Dirty Blue Alps Keyboard

[cineraphael]

I cannot afford a NOS Blue Alps and I am good at restoring them to like new condition.

Keyboard with Blue Alps are:

Acer KB-101A
Northgate Omnikey Gold Label
Chicony-5161
Focus FK-2001
and much more.

[kakan]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Samsun ... Swp-Zca2wZ

[cineraphael]

Those are really beautiful and in great condition which is why I cannot afford it. I would rather buy a cheap and dirty Blue Alps and restore them.

[Myoth]

I cannot afford a NOS Blue Alps and I am good at restoring them to like new condition.

Keyboard with Blue Alps are:

Acer KB-101A
Northgate Omnikey Gold Label
Chicony-5161
Focus FK-2001
and much more.

Okay ? What's the point of your post ?

[cineraphael]

I need a Dirty Blue Alps Board, since it should be cheaper if they are really dirty. I would like to clean them by themself.
(Sorry I being a little bit stupid in this post.)

[kakan]

A dirty board usually go for 200~ so that would be a decent price for the condition. Or import from Asia.

[swampangel]

I need a Dirty Blue Alps Board, since it should be cheaper if they are really dirty.

It might help to say what your budget is. "Cheap" is relative when you're talking about the most in-demand kind of alps switches.

[cineraphael]

import from Asia.

I'm going to Japan In May! I don't really know the good place in Japan to find Vintage Alps Keyboard.

---- Also Chyros did be able to find Blue Alps for 50 pence which is a steal----

[Muirium]

You’ll only ever score that legendary kind of deal with someone completely clueless. Probably not the right place to find them here on DT!

[zrrion]

I've found 3 or so mechanical boards at good will, the rest of what I find is old typewriters or old calculators that have compatible caps and even when the search includes that stuff it still isn't too common. If you can get an in on a place w/ high volume where they set aside stuff for you then you'll be way more likely to get the good stuff, but even that takes time.

[Menuhin]

I am curious how old our fellow cineraphhael is?

Is he old enough to play the really really dirty blue Alps games with some of us?

[//gainsborough]

I'm going to Japan In May! I don't really know the good place in Japan to find Vintage Alps Keyboard.

Akihabara is probably your best bet - when I went I wasn't in the keyboard game yet, but I vaguely remember some old electronics shops in the area.

[Hypersphere]

Most of my used keyboards were purchased from various sellers on eBay. Occasionally, I have managed to find a good price from some SKCM blue Alps keyboards. Lately, it seems that all the eBay sellers have been paying attention to our hype here on DT and over on GH, because prices for blue Alps boards have been astronomical.

However, if you are willing to consider other types of Alps, you can still find reasonably priced boards with SKCL yellow or green Alps or SKCM orange or white (bamboo or pine) Alps as well as various Alps clones.

Especially when buying Alps boards in poor condition, you might find after restoring them that there is an overlap in perceived quality, so that some blue Alps feel worse than some white Alps.

[Menuhin]

As µ has already mentioned, keyboard enthusiast forums are the least possible place to find blue Alps in cheap price.

I am not sure about thrift stores, but local classified websites like Craigslist can be a place where people are doing estate sales without knowing their market values - but sometimes you also see people who overestimate the market values of their old items there too, e.g. a G83 keyboard for over 90...
Imagine getting a board full of nixies in like $10, a board with blue Alps $20, a 5000 in $30, a Model-F in $50... And when sellers asked me more about the reason I am buying them and I tried not to say too much, I feel the guilt that makes me feel borderline I am committing a fraud...