Retrocomputing is a patient hobby — the opposite of chasing specs. The person restoring a Socket 7 machine or hunting for an original Sound Blaster card is after something specific: the experience of a computing era that ended, reproduced correctly. The gifts that land are the ones that show understanding of which era, which platform, and which problems the hobby actually involves.
“The one reliable rule of gift-giving: anything that makes them look more serious at what they love will be received with disproportionate gratitude.”
Friends claim items. No duplicates. No awkward conversations.