Would you believe me if I told you that I scored this 1984 Apple Scribe printer for a mere .99 cents? Well, I did. The seller lives 40 miles away, so shipping was only $12. Score!

The Apple Scribe Printer is a thermal transfer printer that Apple released in 1984 alongside the Apple IIc. It retailed for $299, which was pretty cheap back in the day for a printer. Remember, the ImageWriter was almost $700 bucks!

Wikipedia states that the printer was discontinued due to low sales, partly due to the slow printing speed, and the expensive cartridge used. Not to mention, that the print quality of some dot-matrix printers was better.

The printer is very yellow. Probably the worst yellowing of any vintage Apple product that I have. The restoration is going to be a challenge! Don’t let the pictures deceive, the flash can wash out the yellow. The lights in my computer room are pretty warm too, so I usually have to tweak the white balance of the images. So they look a little less yellow than they really are.

This is a cool looking little printer. I wish I still had an Apple //c to go with it. I tossed my Apple //c in the late ‘90s because the floppy drive was broken. If I had only known. (Another one of life’s little regrets.)

Despite the discoloration, it’s in pretty descent shape. There are a few cosmetic issues. The top cover is compete, but there’s a chip at the top left where the hinge is.









There’s also a chip in the case on this corner.



The buttons are very yellow, as well as the side knob.



There’s a pretty big scratch on the front. I hope once the restoration is compete and I remove all the yellow, that the scratch is not as visible.



The inside is pretty clean. It still has a cartridge, although it’s snapped.



Once the cover is removed, the extent of the discoloration is shown by the areas that were protected by the cover.



Looking underneath, the printer still has the bottom tray and all 4 feet.



Again, removing the bottom tray reveals the extent of the discoloration.







It still has a ribbon, although it’s snapped. I ordered another one on eBay for $2. Not that I’ll be using this printer anytime soon. It’s just nice to have it complete.



Hey does that say “Cornell University”?



What a cool little piece of Apple History. Gotta love the Snow White design. I can’t wait to tear it apart and restore the color.