You are not logged in. Would you like to login or register?



01-7-2017 20:01:00  #1


One for the Experts (and Everyone else, too)

Hello,

Let me first start with a loose/subjective definition: An expert, in this context, is anyone with lots of experience and or a knowledge base that is wider than most enthusiasts. As a member of both the typewriter and fountain pen collector community, I know lots of guys and gals who would modestly claim that "they're no expert" even though they have decades of experience and obviously know more than most enthusiasts. So drop the modesty here, because I'm probably talking to you.

I know a lot of prople use forums like this to ask questions of the wiser members. So here's my query: What question(s) do you wish more people would ask? Or, another way, is there a specific piece of knowledge or a subject about typewriters and/or collecting typewriters that mostor many people don't know which you think deserves more widespread dissemination and understanding?

Basically, I'd like to make this a post to tell everyone something that you think more people should know.

Now, I really am not an expert, but I will start us off with something that might actually be most prevalent among among non-collectors, but that I'm sure exists among is as well: Too many people seem to have over-inflated idea about how valuable the majority of typewriters are. I've seen too many machines in horrendous condition going for silly prices.

My (probably overly optimistic) hope is that this thread will spark some good conversation, or, even better, teach us all something new!

Best,

Tric.


There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed. -- Ernest Hemingway
 

03-7-2017 20:21:27  #2


Re: One for the Experts (and Everyone else, too)

I wish more people would ask. "Why don't I know what the terms 'elite' and 'pica' mean in the American typewriter world?"

Short answer: they are names for the pitch of the typewriter, the characters per inch that it prints---12 and 10 cpi respectively. ONLY. They are not names of typeface designs, although many typeface names have those words in the name. They are not analogous to the "point size" of typesetting and computer type.

Dunno why this seems like such a big deal, except that civilization depends on mutually agreed upon language.

 

04-7-2017 05:26:56  #3


Re: One for the Experts (and Everyone else, too)

That's a good one. I had that issue starting out. Now I just need to quit getting them two mixed up. Pica just sounds like it should be the smaller type...


There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed. -- Ernest Hemingway
     Thread Starter
 

04-7-2017 06:58:26  #4


Re: One for the Experts (and Everyone else, too)

I think there´s a critical question which MUST be asked both by sellers and buyers:

Does this thing work?

Sounds obvious, but so many times either the seller doesn´t tell or the buyer doesn´t ask (or both). I know things are worth what people are willing to pay for them, and I know everyone is free to put any price tag on anything, but... But. A big but.

Condition defines a good part of the price of a typewriter, and I honestly think there are some lines which roughly define what´s right and wrong when pricing typewriters. If it doesn´t work don´t pretend it´s worth as much as a working one, period. I know I´m not the one to tell anyone how much they should sell a typewriter at or how much you should pay for it, and I´m no authority on the matter. But I´ve seen... things. Unspeakable, disgusting and ludicrous at the same time, and these are usually avoided using your common sense, but not always.

And then there comes something which is even more important than the price tag: telling the truth.

This mainly goes to the seller, and you can´t argue with this one. If you say it works, then it HAS to work. Sometimes the seller honestly thinks it works and then reality is that it doesn´t work at 100%, but ignorance is not the same as a flat-out lie. I see hordes of typewriters in which the only means to assess it is a photo taken with a toaster and no condition is specified. Try asking the seller and see what happens... Most of times there´s no answer, but when a reputed seller says the typewriter works you may be inclined to believe it because there are hundreds of people who say "you can trust this guy". It doesn´t always work, though.

Conclussion: always ask if it works. Then, common sense will help you decide.


TaktaktataktaktakcluccluctaktaktaktaktakDINGtaktaktaktakCREEEEEEEEECtaktaktak...

(Olivetti Linea 98)
 
 

04-7-2017 11:03:31  #5


Re: One for the Experts (and Everyone else, too)

tricnomistal wrote:

... is there a specific piece of knowledge ... that most or many people don't know which you think deserves more widespread dissemination and understanding?

​It's one thing for those who are uninitiated in typewriter culture to toss the word RARE around when describing a machine, but I've found that too many so-called collectors are guilty of doing the same thing. Incredulously, one such person even used the word unique to describe a typewriter that had originally rolled off of a mass production line, and all because the one in his possession was the first to be listed in the database.

​The typewriter community often guilty of looking at things with a very narrow range of vision. In other words, if they can't find a specific model on the internet using an online search, they jump to the conclusion that it must be rare. The truth is that very few typewriters can be categorized as being rare. They were mass produced tools, and although it's true that some had very brief or limited production runs, or had features that weren't common, most were manufactured in sufficient numbers that there are plenty of them around - even if you can't find examples of them using Google or Bing.

I know of a number of collectors in my area, and most of them don't have the machines in their collection listed anywhere online. And then there are guys like me who have only posted some of their collection in the database. I can think of one collector in particular who has shelves full of typewriters that I have never seen in person before and aren't common in the database - and yet neither of us would describe them as being rare

​My point is that there are far more typewriters that still exist in the world that don't have an internet presence than those that do have one. It's one thing to claim rarity when the actual history of a model along with concrete production numbers is known, but to call something rare just because you've never encountered it before is inaccurate and unnecessarily misleading. 


The pronoun has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
 

04-7-2017 12:00:10  #6


Re: One for the Experts (and Everyone else, too)

Uwe wrote:

I can think of one collector in particular who has shelves full of typewriters that I have never seen in person before and aren't common in the database - and yet neither of us would describe them as being rare

​My point is that there are far more typewriters that still exist in the world that don't have an internet presence than those that do have one. It's one thing to claim rarity when the actual history of a model along with concrete production numbers is known, but to call something rare just because you've never encountered it before is inaccurate and unnecessarily misleading. 

I must say I´m a bit guilty of that. It´s a bit of being lost in translation, but I may have used the word "rare" a bit freely when what I mean is that a typewriter is not frequent.

For example, a GSA 300 T isn´t as common as an Olivetti Lettera 32. In fact, you´d find way more Smith Premier 10´s than GSA´s anywhere, or waaay more Mignons. Is it rare? For sure it isn´t in the sense that it´s been mass produced in Korea (for a brief period of time), and in addition it´s a so-so machine. But it isn´t frequent, and even if it´s nothing to write home about it´s nice to bump into something that´s not yet another Travel Riter. What I´m not implying is that the GSA or any other non widespread typewriter is rare as in "this 1st model of Crandall is ridiculously rare". Again, the term "raro" in Spanish doesn´t always mean unique.

But yes, If I´d been given a cent each time I´ve seen an Underwood 5 listed as "RARE UNIQUE TYPEWRITER OMG IT´S SO RARE I CAN´T SELL IT ON MY OWN AND I NEED A TWIN BROTHER TO SHARE THE STRESS" I´d be rich. And let´s not talk about the colored Plumas 22. Why the pink one is so expensive? It´s not frequent, right, but 200€? The ivory one is relatively common, but now it´s experiencing a slight skyrocketing because some responsible and informed seller has decided it must be as ridiculously expensive as the pink one.
 


TaktaktataktaktakcluccluctaktaktaktaktakDINGtaktaktaktakCREEEEEEEEECtaktaktak...

(Olivetti Linea 98)
 
 

04-7-2017 13:07:48  #7


Re: One for the Experts (and Everyone else, too)

Javi wrote:

Condition defines a good part of the price of a typewriter, and I honestly think there are some lines which roughly define what´s right and wrong when pricing typewriters. If it doesn´t work don´t pretend it´s worth as much as a working one, period. I know I´m not the one to tell anyone how much they should sell a typewriter at or how much you should pay for it, and I´m no authority on the matter. But I´ve seen... things. Unspeakable, disgusting and ludicrous at the same time, and these are usually avoided using your common sense, but not always.

 
YES! I'm convinced that in most cases it's a refusal to do research coupled with ignorance. I've seen soooooo many machines in awful condition listed as "excellent project for a collector $900" when I could find a fully functional one for $350...


There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed. -- Ernest Hemingway
     Thread Starter
 

04-7-2017 13:20:09  #8


Re: One for the Experts (and Everyone else, too)

One thing that would be really great to have people understand is that the prices they are asking are simply absurdly high in many cases. But of course you aren't going to be able to tell someone that, so the best thing is to just not even bother to make an offer. Another machine will come along, or maybe the seller will realize that he needs to drop the price. Let the market work.

 

04-7-2017 13:23:15  #9


Re: One for the Experts (and Everyone else, too)

Uwe wrote:

​The typewriter community often guilty of looking at things with a very narrow range of vision. In other words, if they can't find a specific model on the internet using an online search, they jump to the conclusion that it must be rare.

I agree. We've become so reliant on for finding information, assuming everything can be found online. Just being old doesn't make something rare... And while some especially old delicate machines have probably dwindled to a small fraction of their original number as years have by--you're absolutely right that there were so many built that they're still plentiful.


There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed. -- Ernest Hemingway
     Thread Starter
 

04-7-2017 13:40:50  #10


Re: One for the Experts (and Everyone else, too)

So I'm sensing a trend. It looks like there's some agreement about the fact that too many people over price typewriters.

I'm curious about other misconceptions, as well. There have to be some maintenance myths that have become widespread, like the ad I saw that specifically suggested that the machine just needed some WD-40, or basic care practices to ensure longevity that aren't known widely enough.


There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed. -- Ernest Hemingway
     Thread Starter
 

Board footera

 

Powered by Boardhost. Create a Free Forum