Update, May 2020: Below is a webpage posted in February 2016. The current status of the items offered in it is:

SectionStatus
Chess Set (1969) Still available. On display at Los Angeles Chess Club.
PC Clone (1983) Acquired by Post Haste Digital, Culver City, CA, August 2016
Waterbed (1982) Sold on eBay, May 2016
3D Printer Relics (1990s) Acquired by Pennsylvania State University, January 2018
Furniture Sold on eBay and given to Goodwill, 2016, ’17

Relics for Sale

     For the first time, I am offering for sale a set of unique items preserved from my childhood and business career. Some of these items are one-of-a-kind and all are in excellent condition. I look forward to finding new homes for them with people who will enjoy them as much as I have.

Marshall Burns

Contents

Chess Set (1969)

     As a youngster, I was a fan of Popular Science magazine. In December 1968, they had an article with plans for making a beautiful chess set from brass, aluminum, and wood. I was in ninth grade at the time and was taking a metal shop class in school. The chess set was a very ambitious project, but I got permission from the teacher to take it on. I was a lousy chess player, but I had a lot fun making this set and was proud of the results.

Chess set made by Marshall Burns, 1969 Chess set made by Marshall Burns, 1969
Chess set made by Marshall Burns, 1969 Chess set made by Marshall Burns, 1969
Chess set made by Marshall Burns, 1969 Chess set made by Marshall Burns, 1969
Chess set made by Marshall Burns, 1969 The knights have eyes made of the opposite metal – brass in the aluminum pieces and vice versa. Note that the brass pieces have tarnished somewhat over time, which could be taken care of with some Brasso and a polishing cloth.
Chess set made by Marshall Burns, 1969 Chess set made by Marshall Burns, 1969

PC Clone and First Home Color Printer with Sheet Feeder (1983)

     In 1983, I started the first manufacturer of “PC clones,” which were computers based on the revolutionary, new IBM Personal Computer. The story of that business is told on my company website. After that enterprise ran its course, I kept one computer for myself. I also kept one of the first color printers designed for home use, the IDS P-132. I recently unpacked them from storage and plugged them in for the first time in at least 20 years. They are both in excellent condition and still work.

(Click each photo to enlarge.)

PC Clone computer, 1983 PC Clone computer, 1983
The green letters seen on the screen in these photographs are the actual images that appear when the computer is turned on. The computer comes with DOS and Basic and all the manuals, as well as a selection of historic magazines from the era.
IDS color printer, 1983 IDS color printer, 1983
The photo on the left shows the printer by itself with a sheet of paper on which it just printed a successful self-test. The photo on the right shows the printer mounted on its automatic sheet feeder. In addition to the sheet feeder, the printer comes with a supply of new ribbons in their sealed, plastic packaging, a parallel cable for connection to the computer, the manual, and three sheets of transparency film.
PC Clone computer, 1983 IDS color printer, 1983

The computer, monitor, printer, and sheet feeder all come in their original shipping materials.

Air-Frame Waterbed (1982)

     A waterbed is a unique sleeping experience, like floating weightless in space. The problem with most waterbeds is the hard wooden frame that holds them up, which makes it uncomfortable to sit on the edge of the bed. An air-frame mattress solves this problem. The water compartment is surrounded by a tube filled with air, like the tube in a bicycle tire, but much larger. The air-frame tube supports the integrated water mattress for total comfort, relaxation, and fun! The air compartment can be filled with an air compressor, or by using the reverse action of an ordinary household vacuum cleaner. Then the water compartment is filled with warm water using a garden hose connected to your bathroom faucet.

     This is a queen-size bed, which takes regular fitted and flat queen-size sheets.

     I have the complete set-up available, including the mattress, safety liner, heater (to keep the water warm), wooden platform to hold the mattress off the floor, mattress pad, platform skirt, fill/drain kit (including garden hose and special connector to connect the hose to a faucet), instruction manual, and vinyl repair kit (which I never had to use).

     Waterbeds were very popular in the 1970s and ‘80s. Air-frame waterbeds are still available today, selling new for $479 for just the mattress at Waterbed Doctor or $599 at FloBeds.

PC Clone computer and IDS color printer, 1983
(Click the photo to enlarge.)

3D Printer Relics (1990s)

     The high point of my technology career was being involved in the early days of the 3D printer industry in the 1990s. I have a collection of historic items from that period, including samples of unique items manufactured in the devices, conference proceedings, and technical journals.

(Click each photo to enlarge.)

Sample items manufactured in early 3D printers in the 1990s Sample items manufactured in early 3D printers in the 1990s
Sample items manufactured in early 3D printers in the 1990s  

Some furniture items

     I also have some furniture items for sale, including a beautiful, black, faux leather love seat and a set of infinitely reconfigurable wire cubes.

(Click each photo to enlarge.)

Black faux leather couch  
Wire cubes Wire cubes