Historical prices and purchasing power

A historical new price shows what a device cost when it was introduced. This includes the market, the date and the exact model. The linked source shows the original price; for special models this may differ.

The euro amount in round brackets ranks the price according to the general depreciation of money. It describes approximately the corresponding purchasing power at the stated price level. It is not an estimate of the present collector value or the selling price of the collection.

This is how it is calculated

First, the original price is adjusted with the consumer price index of each country: annual average of the year of introduction compared to September 2026. The indices refer to total private consumer expenditure and are not seasonally adjusted. Previous euro prices are also adjusted; for the European euro price reference we use the German consumer price index.

For US dollars and yen, the adjusted amount is then converted into euros using the European Central Bank’s euro reference exchange rate of 27 October 2026. The exchange rate therefore also affects the result. This compares general purchasing power in the original pricing country; it does not compare living costs between countries.

For DM prices, the fixed conversion rate is 1 Euro to 1,95583 DM, supplemented by the German price trend. A mere conversion of DM to Euro would not take into account inflation since the year of purchase.

Comparable amounts from 100 euros are rounded to full ten euros, smaller amounts to full euros. Amounts below one euro are rounded to cents. The data use a documented data base and do not change daily.

Data level and sources

Price level: September 2026. Currency conversion: 27 October 2026.

• Germany: Consumer price index, annual averages (Destatis) and September 2026 (Destatis).
• USA: CPI-U, historical annual averages (Bureau of Labor Statistics) and monthly indices, Table 1 (BLS).
• Japan: consumer price index from the OECD database, with 2015 = 100 in each case: annual values and monthly values.
• Currency: Euro reference rates of the European Central Bank.
• DM: Fixed conversion rate (Deutsche Bundesbank) and explanation of the calculation of purchasing power.

Sources for the original prices are linked directly on the device pages.