Apple Macintosh 128K notepad block, Apple ‘Tangerine’ and ‘Blueberry’ iBook posters from Macworld 1999, and an Apple Macintosh QuickTime Starter Kit.
Among the more esoteric items are a pair of Apple Computer 10-year Anniversary Champagne Glasses ($100-$200+), an Apple Computer Wristwatch by Becora ($100+), and a “Steve Jobs 1998 Grolier Inc. “Notable People” trading card in mint condition ($100-$200+).
When Steve Jobs takes the stage to speak to computer users, they’re likely to greet him with cheers. That’s because Jobs, the founder of Apple Computer, is more than a computer maker. He’s a modern folk hero.
There are also plenty of early iPhone models and even a second-generation iPod mini and original iPod nano up for bids, all in their original sealed boxes. Most of these can be had for under $1,000, as can a couple of unsealed original iPhone models. On the other hand, an original first-generation iPod is already at $5,000 and expected to hit at least $20,000, while another rare sealed 4 GB OG iPhone is sitting at $8,054 and expected to go north of $50,000.
While most of us can only kick the tires at actions such as these, it’s still a fun trip through Apple history. Check out the entire Steve Jobs and the Apple Revolution collection at RR Auction.
