Friday, November 25, 2011

Mousiest Royal Futura - Except for the Awesome Font



Early morning sun brings out the best in this color combination.

The subject today is the world's mousiest looking Royal Futura 800,  We're not talking a little bit mousy - we're looking at full gray on gray.  I suppose at some point it must have been a cool combination since this seems to be the most common.

You push the logo to pop the hood.  Pretty neat and not at all gray.
 Um, yeah.  Even with the cool red logo button action, this is still one of the most boring looking typewriters in the world.

That is until you find out what is lurking under the hood.

Mmmm, tasty.




Pretty spiffy, huh?  This is Royal's version of cursive.  It is looser and more informal looking than the Hermes variation.  It is perhaps a little closer to my casual writing, but much more legible.

Funny:  Just now the gingercat (Claire) just looked over my shoulder and noted that the type slug caption sounded like something a key chopper would say.  I prefer to think of is as the sound of a type face connoisseur.

But perhaps we should let the Royal do a proper introduction:



As much as we love the Royal Futura, it doesn't have the precision of an Olympia.  The fit and finish are to a noticeably lower standard.  However, it's still a nice typing machine and is just generally more laid back.  It is almost quiet enough for night typing unlike the staccato Olympia SM3s.  The Futura is more beach bum than jet set executive.

The Futura has a whole different look.  At the moment, they are not particularly popular.  Hard telling whether that will change or not given the myriad options for used typewriters.  I've heard Futuras have shown up on TV.  I wouldn't know since we watch the Olympics, Presidential addresses and weather alerts and that's about it.

Gray to awesome, or leave it as is?

We're thinking about maybe doing a little repainting action.  So what do you think?  Leave it as is or go crazy with some hammertone?  There are so many luscious colors at Home Depot...


5 comments:

  1. Oh, I don't think the Futuras look boring at all, and grey can be a very attractive. I can't think of any reason not to spice up the color, however - that font face makes it worth spicing up! (:

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  2. That's a candidate for repainting, I suggest. What about leaving some grey and applying some light blue? Enterprise design!

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  3. I like the typewriter the way it is, but I tend to be rather a purist unless the case is in really bad shape.

    I *LOVE* the cursive typeface on this one. A new favorite!

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  4. I like it just the way it is, the shades of grey go very well with its mod design.

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  5. A Royal Signet with the smaller version of this typeface just sold on ebay for under $50. I can't say I am a fan of the Royalite innards, but it was an interesting variation. My snipe was not high enough. I hope the new owner blogs about it.

    The jury is still out on the color of this machine. It is safe until March when it might be warm enough to think about using spray paint. Either way, this variety of cursive is great. I am still keeping watch for more unique variations. I'll give it some proper paste wax in the interim.

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