1 - Spazmelda
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My trip to an antique mall
If you want to look at pictures of what I saw today they are here:
You can try to guess which one I bought.
Last edited by Uwe (01-4-2015 10:41:56)
- beak
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- From: Qld Australia
- Registered: 24-3-2013
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Re: My trip to an antique mall
Never seen that much choice in any such place in Australia.
I think I'd have been hagling for a package deal on the LC Smith 8 and the Brown Underwood!
Last edited by beak (31-3-2015 18:10:07)
Sincerely,
beak.
- ztyper
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Re: My trip to an antique mall
How come everyone else has bountiful prospects, while I'm stuck to two thrift stores with only over priced 80's electrics? Can't say I'm not jealous, but I would have bought the Skyriter. Those things are amazing, or so I hear. Or maybe the wide carriage and rusted Royal 10. My heart went out to it and it doesn't help that it's a wide carriage and I also have a soft spot for those. That Corona 3 was pretty cool too. I'm going to guess that you got the Skyriter. For $25, how could you not? 
A high schooler with a lot of typewriters. That's pretty much about it.
- Uwe
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Re: My trip to an antique mall
Most were overpriced (for me); I would have opened my wallet for the Hermes Rocket, possibly for the Remington Noiseless depending on its mechanical condition, and the LC Smith 8 if I could have talked them down on the price a little. The Royal 10 had a nice price, but the replacement keys on it would have been a deal breaker.
So, which one did you buy?
The pronoun I has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
- Spazmelda
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Re: My trip to an antique mall
The Remington noiseless was in pretty bad shape. The Skyriter almost went home with me. It was chock full of eraser crumbs, although it did seem to work fine. The Remington 16 worked well, but was very dirty. It was also a rebuilt typewriter (had a sticker on the right shift key). The rusty guy was in bad shape. Nothing moved. Is that the Royal 10? I ended up with the Hermes rocket. The way this place works is there are a bunch of booths, and you can have them call the booth owner with an offer. So, I did not pay the listed price for the rocket. It's in good shape. Works well, and fairly clean. The feet are no good, but other than that, it's good. I'm a sucker for an owner's manual as well.
Last edited by Spazmelda (01-4-2015 22:11:03)
- •
Thread Starter- colrehogan
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- From: Granite City, IL
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Re: My trip to an antique mall
Wow!
Smith Premier typewriters are cool!
- KatLondon
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- From: London
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Re: My trip to an antique mall
Happy days! I agree with Uwe that some of the prices were just silly, but $25 for a Skyriter, I'd have had that in a flash. The Skyriter I was able to get over here (within my price bracket) was shot to hell, and while I did get it going again etc, it isn't a good typer so I've sold it. Soooo pretty. The consolation was that the guy I sold it to didn;t need it for heavy typing and LOVES it.
Congrats on the Rocket, too! You simply can't get them in the UK for less than silly money. It looks nice and clean and very cute.
- Spazmelda
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Re: My trip to an antique mall
Yah, I may go back and get the Skyriter if I can. We are actually out of town right now. If I go back next week and it's still there, I'll know it's as sign, lol. I was considering getting both, but certain people have started mentioned things like "how many do you really think you need?" and "you are going to end up on one of those hoarding shows". 
Plus, the Skyriter is really not all that visually appealing to me. It's just so... Brown.
The Hermes rocket (or baby) on ebay seems to range from silly prices to reasonable, with little rhyme or reason as to why one will go for $40+ shipping, and another will go for $150 + shipping. Maybe there is some special collector reason for the price differences that I'm just not savvy to.
Last edited by Spazmelda (02-4-2015 06:37:10)
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Thread Starter- KatLondon
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Re: My trip to an antique mall
Nah, I think some people are just out for what they can get. Though in some cases they specify full services, refurbs etc, and I guess some buyers prefer that - they just want to buy a clean, working, perfect typewriter. (I however just want a dirt cheap typewriter. And lots of them!)
- Uwe
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Re: My trip to an antique mall
Spazmelda wrote:
The Hermes rocket (or baby) on ebay seems to range from silly prices to reasonable, with little rhyme or reason as to why one will go for $40+ shipping, and another will go for $150 + shipping. Maybe there is some special collector reason for the price differences that I'm just not savvy to.
One-time buyers, who don't have a clue about typewriters and their pricing, will pay far more for a machine than a collector who understands that another, far more reasonably priced model will come along. Sellers, who know even less than the one-time buyers, are often convinced that since the machine they're selling is old, it has to be both rare and worth a lot of money. They ask the moon - and sometimes they get it.
Is a Hermes ultra-portable worth $40? Absolutely. Is it worth $150? Never, unless perhaps it was owned by someone famous and the seller can prove it.
Then there's the colour factor; buyers, even some collectors, inexplicably lose their minds when a machine isn't finished in black or grey. I wouldn't pay any more (okay, maybe $5-$10) for a machine just because it's red instead of black, but there are those who will covet such a machine and pay a ridiculous amount of money for it. Are they less common? Sure. However, that doesn't automatically make them rare.
The pronoun I has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
