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Thank you for your thoughts - I will continue to collect advice. I won't be unhappy if the sticker is damaged or destroyed in removal, but I owe it to the typewriter to make an honest effort to preserve this part of its history.
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Fwiw, I think the decision to keep or not keep can be weighed up against the value of the original decision to slap a great big eyesore right on the front centre of the machine! Here's a Hermes 3000 which has been relisted on eBay.co.uk a few times now - it's still overpriced, but it was originally on a £125 buy it now, and the one that was also on at the same time and price has sold (though also had a more intresting keyboard). The sticker is the problem...
Uwe, we never did get to see your sticker-free Erika! Did it work all right and not wrieck the paint?
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Kat - that Hermes 3000's sticker is such an eyesore.
I decided to go ahead and try my luck with my Olympia's sticker. I used a hair dryer to warm and loosen the adhesive. I very slowly peeled up the sticker with just my fingernails as I warmed it with the hair dryer. The foil sticker came up slowly, but completely intact. I cleaned up the adhesive residue with Goo Gone. I plan to laminate the dealer sticker and attach it with a ribbon to the typewriter.
The paint under the sticker wasn't faded at all. It looks like the sticker had never been there:
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That looks so much nicer!
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Oh yes, much better ! Those circa 1967 SG3's had a properly enamelled finish - much better than paint ! Maybe the best place for the sticker would be on the back of the machine, above the manufacturer's plate. This is where I would hope any self-respecting dealer would have put it in the first place !
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Yep, the sticker on that 3000 is awful!
Mech - well done getting the sticker off, it looks really great now.
You know, I saw recently an Invicta which had been defaced with a metal dealer nameplate screwed right over the Invicta name badge on the right-hand front panel. Absolutely ghastly! Even if you took it off, you'd have the screw-holes to deal with. Even so, I think it sold quite fast!
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I was lucky that I only had adhesive to deal with and not a screwed-on dealer plate. I was also lucky that the Olympia has the rock-hard enamelled finish that thetypewriterman mentioned. I would have been a lot more nervous with an old, frail, painted surface.
I ended up laminating the dealer sticker that I removed since it came off in one piece. I made a little tag of it that I will keep with the Olympia.
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That looks so beautiful! & I'm envious. I love my SG3 but it's a much later one with black keys. I love that swoop at the front.
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I've really fallen for this SG3 with its curves and little aqua accents - I guess this means I can join the SG Owners Club
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I have a 1938 Remington with this delightfully gaudy sticker--it's as big as my thumb!