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The Most Collectible PCs of All Time

Is that computer in your attic a treasure...or trash? Here's the scoop on 19 historic digital antiques, worth from $10 to $10,000 and beyond.

Harry McCracken

IMSAI 8080 (IMSAI, 1975). Estimated units sold: 17,000 to 20,0000; original price: $600; current market value: $500

The IMSAI's big selling point was its compatibility with the popular MITS Altair 8800; as Vintage-Computer.com's Erik Klein points out, that made it the first clone PC. A popular machine in its own right, it is perhaps most famous today as the computer used by Matthew Broderick in War Games, a 1983 film made long after the IMSAI's heyday. Oddly enough, a new IMSAI clone known as the IMSAI Series II is still available--but at $995, it goes for twice what you might pay for a vintage model from the 1970s. (Photo courtesy of the Obsolete Technology Website.)
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