The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

What is the most amazing bargain or discovery you have ever had as a talking machine and/or record collector?

Likewise...What's the worst purchase or experience you have ever had as a talking machine and/or record collector?

My best personal experience was buying my Victrola about 6 years ago for just $78.

My worst was about 20 years ago when I had a financial emergency and sold my really nice, fully restored, Edison Standard with large witches hat bell for just $100 cash.

I made several amazing finds over the years, but I burnt up a lot of shoe leather.

1) Walking the aisles at an antiques mall, I spotted a bushel-sized wicker basket filled with cylinder cartons. I asked the dealer how much, and she said $5 each. I noticed going through a few cartons that all the wax cylinders looked clean. Suddenly I pulled out a pink cylinder! And then another, and another. I never got to the bottom of the basket. I just calmly returned what I had looked at and said, how much each if I buy the whole basket? She said $3. Done deal. I got home and discovered 10 Pink Lamberts and 3 black ones, most in original cartons with lids.

2) I went to a huge antiques/garage sale show and found someone with several large boxes of cylinders. $3.50 each. I took home Shacketon's My South Polar Expedition and 12 or 13 Edison 2M Blue Amberol cylinders, all in Spanish.

3) At a public auction 30 years ago, I paid $2 for an Edison private label disk of the Drury High School Band, from North Adams, Massachusetts. I didn't really know what I was buying, it was just a hunch that it was something good. Later research revealed that probably only 300 copies had been pressed. There are at least 3 or 4 other existing copies that I have heard about, including one at that school. I sold mine 10 years ago on eBay for $500.

Some interesting stuff.....

My best deal for a phonograph, I think it was a Edison Chalet with complete about 50 records for $ 300.00 I do not regret this at all, the grill and everything looks good.

The worst experience, was a Silvertone table model phonograph on e-bay for $200.00 The lid was puffed up, the grill all broken, looked like the sides were gorilla glued and has a broken pot metal arm. I started attempting to work on it, I stripped it, stained it, bought a arm for $ 50.00 on ebay, and ooohh boy did I invest about $400-600 easily, well i ended up selling it to someone for parts on ebay for i think around $ 80.00. the ebay picture looked better than the machine was.

Ebay has been ok to me, the prices can be a killer but over-all its not too bad, i just try to look at as many photos as i can. I think Silvertones are junky if you ask me.

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