Expensive 102 but what's special about it?

[Steve]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HMV-102H-por ... 635-2958-0

Is this a record price (pun intended)?

[nostalgia]

Vow, that was expensive, yes. I have a similar one, just as clean and unharmed, and also the later version like this one.
I sold one for 400 euro once, the early version with panel lid, and absolutely no scars, and cleaned to the last screw as this one.
But this (current price), is beating that price for sure. I guess it must be because it is the late version, no scars, and totally serviced etc?

[epigramophone]

I suspect there are overseas bidders from countries where bog standard black 102's are uncommon.
The seller offers to post worldwide using the eBay Global Shipping service. Good luck with that.

At the other end of the price scale we have this very clean example for a £0.10p start. What might it go for?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/115240051463 ... 1438.l2649

[Steve]

The one above is being sold by a gramophone neophyte (a clock and watch dealer) who has a lady friend in the antique business he uses to extract anything in the way of portables out of the rotating stock within an area close to me. He appears to buy a lot of stuff from an auction I pass on my way home. Needless to say I rarely look in as the stuff is real household rubbish most of the time. On the rare occasions I have looked in there hasn't been any gramophones but he's had a lot of 102s since the place re-opened about six months ago so who knows? He certainly does very well out of what he's bought anyway.

Personally speaking I cannot tolerate ignorant people. He asked my advice about an Aeolian Vocalian teak portable some time ago. It had a cut-off tone-arm and Meltrope III soundbox, repro winding handle and possibly damage to the hinged arm / horn. The carrying handle was missing too. I pointed out the obvious but still expressed an interest in buying it if he told me his price expectations. I never heard anything from him again but I note he sold it on Ebay 2 weeks ago for a good price. Who needs good manners when you can make a lot of money without them?

[epigramophone]

I had a similar experience not so long ago. My wife collects musical boxes, and we were looking at some on a stall at an antiques fair when I mentioned that I collected gramophones. The dealer said that he had bought one recently but knew nothing about it, so I gave him my email address and asked him to send me some pictures.

The gramophone turned out to be a Marathon with a Music Master horn, quite an unusual machine but in need of work. I told the dealer all I knew about Marathon, and even sent him some images from a catalogue which showed that the Music Master horn was an optional extra. I made what my collector friends thought was a very fair offer and never heard another word. Some time later a friend saw the machine in an auction, where it sold for much the same as I had offered, but of course there was commission to be deducted.

They say that no good deed goes unpunished, but I did keep the pictures :

[Steve]

Yes, it's very irritating. I do think sometimes people are suspicious of collectors and naturally assume we expect stuff for pennies so judge our estimates to be very low based on us wanting the item for ourselves. As it turns out I might well have bought the teak portable for the eventual Ebay price achieved so much like your Marathon / Music Master example above, the seller could have lost out with the fees.

It would not have mattered one bit to me had he come back and said he wanted £10,000 for it. The point is he never even acknowledged my email with a lot of information on the machine and my expressed interest in it, flawed or otherwise.

Maybe I might start attending that auction and make him pay more than £20 for his 102s!