The Fairlight CMI IIx was a neato sampler from the ’80s. It was also horrifically expensive, apparently. Wikipedia says it cost about £27,000 in 1983, which works out to over $125,000 in today’s Americabucks or something like that.
What did you do with a IIx? Well, you played orchestra hits with it. All day, every day.
(Source: http://www.youtube.com/)