The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Oedipus wrote: Fri Aug 09, 2024 8:07 am As Steve has said, the value of a portable depends on the exterior condition rather than details of specification - though one important factor is the colour, and the fact that this is blue makes it more desirable than a standard black one. Prices are down at present, but they are widely variable and I could see this one making around £100 at auction. It can be dated fairly closely by the fact that it has a wood (rather than metal) motor board, so not before 1933, and a No 16 sound box (replaced in the summer of 1934 by the 5A).

The metal plate with the model number is, as has been said, often found on Export 102s of the early 1930s (it was standard for a time on all HMV models around 1929-30). But what no one has remarked on is that it is the wrong label! The letter R at the beginning of the number stands for Red, not blue, for which the code was LB (= Light Blue). So you have a nice 102 with a factory error -- but that is unlikely to affect its value!

epigramophone wrote: Sun Sep 08, 2024 9:52 am The earliest 102's had a metal motor board from which the motor could easily be removed for maintenance.
For reasons best known to themselves, HMV replaced this sensible layout with a wooden motor board which needed to be completely removed to gain access to the motor.