I have 4 038s.
The first two I got from a logger friend for free. One is a parts carcass, 038S I think, it's beat? The other was a 038M, non running and filthy. I cleaned the latter up and it still runs great. Carb/airbox/recoil/clutch caked with junk, AV mounts worn and needed airfilter. After an afternoon of cleanup it ran so good I brought a new ES bar and RC chain and above parts. Piston still looks great through ex port. This was 20 years ago and I still use it for my cordwood every year. Dependable as the sunrise.
The other two were straight gassed 038S , I also got free. These were ones I did 038M conversions on. One with a NOS OEM P/C, the other with an Italian Tecomec kit. Both run as strong/stronger than the 038M as I cleaned up the ports and opened the mufflers up. No pics handy on those.
Sometimes you find deals...........I found a 026 on Craig's for $95, another filthy saw but ran great after clean up, only a little bit in parts on that one (rim sprocket, chain, airfilter).....and a straight gassed 036 for free, I rebuilt with OEM parts, that came out nice but cost me ~$230 in OEM parts I shopped for (OEM piston kit, bar/chain, clutch upgrade, hoses, filters, gasket set, carb kit.......).
Shopping around and being lucky sometimes works out if you don't need a saw right then.