The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3xo6UUgzz8[/youtube]


Could I get some input here please? I said in my video, that antique phonographs, are not in high demand, but I have been told otherwise, but a viewer.


Feel free to share your input. This video, is just my opinion, of what I see in my area at least, and on eBay, but I would like to know If I am wrong.

FYI: The viewer who left a comment saying there is a high demand for them. His comment was flagged as SPAM by YouTube, and does not appear, in the comment section. Even though, I approved it. It's gone.


Paul

I agree generally. Regarding the music, most people's first listen to an old phonograph involves Caruso or Gluck and they're usually automatically out. If they started out listening to Chippie Hill or the Bristol Sessions there might be more interest. However as with most collectibles, the high end and rare stuff seems to be doing fine. Average stuff within a genre of collectible is always iffy and hard to move except to a new collector or or one on a budget and there's always a nicer one to be found so the 99% sits. I collect 19th century German beers steins, vintage handmade smoking pipes, and several other items and find those to be much the same as phonographs.

Edited for my sorry spelling. Hard to be precise on a Kindle.

Thank You!

Actually, they never have been in "high demand" since the early 1900's, except by the relatively few (compared to the total population) OCD collectors who have always loved them... so no surprise.

That's what I thought.

This isn't just happening with phonographs. I am also into old Model A Fords. Our club membership is doing better than other clubs that have seen their memberships fall. I have been trying to spark some interest in phonographs with younger people. More than once, I have listed a "Free Victrola" on Craigslist. But, the recipient has to be under 18 years old. The last one I gave away went to a 14 year old boy. He came with his Dad from over an hour away. His eyes lit up when he saw it. He actually knew quite a bit about phonographs. I will be posting another "Free Victrola" soon. This time the person has to be under 18 and work on it with me. It needs a new mainspring an I will show them how to put one in and go over how the whole thing works. It is just my small contribution to keep this hobby going. Hopefully others can do the same. Another thing to consider is taking phonographs to display at a library. I have also done this and actually got some good leads from doing it.

Thank You for that Phono-Phan. Sounds like a worthy thing to do, too get younger people interested in antique phonographs.

I agree with the comments and it is one of the biggest challenges we have for the future of antique phonograph and record collecting.

Alot of it is the type of music or pre-conceived capabilities of these machines and records. Some will find it amazing to hear a machine with a rebuilt reproducer and a more jazzy upbeat record. I think that Paul is correct in discussing the floor models and the size requirements that people shy from. We are moving away from "hoarding" in this country and having things that take up room. I think the tabletop machines are doing better than many of the consoles for this reason.

Also, I think that cylinder machines do better due to their small footprint.

Paul, I believe that good-looking external horn gramophones, legitimate or fake, have a market. This is why there is industrial production of crapophones in India and China. Portables, especially those with red or blue cases, also have a market. The market is the normal people, not nutty collectors of anything, but frequenters of flea markets and antique shops that will buy them as curios. All the rest - cabinets, tabletops etc - are only of interest to specialized collectors, and our community is very, very, very small. Take the number of participants in this forum (short of 2,000) and multiply by ten, and you probably have the worldwide gramophone collecting community. So common models, say a Victor VV-VI, are available today in the thousands, making about one per existing collector in this world (I already have mine). Rare models of coveted brands that exist in counts of tens or less will always find buyers and command high prices, but the rest, it will be like your Victor, Paul, will take loooong to find buyers. And large machines are particularly difficult to sell, especially in Europe, where houses do not have that same space as in the US. But even in the US, it would be hard to find buyers for consoles or things of the type, which are old-fashioned as furniture, some are quite ugly even for a collector like me and occupy large space in a room.

In the UK portables continue to be in demand, especially those with Nipper inside the lid. Cabinet gramophones are hard to sell unless they are of great rarity and interest, and some dealers are only keen to buy the top end HMV machines such as the Lumiere and Re-Entrant models.

Bespoke machines by EMG and Expert always make good prices on the rare occasions when they are offered for sale.

Phono-Phan's comments on the classic car scene also apply in the UK. Pre-War cars don't seem to get out as much these days as the number of people who remember them in daily use diminishes, but interest in cars of the 1960's and 1970's is increasing. We have just witnessed a boom in prices which is now showing signs of having peaked.

Just my thoughts from the other side of the pond.

Roger.