One of the first tough lessons most new phonograph collectors make is buying a frankenphone or crapophone.     I'm referring to fake phonographs made up of mixed parts from other phonographs (frankenphones) or the many fakes and reproductions that have been made in India and Pakistan in the past fourty or fifty years and are now coming in from China.

Frankenphones can be hard to spot for the newbie phonograph collector, but some of the things to watch out for are empty holes in the case, even empty screwholes, things that don't seem to fit right, motors whose markings don't match the phonograph brand, and shadows inside the case that show where components have been removed and replaced with different components.

Frankenphones aren't all bad though, especially when they are made up of quality parts and play well, but you should never attribute much value to a cobbled-together phonograph.   They have no collector value or interest, and should never be worth more than a few hundred dollars.   Even that price should be reserved for phonographs with parts that have some value.

Crapophones are another story.    Most of these are very easy to spot with their shiny brass horns, a sharp angle where the horn turns to the neck of the horn, and crude-looking cast horn bracket.    Another giveaway is the name "His Master's Voice" stamped on a cheap reproducer and these phonographs very often have a "His Master's Voice" water decal on the case somewhere.      Most were made in Pakistan or India and they use cheap portable spring motors and generally have very mediocre to poor case construction, even the ones with fancy round or rounded corner cases.   For some odd reason, companies in China have now started copying these copies.       All of these crapophones have one thing in common-- they don't play well!   The motors are of poor quality, don't regulate speed well, must be cranked for every record, and the reproducers are of poor quality as well.      Most crapophones aren't worth the cost to ship them, and it's not difficult to find a good quality player from a major producer like Columbia or Victor for a few dollars more.  

If you are serious about starting to collect old phonographs, or just want one to decorate your house and enjoy a few old records, learn to recognize and avoid these fakes and put your money into a decent quality player.