Estes Auctions
Burbank, Ohio -- February 25, 2006

REPORTED BY RAY AND EDITH CHASE

Can you imagine -- Richard Estes had already sold two Sparton Nocturnes at a prior auction, and here was a third one in the February 25th auction? These were also from the collection of Mr. Sage of Albuquerque, New Mexico, along with other blue and peach mirror Spartons, There were also radios from a collector in Missouri, as well as others.

February can be a challenge if the weather does not cooperate, but that Saturday turned out to be clear and blustery. The buyers were late in arriving, but by auction time, about 100 had shown up. This auction had a large selection of very nice early phonographs, cylinder records and parts. Ham gear and box lots were limited, but there were quite a few Catalins, a lot of crystal sets, the usual large selection of tubes, and, of course, the mirror radios.

If ever there was proof of the old statistical rule of the "vital few and the trivial many," this auction proved it. While I recorded 582 lots for a total sale price of $123,627, six items alone accounted for 55 percent of that value. Of course, these were mostly glass mirror radios that do not show up that often, and one item, the Sparton Nocturne, sold for $55,000. Remember, all dollar values listed in the details that follow do not include the 5 percent buyer's premium charged at this location.

Some items came in late on Saturday morning, and one in particular caught my interest. It was a Norden-Hauck Admiralty, a large table model superheterodyne with AC power supply built-in. It was very dirty and in need of some restoration, but I had never seen one before. Its features include 12 tubes on three chassis, a 3-tube preamp, a 3-tube IF amp, and a main chassis with 6 tubes; the front panel had two meters. The output audio stage had two Type 50 globe tubes with good filaments.

I lusted for this radio and secretly hoped that since it came in late, it might go unnoticed. However, that was not to be as it sold for $1,100, unfortunately not to me. Anyway, one of the benefits of these Estes auctions is that you can examine, touch and photograph these wonderful radios even if you do not end up owning them.

There was a fair sampling of paper goods, books, magazines and ephemera, but they were sold "choice" and I could not record them. Side auctions in the afternoon were held to process box lots, test equipment, and low value tube lots. I ran back and forth for some items I wanted, so I missed some items in both auctions.

There was a large batch of transistor novelty radios that were also sold on the side, and I prevailed on my wife Edith to record some information on these. That list is included after the main auction listing. The dollar total here was only $234.

I stopped recording at 4:40 p.m. with about 75 items left to go.

e=excellent, vg=very good, g=good, f=fair, p=poor, unk=unknown condition, N.O.S.=new old stock, wk=working, nwk=not working, WT=with tubes, NT=no tubes, gf=good filament, BB=brass based, TT=tipped tube, SW=shortwave, PS=power supply, PB=push buttons, WE=Western Electric. All prices have been rounded down to the dollar. Some low cost items and items in poor condition or non-specific descriptions are omitted. See print version of A.R.C. for complete auction listing.

(Ray Chase, 1350 Marlborough Ave., Plainfield, NJ 07060; Estes Auctions, 7404 Ryan Rd., Medina, OH 44256; (888) 769-4992; estesauctions@aol.com)

A warning: Auction prices are not current values. Our selection of auction items is not necessarily complete. A listing such as this cannot adequately include the condition of cabinets, chassis, transformers, tubes, the operating status of the set, and the inclusion of incorrect, restored or replica components, etc. Auction prices are the result of the excitement of the auction process, the skill of the auctioneer and the specific interests of the participants. Nevertheless, auction prices serve as useful references and as another element in the value determining process. The possibility of error always exists, and if we are notified, corrections will be reported.

And the winner is -- the Sparton Nocturne, the top-dollar item, selling at $55,000!

Something different -- a Perfectone phonograph in a wicker cabinet. It sold for $225.

A pair of Colonial Globe radios were offered in the auction. One in good condition sold for $400. The other in very good condition sold for $700.

This quack medical foot treatment device sold for $155.