Hunting for iPods for more than 10 years, a man hid the value of his collection of half a billion dong from his wife

(Dan Tri) - The wife supported his hobby of collecting but did not know that her husband's antique iPod had "poured in" about 500 million VND. There is a rare version that Mr. Nguyen Hoang Kien had to wait more than 10 years to find.

GALLERY

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Hiding half a billion worth of the collection from his wife

For many people, the iPod has become a technology device of the past when smartphones can take care of almost all music listening needs.

However, for Mr. Nguyen Hoang Kien, Apple's small music players still have a special appeal after more than a decade.

Mr. Nguyen Hoang Kien started collecting iPods around 2012, and now the collection has been accumulated for more than a decade (Photo: Tuan Anh).

Starting to collect since around 2012, Mr. Kien has now spent about 500 million VND on iPods of many generations, especially limited editions, fullboxes or with low production quantities.

The interesting thing is that his wife does not know the exact value of the entire collection.

"My wife completely supports me. She only knows that I like and collect iPods, but I don't know specifically how much the collection is currently worth," Mr. Kien smiled and shared.

According to Mr. Kien, the amount of nearly half a billion VND was not spent at once but accumulated over more than 10 years.

"I think it's completely worth it. I don't have to pay for it all at once, but buy it gradually from year to year. It's like accumulating a small amount into a big one, so I have a large collection like this," he shared.

From the iPods he longed for in his youth, Mr. Kien gradually built a collection with a total value of about 500 million VND (Photo: provided by the character).

The devices in the collection are also not purchased just because of their high price. Some cars take many years to appear in the exact condition he wants. Even though many people asked to buy an item, the owner still did not want to sell it because of its sentimental value.

For him, the hobby of collecting begins with the memories associated with the iPod.

"iPod was produced before the iPhone era, so it brings back many memories of my student days. I have been collecting it for a long time, and sometimes I take it out to listen to music and look at it. It brings a feeling of nostalgia and healing when under pressure from work or life," Mr. Kien said.

It took more than 10 years to find the iPod I wanted

Mr. Kien's love for iPods started quite early, when he used his lucky money to buy the first iPod Touch Gen 2.

After that, he owned a red iPod Nano Gen 6 with a strap, which could be used as an electronic watch to listen to music and view photos - a quite new experience at a time when smartwatches were not yet popular.

The red iPod Nano Gen 6 with strap was owned by Mr. Kien when he was a student (Photo: provided by character).

There was a period when he needed money, so he sold the machine for about 1.6 million VND and later regretted it.

It took nearly 10 years for him to find a similar one in new sealed condition (unopened box), for more than 5 million VND. "There are things that I accidentally sold and later wanted to buy again, only to find that even if I had the money, I wouldn't be able to buy them," he said.

Also from that experience, he decided to keep the rare versions instead of selling them.

The red iPod Nano Gen 6 was once sold by Mr. Kien for about 1.6 million VND; Nearly 10 years later, he found the new sealed copy for more than 5 million VND (Photo: Tuan Anh).

One of the items that kept him waiting the longest was the limited edition original iPod Nano, which he said was only produced about 1,000 units for the Japanese market.

After more than 10 years of collecting, earlier this year he found one with all its accessories intact and unopened.

A limited edition early iPod Nano made Mr. Kien wait more than 10 years to find it and won the auction for about 15 million VND (Photo: Tuan Anh).

To own the device, he had to participate in an auction on a Japanese website with many international players and set it at about 15 million VND.

"It's a long journey. These items are no longer produced by Apple, so they are very difficult to find. Players have to interact, build relationships, and even exchange devices with each other to get the items they like," Mr. Kien shared.

"Rare version only owned by 2 people"

If the limited iPod Nano 1 took more than 10 years to find, another model in the collection is considered by Mr. Kien to be even more difficult to find.

It's the Snoopy version of the iPod Nano 2, which comes with a special box.

Mr. Kien pays a lot of attention to iPod Limited versions, full box or complete with original accessories (photo: Provided by the character).

According to Mr. Kien's observations and interactions in the community, in Vietnam there may be only about two people who own a similar version.

"There are probably only two people who have these two in Vietnam. The iPod Nano 2 Snoopy box is very rare and hard to find worldwide," he shared.

This is an assessment from the collector's personal experience after many years of monitoring the market, instead of an official statistic on the number of devices still in existence in Vietnam.

However, this detail shows the scarcity of special editions in the vintage iPod community.

Another Limited model that Mr. Kien especially loves is the iPod Classic Gen 4 Photo U2 version.

The device comes complete with box and has unique features associated with the band U2. He bought equipment from Japan last year for about 15 million VND.

The iPod Classic Gen 4 Photo U2 Limited version is one of Mr. Kien's especially favorite items, hunted from the Japanese market for about 15 million VND (Photo: provided by character).

When asked about the feeling of holding the device in his hand, he said he was very excited. "Very few people can hunt for a fully sealed full box copy like this," he said.

The iPod Limited is also a product group he almost does not want to sell. Although many people have contacted him asking to buy it, Mr. Kien said he usually chooses to keep it.

"A lot of people ask, but I usually don't sell Limited lines. If they ask, I will hunt for them for them. These items have great sentimental value for me," he shared.

Value is not in money

After more than 10 years, Mr. Kien's money for iPod hobby has reached about 500 million VND. However, if you only look at this number, according to him, it will be difficult to fully imagine how a collection is formed.

A machine can cost only a few million dong. A rarer item can cost tens of millions of dong. But behind each device is also the time spent searching, auctioning, transporting and the effort of monitoring the market for a long time.

Therefore, he does not consider collecting as simply buying old technology items.

Although many rare versions have been asked to buy at high prices, Mr. Kien said he almost does not want to sell because the sentimental value is difficult to convert into money (Photo: Tuan Anh).

There are versions you have to hunt for on international websites. Some equipment needs to be auctioned with players in multiple countries. Other items can only appear through the collecting community, when a member decides to pass them on.

Mr. Kien said he has only joined groups for the past 4 years. Before that, he mainly played alone. Participating in the community helps him access more knowledge as well as expand his opportunities to find equipment.

"In the community, I learn a lot of different knowledge from you, and I also share my knowledge about music, iPod hardware and software," he said.

Mr. Kien said that participating in the community helps him connect with people with similar passions, learn more experience and have the opportunity to exchange rare iPod models that are hard to find on the market (Photo: Tuan Anh).

The connection between people with similar passions is also very important because most of these models are no longer produced by Apple.

In the collector world, there are items that even though players have been searching for many years, they still cannot buy them.

The person who owns the device may only want to transfer it to people who are familiar, reputable, and truly understand the value of the item. Therefore, besides money, building relationships and trust in the community is also very important.

In many cases, members also exchange equipment with each other instead of buying and selling with money, thereby helping each person gradually complete the collection according to their own preferences.

Despite spending hundreds of millions of dong on the iPod, Mr. Kien admitted that sound quality is not necessarily the factor that makes him stick with this device.

According to him, purely in terms of sound, some specialized music players such as the Sony Walkman can provide a better experience.

The special feature of the iPod lies in the way users interact with the device.

"iPod is actually more about experience than sound. It brings the experience of click wheel, clicking sound...", he said.

Click Wheel - the control wheel was once one of the outstanding identifying features of many generations of iPods.

According to Mr. Kien, the appeal of the iPod lies not only in its sound but also in its unique experiences such as the Click Wheel and the familiar "click" sound (Photo: Tuan Anh).

Users can swipe their fingers in a circle to move through the song list, increase or decrease the volume or select functions.

The "click" sound emitted after each operation, copying music from a computer and small screen creates a very different experience than touching the smartphone screen and opening Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube today.

That is also the feeling that Mr. Kien wants to keep.

For Mr. Kien, each iPod is not simply an old music player but also preserves a story about time, the search process and experiences that are difficult to repeat (Photo: Tuan Anh).

Occasionally, the man still takes out the iPods from the closet, plays music and uses them the same way users did more than a decade ago.

Devices that were already technologically outdated now become a means of bringing players back to another stage of life.

Maybe it was when I was a student, or when an Apple music player was an item that many people could only look at.

Occasionally, Mr. Kien still takes out his old iPods to listen to music and look back as a way to find memories of his school days (Photo: character provided).

For Mr. Kien, nearly half a billion VND after more than 10 years was not just exchanged for old music players.

There are also thousands of hours of searching, waiting for auctions, the thrill when a rare version suddenly appears and the feeling of excitement when the item that has been sought after for many years is finally in hand.

Perhaps that's why, even though many people asked to buy the Limited versions at attractive prices, he still chose to keep them.

Because in the world of collectors, an item that takes 10 years to find is sometimes no longer simply something that can be valued and sold.