The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I'd actually like a new custom model, something along the lines of this EMG, only with a bigger horn

I don't see how you can think of phonographs as investments. The prices have fluctuated several times while I have been collecting for the last 22 years. And, after the last big drop a few years ago things have never come back and it is unlikely they will. The good and rare stuff keeps its value. The everyday and common stuff does not. I have some of both, but I certainly and not going to get all crazy if I can't get what I paid for them. Someone else will be doing that for most of them after I'm gone anyway.

Rather than what I wish I could have, I will add a list of 3 machines I sold in the past that I wish I still had and will likely not be able to replace now that I am retired. Now to be fair, I got better "stuff" for the money those machines brought me and I don't really have room for them now. So no real loss. But, nothing else I have ever sold means to me what these did.

Edison Amberola III
Edison B-375 Diamond Disc
Vic VI

I have two regrets that I sold:

Victor E rear mount

An all steel Columbia Europa outside horn machine.

You answered your own inquiry. “The good and rare stuff keeps it’s value. The everyday and common stuff does not”.
That is my entire point. Years ago, as I came to a crucial point in my collecting, I looked around me and made a decision. I sold everything in the collection that I was confident that within a weeks time that I could go out and replace. The money was then used to finance the stuff that was, and still is, considered rare. I never was one to concern myself with keeping up with the next collector or with how many of something that I had. So, my volume went way down, while my value went way up. And, to this day, I enjoy my collection more than I ever did, and I can assure you that it has been, and still is, an investment.

I never thought of this as an investment. I love the machines and being able to hear music and sounds from a century or so ago on machines that are more than a century old. I love having all those interesting and useful machines around me. They please multiple senses. My collection has a few semi-rare machines, but mostly more common, but desirable examples. If there value went to zero and no one else had any interest in them it wouldn’t change how I value them. I can see my common Humpback Victor with it’s Nickel Hawthorne and Sheble horn from my seat and it brings me joy. That is what matters to me. An M Class Edison is cool, but the little Humpback strikes a chord with me that M Class does not.

If I or someone down the line from me gets a good return on this this stuff, that is just an added side bonus, but not the main reason why I have anything collectible. What matters is that interests me, and the pleasure from finding, fixing, operating and showing/demonstrating the machines to others. At no time have I ever considered the financial aspect of any of this, beyond can I afford it. Some people spend their money on beer and cable TV for entertainment, I spend mine on antiques, and after the weekend is over, I still have something to show for my money! Just my 2 cents!


Anyway, an Opera or an Amberola 1A. Honestly, I would much rather have the 1A mechanism in the Opera cabinet, that would be the best of both worlds, even if it is a mutt!

It seems as though others are a bit disturbed by my admission of investment as one of the aspects which I take into consideration as I build my collection. At every turn, I have also highlighted the significance of continuing enjoyment of collecting and following the hobby. Interesting...

It is not a judgement. Investment probably should be considered when spending and collecting. From my perspective, it is about whether or not it has that value to me. I buy what I like or what interests me, if I can afford it. I am conscious of the return on my investment, but that doesn’t drive my decisions. That said, I don’t like to pay top dollar or overpay either.

Obviously eBay is NOT the best place to buy phonographs.

It can be good. Sometimes you hit it right.