[Arran]

No, Deforest Crosley, had sets with an inclined control panel for at least three years before Philco introduced it, the highers end Rogers models had a flip over, rolling pin, type dial from 1935-38. This set is a 1935-36 model, the schematic is dated August 9, 1935, yes, Wales is the model, most Deforest-Crosley sets had names from the late 1920s onward, even low end ones. Even so there were other brand that built sets with inclined control panels before Philco, American Bosch had a number of consoles built with this feature.
Rogers cabinets were usually made by Knechtel or by Strathroy Furniture, some Rogers built sets also used McLagan built cabinets. I've never heard of Beaver Furniture, but then again Rogers didn't have their own cabinet shops so they likely contacted with whoever could supply what they wanted. In terms of rarity I would guess that they did sell a fair number of them as I saw one on craigslist in the Vancouver area the year before last, with veneer damage to the top, a nine tube model was at the upper middle end in terms of their offerings, the top models had 12 tubes, and there were 10 and 11 tube models inbetween.
Regards
Arran