My husband has a slightly different criteria for his collection - Mostly he's developed a hankering for a specific machine, and then amazingly - it falls into his lap for really cheap. The "really cheap" is one of his main criteria. Though we've had to put a stop to that, can't have him bringing home any one he finds for $25 and under.
I started collecting Singers in January - I was looking for the one like I learned to sew on. And DH decided he wanted to do some of his own sewing, making padded check rests and ammo packs. Neither of us really wanted him sewing on my main machine. So we set out to find him one.
I wanted to get him a Singer 237, nice sturdy machine, inexpensive. He decided he really wanted an open arm - and would love an older Viking 6570 like my very first sewing machine. They are a bit out of his price range - so in the end we found a 534 in a cabinet locally for $100. A bit over what he likes to pay (and probably more than it was worth). We went to look at it, and the poor machine stunk. The seller was near our age - had moved to SD to take care of ailing Mom - mom had passed 6 years ago and it was time to finish cleaning out the house. So not only did this machine have a bad case of "musty basement" it also had endured a lifetime of second hand smoke. The machine was yellow when we got her, but she cleaned up very well. Cabinet was fully stripped and refinished.
She was suppose to be DH's main squeeze - but instead she's now in a case and will be heading to GA for our son. He will have instructions "sell the machine and we disinherit you", just in case he has any ideas.
So DH had a machine of his own, and cleaned her all up and started sewing. But like all of us, you just can't stop at one. He still had a hankering for a Viking, and I found him one.
Like his "first love" - Viking 21C
His Granny had a machine like this, and when we first got married (34 years ago) he bought one and then sold it when we had babies to feed. When I started collecting in January, he got interested in finding one of these again. I was looking on Craigslist - also looking in areas I have friends and relatives living (I have lots of enablers). Found this in a small add - bad picture of it in the case on it's side. "I got Grandma's Machine and want to sell it. Don't know anything about it $30 cash" area listed as Madison WI.
So I called my sister in Madison, and she said it was about an hour away - but she drove right past when she was coming to visit Mom, but didn't know when she'd be there next. I told her if it wasn't going to work, that was fine.
Next morning I get an email "hope you wanted that machine - I'll be picking it up next week on my way in, already paid seller via Paypal". The machine made it from WI to MN and I had plans to pick her up on the next visit in a few weeks. Fully addicted to old machines, and knowing I was making a trip into the Twin Cities of MN (400 miles away). I started looking at the Craigslist enroute. And what do I find? A Singer 237 for $25. Listing was almost a month old, but I called and it was still available. This had been the seller's Grandmother's machine, and while he had fond memories, his two daughters had none and prefered sewing on their Mom's machine. The machine needed cleaning and adjusting - it didn't sew right, and he wasn't going to spend the money to fix a machine his daughters didn't want. So DH and I took the back way and picked up this machine in a town of about 500 population.
We ended up giving away the cabinet (with a model 15) to a 12 year old budding quilting and vintage machine addict. The 237 is in one of my collected cabinets.
So we had one machine loaded up with a disassembled cabinet, and we headed out. We picked up the Viking while visiting, and the next day headed home. We stopped in Owattona to check out a couple of Antique/Thrift shops, and at the first one DH found a 403A in a case. They wanted $175, and it didn't sew quite right - DH had read that the 400 series were very nice machines, but it was out of his price range - so back on the shelf it went.
We stopped for lunch and then another antique mall place and started looking around. I spied a singer cabinet - and peaked underneath - then found DH and showed it to him. We took the display off the top and opened her up - DH's eyes got big - another 403A!. No price tag, but they had other machines in the $30-40 range. DH asked, Owner said it wasn't his but he thought $40 - DH offered $35 - and the machine and cabinet went out the door with us. We removed the machine and disassebled the cabinet - we were pretty happy to fit three machines and two cabinets in the car - and we still had some room! We make it back to the west side of MN, and I'm using my smartphone to check out our local Craigslist and find another green viking - no price - I call and she says "$50 is as low as I'll go" so we ended up coming home with four sewing machines that trip.
Here is DH's 403A. DH didn't care for the cabinet it came in, so found him this desk style. (I collect cabinets, so it worked for me LOL!)
And then DH told me "I'd still like to get a Viking like your first machine . . ."