Whoa! It’s been nearly two years since I purchased anything for the Mac Museum. That’s what happens when you buy up all of the stuff that you’re willing to pay for. It also helped that people have recently decided that adding “Steve Jobs” to items makes them worth a minimum of $100 even if they don’t work. Anyway, I was bored, hopped on eBay, and lo and behold, found some desirable items that fit my price range. Here they are. All prices include shipping.

Performa 467 – $50

Also known as the Performa 460, 466, and LC III+, the Performa 467 used the last iteration of Apple’s low profile LC-style case. It includes a 33 MHz Motorola 68030, at least 4 MB of memory, an 80 – 160 MB hard drive, and a floppy drive. At only 2.9″ tall it was a pretty slim machine to toss under a monitor. The Mac mini of the 90’s if you will. The Performa was sold as multiple different models following Apple’s sales strategy at the time: Performa for the “home office” crowd and LC for education. The hardware was the same but the hard drive size, memory, and bundled software differed.

I’ve been looking for one of these for a couple years. The dimensions of the case are the same as the LC, LC II, or any of their rebadged equivalents, but it has a smooth front (no line) with the newer (but cheaper) floppy drive with an indentation for your finger. I remember using one of these in middle school typing class and always enjoying it on “game day” when we could play Sim City 2000 and such. I like to think it was because of its smooth design but it was probably because it was one of the faster machines in the classroom.

To demonstrate how confusing Apple’s Performa naming convention is, I thought this was a completely different model when I bought it. I thought it was a Performa 476! Same case design and general specs but with a more powerful 68LC040 CPU. When I opened it up I thought the CPU was missing then I convinced myself that someone had swapped out the logic board before I noticed that I had the last two digits of the model backwards.

Apple TV – First Generation – $26

Released in March of 2007, the Apple TV (formerly iTV) was Apple’s first foray into its “hobby” of television. The original TV was based on a 1 GHz Intel Pentium M CPU, ran a custom version of Mac OS 10.4 that used Front Row as a UI, and included a 40 or 160 GB hard drive. It looked like a flattened Mac mini and was quite limited in its first release. It required a Mac or PC running iTunes to sync or stream music and videos. It could also play YouTube videos. A software update in 2008 allowed it to download content directly from the iTunes store. It cost $299 or $399. It was replaced by the smaller, cheaper, iOS-based Apple TV in 2010.

The first-gen Apple TV is a neat item to have in my collection. It’s essentially a scaled down Mac mini designed to plug into your TV. Its Pentium M CPU was never used in another shipping Apple product and its UI is basically an upgraded version of the Front Row application that shipped with the iMac G5 in 2005. The Apple TV version was added to Mac OS 10.5 in 2007. It was left unchanged and removed when Mac OS 10.7 was released in 2011. When I looked for first-gen Apple TV’s a couple of years ago they were in the $50 – $100 range. This was $16 without shipping. Had to have it.

Apple Facts Books – Set of Five – $56

Apple Facts are the Mac Collector’s bible. Designed as a tool for authorized resellers, each pocket-sized Apple Facts book contains literature, images, and specs for every hardware and software product in Apple’s lineup. They were released roughly twice a year. I already had some from 1994 and 1995 but found books from 1993, 1994, 1997, and 1998.

These are amazing and can sell for $20 – $30 a piece if the seller knows well enough. At $10 a piece they were a steal. The auction offered best offer but I was so excited that I just paid full price.

Apple Mouse IIe – $29

The Apple Mouse IIe was a repackaged version of the mouse that shipped with the Macintosh in 1984. It was sold as part of the Apple II Mouse Interface card. It was identical to the Macintosh mouse except that the mouse button was the same color as the rest of the case instead of gray.

I picked this one up because it is in really good condition and is brighter than my other Macintosh mice which have yellowed with age. It was also a great price. Mice for the original Macintosh through the Macintosh Plus can cost up to $50 due to their rarity.

Quantum 240 MB External Hard Drive – $32

Not an Apple product but important nonetheless. I’m constantly shuffling software to and from my various old Macs with floppy disks and serial cables. An external SCSI drive makes that much easier. It’s a beast with cables as thick as rope, but it has enough storage to hold a few sets of OS install disks and a bunch of software (~ 150 formatted floppy disks). Makes me appreciate the compactness of USB though 🙂

Apple ADB Mouse II – Set of 2 – $25

The ADB Mouse II was standard on Macs from 1993 – 1998 and represented the ultimate evolution of Apple’s classic mouse design. It’s teardrop shape made it easy and comfortable to hold and its single borderless button extending to the edges of its case made it simple and elegant. I have a bunch of these but most have yellowed to some degree. These two are brand new and unopened. Had to have them for $12.50 a piece.