Okay, this is just a silly little game for the fun of it. Why? Because this is one of those impulse things that I bought. Well, not completely an impulse purchase. It's something I've written about before, but definitely not the exact thing I've written about.

I've talked about Birth Year Collecting in the past, and I was honestly considering looking for something from my birth year for this purchase. But this isn't a birth year purchase.

Image of the top of the box, with the label blurred out. Photo by Unattributed. License: Copyright Unattributed. Licensed under Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0.

Now I'm just being mean, right? I mean who blurs out the label on something “new”. Me. ;)

So, yeah, this might need a little cleaning, and a bit of work. But of all the items for sale of this make and model, this one was really in the best condition of all of them. And, to be honest, the lighting here is magnifying the scratches and a bit of dirt on it. When it's under normal lighting it looks absolutely stunning. I'm guessing the seller either carefully lit his photos, or possibly slightly retouched them. Personally, I can't blame him.

Okay, so here's the reveal:

Image of a Royal Sprite manual typewriter from the 1970s. Photo by Unattributed. License: Copyright Unattributed. Licensed under Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0.

I'd like to say this is my first typewriter. It isn't. But, I don't know if I still have the Underwood that I used in high school to write my first story. Would be nice if I could find it, but no major loss: the story was utter garbage. I didn't have a clue about writing at all.

This Royal Sprite typewriter just shouted at me as soon as I laid eyes on it. It's this beautiful navy blue and cream. I love the clean lines, and the curve of the cover, the on the keys, just everything about it. And so far it seems to have been an excellent purchase. Okay, a few keys don't return properly. But from my investigation, it doesn't appear to be serious. A little cleaning and lubricant should fix the problem quite easily.

So, as I mentioned before: this isn't a birth year typewriter. I still plan to get one. I have an idea of what I would like to find, so now I am just watching for the exact one that I want. I'll say this much: it will be an electric typewriter. And, it won't be portable.

If you'd like to see more photographs of this typewriter, I am going to post a full set of six photos on my Pixelfed when this article goes live.

Categories: #Features Tags: #typewriter, #notbirthyear, #manual, #royal, #sprite License: Copyright Unattributed. Licensed under Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0.