Collector’s Corner

Collecting and refurbishing all things Amiga

There’s so much Amiga-based news this month that it only felt fair to also include a collector who loves the computer

We think it’s fair to say that this month’s collector, Phil from Kirkby-in-ashfield, Nottinghamshire, is an Amiga nut. “I’ve got an Amiga

500, 500+, rebuilt 2000, rebuilt and recapped 4000, Amiga 1200, recapped 600, CD32, CDTV and an Amiga 3000 motherboard on its way from Canada,” he grins. When you factor in the rest of Phil’s collection – Commodore 64s, Ataris, Texas TI99 4/As and various Sinclair models, it’s clear there’s a lot of retro computer love going on here. “I began collecting in the early Nineties, but life happened and the collection fell by the wayside. Then two years ago, a good friend located a very nice Amiga 1200 for me and I’ve just started rebuilding the whole collection.”

Now safely back in the collecting saddle, Phil has begun collecting big box games as well as machines. “I have every Alien Breed big box original version of the game released, to my knowledge. It took some finding, but I love the artwork.” Given his admiration for the work of artist HR Giger, it’s no surprise the Team 17 classic is a favourite of Phil’s, yet his holy grail remains Mindscape’s Moonstone. “Superbly rare and stupendously expensive to get hold of! But as a collector, it’s one to be had.”

Phil was technically late to the Amiga, purchasing his first 600 in the summer of 1992, but he was soon fully rapt with the surrounding scene. “We started to form the idea of an online group of like-minded individuals, and eventually we were reviewing products and writing blogs on our webpage, Pure Amiga.” So what endears him to the Commodore 16-bit machine in particular? “The user base and the ability of people to create new items from scratch for the platform, and I think [that’s] got better – the existence of Github, 3D printers, social media and open-sourced projects makes this aged platform still viable, fun and, most importantly, loved and cared for by enthusiasts worldwide.”

As Phil outlines above, his Amiga collection is what dominates his retro room and most of them have been refurbished by the man himself as part of his venture, Pure Amiga. “Anyone who knows me knows how well I refurbish these lovely Amigas,” he says proudly. “To fund my collection, I buy, refurbish and sell certain items that I already own – a good friend of mine says that I get them ‘Ayres clean!’” While the business of recapping is left to Phil’s friend and the other half of Pure Amiga, Chris, the life of these wonderful computers is being extended immeasurably. “I like to bring an Amiga back to factory fresh – I don’t believe in chemical ‘retrobriting’ as to me the action of the chemicals on aged plastic is not something I want to inflict on these machines. But I do like every Amiga that crosses my path to be as clean and bright as possible,” Phil concludes. “Plus, with the motherboard works, we are hopefully elongating their life spans enormously.”

For Amiga parts, repairs, history and more check out Chris and Phil’s site: www.pureamiga.co.uk