Wayne MME parking lot pics - Saturday 04-14-12

[52089]

I did not attend on Saturday, but Sunday looked to be pretty busy. The parking lot was very full. There were a few empty dealer tables, but overall it was pretty packed.

Personally I thought some of the pricing was a bit more "creative" than in the past. For example, the Opera in the pictures above (which works but needs significant restoration) was offered to me at $2800 last October, but was priced at $3900 this time around. I know the owner had done some work on it, but it was relatively minor. The funny thing was that directly across from the Opera in the pictures (at least on Sunday) was a "Franken-Opera": Opera works that had been stuffed into a Triumph bottom case, a very odd combination.

My personal favorite machine was a VV-VIII in Oak with nice grain color, but I thought $450 was a bit steep. I probably spent $50 on records and paraphernalia but did not get any machines. I did meet a couple of people from this board, which was fun.

I guess Union is next, and then Danbury?

[estott]

i am almost crying just at the fact i can probably never go there! i love that edison opera and well, the whole place in general!!!!

For my part I'm somewhat (quite) envious of all the wonderful and peculiar machines available to you in the UK for comparatively small sums. It seems as if there are dozens- maybe hundreds- of elegant and eccentric portables. Here in the US ours usually perform well but conform to a pretty rigid standard. Then there are those "Swissies" with their colorful horns- by the time they get over here with the shipping costs added and dealer markups they're priced far out of my range.

And don't even remind me of EMG / Expert- almost impossible to see one in the US, let alone OWN one.

[kirtley2012]

i am almost crying just at the fact i can probably never go there! i love that edison opera and well, the whole place in general!!!!

For my part I'm somewhat (quite) envious of all the wonderful and peculiar machines available to you in the UK for comparatively small sums. It seems as if there are dozens- maybe hundreds- of elegant and eccentric portables. Here in the US ours usually perform well but conform to a pretty rigid standard. Then there are those "Swissies" with their colorful horns- by the time they get over here with the shipping costs added and dealer markups they're priced far out of my range.

And don't even remind me of EMG / Expert- almost impossible to see one in the US, let alone OWN one.

we do have some good ones! and they sometimes to turn up cheaply but not often and not cheaply on a teenagers budget!! i own a very rare hmv model 31 gramophone BUT my wallet was MUCH lighter after that purchase!, well, i had a few pennies swimming around in the stitching!
i have also sourced a emg mk 9 horn which i am making a gramophone for (it also fits on the hmv!) but i only managed to get that because someone was kind enough to donate it to the cause!
but in america you have all the fantastic cylinder phonographs! it is very hard to find them in the uk and also where i live EVERYTHING has to be moved to me, if i lived in london it would be a whole new story! it seems as if items are in never ending supply down there but in newcastle there isnt much of anything!! there definately isnt any shows like there is there!

strange how everyone in the uk is envious of everthing in the US (i would love even the most basic of american machines!) and everyone in the US is envious of everything in the uk!

Alex

[kp]

I have a different take on the show than others here. I used to go to the Wayne show every year up until 5 years ago. And I've had tables there several times. This was my first time back after the hiatus.

I came with a wad of cash and high hopes. But the selection was thinner than my previous times there. And most things were priced higher than what can be found on ebay.

Needless to say, I found nothing of interest. A complete disappointment. All in all, it wasn't just the prices - I saw nothing that I was after. But perhaps it is because my collection has matured and there are fewer holes to fill...

[Steve]

Both Kirtley2012 and Estott are right viewing things from their different perspectives!

To Kirtley I would say that it is not London exclusively that has all the stuff, it's both the South-east (where the money is made) and South-West (where the money goes to retire!) that share the bulk of the best machines. After these areas it is in the NORTH predominantly! If you think Newcastle is a poor show, you should live in the Midlands where there is literally nothing! If I only collected what i found locally, after 20 odd years I would only have a couple of ordinary battered portables!

I agree with you though that the car-park of Wayne MME is bearing GREAT fruits, better than anything I have ever seen anywhere in the UK. We do have a NVCF here every May near Warwick (next one Sunday 13th) but you'll NEVER ever see anything like Wayne's car-park there. More likely a few dodgy machines being sold by dealers even dodgier than the machines. It's mainly radios and telephones these days - it never ceases to amaze me why collectors prefer an object you can't even listen to anymore without severe modification of the device, over an original item that needs no electricity or modification to play a host of musical styles. Anyway.....we have not got and have indeed never had anything anywhere near as good as what is in the US.

To respond to Estott, yes, we might have EMG/Expert but they are so rare and expensive that most collectors can never own one. Most off-brand portables are cheap and nasty too. I do agree about colourful Swiss horn machines but they rarely turn up over here. The best stuff by a H-U-G-E margin exists on the Euro continent and is being bought, sold and exchanged by collectors whose first language isn't English. Most stuff stays where it originates due to vendors not wanting to post stuff out of the country or simply because the refusal to accept Paypal makes paying in a non Euro currency potentially cost prohibitive to us Anglophiles. The prettiest machine I've ever seen, the Phrynis, must be the rarest bird of any talking machine. No one has one for sale or knows anyone else who has one either, apparently.

[briankeith]

fmblizz,,,, can we all say recession - bad economy - $4.00 gallon gas ??

[Valecnik]

fmblizz,,,, can we all say recession - bad economy - $4.00 gallon gas ??

Don't get us going on $4.00 gasoline. It's about $7.50 in Europe and on up.

[fmblizz]

fmblizz,,,, can we all say recession - bad economy - $4.00 gallon gas ??

Like I said NO X-spendable cash. All Looky Loo's LOL

A great effort I must say for everyone that setup. Good to actually talk with people instead of all this computer crap...

I know, just shows my age but I still say it took alot of the fun from our hobby.

Blizz

[estott]

fmblizz,,,, can we all say recession - bad economy - $4.00 gallon gas ??

Don't get us going on $4.00 gasoline. It's about $7.50 in Europe and on up.

At least in Europe you often have a good rail system as an alternative. Railroad travel in the US is something of a joke.

[Steve]

Try and beat $10.70 a gallon for unleaded and $11.00 a gallon for diesel!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You can't, can you? No, I thought not. That's the true price we mugs in the UK are being stung for! And it's going UP daily. It will hit £10 / gallon before too long. Just imagine paying $16.20 for a gallon of fuel. It's simply sick.

It's time to Wake Up The Nation!