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Mark-8 (Jonathan Titus, 1974). Estimated units sold: 400; original price: $50 (circuit boards); current market value: $5000 to $12,000

Many people believe that the PC revolution began with the January 1975 issue of Popular Electronics, which spotlighted the MITS Altair. But six months earlier, Radio-Electronics magazine had cover-featured the Mark-8, a "Personal Minicomputer" designed by technical whiz Jonathan Titus. Readers had to build the Intel 8008-based machine themselves from scratch, but they ended up with something that sure looked like a computer, with circuit boards sticking out of a metal box with toggle switches. Unlike the Altair, the Mark-8 was at best a modest success; Erik Klein of Vintage-Computer.com says that no more than a hundred examples remain extant. Bryan Blackburn has one of them, which he bought in pieces on eBay and spent two years lovingly restoring to working condition. (Photo courtesy of Bryan's Old Computers.)