Roland Jupiter-8

The material cost of a blue Mauritius is 13 cents. Its collector's value today is 7.2 trillion times that amount, or thereabouts.

The Roland Jupiter-8 isn’t quite as bad, but its price when new, which was already very considerable at the time, is now easily exceeded by its market value. It was brought onto the market at just the right time in 1981 with impressive features and lent its charisma to a lot of synth pop hits, even within its short production lifespan of just four years.

Eight voices, 64 memory slots, dual sounds, split mode, arpeggiator, sync sounds, and a completely clear and colorful interface simply provide an excellent basis for absolutely inspiring moments.

And yes, the Jupiter-8, or the “jee pee eight” as juppies—sorry, yuppies, of course—casually call it, still looks very slick today. 

It will rightfully remain, more than ever before, a desirable status symbol, and likely for all time. Its list of prominent users covers the whole alphabet, beginning in this case with ABBA and ending with ZZ Top. 


Who wouldn’t want their name to appear on this list, anyway? It’s the Jupiter!