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A pair of hippos
#1

Went to visit a radio collector buddy of mine today and came home with these: Note from site admin: Sorry, but the photo which was attached to this post is no longer available.

Both are 1946 models and I've tried getting one of these in the past on eBay, to shocking amounts. The brown one tried to work, but it needs rebuilt and the cabinet is battered. He did a quick cord replacement on the white one and it works almost perfectly, on the original innards! We did a quick cleaning of the chassis, a little alignment then it played for a little over an hour again with no signs of issues. The white one is all complete, but does have a crack on the side. For $55 I just upped the bakelite radios in my Philco collection by 200%! I only had one bakelite Philco before this. Makes up for losing out on that 37-84. Icon_biggrin

No matter where you go, there you are.
#2

Jayce Wrote:Went to visit a radio collector buddy of mine today and came home with these:[attachment=0]

Both are 1946 models and I've tried getting one of these in the past on eBay, to shocking amounts. The brown one tried to work, but it needs rebuilt and the cabinet is battered. He did a quick cord replacement on the white one and it works almost perfectly, on the original innards! We did a quick cleaning of the chassis, a little alignment then it played for a little over an hour again with no signs of issues. The white one is all complete, but does have a crack on the side. For $55 I just upped the bakelite radios in my Philco collection by 200%! I only had one bakelite Philco before this. Makes up for losing out on that 37-84. Icon_biggrin

That's odd, typically those sets aren't that hard to come by for a reasonable price in good condition even on fleabay, just bad luck I suppose. I wouldn't settle for a cracked one for anything other then a parts set price, they are one of those sets where finding one is like waiting for the bus, if you miss one just wait a while and another will come by.
Regards
Arran
#3

Arran Wrote:That's odd, typically those sets aren't that hard to come by for a reasonable price in good condition even on fleabay, just bad luck I suppose. I wouldn't settle for a cracked one for anything other then a parts set price, they are one of those sets where finding one is like waiting for the bus, if you miss one just wait a while and another will come by.
Regards
Arran
Hmm, I really need to bring you to my area of Ohio someday. This area got largely bought out on cathedrals and bakelite radios of any interest a while ago by outside collectors. eBay has cleaned things out even more. That's the reason why so many of my Philcos are consoles instead of table sets. Seems if it is either bakelite or a cathedral in really good shape, people expect the dollars. Yes I could wander more, but keep in mind I am currently driving a vehicle that seems to be only getting 15mpg on a good day. Also this area became bedroom community, so not much even at garage sales but baby clothes. Icon_sad

No matter where you go, there you are.
#4

Good for you, Jay: I have a brown one, but the cabinet is cracked and it keeps trying to smoke me every time I work on it.

You might want to consider re-capping them before you play them a whole lot. Well, that is, if you intend to play them a lot!
#5

Jayce Wrote:
Arran Wrote:That's odd, typically those sets aren't that hard to come by for a reasonable price in good condition even on fleabay, just bad luck I suppose. I wouldn't settle for a cracked one for anything other then a parts set price, they are one of those sets where finding one is like waiting for the bus, if you miss one just wait a while and another will come by.
Regards
Arran
Hmm, I really need to bring you to my area of Ohio someday. This area got largely bought out on cathedrals and bakelite radios of any interest a while ago by outside collectors. eBay has cleaned things out even more. That's the reason why so many of my Philcos are consoles instead of table sets. Seems if it is either bakelite or a cathedral in really good shape, people expect the dollars. Yes I could wander more, but keep in mind I am currently driving a vehicle that seems to be only getting 15mpg on a good day. Also this area became bedroom community, so not much even at garage sales but baby clothes. Icon_sad

Hmm, I don't really know why fleabay would effect one area more that another, it's pretty much an equal opportunity outlet for sales. I always hear these stories of mysterious mobs of outside collectors cleaning out a given area, why they would target one area over several dozen others is never explained. In my experience you can never find things like this unless you live in an area a long time and frequent the usual outlets for used junk like yard sales, estate sales, auctions, etc. or make yourself known. Not sure how these fly by night guys can come in for a weekend and find what a local can't given the home field advantage. My thinking is that they if there were many more sets around in the past then they ended up in the hands of more local collectors, there are always collectors out there that you've never met.
If someone dropped into my area and hit the antique stores they would conclude that there is little to be found or that everyone wants top dollar, except that these same stores have had the same sets on the shelves for five years. Maybe it's another one of Murphy's laws, if you look too hard for something you can't find it, if you don't look too hard you eventually will. I stopped agressively looking for radios years ago, now I only find them by accident, usually when I least expect it, only buy if I can get one for what I want to pay, and I still end up with more then I can deal with.
Regards
Arran
#6

Jay, do you ever go to the Columbus meets? Looks like they're about 2 hours away, but some interesting stuff shows up. I was coming back from Cleveland, stayed with some friends Friday night, and hit their meet on Saturday. Even with all the ice Friday night they had a respectable turnout for a small winter meet. I'm sure there is a much larger turnout at their warmer weather meets...... just something for you to think about. I know most of my best stuff has come from meets over the years..... find another collector or two to share the ride and gas. Plan to get there early, take a set or two to sell, and have a fun day with other collectors. And congrats on your new Hippos.

John KK4ZLF
Lexington, KY
"illegitimis non carborundum"
#7

Eliot Ness Wrote:Jay, do you ever go to the Columbus meets? Looks like they're about 2 hours away, but some interesting stuff shows up. I was coming back from Cleveland, stayed with some friends Friday night, and hit their meet on Saturday. Even with all the ice Friday night they had a respectable turnout for a small winter meet. I'm sure there is a much larger turnout at their warmer weather meets...... just something for you to think about. I know most of my best stuff has come from meets over the years..... find another collector or two to share the ride and gas. Plan to get there early, take a set or two to sell, and have a fun day with other collectors. And congrats on your new Hippos.
I'd love to go to the Columbus meets, but I never find out about them until too late or am lacking money due to first of the year bills. Also, without fail, they schedule me to work those mornings at work every time. If I could find out ahead of time, I could try and request off.

No matter where you go, there you are.
#8

Jayce, maybe you could get on their mailing list? I'm on it...I've been getting meet notices ever since I attended one of their winter meets two years ago.

They have a website:
http://coara.tripod.com/

--
Ron Ramirez
Ferdinand IN
#9

Thanks! I added thier site to my favorites. It appears that they have another meet in July sometime. That should be better for me to get down there. Hopefully I will have a nice vehicle by that time as well. Icon_biggrin

No matter where you go, there you are.
#10

Pleural of Hippo? Any English majors out there? Hippoae or maybe Hippadimuses?
#11

codefox1 Wrote:Pleural of Hippo? Any English majors out there? Hippoae or maybe Hippadimuses?

" the plural is hippopotamuses, but hippopotami is also used; hippos can be used as a short plural. "

According to Wiki.

Glenn
#12

I thought it was "hoppipitamuses"

Steve

M R Radios   C M Tubes




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