If you are able to look at FWs (Singer Featherweights, models 221 and 222-free arm) and walk away, good for you. I always wanted one, but never had one. Then I bought 2 in one day, and I have one coming from Britain tomorrow, God willing. I've got the fever. Also, I think they are social and somehow attract each other. People seem to have collections. Why? They have a fabulous straight stitch. They are portable and cute. They are made to last forever, before the days of things being made intentionally to wear out or become obsolete, thus necessitating another purchase. The owner can learn to service them. They are part of sewing history. They are light and compact enough to carry to classes despite being all metal. The decals (gold trim) and metal face plates are beautiful. They came in the cutest cases. There were ingenious accessories to do all kinds of operations with just a straight stitch. We could go on and on... They can be found for $20 at rummage sales or for $500-600 fully restored, more for special editions or the 222 freearms. So they are accessible to the budget sewist, unlike some other machines. Other older machines are also collectible, like Singers 66, 99, 201, 301, and more plus the Elna Lotus, many more... Watch out or you'll get SMAD from this board, highly contagious and not prevented by the most complex antivirus computer systems.