Alex Jason, the Maine teenager who used lawn-mowing money to build one of the most impressive collections of rare and historical Apple devices, recently packed it all in a 26-foot truck and made a heartbreaking trip to deliver it to a new owner.

The dream of creating a museum with the collection had hit a snag. Alex had the building and even an impressive board of directors that included Mac designer Jerry Manock. But raising capital to renovate the site proved near impossible in sparsely populated Maine.

“We tried to make this happen after a year and it wasn’t going anywhere,” Bill Jason, who made the trip with his son to deliver the collection of vintage Macs, told Cult of Mac. “This was his dream since he was 10 years old and in this neck of the woods, it wasn’t flying. He was heartbroken. But suddenly, there’s new momentum.”

                                            Alex’s Apple Orchard occupied the basement of the family home

“I just wanted a nice computer,” said Alex, who recently turned 16. “But I realized those computers are being thrown away. That’s kind of how it snowballed. I wanted to create a collection, share it online and create a museum.”

The blueprint for a museum emerged after Alex had more than 50 pieces. Father and son were attending vintage computers shows, where Alex met other collectors, including Mimms, who helped him with acquisitions. He also met ex-Apple engineers, some of whom believed Alex would give a good home to the prototypes they once worked on and still had in their possession.

                                           Some of the pre-production prototype devices in Alex’s basement

When he learned of the museum plan, he joined the board of directors and helped recruit inventor Chuck Colby, once a vendor sanctioned by Apple to manufacture Mac-compatible portables.

Fundraising challenges

However, several pieces in Alex’s collection, especially some of the rare prototype devices, had collectors calling. Alex did not want to break up his beloved collection but after a family meeting, they decided they had no choice.

His current museum includes an Apple Pop-Up Museum, a set of rooms dedicated to Apple, but his collection includes other historically significant machines like the Kenbak-1 from 1971 and the Altair from 1975.

The Apple part of his collection is impressive and starts with the Apple I — four of them, in fact.

                                                  The Apple Pop Up Museum in Roswell, Georgia
                                                    

“I am looking for historical significance and the stories behind them that bring them to life. Otherwise, they’re just boat anchors.”

Mimms made an offer for Alex’s entire collection, except the Apple I. The undisclosed amount allowed Alex to pay off the loan on the Apple I, buy a car and bank away an amount that should cover college, Bill Jason said.

Source: cultofmac