Seven rare Apple finds that will make an awesome Christmas present

While there is no shortage of vintage, rare, or otherwise classic products for sale on eBay, some are more vintage, rare, or otherwise classic than others. Here are seven gift ideas that may not be the cheapest, but will surely make an Apple fan’s Christmas.

Mac OS System 7 playing cards

In the mid-to-late 1990s, Apple produced a deck of Hoyle-made playing cards that replaced standard suits with classic Mac OS 7 icons such as the Bomb, Trash, and Happy Mac.

While the details of its origins and availability seem to vary, most accounts agree that Apple sold this deck of cards at its Infinite Loop shop.

And while some say that this deck of cards was sold only to Apple employees at the time, they have resurfaced on eBay over the years, ranging from heavily used sets to pristine, still-sealed items.

One way or another, this is a fun, rare collector’s item for which we were able to find the following listing on eBay:

• https://www.ebay.com/itm/127190096527
• https://www.ebay.com/itm/375936171460
• https://www.ebay.com/itm/227014586165

The 1995 Apple Logo System 7.5 Watch

When Apple released the System 7.5 update for $134.99 in 1995, it decided to include a free gift to sweeten the deal.

In fact, users could choose between getting a free copy of Conflict Cather 3, a utility that helped diagnose and resolve extension conflicts, or what the company referred to as the Apple Logo watch, which featured the company’s quirky visual language at the time, as well as the classic rainbow logo

A few years ago, Hodinkee published an in-depth profile of the Apple Logo watch, and it is well worth a read.

The 1995 Apple Logo watch tends to pop up on eBay from time to time, with wildly varying prices. Currently, there seems to be only a few listings for it, so you may want to act quickly if you’d like to get it this time.

Oh, and speaking from experience, if you get one, be very careful with the strap. As it turns out, dried-out 30-year-old plastic tends to break apart very easily.

• https://www.ebay.com/itm/135583528182
• https://www.ebay.com/itm/157321344806
• https://www.ebay.com/itm/226667920018
• https://www.ebay.com/itm/365763934717

Woz’s business card

You can tell just by looking at photos of Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak’s business card that this is one sharp slab of metal.

And this, as Woz will tell you, was the point. Here is Forbes on the unlikely origin of the card:

“According to Woz, this card was born of necessity, not pomposity. After the events of 9/11 all jets, be they private or public, were not allowed to carry steel utensils; all knives, spoons and forks had to be made of plastic.

This fazed Woz who was very fond of an airborne steak, so he circumvented these cutlery restrictions by creating a metal business card that allowed him to cut his steak in the style to which he was accustomed.”

Over the years, Woz has had a few different versions of his card, at least one of which featured a reference to the classic punched cards.

Currently, there seems to be a single listing for it on eBay, but the price is as sharp as the card itself.

• https://www.ebay.com/itm/326871455993

Designed by Apple in California

This is a more recent item, and it was rather ridiculed when it was released, as it wasn’t exactly cheap.

In late 2016, Apple released “Designed by Apple in California”, a limited-edition book by American filmmaker and photographer Andrew Zuckerman and Apple’s chief design officer at the time, Jony Ive.

The books were released in two sizes: a small one, measuring 10.2 inches by 12.75 inches and costing $199, and a large version, measuring 13 inches by 16.25 inches and costing $299.

Both contained the same 450 photos, highlighting the design of all the products that Apple released between 1998 and 2015.

Dedicated to Steve Jobs’ memory, the book was sold until August 2019. We were able to locate a few eBay listings for it, and you can find them below.

• https://www.ebay.com/itm/315272160311
• https://www.ebay.com/itm/405742380564

Make Something Wonderful book

While the previous book was sold for just a few years, this book wasn’t sold at all. At least, not officially.

In 2023, the Steve Jobs Archive gifted Apple and Disney employees with this hardcover book that compiles images, speeches, interviews, and other materials related to Jobs.

9to5Mac published a hands on with the book when it came out, and noted that it was only accessible as a downloadable ebook to the general public.

Since then, a few copies have been popping up on eBay, with once again wildly varying prices and physical conditions. Here are a couple that we were able to find:

• https://www.ebay.com/itm/177579151496
• https://www.ebay.com/itm/116600688456

Apple Pippin

If you think today’s Apple has too many products in too many categories, you probably weren’t following the company too closely in the 1990s.

Back then, CEO Michael Spindler adopted a licensing strategy to expand the Macintosh beyond computers.

As part of that effort, Apple designed an open multimedia platform called Pippin, aiming to license its hardware and software specifications to third-party manufacturers.

And that’s just what Bandai did. It licensed the Pippin platform from Apple, went on to actually develop and market its own Pippin systems, only to give up on the whole thing just two years later, following near-zero market traction both in the US, with the Pippin @WORLD, and in Japan, with the Pippin Atmark.

Currently, there are a few listings for the Pippin Atmark on eBay, all of them from Japan. So if you’re planning to get it in time for Christmas, you might want to hurry.

• https://www.ebay.com/itm/396865611196
• https://www.ebay.com/itm/388751143662
• https://www.ebay.com/itm/236477112744

1983 Apple Winter Collection Catalogue

Not everybody knows this, but Apple had an entire apparel line in the 80s, with a colorful collection based on the classic rainbow logo and the Apple Garamond font.

And while it is extremely difficult to come across an original item from Apple’s clothing line from that era, there is currently an eBay listing for its 1983 Winter/Holiday collection leaflet, complete with the order form.