Thousands of Vintage NABU Computers Mysteriously Appeared on eBay: Here’s Why

Once part of Canadian tech history, the NABU personal computers disappeared into oblivion in 1986 because of the company's financial difficulties. However, thousands of NABU machines recently surfaced on eBay, where they were being sold at low prices.

Vintage NABU Computers Discovered After 2 Decades Inside a Massachusetts Barn

According to Vice, these NABU computers came from a barn in Massachusetts, where these machines have been hidden for more than two decades. The outlet said around 2,200 machines were discovered on the barn's second floor. Someone reportedly noticed these computers because the barn was already at risk of collapsing.

Thus, the place could no longer hold these vintage machines, which weigh similar to about 11 full-size vehicles. These NABU computers were reportedly new and unused for almost four decades, roughly half that time inside the Massachusetts barn.

Computers Being Sold on eBay Sported a Label of Forgotten Brand NABU

These machines with a label belonging to the forgotten brand, NABU, could have disappeared into the junkyard of history like many similar brands. But they instead ended up on eBay with an initial price of $59.99 each. Currently, the device is being sold for $119.99.

Vice reported that when the modern retro computing community turned on these computers, they found something worth bringing back to life. These stylish metal-and-plastic NABU computers were released in 1983.

Information about these NABU machines being sold on eBay reportedly started spreading on tech forums, Discord servers, and Patreon channels.

YouTuber Adrian Black Uploaded a Video Showing He Found the 1980s Machines

However, it became more publicly known after YouTuber Adrian Black uploaded a video about these eBay machines sporting the logo of the company NABU, which no longer exists today.

Black detailed the computer's specifications, which include the landmark Z80 processor that can be found in some of the most popular arcade machines and home consoles capable of carrying out certain games like "Pac-Man."

The machine's architecture was described as similar to the widely used MXS platform, making it an interesting choice for device hackers. Black was impressed with the computer and noted that although the device was new old stock, it was tested.

He said the seller might only have peeled off the original tape to test the machines and then placed the tape back on. NABU is an acronym that stands for Natural Access to Bi-directional Utilities. It was reportedly the 1983 version of AOL, except it was built around proprietary hardware.

The seller's eBay account reportedly went offline for months due to the flood of interest from people who want to buy these NABU computers.

Sean Malseed, host of the YouTube channel Action Retro and one of those who bought a NABU computer from the mysterious eBay listing, said: "The kind of hardware and software hacking that people are doing with those wouldn't have been possible 10 or even 5 years ago... These machines were once considered basically e-waste, but instead they're seeing a very unlikely renaissance."