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Here's my most recent purchase:
I'm pretty exited about it. For one, this will probably be my oldest machine. I also got it for a steal--the seller made the mistake of making a 1 day auction. The one problem I know for certain it DOES have is most likely a disconnected drawband or (if I'm unlucky) a snapped mainspring. It looks free of rust, the paint and decals seem to be in pretty good shape under the muck. I'm really just wondering about the spools. Does the 5 take special spools? I know I have plenty of extra Royal standard spools, and all of them are metal so if it takes those I'm not worried.
Also, is it missing any parts? The fact that I was the only bidder disturbs me. I have seen several other ones in similar shape sell for a lot more, so I'm a bit nervous.
Last edited by JustAnotherGuy (04-12-2014 20:03:59)
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Oh, and what's with the blue platen? I don't really like it.
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The Royal Five uses special spools that look like the later Royal 10 etc spool, but does not have the ribbon reverse latch (because the ribbon reverse is not automatic on the Five) You might have difficulty tracking down the proper spools. That's the bad news. The good news is that Underwood spools fit straight on. They are smaller and contain less ribbon, but work fine.
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Thanks!
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I don't think the platen is blue. Take a closer look and you'll see it's definitely black in the areas that weren't hastily wiped down with who-knows what type of cleaning product.
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Oh, I see. I hope it comes off because the blue really bugs me.
Unfortunately, the seller has neither responded to my messages nor shipped the typewriter, so at this point it looks like I will have to file a complaint. Ebay sellers are the worst...
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I've been pretty luck with eBay sellers. I did lose all of my money once to a seller in Germany who ripped me off (kept dragging me along until the file deadline had passed, kept my money, and didn't send the machine). Most recently I had a seller refuse to send the machine because the auction winning bid was less than he had paid for it. I called eBay - you can do that now - and the matter was successfully resolved (I ended up with the typewriter). Good luck and let us know how it works out.
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The seller did ship, and it just arrived today:
The platen actually IS blue, oddly.
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Looks more grey - faded black - to me, but then again accurate colour rendering is so dependent on lighting and the white balance setting of a camera.
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I think that a lot of early typewriters did have a blue-grey color to the platen as I have seen many that way. I hope you are enjoying your new Royal, they are very interesting typewriters.