Author: Dave Farquhar

Franklin Computer: Rise and fall and reinvention

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
Franklin Computer: Rise and fall and reinvention

In 1981, a Philadelphia-area company called Franklin Computer had a good idea that didn’t work out so well for them. They decided to clone Apple computers. They ended up on the wrong end of a landmark lawsuit and yet they succeeded at reinventing themselves. In this blog post, I will go through the rise and fall and rebirth of Franklin Computer Corporation.

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Marx diesel freight train set 9622

Dave Farquhar Toy trains
Marx diesel freight train set 9622

The Marx diesel freight train set number 9622 was a 1958 electric train set featuring twin diesel locomotives pulling 8-wheel plastic cars. It’s an attractive set and and one you don’t see every day. Marx made it for Sears and they sold it under the Allstate brand name.

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Commodore 1670 modem 1200

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
Commodore 1670 modem 1200

It was 1985. Just 3 years before, Commodore had made telecommunications affordable, releasing the first modem on the market that retailed for $100. They weren’t just making it possible to live in the future, they were making it affordable. But the industry was passing them by. Commodore needed to catch up, and the 1670 modem 1200 was what they came up with.

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Marx 52750 train set: The Champion

Dave Farquhar Toy trains
Marx 52750 train set: The Champion

In 1974, Marx introduced a diesel freight train set it called The Champion, catalog #52750, that ran on AC electric power and sold through catalog retailers. If you have a Marx 52750 train set today, it’s worth considerably more than its original retail price, even adjusted for inflation.

Marx’s Champion train set was part of the Great American Railroads series. It had catalog number 52750 and was manufactured only in 1974. Today it is one of the most valuable Marx train sets ever made.

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Marx Cannonball train set number 4362

Dave Farquhar Toy trains
Marx Cannonball train set number 4362

Marx thrived for years selling low budget electric trains with an inexpensive locomotive pulling 4-wheel cars made of plastic. The Cannonball train set, part of its Great American Railroads series, carried catalog number 4362 and was the last of that breed.

The Marx Cannonball train, set number 4362, was part of the Great American Railroads series. It had two variants sold by discount retailers, but only in 1974.

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UMC Green CPU: The forbidden 486

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
UMC Green CPU: The forbidden 486

Clock for clock, the best 486 was a CPU you might not have been able to buy and may very well have never heard of. Aside from Intel, AMD, and Cyrix, there was a fourth 486 family that didn’t get very far due to legal issues: the UMC Green 486 CPU. In this blog post, we will cover what made this 486 so special and what made this forbidden 486 illegal.

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Reattach Activision Atari 2600 cartridge labels

Dave Farquhar Retro Gaming
Reattach Activision Atari 2600 cartridge labels

The labels on Activision cartridges for the Atari 2600 didn’t age nearly as well as the games did. And the average hobbyist won’t be able to make the labels new again, there are some things a hobbyist can do to reattach detached labels and even clean them up a bit. In this blog post, I will provide an inexpensive way to deal with detached and dirty Activision labels. Replacing the label with a repro isn’t your only option.

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Maverick: Final-generation C-64 copier

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
Maverick: Final-generation C-64 copier

When I wrote my blog post about Fast Hack’em, a fair number of C-64 fans said they preferred Maverick. I seem to recall a lot of those kinds of conversations in the ’80s as well.

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Should Atari own all of classic retro?

Dave Farquhar Retro Gaming
Should Atari own all of classic retro?

Into the Vertical Blank asked a good question this week: In the wake of Atari’s purchase of the Intellivision-associated intellectual property, should Atari control essentially all of the pre-Nintendo classic video game market? Of course, one company controlling such a large part of our history could be problematic. But I can also think of a precedent by looking back at my father’s generation.

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Marx 25760 train set: The Allegheny

Dave Farquhar Toy trains
Marx 25760 train set: The Allegheny

In 1974, Marx introduced a diesel freight train set it called The Allegheny, catalog #25760, that ran on AC electric power and sold through catalog retailers. If you have a Marx 25760 train set today, it’s worth considerably more than its original retail price, even adjusted for inflation.

Marx’s Allegheny train set was part of the Great American Railroads series. It had catalog number 25760 and was manufactured only in 1974. Today it is one of the most valuable Marx train sets ever made.

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