Colonial Portables

[Teak]

This guy is selling colonial portables. The first hmv mod. 302 i have seen. Seems fishy at first, but with eBay money guarantee etc. probably save. I bought the Teak 102 he offered.

And yes, the prices are quite steep!

https://www.ebay.com/sch/house_of_antiq ... pg=&_from=

[briankeith]

His / Her feedback is 1

[Phono48]

What hasn't been re-covered or cobbled up from various bits looks to have a good coating of rust!

[Teak]

You are all right! I still have not seen another teak 102 for sale, or a 302 seen ever.

Maybe I am the only one getting overly excited over colonial antiques!

[CarlosV]

I have a teak HMV 102 (with provenance) and it does not look like the one in the photo. Certainly the winder is incorrect, but who knows? there is no decent documentation of the colonial HMVs. The difficulty in buying from Indian dealers is that it is almost impossible to find an untouched machine, most have been altered.

[Teak]

I would love to see a picture, if at all possible.

[Phono48]

Certainly the winder is incorrect, but who knows?

What's wrong with it? Just curious!

[Phono48]

Maybe I am the only one getting overly excited over colonial antiques!

No, you're not the only one, but apart from the 102 you've bought (well done!), and one other machine, there is nothing "Colonial" about the rest of the machines. They are all standard British models of HMV or Columbia portables,and have nearly all been re-covered with inappropriate materials. Even if they were "Colonial" machines, the amount of rust on everything would surely put most collectors off, especially at those prices!

[CarlosV]

Certainly the winder is incorrect, but who knows?

What's wrong with it? Just curious!

The 102 has a different wood handle, pear-shaped and not conical like the one in the photo.

[CarlosV]

No, you're not the only one, but apart from the 102 you've bought (well done!), and one other machine, there is nothing "Colonial" about the rest of the machines. They are all standard British models of HMV or Columbia portables,and have nearly all been re-covered with inappropriate materials. Even if they were "Colonial" machines, the amount of rust on everything would surely put most collectors off, especially at those prices!

The 113 and 114 for sale are normally called "Colonial" as far as I can tell. The 113 has been quite tampered, with two holes on the motor board, missing auto brake, missing lift handle on the board and who knows how many other hidden "improvements". The 114 looks in better shape, even though the motor looks quite eroded (typical in Indian machines). The motor is quite common and could be easily replaced, but it would add to the already very high price, and with the examples of other machines being tampered, the buyer would risk getting a lemon.