When I was in the 8th grade, I was nuts about analog synthesizers. I'm not talking about the "analog revival" here, but the original heyday of analog synthesis. Although I'd read about Moogs and Buchlas and ARPs, those were clearly out of my league. Instead, I had my sights set on a PAiA 2720 system, and I spent a lot of time looking through the 1977 PAiA catalog.
Radio-Electronics February 1979 In 1979, I picked up a copy of Radio-Electronics magazine featuring PAiA's new model 1550 Stringz'n'Thingz. Unlike the monophonic 2720 system, the 1550 was fully polyphonic. It's internal architecture was more like an organ than a synthesizer, but it specialized in the production of the rich orchestral string sounds common in pop music at that time. It could also do a reasonable piano imitation.
Fast-forward to late 2009. The analog days had come and gone, and come back. A lot of old analog gear was showing up on eBay, and the prices were slowly rising. I'd been watching for old PAiA gear to find a small synth to supplement my 1962 Hammond organ. 1550s showed up from time to time, but the price always rose beyond my budget. Whenever a promising one turned up, I'd place a bid and hope for the best. I finally got lucky and got my Stringz'n'Thingz for $249.