A Second Opinion

Was out again today prowling antique and thrift stores. Same old machines, marked at their high prices, not selling. I told you about the Tower President a few weeks ago that was marked $6 and I believed it to be an error in pricing. Today it was still there. I looked around the booth (in an antiques mall) and noticed that all of the vendor's goods there were ridiculously cheap. A huge stand-up radio from the '30s was $32.50, some books were $1.25. I took the typewriter to the front of the store to confirm the price on the tag. It was correct. The lady at the counter told me that the vendor attended a lot of auctions and estate sales and didn't really care if he made a huge profit on his stuff. Well, all right then. I bought it. You don't have to tell me twice.

Finally, a President I would actually vote for.

Now, you may remember there was another Tower President I had looked at. This one was in perfect physical condition except none of the keys worked.  I saw that one again today, unsold. I think it was still marked $25. No deal. The one I bought actually works, if a bit rusty. I noticed the space bar seemed broken, but it's just the plastic part of it coming loose. It can be snapped back on or otherwise repaired. No big deal, and still a bargain at $6.

No. Just no. Stop pretending to be a typewriter.

I consider it a mark of semi-maturity that I did not buy this one. I did check it out and found it to be lacking. If it was $5, maybe...but $12.99? For a cheap plastic Chinese-made Generation 3000 typewriter? And allegedly one of the worst typewriters ever made? I can't have it mixing with my other machines. It would be bad karma, and a bad influence on the rest of my children. I understand that some people would be fine with it...and maybe it does work, who knows? But it's not for me. Also, when I was young, I heard a tale of an Asian fellow, who, while playing a prank, put urine into the soft drink of another gentleman. I guess you had to be there.

Another day, another $60 typewriter. 

This Remington looked promising, but the $59.99 price tag put me off. I didn't even check it out. I find it disappointing that the price point for used typewriters in Lufkin (with very few exceptions) is around $60.  This isn't practical in the real world. The most expensive typewriter I've ever purchased on Ebay, shipping included, came in well under that price. But of course I've bought a lot of broken crap, so go figure.