FOR SALE: Japanese Orthophonic Tabletop Victrola - INQUIRE

[jmad7474]

Hello! I am downsizing my collection and I am looking to sell my 1935 Japanese Orthophonic Victrola J1-35 as soon as possible. This phonograph was made by the Victor Talking Machine Company of Japan and is in great shape. It's been completely gone over (cabinet cleaned/polished, brass Orthophonic reproducer rebuilt, grille cloth replaced, motor cleaned and re-lubricated, metal parts cleaned/polished) and boy, does it play GREAT! As shown in the photos below, there are some minor blemishes on the cabinet lid and scuffs on the ID plate (as to be expected on an 80+ year old item) but nothing else that distracts from the rest of its overall appearance (no heavy rust, torn turntable felt, missing feet, etc.) It's really in quite excellent shape if I say so myself!

This phonograph is similar in design and operation to the more common VV 1-90, and it will play a 12" record or 2 sides of a 10" 78 rpm record on a full winding (single spring, uses a similar motor to the portables of the same era). It also features a unique start/stop auto brake design never used on any other US-made Victors which will start the player automatically and stop it on any record with a lead-out groove. This player is small enough and light enough (about 25 pounds) to ship, so I am open to both mailing it and arranging for local pick-up if you live in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area.

At this time, due to the relative scarcity of this unit and not knowing if shipping will be needed, I am flexible on its price. Please note that shipping cost (via insured Priority mail) will likely be between $60-$75 in the continental US.

While this has been the "crown jewel" of my collection for many years, I no longer have a need for it. A player like this must go to someone new who will appreciate it and use it more frequently than I! I will gladly send a video of this unit playing a record upon request.

Thank you for your attention and have a good day!

[Phonofreak]

Price, Location????
Harvey Kravitz

[jmad7474]

Price, Location????
Harvey Kravitz

I am in Minneapolis, MN. Again, I do not have a set price at this time because shipping is major price variable unknown to me until I find a committing buyer. PM me with your best offer and let's go from there, thanks.

[Phonofreak]

I don't do offers. It starts an impromptu auction. You might want to list this on ebay, and let the buyer decide the price.
Harvey Kravitz

[jmad7474]

I don't do offers. It starts an impromptu auction. You might want to list this on ebay, and let the buyer decide the price.
Harvey Kravitz

Harvey, you are totally free to do what you want, but I find it disheartening that you (and two other collectors I have spoken with about this player from this site, by the way) would be willing to forgo possibly purchasing this wonderful machine simply because you don't want to make a move regarding price. As I have explained numerous times to others who are interested in this item, I don't truly know what the value of this is, which is why I am asking them to give me a good faith offer and actually cut out the auction nonsense! If I WAS interested in creating an impromptu auction or trying to get absolute top dollar, then I would have restored and flipped something with a more definite value to it, like a Victor II or an Edison Home.

I also don't want to create an eBay listing for it because I do not want to go to all the trouble of having to create another listing for it. Further, I would frankly rather see it go to someone else who will enjoy and actually use it rather than just have it as a trophy piece/display piece only - especially after all the mechanical work I put into making it play again. Finally, I don't mean to come off as rude - especially as a new member - but if you had read my first post all the way through, you would have known both the location of this player and that it does not have a set price, which would have saved us both from me having to respond back to you only to find out you are not interested.

[gramophone-georg]

That's the problem with unknowns like what you have. We're just as clueless as you are on price, and none of us want to be possibly insulting in our offers without meaning to be.

I had a similar machine to yours- an HMV 104 that I really felt was worth a lot more than what I sold it for but I needed the room way more than the machine. I sold it for $375.00 and shipped it Greyhound really well packed and double boxed from Oregon to California for around $40 if I recall.

Here's the ad with good pics of the machine:

http://forum.talkingmachine.info/viewto ... it=hmv+104

Here's the "build thread" on it with a video of it playing linked in there on p. 3 or 4 and the final pic showing what it started off as.

http://forum.talkingmachine.info/viewto ... it=hmv+104

Yours is basically the JVC version of the 104, I think, with a more minimalist design that is quite attractive.

Are we in a good ballpark here?

[jmad7474]

That's the problem with unknowns like what you have. We're just as clueless as you are on price, and none of us want to be possibly insulting in our offers without meaning to be.

I had a similar machine to yours- an HMV 104 that I really felt was worth a lot more than what I sold it for but I needed the room way more than the machine. I sold it for $375.00 and shipped it Greyhound really well packed and double boxed from Oregon to California for around $40 if I recall.

Here's the ad with good pics of the machine:

http://forum.talkingmachine.info/viewto ... it=hmv+104

Here's the "build thread" on it with a video of it playing linked in there on p. 3 or 4 and the final pic showing what it started off as.

Yours is basically the JVC version of the 104, I think, with a more minimalist design that is quite attractive.

Are we in a good ballpark here?

Gramophone-georg, you are a lifesaver! Thank you for stepping in to help clarify this issue. Based on what you said regarding your HMV model (a real looker, by the way!), I would say mine is probably worth a similar range. As lovely as yours is, though, I would probably expect mine to go for a little more because Japanese Victrolas are almost never found here in the US whereas HMVs do turn up on occasion, and the Orthophonic reproducer + components are brass instead of pot metal.

The most I have been offered for it thus far is $800, but I did not accept the deal because I knew the collector had a poor reputation in my local community for writing bad checks. Was really an offer in the first place if the check would have bounced??

[gramophone-georg]

That's the problem with unknowns like what you have. We're just as clueless as you are on price, and none of us want to be possibly insulting in our offers without meaning to be.

I had a similar machine to yours- an HMV 104 that I really felt was worth a lot more than what I sold it for but I needed the room way more than the machine. I sold it for $375.00 and shipped it Greyhound really well packed and double boxed from Oregon to California for around $40 if I recall.

Here's the ad with good pics of the machine:

http://forum.talkingmachine.info/viewto ... it=hmv+104

Here's the "build thread" on it with a video of it playing linked in there on p. 3 or 4 and the final pic showing what it started off as.

Yours is basically the JVC version of the 104, I think, with a more minimalist design that is quite attractive.

Are we in a good ballpark here?

Gramophone-georg, you are a lifesaver! Thank you for stepping in to help clarify this issue. Based on what you said regarding your HMV model (a real looker, by the way!), I would say mine is probably worth a similar range. As lovely as yours is, though, I would probably expect mine to go for a little more because Japanese Victrolas are almost never found here in the US whereas HMVs do turn up on occasion, and the Orthophonic reproducer + components are brass instead of pot metal.

The most I have been offered for it thus far is $800, but I did not accept the deal because I knew the collector had a poor reputation in my local community for writing bad checks. Was really an offer in the first place if the check would have bounced??

So take cash from him. I think $800 is insane but if you can get it DO IT- I sure as hell would!

Whether it's "worth more" than my 104 or not depends on the buyer. Rare doesn't always equate to $$$. The only part of that reproducer that was pot metal was the back of it, and I lucked into a NOS absolutely mint 5B with original box so there were no issues there.

Side story about rarity: My favorite car is my 1968 Mercedes 230S, one of the last of the Big W111 Fintail sedans with a whopping total of 81 built of that model that year. You'd think a Mercedes that rare would be worth megabucks, right?

I paid $1500 for it. It's one of the rarest Mercedes out there but nobody seemed to care. I drove it till the engine started knocking a couple years ago and I'm just going to build the car I want out of it because it's still sale- proof.It's getting a M-B 4.5 V-8 engine, matching trans, 300SEL air suspension, a sunroof clip, and period correct Bosch electric windows.

What the hell, right?

One of the things that might give you a leg up is if you can tell us whether this model has a true re- entrant horn or not. I'll bet not, though, as yours is a single spring model like mine was which means it's an economy model.

Great machine- good luck with the sale. As long as you don't get emotionally involved and won't be insulted by offers you feel are too low, and are willing to hold out for the price you want, you'll do fine.

Welcome to the TMF! I'm half tempted to jump myself but I'm in the same boat I was with the 104... no room at the inn. I have a big RCA Duo changer that I hope to get here this summer if I can find transport from Wayne to Union or find a shipper NJ to OR... I have space for that but I'll have some splainin' to do when it shows up...I'm sure.

We all wish we could keep them all.

BTW, I added the link for the "build thread" I forgot up there in my earlier post.

[recordnut]

I am not sure how comparable they are, but I have in my collection a VV J1-80 that I purchased for $425 in 2015. I hope that is helpful.

[Victrolacollector]

I am not sure how comparable they are, but I have in my collection a VV J1-80 that I purchased for $425 in 2015. I hope that is helpful.

I had a VV J 1-80 that I sold back in 2015 or 2016 for $425.00 from my memory. These are nice machines, and it is difficult to put a price on one, there are not a lot of them sold. Tabletops are nice, but they just don’t seem to sell for more than 400.00. For instance, I am debating selling my tabletop VV-XI, we know this is an early model with that gold plated hardware, early speed control, bullet brake and the early 2 spring motor. I paid about $ 1,000.00 to restore it, but probably will not get that back. I am only contemplating selling it because I am living in an apartment and the machine is stored in my moms house. Sometimes we have to take what the market bears.