The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

jmad7474 wrote:

Phonofreak wrote: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.

briankeith wrote:I guess the forum is turning into an auction site ??

gramophone-georg wrote: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?

recordnut wrote: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.

jmad7474 wrote:

gramophone-georg wrote: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??

soundgen wrote:

gramophone-georg wrote: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?

You couldn't get $375 for a 104 in the UK that is a lot of money for a very common tabletop machine

soundgen wrote:

recordnut wrote: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.

Again you wouldn't get this for this machine in the UK anyone any idea why the disparity ?

gramophone-georg wrote:But a better reason is likely that because here in USA we didn't get anything approaching a quality Orthophonic tabletop machine like that. I think there was one, actually, but the designation escapes me and I've never seen one in the wild. What we got was the Victrola 1-70 which is a great performer but only got a Victrola No. 4 sound box. Great machine but the HMV and JVC tabletop orthos blew them away in sound quality.