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Picked this up today: I love it. It's in good condition and so is the case. However, I don"t know what model it is. Can anybody help?
Last edited by Uwe (30-5-2016 12:47:18)
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I don't know, maybe it's the light hitting it on the left hand side, but it looks like the top is bent. Is it? Outside of that, it looks like a real Dandy.
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TypewriterKing, it has no damage. I just wrote a long letter with it and it's lovely. I did some research, and it may be an Olympia Monica.It says in the back that it was made in Western Germany.
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Must have been the way the light was hitting it on the left side. It looked like to my ol' nearsighted eyes that the left side of the top had a big dent. Again, you got a real Jim Dandy of a portable Olympia.
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My apologies. You know. I'm a little jealous, in that I had a couple of opportunities to buy an Olympia portable, but they proved a little rich for my blood. Maybe another time, someday.
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I believe it's a SM5. If I can recall, Monica doesn't have chrome on the bottom. The Monica is a stripped down version of the SM5? I can't recall all of the strips! Also, unless it's missing, "Monica" should be on the typewriter somewhere but the chrome on the bottom leads me to believe it's the SM5 rather than the Monica.
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I also believe it is an SM5, as the Monica wouldn't have a tabulator.
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I´d go for the SM5 as well. SM´s have no badge with the model name, and that makes them "identifiable". That is, if it doesn´t have a badge then you have a SM, and now you have to guess which one it is.
Look at the serial number, that should help as well.
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It's an SM5: I just found a picture of the same typewriter in Machines of Loving Grace. It's my understanding that it's not as desirable as, say, an SM3, which I was looking for, but this typewriter floors me and I couldn't be happier: I've been typing on it for two straight days. I just can't put it down. I love the clean typeface. The linen paper matches nicely with it.
A word about pricing. I've found out that, at least in San Diego, buying from a dealer is the best, though not cheapest, option. Several of the machines I've bought on eBay needed cleaning or repairs, and that service is $80. For example, I just bought a Corona Portable for $90. When it arrived, there were problems with two keys. So that's another $80 in the hole. In contrast, the Olympia was $100 and had been cleaned and fully serviced. And if I have problems with it, the shop will take care of those.
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I'm north of San Diego in North County. I'm curious - what type of dealer was this that they didn't know it was a SM5? Professional repair shop or hobbyist who repairs/cleans/sells on the side? I may need some parts.