12 Dec 2013

The collection has grown to 75



That's a lot of portable typewriters! This was the first time I had to split my collection into two groups to photograph them all! I grouped them by brand name roughly alphabetically. This, of course, brings to attention an interesting fact.





The first half of the alphabet contains many more typewriter brands/manufacturers than the second, but at least in the United States, they are far less common! The second half of the alphabet, on the other hand, only contains a few brand names but most of them are plentiful here.



You might notice a few typewriters in this group that I haven't mentioned before. This is because I have 8 typewriters that aren't fully functioning and need something major fixed with them (carriage problems, loose typeslugs, etc.) I plan on keeping them and hopefully fixing them myself or else getting them fixed, and then that's when I'll give them a proper reveal. There are also 2 machines that haven't had their chance to shine yet due to recent aquisition-ness.



Going through my collection like this has prompted me to reconsider how much I want certain typewriters, and I have a few that I'd like to sell to fellow typospherians at decent prices or else an agreeable trade. These are nice machines that I like, but know they'd be better off in another home. At the same time, I don't want to put them on eBay because I kind of want them. If nobody wants them, I'll probably keep them for now. :) Keep a lookout for a post in the near future for details!

16 comments:

  1. absolutely beautiful collection, I wish I can have one of your typewriter!!!! thank you for sharing with us and have a great Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

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  2. Great collection, but what's that Valentine doing in there? ;)

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  3. Would someone please slip him the phone number for Collectors Anonymous.

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  4. A collection to run barefoot through, truly.

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  5. Sweet lineup! I see you're running out of machines to upload to the Database - you should add more pictures to your listings, I was hoping you'd pass up my score soon! :D

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    1. If only I could keep them out like this to admire all the time.

      I may just have to do that. :3

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  6. That blue hermes 3000 machine is one of the ones I have my eye out for at the moment. I have been looking for one for quite some time. Looks great though! Mind you, if you want them as art - time to start hanging them on the walls :P

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    1. Definitely more affordable than the original style one and pretty much just as good to use. :D They're quite fun to look at, too.

      I've been thinking about hanging some on the wall after I was reading through Ryan Adney's post about it a few days ago, actually. XD

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  7. You're gonna need a bigger house, soon, Nick! Impressive collection.

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    1. Hence the imminent clearing out of some typewriters! I'm still trying to figure out exactly what I want to have in my collection, but I'm definitely leaning towards keeping only those that I find pleasing to type with.

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    2. It's tricky, I know. And I only have 16 machines. Looking at the multiples of your Bluebirds and SM2/3s, I would start with thinning those down to the best three of each. And yes, as good as some of them look, they ARE meant to be used to write with, so perhaps stick with the ones that are the most joyous (too strong a word?) to use. That's how I would approach it...hey, I didn't say it was a GOOD idea!

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    3. Believe it or not, even though I have so many of basically the same model, I use each one of them more than quite a few other, less good, typewriters. The main reason I have so many Olympias and Torpedoes is because they are great machines with many different typefaces readily available. But you're right. I'm definitely keeping the ones that are the most joyous to use. :D

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  8. Wonderful collection. My collection is back up to about 50 and I am trying to decide what to keep, what to sell or give away, or part out. I plan on moving and I know if I do not keep my parts machines I will regret it in the future, yet I hate to take moving space with parts machines. Then I have a few I really do not like as good as before I got others. Those I like to keep because they are generally in good condition.

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