Prototype Columbia 9000?

Post links to auctions and classifieds here
Post Reply
epigramophone
Victor Monarch Special
Posts: 5204
Joined: Mon Oct 24, 2011 1:21 pm
Personal Text: An analogue relic trapped in a digital world.
Location: The Somerset Levels, UK.

Prototype Columbia 9000?

Post by epigramophone »

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-Colo ... 6016.l4276

HMG tells us that the Columbia 9000 existed in prototype form, black only, before WW2. The case corners and lock on this machine differ from the production 9000, and the brown rim turntable may be a later replacement. Could this be one of the prototypes?
Attachments
unknown.jpg

User avatar
Steve
Victor VI
Posts: 3123
Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 4:40 pm
Location: London, Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, New York, Evesham

Re: Prototype Columbia 9000?

Post by Steve »

Yes, it's virtually the same as the one I featured in the long and winding Columbia gramophones thread last year. I think the turntable has been replaced though. Still, it's very cheap for a rare collectors' piece.

epigramophone
Victor Monarch Special
Posts: 5204
Joined: Mon Oct 24, 2011 1:21 pm
Personal Text: An analogue relic trapped in a digital world.
Location: The Somerset Levels, UK.

Re: Prototype Columbia 9000?

Post by epigramophone »

It may be cheap, but the seller does not offer postage and the 400 mile round trip to collect would cost more than the machine.
I will never understand why some sellers are so reluctant to post a portable, and thus restrict their potential market.

User avatar
Steve
Victor VI
Posts: 3123
Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 4:40 pm
Location: London, Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, New York, Evesham

Re: Prototype Columbia 9000?

Post by Steve »

epigramophone wrote: Wed Jul 27, 2022 4:16 am It may be cheap, but the seller does not offer postage and the 400 mile round trip to collect would cost more than the machine.
I will never understand why some sellers are so reluctant to post a portable, and thus restrict their potential market.
Naivety and laziness are the main two issues. Naive because they don't consider the time it takes or the exorbitant cost of travel by car within the UK these days. Also anyone of working age is going to be restricted by the times when they are free to travel and collect. Not all of us can just get in a car and spend 7 hours driving somewhere and back, at the drop of a hat. It usually requires planning and time off work unless you want to add weekend traffic to your list of inconveniences!

With that said I'm always surprised by how unfocused a lot of sellers are when they create their listings. I've contacted a few sellers with "Collection only" listings in the past (I bought the recent Vesper table model off Ebay, for example), to ask if they'd consider shipping, only to be told they didn't know their listing was Collection only!

The laziness comes back to this point of being lackadaisical about the listings in general. Too many items on Ebay have far too few photos, considering you get 12 for free. A 3D object such as a portable gramophone has six sides, so why not show a photo of each side to display its condition. That leaves six photos left for the inside! When I see 4 near identical photos of the inside of a portable and little else I just move on to the next item. A few years back I might've asked for more photos but these days I consider life is too short.

A lot of people do not want the responsibility of packing anything either. Mind you, a lot of sellers shouldn't be trusted to pack a pair of rubber gloves for posting, let alone an antique gramophone in smart condition which demands better handling!

Post Reply