Mike's PCjr Page

In my introduction I mentioned that I’ve been volunteering at Computer Reset. I couldn’t say much at the time, but now that the liquidation sales are starting again I can give more details and answer questions.

I’m the “PCjr guy” at Computer Reset. That’s not to say that I’m the only one familiar with PCjrs (several other volunteers are members of this forum), just that I’ve taken on the job of organizing and preparing the PCjr stuff for sale. I keep track of what CR has on hand (as best I can), answer questions for shoppers, and refurbish systems to make ready-to-run kits (more about those below).

What is Computer Reset?

For those who don’t already know, Computer Reset was a used computer store and repair shop that operated in Dallas, Texas, USA from 1984 to late May of 2019. Over the years the owner, Richard Byron, accumulated a huge trove of old computers in his warehouse and two-story office building. When an accident injured Byron and forced Computer Reset to close, local vintage computer enthusiasts arranged liquidation sales events in cooperation with Byron’s daughter. These initial sales took place in June and July, 2019. Then LGR’s video about Computer Reset brought it worldwide attention.

After a long hiatus (for cleaning, safety measures, and COVID-19), the CR liquidation sales began again on a small scale in August. So far the sales have been mainly for locals, to work out the new procedures and the sign-up Web site. Soon the sales will be open to a wider group and will continue on pre-announced weekends while there is still interest.

Computer Reset is of particular relevance to PCjr enthusiasts: after IBM discontinued the PCjr, Computer Reset bought IBM’s remaining stock—five semi-trailers full. PCjr sales and repair became a big part of Computer Reset’s business in the ’80s and ’90s. Byron also acquired a lot of used PCjr systems from schools and other sources. Thus, CR has literal tons of PCjr stuff. I presume it’s the largest PCjr collection in the world.

Where is it, and how can I visit?

Computer Reset is no longer in business, and the liquidation sales happen on weekends on an irregular basis. To attend one of the liquidation sales, you’ll need to join the Computer Reset Liquidation group on Facebook and watch for scheduled events. Because only a few people can attend at a time (for COVID-19 safety and general crowd control), you’ll have to sign up to attend using the sign-up site. You’ll need a Facebook account for this, too. Unfortunately there is no alternative to Facebook for signing up to attend the sales.

The street address is:
What about those PCjr kits?

Knowing that a lot of people would be unfamiliar with the particulars of the PCjr and reluctant to try to piece one together in their limited time at CR, I set out to create the next best thing to buying one new-in-box.

Though CR no longer has any new-in-box PCjrs (AFAIK), it has piles of used system units, used monitors, NIB accessories, and FRUs (replacement parts). Since last November I’ve been refurbishing systems—cleaning, testing, repairing—and putting them in a box with the NIB accessories that CR has on hand. I’ve put a list of the contents online.

You may notice that the kit doesn’t include a speech adapter (those are sold out for now) or a 128 KB sidecar, as all the NIB ones were sold out and we didn’t have enough used, working ones to go around. We did find more working memory sidecars along the way, and I’ve been encouraging the kit buyers to pick one up separately. The kit is also missing the serial adapter, which was “sold out” until I discovered another big box of them recently.

This is the PCjr corner just prior to the resumption of sales in August. In the lower level of the pallet rack on the right, the blue-and-white boxes are the PCjr kits, and the stack of boxes to the right of those are the working PCjr monitors. PCjr accessories are on the shelves to the left.

These are the two demo machines.

Other items not on the official list that I’ve been handing to kit buyers as a bonus:

• An information packet with pointers to accessories they might want (such as the jr-IDE) and online resources (such as this forum).
• King’s Quest and cartridge games diskettes. These make great demos, and we typically have River Raid and Demon Attack running on two Jrs in the warehouse. I’ve been giving copies of the diskettes to buyers so they can have fun with their Jrs immediately when they get home. Thanks to Trixter for the King’s Quest image and to Hargle for the cartridge games disk.

We’ve been selling these kits plus tested, working PCjr monitors for $150. (As far as I know, it’s the only thing at CR with a set price.) I’ve made 24 kits to date, and they’ve all sold quickly. I’ve converted my dining room to a PCjr workshop to make more kits but can’t hope to keep up with the demand. It’s also hard to say how long supplies will last to make kits at the same level of completeness—we’re running out of side panels and cluster adapters, for example.

I’ve been pleasantly surprised by shoppers’ interest in PCjrs so far.

I have more to say and ask but will stop for now. I just wanted to inform you of what’s going on before things progress too much further. There are sales scheduled for next weekend that are open to residents of Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Arkansas. After a break for Halloween, the sales will probably open up to people nationwide in November.

I’d be glad to answer questions.

Thanks so much for doing this! This is precisely the kind of thing I would volunteer for too if I were anywhere nearby.

Is there any way that folks like me might be able to purchase copies of software that might be lying around there?
I see gray boxed copies of KQ1 on the shelf in one of your pictures and I've I seen from the Lazy Game Reviews tour that there are copies of Zyll as well. I'm sure that's just the tip of the iceberg. I'd move this discussion into the PM realm, but I think I may not be alone in this interest.

This touches on two of the most common questions, and I’ll answer each in turn.

Do you have XYZ?

Definitely maybe.

• When goodies are readily visible they get snatched up. King’s Quest and Model M keyboards don’t hang around long.
• Any remaining hot items are still buried, waiting to be discovered. And we do uncover cool things almost every time we’re there. CR is a huge place with very little organization. What you see in the photos above is the ordered tip of a chaotic iceberg.
• We often have pedestrian items in large quantity, with little danger of selling out unless someone comes along and buys the lot. Want a new fan for your PCjr? We have hundreds new-in-box.

In other words, it’s a very fluid situation. If I tell you that we do or don’t have something right now, I’ll be made a liar almost immediately.

Almost all of the stuff you see in the PCjr Corner photo has already been sold, restocked, and sold again. I try to replenish the shelves from stashes I know about, but in some cases I don’t know where to find more right away.

A couple of sale days ago, I was digging in the back of the warehouse and ran across another sealed copy of King’s Quest plus three sealed copies of Zyll. A shopper walked by and grabbed a copy of each before I had even had a chance to take them to the shelves. I did take the remaining two Zylls to the front but didn’t see them this Sunday and presume that someone picked them up.

That might have been the same day that other volunteers, digging through unexplored regions of the pallet racks, uncovered two PCjrs with Racore/Quadram Drive 2 expansions. Those Jrs walked directly out the door as soon as they were handed down. They did not pass Go, nor did they collect $200.

All of that said, I’ll try to roughly characterize the PCjr-related inventory:

Dozens or more:

• used system units in various conditions
• used, often boxed, mostly-not-working monitors
• used and new power bricks
• NIB long-board power supplies
• NIB fans
• NIB diskette drive kits
• NIB power expansion sidecars
• NIB floppy controllers
• NIB FRU keyboard cords
• NIB internal modems
• NIB adapters for IBM color display
• NIB parallel port sidecars
• NIB connectors for TV
• used, non-functional 128 KB memory sidecars
• NOS FRU revised keyboards
• NIB Andrew Tobias’ Managing Your Money (with cartridge)
• NIB Rocky’s Boots and certain other educational titles
• NOS unpopulated PCBs for Integrity clock cartridges
• NOS Integrity cartridge shells (no ROM PCBs remain)
• NOS plastic frames for the rear ports

Beginning to run out (two dozen or fewer remain AFAIK):

• used, functional 128 KB memory sidecars
• NIB 64 KB cards
• used and NOS Hands-on BASIC books
• used and NOS guides to operation
• NIB joysticks
• NIB adapter cables for cassette
• NIB cluster attachments
• used chiclet keyboards
• used Tecmar Jr Captain sidecars
• used Racore/Quadram Drive 2 pieces

Sold out at the moment, AFAIK:

• NIB system units
• NIB monitors
• used and NIB technical reference manuals
• used and NIB PC-DOS 2.1
• used and NIB cartridge BASIC
• used and NIB ColorPaint
• used and NIB King’s Quest for PCjr
• used and NIB Lotus 123 for PCjr (w/cartridges)
• used and NIB Zyll
• used and NIB cartridge games
• used and NOS Electric Desk for PCjr
• other third-party, rare, or exotic PCjr items

Will you ship something to me?

Generally, no.

Taking and filling orders, packing things up, shipping, following up on questions or problems—it’s all a big job that’s beyond what the volunteers are prepared to take on.

If you want to buy from afar, I’d recommend one of the following:

• Get a buddy in the DFW area to do the shopping and shipping for you.
• Join the Computer Reset Buy and Sell group on Facebook if you’re already a member of the liquidation group.
• Buy from one of the resellers who have taken on the job of collecting, cleaning, cataloging, and shipping this stuff. Here are several that I know are pulling from CR inventory:
  
  • TexElec (eBay store)
  • BGMicro
  • electronic_excess
  • recycle_oldelectronics
• Organize a group buying expedition.
  
  In the DFW area there’s a fairly active retrocomputing scene that horse-trades online and has in-person events, too. There was a trunk sale just last Saturday. If you have something similar in your area, perhaps you can arrange for someone there to gather wish lists, rent a U-Haul truck, drive to CR, load the truck with goodies, and return home for a CR-away-from-CR sales event. That would be more efficient and cost-effective than having a bunch of things shipped individually.

Hey buddy, just like to say you were an enormous help last sunday and I very much appreciate you working with me to put together a great system. It all cleaned up very nicely and I've been dinking with it pretty much constantly since I got home. I tried to say thank you to everyone there, but you specifically deserve an extra big thanks!

You’re quite welcome! I’m glad to see PCjrs going to people who appreciate them!

Hello. It would be a dream come true just to visit computer reset but i live in new england and money is tight this year. I was wondering if there was some way i could buy a chiklet keyboard. I have 5 pcjrs and all 5 have the "better" keyboard but i always wanted just one chiklet keyboard to add to the collection. Ebay prices for the chiklets have been all over the place. Anyway let me know. Thanks

Has anybody come across a lightpen and/or associated software?

VERAULT wrote:I was wondering if there was some way i could buy a chiklet keyboard.

Your best bet would be to ask on the Computer Reset Buy and Sell group on Facebook. I answered this question in more detail above.

DarkStar2032 wrote:Has anybody come across a lightpen and/or associated software?

For a PCjr? Not that I know of, but I’m not aware of everything people have found. I would not be surprised if there were a PCjr light pen in the building somewhere.

DoctorOctal, I dont use Facebook and have no intention to ever start. Its a shame the communication is limited to that when there are so many more open channels that Vintage computer enthusiasts use.

Also, why is computer Reset not opening up some kind of website or online store to move merchandise? Flat rate items with flat rate shipping (depending on zones if in the USA).

VERAULT wrote:DoctorOctal, I dont use Facebook and have no intention to ever start. Its a shame the communication is limited to that when there are so many more open channels that Vintage computer enthusiasts use.

I completely agree. I find the use of Facebook for this purpose appalling. I’m not running the show, however, and the Facebook groups were well established before I arrived. All I can do is post information to more appropriate places like this one.

Also, why is computer Reset not opening up some kind of website or online store to move merchandise?

Such a store exists. It’s called “TexElec”.

Seriously, the only way that CR prices can happen is when it’s just a matter of opening the doors and letting shoppers dig through the mountains for hours, then haul off the loot themselves. Even at that, “just opening the doors” involves vastly more work than you’d think and has required over a year of effort on weekends from more than a dozen unpaid volunteers.

Once you add in the costs of setting up and stocking an online store, paying transaction fees, buying and managing packing materials, dealing with shipping services, answering questions, dealing with returns and deadbeat buyers, etc., you end up with eBay prices. And it would all take a lot more volunteer time.

I suggested the buy-and-sell group because that might be a way of finding a friendly stranger who’d send you something cheaply (if you don’t have a personal friend in the Dallas area).

Could I be that friendly stranger? I’d like to be. Unfortunately I can’t take on the role of being people’s remote shopper, as much as I want to be helpful. I’m already quite overextended on my CR volunteer time, and charging enough to make it not be a volunteer thing would bring us back to eBay prices.

I know it’s tantalizing to see good stuff selling cheaply. “It feels so close—there’s gotta be a way!” I wish I had a better answer for you.

One more thought: perhaps you could ask Kevin at TexElec whether you could buy a keyboard from him.