The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I found this 3’ tall Nipper on Facebook. He belonged to the father of the person that I bought it from, (he believes that his father got it while he was working for a radio station the 1940s). The big guy needs some work, but I have seen worse. I will update when he is back to his old self.

What a great project. My first large Nipper, purchased around 1980, was also missing part of his leg along with the foot. If you need any suggestions send a PM.

Jerry B.

I love your post title! Have fun with this project. I know you will do a great job.
Dave D

A worthy project - congrats on the find and good luck on the restoration. Do you plan on starting a thread discussing whether you should repair or keep "original"?

Do you plan on starting a thread discussing whether you should repair or keep "original"?

Too funny!

Jerry B.

Jerry B. wrote:

Do you plan on starting a thread discussing whether you should repair or keep "original"?

Too funny!

Jerry B.

Haha yes!

Yes it’s funny—and no, I’m not advocating another thread on restoring or not

Steven

and no, I’m not advocating another thread on restoring or not

Yes, we beat that one to death. And the truth is the fact that nobody is right and nobody is wrong.

Jerry B.

Jerry B. wrote:

and no, I’m not advocating another thread on restoring or not

Yes, we beat that one to death. And the truth is the fact that nobody is right and nobody is wrong.

Jerry B.

Exactly!

This giant economy sized Nipper came to me with two broken feet and one missing, (along with a good portion of his left ear, pictures above were as received). My goal was to do as little as possible and not to over-restore him by making him perfectly smooth, (they were far from perfect when new). These three foot tall Nippers are pretty fragile and loaded with defects. The eyes, part of the nose, the mouth and collar are still factory. He retains a crackled finish and the original factory voids and splotchy, patchy paper mache, but he has four good feet, two good ears and I think an overall decent appearance. I still have to do a little touch-up and add the nails to his rear paws. Other than that, he is done. If someone in the future decides that he should look perfect and new, they can have a go. I prefer old, sound and presentable.

Not to be too discouraging, but if anyone ever wants to do a quick and fun project, don’t look to a three foot tall Nipper. They are very fragile and I hate to say, poorly made. He seems to be made mostly from compressed paper, coated internally with plaster and covered externally by paper mache. The smaller Nippers are much easier and nicer to work on. If you have lots of room and want to test your creativity and patience, then this is the project for you.

I like him. Well done!

Andreas