Rare colonial HMV 118 portable teak

[Steve]

Did anyone else here spot this or manage to buy it?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/276040497376 ... R9iypPPWYg

It's the second one only I've seen in over 30 years of collecting! The first one which I've now got, somewhat laughably, slipped through a CLPGS auction without raising any eyebrows at £50! Needless to say it cost me considerably more than that after it had been passed through two different hands before I bought it at RetroTech in May.

[CarlosV]

I was at the CLPGS auction, and noticed the machine and the price it sold for. I have one already otherwise I would probably have bought it there, even considering the hassle of hauling it back in an airplane - they would certainly make me check it as it would be identified as a dangerous terrorist artifact. I found mine in the German eBay a decade ago, poorly advertised but otherwise in great condition, just with some scratches on the external painting.

[Steve]

I was at the CLPGS auction, and noticed the machine and the price it sold for. I have one already otherwise I would probably have bought it there, even considering the hassle of hauling it back in an airplane - they would certainly make me check it as it would be identified as a dangerous terrorist artifact. I found mine in the German eBay a decade ago, poorly advertised but otherwise in great condition, just with some scratches on the external painting.

As I was looking to upgrade mine, I was the under-bidder on the Ebay example, which was in about as good a condition as you'll probably ever find one of these as they appear to be impossibly rare gramophones to buy anyway but it did look to be in amazing condition with few scratches and areas of wear to the finish. I was hopeful that as it had sat at £220 for most of the week my bid might have secured it but alas, £523 just wasn't enough. Had I not already got the former CLPGS auction example, I would have seriously gone for it though, £600 and above!

[Jaso]

Hi Steve, I seriously wanted that 118 and bought it! Had a feeling that you were going to bid on that one too. So now got two teak colonnials. That’s a good start!

[Steve]

Hi Jaso,
Oh, congratulations on a fantastic buy. You won't ever find another example like that, I'm sure!
I'm glad you got it and I hope it gets to you safely. I wasn't sure if the seller was offering international postage or not.
Well done anyway!
Steve

[CarlosV]

Hi Jaso,
Oh, congratulations on a fantastic buy. You won't ever find another example like that, I'm sure!

Indeed that one is in nice condition, but I saw one in Bremen that looked completely new, without a single scratch. The owner - a German collector - told me that he bought it from David Smith when he visited his shop in England. The machine was stowed on a shelf under a thick layer of dust. If I remember well he mentioned that he paid 300 GBP for it after some haggling.

[Steve]

Hi Jaso,
Oh, congratulations on a fantastic buy. You won't ever find another example like that, I'm sure!

Indeed that one is in nice condition, but I saw one in Bremen that looked completely new, without a single scratch. The owner - a German collector - told me that he bought it from David Smith when he visited his shop in England. The machine was stowed on a shelf under a thick layer of dust. If I remember well he mentioned that he paid 300 GBP for it after some haggling.

That doesn't surprise me at all to be honest. I doubt Dave Smith had any special interest in these and probably didn't care much by the sounds of it. It was just another portable lying around gathering dust but being "HMV", was probably worth a few quid and that's about it. It's good to know there is more than one good example out there anyway.

[Garret]

Wow. That looks like a very nice example.