Old Tech Products Worth Thousands That May Be Hiding In Your Attic

A while back, somebody didn't have the heart to throw away that old whatever-it-is, or sell it, and it's been collecting dust for years. That old box, though, could be worth thousands, or at least hundreds, to collectors and aficionados of old electronic equipment.

By now, this equipment likely needs some care, so don't just plug it in and turn it on. While a game tape for an early Commodore computer might still be a plug-and-play item, most of these have mechanical or electrical parts that have aged over the years. Belts turn brittle, gears get gummed up, and capacitors leak. If you don't have experience with the item, be careful about turning it on, especially if it has vacuum tubes or transmits sound or video. The physical condition of your treasure will play a part as well. 

How much you can get for your item varies greatly based on a lot of factors. If it comes with the shipping box and manuals, it's worth more. A rodent-chewed power cable isn't usually considered a problem, but chewed components can be. Cracking the cover on an old turntable might have gotten your dad grounded 50 years ago, but now it's not helping the resale value one bit. Don't try to clean up the item, though, unless you know what you're doing, as you can accidentally remove markings or stain the unit.

With radios being manufactured for over 100 years, there are still plenty sitting in attics. There are different types of them. Some come in wooden cases, while others are metal or even plastic. Very old AM radios came in wooden cases and looked more like furniture than what we think of as a radio today. Pieces from Atwater Kent can reach $1000, though many are in the $100 range. 

Older amateur radio and military comms gear can easily fetch thousands of dollars. Transmitters and receivers from the Collins radio company with tubes in them can fetch $500-$2,000, depending on the model. Radios with transistors can be worth a lot, too. Solid-state radio gear from the 1990s does not attract the same attention as audio equipment from Marantz, but ICOM's IC-781 and R-9000 can fetch four figures — if the screens work.

If your attic find can transmit, then extra care is needed. Whether it has tubes or transistors, leaving it in transmit mode can heat the radio up and even "let the smoke out," which sounds picturesque, but is smelly, possibly dangerous, and definitely will deplete its value.

Old high-end audio equipment still has a beautiful sound and a following that is willing to pay handsomely for it. While the furniture radios mentioned above were mostly for show, serious audiophile equipment was expensive because it was built to excel and still can decades later. Like radio equipment, though, time has taken a toll on components such as tubes, capacitors, and belts. Unlike a ham radio transmitter, if you let the smoke out, you probably won't start a fire, but you might fry transistors that can't easily be replaced today — if at all.

Amplifiers, pre-amps, tuners, and turntables all have the possibility of being worth over a thousand dollars. McIntosh has been in business since 1949, and its MC275 amp can reach $5,000 or more, depending on the version, and still produces gorgeous sound today. Turntables from the 1970s and 1980s from BSR, Technics such as the SL-1200 can reach over $1,000. The one high-end audio component to not stand the test of time is usually the speakers. The cones become brittle or worn and break apart. Survivors can have some value, and the cabinet can be worth saving.

There are several kinds of electronic video gear that can bring in over $500. Some of them are still film-focused, while others are all-digital. VCRs can capture a lot of attention. This holds for both VHS and Beta (especially the Super Betamax series), and while we won't enter into the classic '80s dogfight over which is better and why Beta, just remember that both Sony and Pioneer models can be worth something, not to mention the higher-end pieces. Video disc players and the discs themselves are also worth a lot. The Pioneer HLD series laser disc players fetch up to $2,000. Some early DVD players fit the bill, and VHS and Beta tapes are starting to rise in value, too. 

As replacement parts become increasingly scarce, the utility of these old devices is diminishing. Along with electrical components, many of these machines have small belts that fray or break, transporter mechanisms that stop working, and power cables that rot. However, you can turn them on and get them to work without worrying about frying the equipment.

In a time of 60-megapixel cell phone cameras, you would be forgiven for thinking that a 0.3 MP digital camera would be worthless. The earliest ones are actually worth a lot of money, and cameras such as the Nikon CoolPix 100 can bring in up to $700 if it is in excellent condition. Polaroid made the PDC series of cameras, which can go for $200-300. 

There are also entries from Apple called QuickTake, which are usually worth $100-$200, though one still wrapped and new in the box sold for $2,000. Checking one of these out to make sure that they work will be easier than testing much of the other equipment that we have covered here, but pay attention to the batteries, and don't be surprised if proprietary ones are difficult to find nowadays. 

As with aging film cameras, look at the lens for fungus or lens separation. The latter looks like a cloudiness along the outer edge of the lens. This occurs when two elements in a lens begin to become disconnected. Fungus can be taken care of to a degree, but lens separation is more difficult to handle. Both will affect the price. 

Electronic test equipment such as oscilloscopes can also be of value because some people are looking for analog devices in particular. Other people are recreating setups that they had at work long ago. For them, gear from companies such as Tektronix and Hewlett-Packard, in particular, are very interesting. Some people prefer older tube gear, and analog test equipment can be used to check analog signals.

These devices are often among the high-precision machines of their era, so be careful with them, as you could knock something out of alignment. Also, CRT tubes and, if old enough, paper capacitors, die with age. The former leaks air in; the latter leaks electrolytic out. The results, like with old radios, can be smoky or crackly, so turning them on very carefully and being ready to react if something goes wrong is important. Having someone who knows what they're doing is vital before you start trying to use the equipment. 

One thing to look for if you find test equipment would be accessories. These could be cables with plugs for specific gear or even separate boxes that, when connected, provide additional functions. They will also add to the value of your find.

Old computer gear from a company such as Apple often makes the news when a rare piece is found. But companies such as Commodore also produced equipment that is sought after. Sometimes these could be as simple as a monitor, as the monitors for the C-64 and C-128 sell for hundreds of dollars. Then there is the SX-64, which was the first portable color computer. These go on eBay for $300-$1000 depending on the condition of the unit.

Computers are only one type of calculating machine that can bring in hundreds or thousands of dollars. Calculators from the 1970s can be worth that much, Hewlett-Packard calculators, in particular, can be worth hundreds, but if you go to check one out, remember that the old HPs take Reverse Polish Notation, in which you enter the numbers you will work with, and then the operation last. Forgetting this might lead you to think that your calculator is broken.

Old Game Boy and Atari cartridges, as well as those for computers, cause a stir when a rare item goes up for sale. A rare game went for $10,000 in 2021. Arcade video games from the 1980s, such as "PacMan," also command a premium. What most people don't think of is how pinball machines also incorporate electronics. By the 1980s, pinball machines were heavily electrified, and the boards that ran them were scarce — and therefore valuable.

One thing to check with the items that have moving parts is the condition of the controls. From mechanical flippers on pinball machines to controls on video games or even the casing on the work, these moving parts are increasingly unavailable over time.  

If you do find an old video game system, remember to look for cartridges or other media, as they are often overlooked. There is little that can go wrong with them, so don't be afraid to put in a round or two of "Frogger" before you put it on an auction site!

There is actually a lot of collector demand for both audio and video recording. From old-school reel-to-reel recording and playback machines from Sony as well as Nakamichi's cassette recorders that sell for $2,000, there is something about tape that people love. Several video camera models are worth a couple of hundred of dollars. These are mostly from the late 1990s and early 2000s, and some are still used in cinematography these days. This includes items such as the Sony MiniDV cameras, which can fetch $100-200. There are both analog and digital items among them.

Like film cameras, the issues to look at include dead batteries and lens issues such as fungus and lens separation. Lens issues are an even bigger problem with these, but they also have the complexity of DVD and other players, as they have tape transport devices and moving parts that can become brittle and break.