The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

an Edison Opera just sold on Ebay for $4,251.00
that's a neato machine I'd like to own someday if I have the dough to buy one.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Edison-Opera-Ph ... 0913757720

Hello,
I was watching this listing for the Oak Edison Opera. The selling price seemed a little low but if you look closely at the pictures it did have some flaws. The reproducer looked in poor condition, almost like it may have been home made. A new reproducer would set you back at least $1000. The oak horn had a few small separations and the paint on the bed plate was rather dull. The finish on the cabinet looked very nice. Still for $4200 it is a good machine. You should be able to buy a real nice condition Oak Opera for $6k and a mahogany one for $5k in todays market.
Pete

yeah... I'd like to find a nice banner Triumph or a Concert first.
any idea where I could find a rough price guide ?

Experience is the best teacher of prices. I would look back on things in the Trader section of the Forum. The Stanton auction would be a good source. I believe you can purchase a catalog of items and I think you'll get a list of realized prices after the auction. Many regional areas have chapters of MAPS (Michigan Antique Phonograph Society). MAPS and the Antique Phonograph Society are very active international clubs that offer quarterly publications. Membership in either club is very reasonable ($25 annually or so). I personally am a member of both. Lastly, I'd become acquainted with a more experienced collector. I am a member of OTAPS (Oregon Territory Antique Phonograph Society - a chapter of MAPS) and encourage new members to give me a call if they see something interesting. I give them the best over the phone advice that I am able and pledge never to step on someones toes by buying something out from under them.
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Buy the best you can afford. For example, if I were visiting your collection, I would rather see a very clean Home over a ragged Triumph.
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Buy what you enjoy. We are all influenced by other collectors but always buy what you like.
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Avoid duplicates. An interesting collection has a variety of machines. I bend this rule. I have several Vic II's but each has a wonderful and different horn.
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Always enjoy your hobby! Jerry Blais

That Opera looks as good or better than most of the ones I have seen for sale in the last 2 or 3 years, and I have seen several and bid on a couple of them. I do admit that I haven't been to major shows like Union in many years, but I know the ones found at such places are generally very clean, restored, all original, ready to run/display and at the high end of the price range. The reproducer is the only thing that doesn't look original; it looks "made up" to me. I have seen several operas with reproduction horn elbows, radio horn bells, missing parts and horns in far worse shape than that one. These machines all sold in the $4-5K price range even with their problems. This one would be a good machine to clean up and display. If that were already done, the price would likely have been significantly higher.

Check this link for some closeups of a Diamond A reproducer:
http://forum.talkingmachine.info/viewto ... =7&t=11918

Jim

Le0 wrote: any idea where I could find a rough price guide ?

Ebay is as good a place as any regarding "worth"..... . You can always buy the many Paul & Fabrizio books. However, they caution readers regarding "their" price guide.

flashpanblue wrote:The reproducer looked in poor condition, almost like it may have been home made.

That reproducer is definitely not original. It most likely was cobbled from a Diamond B reproducer by glueing on a curved neck. Even the floating weight has been modified.

thanks to everyone... I already have a long case Home, quite clean I think with good triping and decals.
the next step is a Triumph model A and indeed I'm looking for the nicest I can afford/find.

would $1,000-$1,200 be reasonable for a clean machine?

Hello Leo,
I sent you a PM message addressing some of the pricing questions you asked. I will say here that you should be able to find a very nice Triumph model A for around $1000 to $1200 depending on condition. At the last Union show there were about six model A's for sale. Prices ranged from a low of $900 to a high of $1400. The one for $900 looked like it had just come out of an attic. The finish was very dry and thin and none of the works had been cleaned up. The one that was priced at $1400 was near mint and I was able to talk the seller down to $1200 and bought it. I had paid the extra $50 dollars to get in on the Friday when the sellers were setting up. If I had not done this I would not have had the selection of Triumphs to compare and choose from. On the Saturday when the show opened to the public I noticed that by mid morning all but one of the other Triumphs had sold. It pays to be at the show when the dealers are setting up. I also noticed one other interesting thing. Some of the dealers quoted me prices on other machines that I was interested in. The prices quoted were lower on the Friday set up than they were when the show opened to the public on Saturday. Here is an example. There was a nice Oak horn Triumph with an O reproducer. On Friday the seller quoted me $2800, but on Saturday morning it was marked at $2950.
Pete