Hi jrcjon. Well the makes of typewriter that people collect vary, inevitably, according to what's available in their country. (If I were in Dorset - no idea if you are - there is an Underwood Champion right now on eBay for £25 on a collect-only. It says it's in London but I know for a fact that it isn't! You don't see those in the UK. Go for it, if you can.)

There was a similar thread recently, about what people find collectible, but I like that your question has a sort of 'building a library' feel about it.

My own criteria are that I have to love the way it looks and I have to be either totally in love with it or else getting it for an amazing bargain price. I write; I use them; so the ones I really love are the ones I can type happily on for hours. And I live in a flat in London so space is at a premium, so I mostly have portables. The small ones are only 3" or so deep, & can be practically stacked out of the way on a bookshelf.

I gravitate towards the 50s and 60s, for some reason mostly the 50s. I like workhorses and quite unshowy machines that remind me of my own childhood and the decades before it. 

I've always had a fascination for typewriters and bee jealous pf friends who acquired them, but then suddenly got into it in a big way last year. I now have an unconscionable number of the things now - I've followed my curiosity, read up on the ones I like, tried out different models in secondhand shops, and picked up badly listed machines for 99p etc, so I can get the feel and sort of train myself to see what's going on with them. As a result of this I have a few that don't work, because they really were a bit bashed up even after I did my little repairs. But I also got a pristine Olympia SM8 for a fiver. 

I try to buy local, so there is less risk of things getting damaged through poor packing or shipping tratment. And the result of that is that I've meet some lovely people and got to go on little trips to places I might not, otherwise - only in and around London but it's quite fun. And you often get collect-only machines cheaper, since fewer people are budding on them. 

My own collection contains mostly European typewriters, for obvious reasons.
A selection of much-loved Olympias
Hermes, 2 trashed and 2 wonderful. I love them but, as with Olivettis, they're really a matter of taste. 
One Olivetti: a 1958 Lettera 22. I like it. But I'm not in love with Olivetti the way I am with Olympia, & sold the others.
A few American ones incl a 1954 Smith-Corona Silent-Super that I recently brought back from the dead, a tiny black 1940 Remington Envoy, and a Remington Quiet Riter that my partner's kid has commandeered.
Three older, classic-looking black shiny typewriters, all portables. 
Only 2 desktop machines: an Adler special from 1962, and a late, huge, 1978 Olympia SG3 that I just love.

Most of my portables are towards the ultra-portable end. I have a couple of the so-called 'Euro' typewriters and a couple of older Baby-alikes. 

Out of all this, the best for actually typing on are, I'd say: 
Olympia SM3 or 8
Olympia SG3
Hermes 1961 3000
Smith-Corona Silent-Super, 1954
And I like my Lettera 22. Bit mushy but not unpleasant. 
The Adler Special is also nice, as is a 1972 Tippa. 

Right now I'm in love with the 3000 - I only got it yesterday! - and recently-fixed Silent-Super. And if asked to choose between the SM8 and the SG3 I just couldn't.
 

JanetLand, you listed some great typewriters!  I particularily like your Royals and Coronas. I think the Model P is quite high on my list right now having seen the amazing paintwork on some of those online. Were Royal the first brand to manufacture colourful Portables?
I have also read lots about how the later Olympia SM's are such good machines but think I would rather stick with the older machines....perhaps pre 1950's.

KatKondon, you have said a number of things that I had started to pick up on myself. Local pick-up only machines seem to offer the best value on EBay and I would definitely prefer to stick with local collections to reduce the risk of damage in transit and inaccurately described auction listings.  I live in Somerset but have seen many nice machines on EBay seem to be in Dorset and London, is that the norm or is that just the case over my short period of following recent auctions? 

Having looked at a few blogs, sites and views from this forum I think an early Corona or 2 including the standard folding are on my wish list and I really like the look of the Olivetti Studio 42 if I can find one here at a reasonable price in nice condition.  I will do as you say and read more but does anyone have any views on those machines?

Last edited by jrcjon (01-5-2015 18:09:48)

All great advice here, I'd add that  a machine you buy because it is on someone else's top three list, might be a crashing disappointment to you if it's had a rough past life. For instance, I have 3 Remington Portables, (nos 1 &2 ) and they all have a different typing feel, and different carriage return, simply because they are bashed up ancient creatures - they all work to a greater or lesser degree but none are perfect examples of their former selves.
And your own style of typing is definitely going to determine what kind of machine is 'best' for you. I spent 20 odd years using a crappy looking crappy sounding silver reed that went like the clappers and never let me down until its platen got too hard and it went for a swim in a flood. I have yet to find another typewriter that types as well as that silver reed did! It takes me a while to get into the groove of any of my 11 or so new older typewriters.
My method of accumulation is still a mystery to me. I have very little space, so go for portables. Shiny, curvy, colour, portability, era: I like older machines, 20s - 40s because I have a weakness for acquired nostalgia, I like 50s and 60s machines because they have a coolness about them that is hard to express in words. 70s machines I like because they fit in my own timeline - 'wow, I was nine when this rolled off the line' etc. Anything after that I tend to regard with a slight distaste simply because the 80s were a truly rubbish decade for me! And I don't like beige.
Have fun starting your collection. I don't think you can really go 'wrong' with typewriters!
 

Hi, I have no idea about what typewriters there are in dorset, I only noticed that Champion because I WANT it and it said London! Turns out the sellers have moved to dorset and not changed their eBay location. And seem very unrepentant, and that thing has been relisted three times so far. 

There's nothing very nice in London right now. But I did, last week, get an Olympia Progress made in 1935. It's in really  nice condition exceot that a: its beautiful 'Olympia' script written acrtoss the paper table has been worn off in 80 years; 2: it really needs new rubber on the platen and that is £110; and 3: a strange un-aligned 'o' key tuyrns out to be caused by the actual type slug coming LOOSE and has to be stuck onto the type bar again. I actually bought the thing to use in an installation for an art exhibition later this year... maybe I should try and get the cash together to get it fixed, I can't type on it till I do anyway. 

So there you go! Sounds like your collection will go in a slightly different direction from mine - I seem to be in love with the 50s...