Apple Inc. may be one of the greatest stock and investment stories that has ever existed. Actually, it really is the greatest! But when people think of investing in Apple they probably are thinking about its stock rather than about Apple products being classified within collectibles. It turns out that Apple’s first generation products are collectibles. They are quite collectible and have realized some serious prices for what is now out-dated, irrelevant, bulky pieces of old technology that you won’t even find any in use.

Collectors Dashboard evaluates collectibles as an alternative asset class. This effectively means that hobbyists with a passion to own specific items may have to compete head to head with investors who purchase collectibles solely to sell for a profit in the future. There are no guaranteed profits in stocks and bonds and real estate, so there certainly are no guaranteed profits in alternative asset classes.

Being classified as a technophile by definition is a person who is enthusiastic about new technology. This generally pertains to people who want the latest and greatest tech they can get — computers, Internet, phones, home cinema, and so on. Some of these items cost thousands of dollars and rapidly depreciate, only to end up in a landfill or to be scrapped for parts. Other items actually become worth quite a bit of money.

True collectors of almost everything collectible will pay up for quality or condition. The more pristine the better! And for anything that is original first generation Apple equipment or tied to Steve Jobs and Apple founders has commanded high prices as collectors and investors fight over owning these assets.

Collectors Dashboard saw that the Rally Rd. was auctioning off a sealed example of the first generation of the iPod. This device revolutionized music and it played a critical role in Apple’s growth — and it was a part of Steve Jobs becoming famous for his “one more thing” proclamation about the next hot items coming from what was a struggling company at that time.

The sealed example of Apple’s first release the iPod is now twenty years old as it was released in 2001. This helped Apple and Steve Jobs become famous for the “thousand sings in your pocket” and it marked the end of large pesky pieces of equipment like portable CD players (remember those?) and was the final nail in the coffin for portable cassette tape players that had already all but died.

And to live up to the originality that this first-gen iPod is pristine, Rally Rd. also has the original blue Apple Store shopping bag that this unused gift was purchased in. The partial and share ownership platform was offering up 5,000 shares at $5.00 per share in this initial public offering — assigning a value of $25,000.00 for the asset. The #IPOD item was also listed as being “professionally stored, maintained, and insured on behalf of the investors” and that there would be a minimum 90-day lock up period before investors will be allowed to begin trading the shares in the secondary market. This IPO price was fully funded in less than 3 hours.

This is just more proof and a stronger example that 1) technology items can become collectibles and 2) investors are competing directly against fans and hobbyists who might just want to own a pristine example of techno-history.

eBay showed that a sale of $21,995.00 took place on June 7, 2021 with a listing — Ultra Rare Apple iPod Classic 1st Generation (5GB) in original packaging SEALED! and listed it as “The ONLY fully-sealed Gen1 iPod M8513LL/A on the market…” with a sale price of $21,995.00. Another sale from June 22, 2021 shows that the first generation is in much higher demand as an Apple iPod 2nd Generation White (20 GB) that was listed as both new and in a sealed box sold for $2,000 with an “or Best Offer” note in the listing.

Collectors Dashboard wanted to look back at other recent sales of Apple’s original products to see what they might really be worth. The answer is clear — they are worth a lot!

Another past offering that has been made through the Rally Rd. app was a 1976 Apple 1 computer which had been signed by Steve Wozniak. This item sold in April of 2021 with an initial offering price of $25.00 per share for an initial market cap of $825,000.00.

Even back in December of 2019, one of just two surviving prototypes of the original Apple Macintosh sold in a Bonhams auction, with the $120,000.00 sale price reaching $150,075 after the buyer’s premium was included. Bonhams had issued an estimate of $120,000 to $180,000 at the time, and its preview had said:

This working example of one of the earliest Macintosh prototypes, with a functioning 5 ¼ inch Apple proprietary “Twiggy” drive, is one of only two known machines in this form that survived after the move to the Sony 3 ½ inch drive.

Also in 2019, a Christies auction for one of the 200 (approximate) Apple-1 computers that were initially built sold for about $471,000.00. This was a functioning model, and was considered to be one of 70 or 80 surviving models (with 15 in museum collections). Thar particular Apple-1 was initially purchased back in 1977 was had been donated to a non-profit group in 2009 before being purchased for a private collection and ultimately being resold in 2014.

This is just even more proof that technology pieces are high-end collectibles, and with museums and investors wanting the same items it only backs up the collectible dilemma that much further.

Christies also currently has an original Apple-1 personal computer for sale with the price being available upon request. The first Apple computer was originally offered for sale at the price of $666.66 around its launch and the provenance of the Apple-1 is listed as being from the collection of the chief developer for SchlumbergerOverseas S.A. after having been acquired from a collector in Rochester, N.Y.

Does anyone remember the old Apple Newton as a personal digital assistant (PDA) device? This predated the Palm PDA. Apple began developing the Newton platform in the 1980s and began shipping them out in 1993. The Newton was simply ahead of its time when data wasn’t mobile and when not everyone lived on email and websites yet. The Newton was no more in early 1998. An eBay sale on May 28, 2021 showed that a vintage Apple Newton MessagePad 2000 H0149 sold for $1,295.00, although the listing was a Buy It Now price.

eBay also recently showed an old Apple eMate 300 sold for $600.00 on July 1, 2021 with its original box, charger, accessories and manuals. It was listed as “works great but the battery does not hold charge due to its age.” The box was a bit handled and had pen ink on the front

Heritage Auctions sold off one of the first Apple II computers on October 7, 2017 for a price of $15,360.00 at the time. Millions of these sold in the 1980s, and Heritage noted that Todd Fisher took delivery of this computer directly from Steve Jobs in Los Altos.

Another Heritage Auction was in February of 2016 when a group of personal items belonging to Steve Jobs from the 1980s. This included a 10K gold-filled Cross pen with a small Apple computer logo on the clip, a USPS return receipt form signed in blue ballpoint ink “Steve Jobs” (in IRS communications from 1989, a NeXT name badge reading Steve Jobs on it, and a a NeXT business card with the Steven P. Jobs / President name. This lot was certified by Jobs’ longtime house manager.

And for those who cannot live with their iPhones, the most expensive eBay sale of the Apple iPhone 1st Generation 2G 8GB was black for AT&T and was sealed. This item sold on May 23, 2021 for $8,600.00 after a Buy It Now listing. Another very similar sale for a like item went through eBay at $5,400.02 after 5 bids on June 24, 2021.

These may of course not give an entire representation of first generation Apple and Mac products that are in pristine condition. What it does represent is that these items are worth exponentially more to collectors and investors who buy collectibles than what they originally cost as brand new products.

Perhaps the next best investment beyond investing in Apple’s first generation equipment is if you find any old autographs of Steve Jobs on Fortune magazine.