This Columbia looks authentic too. Perhaps the aluminum support bracket and tonearm are replacements, but the wood case and horn look genuine.
During the video, I can see Edison cylinder record cartons at the end of the same table that this Columbia sits on. That is a clue this guy does have at least some authentic stuff.
Indeed this is going on all over the world, especially in India and China.
But whilst we all presumably recoil whenever we see these hideous monstrosities, do we not consider that in some ways this might actually be a "good thing" or a benefit to us?
Let me explain: if there wasn't a market for all this junk, none of these manufacturers would be making it. They are not "loss leaders" aimed at flogging dodgy new 78rpm records to unsuspecting customers; far from it. They are made to sell to make money for the manufacturers. Therefore if they are being made today then it is clear to me at least that there is money to be made in the field of "new" Crapophones. The market for horn machines must therefore be huge, potentially. Why is this good? Well firstly, it means that all of us with ORIGINAL horn machines should be able to sell whatever we have one day when we no longer want to keep it. There has been much talk in recent years of the market declining and shrinking, prices falling etc. I disagree. The market for rare interesting and unusual items is still very strong. Maybe the boring stuff has been killed off by repetition on fleabay a bit but otherwise, it is strong. Also, there is always the possibility that anyone who buys a Crapophone cheaply will soon discover what it is they have bought and want to investigate what an original machine should look like - a small percentage of buyers might "progress" their interests enough to become fledgling collectors of the genuine articles.
The second thing to consider is this: if the market is being supplied by crapophones to fulfill a demand, does this not make it easier for "serious collectors", who have put a lot of time and money already into the hobby over several years, to buy the things they want for their growing collections. If everybody was chasing anything that came up for sale, regardless of rarity, most of us would probably never be able to buy anything. Crapophones therefore offer an alternative to buying the real thing, for better or worse. In the long run this might help all of us who are seriously interested and have invested in the real items. They can potentially help promote this specialized interest for the long-term whilst adding items of low value to the market to dissuade prospective casual buyers from competing for the more esoteric items, normally bought by the long-term collector.
IOW, they might in some small way just help to promote and perpetuate this hobby for years to come.
Hello everyone, as Brazilian, I would like to resume this conversation.
The original gramophone market in Brazil is small, basically there are 3 serious sellers, I am one of them, in fact I have sold more, today basically seeing less rare items like Victrolas VV 8 and accessories.
There are many Crap-o-phones sellers because here, many want one of these to "decorate" the house and not to use.
I as a collector have horror of them but not fight, they are completely different public, some do not disturb others.
Here the prices charged by the original gramophones are much, but much higher than there in North America, about 4x more, precisely because of the scarcity and difficulty in obtaining original pieces.
Sometimes I find bargains but it's getting weirder.
I hope to have clarified, any doubt, ask.
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