Question about Olivetti Linea 198

Has any of you seen or tried on an Olivetti Linea 198?  For a long time, I thought it was only a concept as I had never seen it on eBay. Because it is one of the last typewriters that have been built so they should be everywhere on ecommerce websites. I'm curious about its bold print function. How is it made possible ? Does it work good?

An Old Picture of Madame Chiang Kai-shek (aka.Soong Mei-ling)

A portrait of Madame Chiang Kai-shek, first lady of Republic of China, typing on a Hermes baby.

Madame Chiang is known for her elegance, eloquence, knowledge and also hunger for power and being corrupt.

A Hermes 3000 with Director Pica.

No offense, but I always believe that Hermes 2000 & 3000, Optima Aztec and mid-century Erika are the best typewriters.I like them because of the snappy touch feels they have. Olympias, on the other hand, have sloppy feels so it is not included in my list of favorite machines. Royals are my favorite US machines.

The Much-coveted Royal Portable Model P with VOGUE Typeface.

This post is enough to make some of my fellow typospherians jealous. I just got a Royal portable with VOGUE typeface. Yeah, I said it in your face,VOGUE typeface. :-P

The story started almost a month ago,before Chinese New Year. I was having some major typewriter kick. So what could I do? Log on eBay, and browsed new offers pages after pages. Frankly speaking, most of the times I would end up with nothing but frustration!


However this time, something came up and caught my attention.

Nothing special right? but just as I clicked open the post, I found something rather unusual. 

I was almost 100% sure that it wasn't the all-too-common PICA typeface. Just take a look at the characters such as J, M and U, It was so obvious that they didn't have the serifs. So I immediately asked the seller to send over a type sample. 

Motion: 

All eBay Sellers, please automatically include a type sample pic in your post because only a type sample can tell exactly how the machine works！ So please don't make me ask! 

The seller replied the next day, saying that the ribbon had dried out, implying that he wouldn't do it. But I insisted and told him that only a type sample could convince buyers that the machine was in working condition. He did send one but it was as blurred as this 

Nothing much to be seen! How disappointed I was. I sent a second message right away, telling him to swirl the ribbon spool a little bit and that there must be a certain spot/spots that hadn't totally dried up. This time however, my message went unanswered.  

But the blurred images at least solved one mystery, this Royal portable Model P had the much-coveted VOGUE typeface as Vs and q's didn't have serifs.  Then another problem, what if the machine didn't work properly?  Although the seller described it as in good working condition, what if he didn't know any better?  I had bad experiences buying from eBay. It wasn't the seller's fault, most of them were general antique dealers, so they knew little about typewriters. To me, a collector from Shanghai, China, shipping costs usually exceed the machine itself. 

FYI I'm not a rich Chinese! I know, right at the moment, there are many of us all over luxury stores in U.S. When it comes to spending habits, I think I share a lot in common with ordinary Americans, that is, not much on food or clothing, but never skimp on hobbies. In my case, typewriters!  

Then I agonized immensely, for the next several days!  

In the end , I decided it give it a shot, not only because the seller got 100% positive ratings, but also he always signed off his messages with God Bless You All!  To me, normally a religious people won't lie. And that guy is from the Rhode Island, somewhere between the Massachusetts and Connecticut, two rich states in the Northeast US! There's no need for someone living comfortably to cheat a foreigner on eBay. Last but not least, I have confidence in Americans. 

So I bid on the machine. I met no rivals as no one bid against me at all this time! It seems no one ever found this gem! Then after a 1 month waiting, I finally received it yesterday! 

Ahh...Again, US and its people didn't fail me. Lovely machine, isn't it? 

The only problem is that one piece from the right knob chipped off when I opened it. It wasn't the seller's fault as the knob as shown in the original post was complete. So most probably it was damaged during transportation. But it's OK, see, nothing is perfect right? Perfectionists are pathetic.

I just sent a Thank You letter to the seller, telling him I'm very satisfied with my purchase and I appreciate all his efforts in packing and shipping the machine.  

As a routine, the roll call at the end of this post. Please enjoy, probably with your eyes green with light of jealousy. :-P 

My favorite typeface, what's yours?

Like what's indicated in the title, the following pics I found on typewriter database really turn me on! Dear fellow typospherians, what is/are your favorite typeface? 

Blue Ribbon Finally !!!! Hooray!

After months of relentless searches online and so many unanswered requests, there's finally one typewriter ribbon manufacturer in Canton, China, agreed to sell me black-blue ribbons! The best thing is, it costs only RMB14, approximately US$2, a piece, made of nylon and 8 meters long!

Months ago, I tried their violet ribbons, top quality!

They told me that, if the size of order is big enough , they can do all-yellow ribbons too.  Once a Singaporean client bought from them a big order of four-parallel-color ribbons: red, yellow,blue and black, so that each and all typewritten characters have four colors.

Since I have no interest in yellow ribbons -- I have no idea of on what particular occasions do I need yellow ribbons. FYI, in China yellow flowers are for the dead--I'm trying to convince them to go with both dark green and brown colors just like the old times.

But they said ,to do that, they need to invest in developing formulae for the said colors, which in turn entails possible risks. So before that could happen, they need to be sure that the market big enough. I suggest them to list the products on eBay and try their luck.

Question about ribbon color in the heydays of typewriter era.

Hi fellow Typospherians,

I have a question for you.  Aside from all-black, red/black ribbons,what colors were once used in the heydays of typewriter era? I've seen dark blue, verdant/ brown ribbons on a Remington shipped from the US.

In China, most typewriters would have black/red and all-black ribbons. I've seen, on earlier machines , blue ribbons. There were two shades of red. One is darker while the other is what I call rouge.

Your input will be highly valued and appreciated.