To anyone who does not own this book yet I strongly recommend it. I got it pretty cheap at a used book store locally, but Amazon has a good deal on it as well. Not only does it talk about rollercoaster like performance of Synthesizer manufacturing companies, but also it goes into detail of construction, marketing, and usability aspects that made some instruments rock and others flop. The point from the book that I want to bring out and its something that I can see more day to day is the fact that. Vintage gear is getting more and more expensive because…….There are only so many units still available! Finite number! And people are more knowledgeable about what they have and how rare it is thanks to the Internet.
Take a look at the above clippings from eBay auctions for a Speak and Spell and an SK-1. $70 for a Speak and Spell and $100 for an SK-1!!!!!! Jesus! But you do have to realize that sooner or later all of those SK-1s and S&_s will be gone, because they are modded or trashed. Its a sad and there is nothing that any of us can do about it, except benefit from it, by hoarding all the bendable vintage toys and selling them off for huge amounts when the time comes 5 or 10 years from now.