Spotted: Vintage Brain Bag - Collectible?

[kmcg]

Seattle's craigslist has a blue (indigo?) brain bag posted. I mention it here because it has an old-style label that says Port Angeles, so if there are any collectors out there, this might be of interest. I am not the seller, and don't know the seller - just a heads up!
Tom Bihn Brain Bag for Laptops and Photo / Video Gear

[moriond]

Seattle's craigslist has a blue (indigo?) brain bag posted. I mention it here because it has an old-style label that says Port Angeles, so if there are any collectors out there, this might be of interest. I am not the seller, and don't know the seller - just a heads up!
Tom Bihn Brain Bag for Laptops and Photo / Video Gear

That's actually a Sapphire Brain Bag, similar in color and design to the 2002 model of the Brain Bag shown in the photo of this blog post. It's also similar to the sapphire Brain Bag that Tom's brother, Dan Bihn, carries in the introduction to the Camera I-O video (where it has a cameo appearance). More pictures of Dan's 2003 Brain Bag, including some with Dan, can be found in this Flickr stream from April 2012.

Sapphire is one of the color options for the Snake Charmer and is currently shown in on the product page. It's also used as the interior lining color for the Azalea/Sapphire Cafe bags.

Best guess is that Brain Bag dates from around 2002 or 2003.

moriond

Sorry, I note that the original post link is no longer showing. This was a reply composed on my iPad that I thought had been lost.

[Mr Doode]

I have a plum Brain Bag from that era. I would love to get my hands on a horizontal brain cell with snaps that were used back then.

San Francisco by getinmyhead, on Flickr

[spamjam]

Re-listed here:
Tom Bihn Brain Bag for Laptops and Photo / Video Gear

[Mr Doode]

I have a plum brain bag from that era. I would LOVE to find a horizontal brain cell with the snaps used back then.

[AVService]

I also have one like that and also a Red one.
Mine has an older Freudian Slip too and I have a few Brain Cell with the snaps,don't even know what they are for?

[moriond]

The old design for securing the Brain Cell in bags like the Brain Bag used metal snaps where the webbing loops now attach via plastic gatekeeper clips. The snaps at the back were like the snaps that secure the pocket at the front, only they were mated to the other half of metal snaps against the wall of these bags. Then there was a transition period where they moved to webbing loops. In this design, the back side of the Brain Cell only had webbing loops that lie flat against the bag. The bags that carry the Brain Cell no longer use protruding snaps. Instead, there's another flat band of webbing that has loops at the end through which you can fit plastic gatekeeper clips. One side of the clip goes through the webbing loop of the holding bag (e.g., the Brain Bag) and another end of the hinged plastic clip goes through the webbing loop of the Brain Cell. If you're not using a Brain Cell you can remove the plastic gatekeeper clips entirely, and have a flat surface. If you examine the back pocket of the Western Flyer or the center pocket of the Tri-Star, you'll see the strips of webbing holding two removable plastic gatekeeper clips that lie flat against the ends.

The transition between the webbing loops and metal snaps on the Brain Cells took place around early 2004, I think. There was a transition period when the Brain Cells had both snaps and webbing loops. I think I have one of these Brain Cells for an oddly sized laptop. But the laptops from the period of this Brain Cell design with the metal snaps were bulkier than most current day models.

moriond