Julien’s Auctions, the auction house to the stars, unveiled today “The Apples,” a historic auction event featuring “The Hanspeter Luzi Vintage Apple Archive,” one of the world’s most comprehensive collection of Apple computers and products ever offered. More than 500 computers and Apple products spanning over forty-five years will be offered for the first time at auction Thursday, March 30th, 2023 at Julien’s Auctions Gallery in Beverly Hills and online on JULIEN’S LIVE.COM.
From his parents’ Los Altos, California garage in 1976, Steve Jobs hatched the beginnings of the Apple computer and for the next 35 years, changed the world with his technological achievements and famous innovations. With the development of the Apple 1 and Apple II with co-founder Steve Wozniak, the company created the first mass produced and popular personal computers that began a cultural shift for how society communicates, works, learns and spends their leisure time. Following its incorporation on January 3rd, 1977, the Apple II became one of the first computers with practical applications in the business world and dominated the computer market both for hobbyists and business professionals.
The introduction of the Macintosh in 1984, (called Mac for short), played a critical role in the trajectory of personal computers, and also helped to develop desktop publishing as a way for more workplaces to incorporate computers for their employees. In a demonstration of the significance of the Macintosh 128K on January 24th, 1984, Apple unveiled its famous 1.5 million-dollar commercial directed by Ridley Scott titled 1984.
In 1991, the company’s Apple PowerBook became the basis for the modern laptop, causing a major shift in how the average buyer interacted with the technology with its convenient keyboard, trackball, and sleek, efficient design. Other important models invented in this time included the Macintosh Classic, the Macintosh IIsi, and the Macintosh LC.
Consumers
In July 1997, Jobs became the interim CEO of Apple where under his leadership yielded Apple’s boldest offerings that propelled the company to even greater heights with the release of the iMac in 1998 and the release of the iBook in 1999, which led to over one million units sold in each product’s first half year.
In the early years of the twenty-first century, Apple’s iPod, iPad, MacBook and other devices revolutionized the role of technology in daily life. The incorporation of Apple Stores in 2001 and the unveiling of the iTunes Music Store in 2003 further cemented the brand at the top of the tech industry and once again radically reconfigured the way consumers interacted with technology and media. In 2007, the first iPhone made an appearance during the Macworld Expo keynote, when Jobs famously reached into his jeans and pulled out the device. In its first decade, the iPhone would become a ubiquitous part of everyday life, with over 2.24 billion iPhone units sold to date and more than 1.5 billion active iPhone users worldwide using its features to capture photos, videos, send emails, texts, surf the internet, make phone calls and more. Additionally, the iPhone has created billion-dollar industries such as ride sharing and mobile banking apps that use its technologies.
Offered for the first time at auction will be the entire contents of “The Hanspeter Luzi Vintage Apple Archive” that features over 500 computers and Apple products amassed by renowned Apple collector, Hanspeter Luzi. Luzi, a remedial teacher for children with special needs from St. Gallen, Switzerland, was an educational pioneer who developed several educational games and teaching aids for the special needs of his students which included the use of computers. A historian and advocate of his region of Eastern Switzerland, Luzi was also among many things, an outdoors adventurer, hot air balloon pilot, musician and avid of collector of vintage sewing machines, as he was inspired by St. Gallen’s legacy as the textile capital of Europe. His sewing machine collection was bought by a German textile industrialist and formed the foundation of today’s sewing machine museum – Sammlung Albrecht Mey in Germany. His new found passion for collecting then turned to Apple computers as a result of volunteering as the IT manager for several schools and equipping their computer rooms with the appropriate devices. He used the many changes of equipment caused by technical developments to buy the old equipment from the schools.
With over 25 years of Apple collecting, Luzi acquired a broad technical knowledge in the handling of hardware, but also in the application of computer programs, a knowledge that he incorporated into two companies he founded with friends, where he worked doing the graphics work. One of the projects was the “Sportmanager”, a manual for the organization of sports events by sports clubs which was then distributed by the Swiss Olympic Committee to more than 35,000 such clubs. Before his untimely passing in 2015 due to a fatal mountain accident, Luzi was near completion of a book of unknown routes and passes of the most beautiful places in his beloved Eastern Switzerland.
The Luzi family wishes to offer this collection of Apple devices produced from 1977 to 2008 to the public for the first time. In 2022, Julien’s made headlines in their sale of Steve Jobs’ Birkenstock Arizona Sandals with NFT that sold for $218,750, a world record for highest-selling price for a pair of sandals sold at auction.
“Julien’s Auctions is honored to present The Hanspeter Luzi Vintage Apple Archive and its extraordinary collection of Apple products which helped to shape one of the biggest brands in the world, through their tremendous innovations and technological advancements,” said Martin Nolan, Chief Executive Officer/CFO of Julien’s Auctions.|
Highlights of this auction include:
A 1979-1982 Apple II Plus Computer
Estimate: $300 – $500
A complete Apple II Plus computer system, including monitor, two disk drives, printer, a pair of game paddles, various connecting cables and parts, and a Monitor II User’s Manual.
The Apple II Plus was the second model in the Apple II series, produced from 1979-1982. The Apple II series made computers accessible to a wider audience, the Apple I series models having been confined largely to a more technical market of electronics hobbyists.
A 1979-1982 Apple II Plus Computer
A 1979-1982 Apple II Plus Computer
A 1979 Bell and Howell Apple II Plus Series Computer
Estimate: $500 – $700
A 1979 Bell & Howell “Apple II Plus” computer system, together with two Bell & Howell Apple II drives and a 1980 “Green Phosphor” third party Apple monitor.
This Apple II was licensed to Bell & Howell by Apple specifically for educational markets and has been nicknamed “Black Apple” and “Darth Vader” because of its atypical dark case. The monitor turns on and displays a green line. The base and drives are untested.
A 1980 Apple III Computer
Estimate: $300 – $500
A complete Apple III computer system, including Monitor III and various connecting cables.
Envisioned as a personal computer with business capabilities, development on the Apple III (code name “Sara”) began in 1978. The Apple III was released in November of 1980.
A 1980 Apple III Computer
A 1981 Osborne OCC1 (Portable Computer)
A 1981 Osborne OCC1 (Portable Computer)
Estimate: $500 – $700
Serial Number: NA219629
The Osborne OCC1, released on April 3, 1981 was the first ever mass-produced, commercially successful portable computer.
Hardware features of the computer, as mentioned in an original advertisement, include: Z80A CPU with 64K RAM, dual floppy disk drives with 100K bytes storage each, 5″ CRT, a business keyboard with numeric keypad and cursor keys, RS-232C interface, IEEE 488 interface, and a weather-resistant shell.
Although the Osborne 1 is noted as being roughly the size and weight of a sewing machine, a Time Magazine article dated June 21st, 1982, described it as being, “a cross between a World War II field radio and a shrunken instrument panel of a DC-3.”
A 1984 Macintosh (128K)
Estimate: $200 – $300
An original Apple Macintosh computer, later rebranded as the Macintosh 128K. This model was legendarily introduced by Steve Jobs at Apple’s annual shareholder’s meeting on January 24th, 1984.
The system has the model number M0001P and the serial number F4280YM0001P. There is a floppy disk in the system’s drive.
A 2001 Apple iMac G3 Special Blue Dalmation edition.
The iMac G3 was sold between 1998 to 2003 and marked the first major new product release for Apple since Steve Jobs returned as Apple’s CEO in 1996. The product’s all-in-one design centered on a cathode ray tube display, with the computer’s G3 processor, components, and connectivity included in the same enclosure.
Julien’s Auctions
257 N. Canon Drive
Beverly Hills,
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PUBLIC EXHIBITION
Exhibition: Monday, March 27th, 2023 – Thursday, March 30th, 2023
11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time
Free to the public
JULIEN’S AUCTIONS LIVE ONLINE AUCTIONS
“The Apples”
Thursday, March 30th, 2023
Session I: 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time
Julien’s Auctions now accepts payments with cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, DAI, Ethereum, Litecoin, Dogecoin and USD Coin.
https://juliensauctions.com/
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