Jon3G
1st June 2005, 12:30 PM
Antiques Roadshow
May 26, 2005
Can you really talk about antiques when it comes to objects less than 20 years old? The answer seems to be a firm maybe.
Early Sony Walkmans, Nintendo Game Boys, Apple II computers and even first-generation Apple iPods command remarkable prices amongst enthusiasts, as do more or less all the products from British techno-entrepreneur Sir Clive Sinclair. These include the Black Watch build-it-yourself digital watch, the ZX80, ZX81 and Spectrum micro-computers, Executive and Scientific calculators (ultra-small for their time) and the C5 electric-vehicle-stroke-suicide-machine.
Now early mobile phones seem to be entering into this twilight zone, and some dealers are learning how to make a profitable niche business from the trend. Early Motorola and Nokia products are particularly in demand.
According to Brighton-based dealer Dave King, the more classic the phone, the more collectable it is. And in the mobile phone business that means Motorola and Nokia.
The brick
The main factor in making a particular phone collectable seems to be its role in making the mobile phone what it is today, says King; for example, the Motorola DynaTAC is the must-have of all collectors. The DynaTAC was the first, and for many years only, hand-portable telephone.
Affectionately referred to as the brick, it was first shown in the 1970s as a way for Motorola to convince US regulators of its vision of the future of the mobile phone. Motorolas main rival at the time, AT&T, saw the mobile phone as a car phone, Motorola saw it as a personal communications device. Thats why AT&T is more or less out of the business and Motorola is still a leader.
Production of the DynaTAC in its various formats spanned three decades and numerous network technologies. From beginning to end it managed to look remarkably similar, other than a change of colour.
Then came another Motorola classic, the StarTAC. Inspired by the communicator seen on Star Trek, the StarTAC was both the worlds first flip phone design and first modern pocketable mobile phone. This was followed by Nokias 2110, the first mass-market mobile phone success story and Nokias first serious attempt at a GSM hand-portable.
Sony phones can also be quite collectable. The CMH333 was dubbed the mars bar phone when it first appeared because of its size and the energy content of its battery. Not only was it smaller and lighter than its rivals but it was the first phone to offer battery reserves lasting days rather than hours. Sony followed it up with the CMH111: barely larger than a cigarette packet, it took almost a decade for the digital world to match the size and performance of this analogue phone.
While historical significance is the main thing, a bit of glamour doesnt hurt when it comes to collectability. Movie stardom can be a big boon, for example. Michael Douglass use of the DynaTAC in Wall Street in 1987 almost overnight helped make the hand-portable mobile phone a symbol for young, upwardly-mobile yuppies. Just as the mini skirt helped define the 1960s, so the Motorola brick helped define the 1980s. As a result, it is in demand not only from mobile phone collectors but also from 1980s memorabilia-philes. One recently sold at auction in the USA for close to a thousand dollars.
The portrayal of the Nokia 8110 banana phone in 1999s The Matrix added to its allure for collectors. Ironically, the model shown in the film was never made. The sliding keypad protector in the film was spring-loaded; the 8110, however, was a manual affair.
Network failure
The growing interest has prompted a number of eBay-based dealers to spring up selling classic mobiles. One of the earliest was Arizona-based ShopFHL, specialising in Motorola DynaTACs and MicroTACs. Analogue networks based in the Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS) specification are still widely available in the USA, so even if a phone is 20 years old or more, there is a chance that a live network subscription may be obtained for it.
In Europe, however, 1980s and 1990s analogue networks such as the UKs Total Access Communications System (TACS) are mostly no longer operational. A 1980s mobile may look pretty, but it wont offer much in the way of communications this side of the Atlantic.
The result is that dealers in Europe have concentrated on GSM phones, the first of which only appeared in the early 1990s. Nevertheless, given the rapid advance of mobile phone technology, they look adequately antiquated to meet many purchasers needs.
London based Retrofone, for instance, offers a good selection of late-1990s vintage Nokias, Ericssons, Motorolas and Sonys. Hamburg-based Wioecka offers working GSM DynaTACs (models 3200s and 3300s typically sell for over £150). Another German firm, Handynaut, specialises in refurbished Nokia executive phones the 8810 and 8890 the first high fashion phones, some would argue.
For a true collector, the ultimate find is an unused rare phone in its original packaging, notes King. But there is also a growing trend for working phones with use in mind.
It is arguable whether antique mobile phones represent an opportunity for the mainstream trade, but they could certainly be a lucrative sideline for some enterprising dealers.
© Copyright 2005 : Noble House Media Ltd
http://www.mobiletoday.co.uk/artman-test/publish/article_418.shtml
May 26, 2005
Can you really talk about antiques when it comes to objects less than 20 years old? The answer seems to be a firm maybe.
Early Sony Walkmans, Nintendo Game Boys, Apple II computers and even first-generation Apple iPods command remarkable prices amongst enthusiasts, as do more or less all the products from British techno-entrepreneur Sir Clive Sinclair. These include the Black Watch build-it-yourself digital watch, the ZX80, ZX81 and Spectrum micro-computers, Executive and Scientific calculators (ultra-small for their time) and the C5 electric-vehicle-stroke-suicide-machine.
Now early mobile phones seem to be entering into this twilight zone, and some dealers are learning how to make a profitable niche business from the trend. Early Motorola and Nokia products are particularly in demand.
According to Brighton-based dealer Dave King, the more classic the phone, the more collectable it is. And in the mobile phone business that means Motorola and Nokia.
The brick
The main factor in making a particular phone collectable seems to be its role in making the mobile phone what it is today, says King; for example, the Motorola DynaTAC is the must-have of all collectors. The DynaTAC was the first, and for many years only, hand-portable telephone.
Affectionately referred to as the brick, it was first shown in the 1970s as a way for Motorola to convince US regulators of its vision of the future of the mobile phone. Motorolas main rival at the time, AT&T, saw the mobile phone as a car phone, Motorola saw it as a personal communications device. Thats why AT&T is more or less out of the business and Motorola is still a leader.
Production of the DynaTAC in its various formats spanned three decades and numerous network technologies. From beginning to end it managed to look remarkably similar, other than a change of colour.
Then came another Motorola classic, the StarTAC. Inspired by the communicator seen on Star Trek, the StarTAC was both the worlds first flip phone design and first modern pocketable mobile phone. This was followed by Nokias 2110, the first mass-market mobile phone success story and Nokias first serious attempt at a GSM hand-portable.
Sony phones can also be quite collectable. The CMH333 was dubbed the mars bar phone when it first appeared because of its size and the energy content of its battery. Not only was it smaller and lighter than its rivals but it was the first phone to offer battery reserves lasting days rather than hours. Sony followed it up with the CMH111: barely larger than a cigarette packet, it took almost a decade for the digital world to match the size and performance of this analogue phone.
While historical significance is the main thing, a bit of glamour doesnt hurt when it comes to collectability. Movie stardom can be a big boon, for example. Michael Douglass use of the DynaTAC in Wall Street in 1987 almost overnight helped make the hand-portable mobile phone a symbol for young, upwardly-mobile yuppies. Just as the mini skirt helped define the 1960s, so the Motorola brick helped define the 1980s. As a result, it is in demand not only from mobile phone collectors but also from 1980s memorabilia-philes. One recently sold at auction in the USA for close to a thousand dollars.
The portrayal of the Nokia 8110 banana phone in 1999s The Matrix added to its allure for collectors. Ironically, the model shown in the film was never made. The sliding keypad protector in the film was spring-loaded; the 8110, however, was a manual affair.
Network failure
The growing interest has prompted a number of eBay-based dealers to spring up selling classic mobiles. One of the earliest was Arizona-based ShopFHL, specialising in Motorola DynaTACs and MicroTACs. Analogue networks based in the Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS) specification are still widely available in the USA, so even if a phone is 20 years old or more, there is a chance that a live network subscription may be obtained for it.
In Europe, however, 1980s and 1990s analogue networks such as the UKs Total Access Communications System (TACS) are mostly no longer operational. A 1980s mobile may look pretty, but it wont offer much in the way of communications this side of the Atlantic.
The result is that dealers in Europe have concentrated on GSM phones, the first of which only appeared in the early 1990s. Nevertheless, given the rapid advance of mobile phone technology, they look adequately antiquated to meet many purchasers needs.
London based Retrofone, for instance, offers a good selection of late-1990s vintage Nokias, Ericssons, Motorolas and Sonys. Hamburg-based Wioecka offers working GSM DynaTACs (models 3200s and 3300s typically sell for over £150). Another German firm, Handynaut, specialises in refurbished Nokia executive phones the 8810 and 8890 the first high fashion phones, some would argue.
For a true collector, the ultimate find is an unused rare phone in its original packaging, notes King. But there is also a growing trend for working phones with use in mind.
It is arguable whether antique mobile phones represent an opportunity for the mainstream trade, but they could certainly be a lucrative sideline for some enterprising dealers.
© Copyright 2005 : Noble House Media Ltd
http://www.mobiletoday.co.uk/artman-test/publish/article_418.shtml