Green Bakelite Atomic on eBay

There is an Atomic (badged La Sorrentina, but genuine, if you know what I mean!) with green bakelite, just been listed on eBay. Currently in Japan. Bit worn around the badge, but otherwise looks OK.

UPDATE: That machine sold for AU$1225 (US$975). Is this good news?

The Mystery Deepens...

My friend Lucio del Piccolo decided recently to call the Robbiati family in Milan and ask them about their involvement with the Atomic. He spoke to Robbiati's daughter and soon discovered that the family does not really want to discuss Atomic history. They have their family memories and that's the way they want it to stay. Lucio thinks this is a great shame, and so do I, but on the other hand the family is entitled to their privacy -- and it leaves us free to pursue the myths and legends around the Atomic, and to create new ones as we wish.

Electric Atomic

Troy Davis supplied these pictures and would like to know if anyone has any information to share. It appears to be a standard late-model Atomic, badged Robbiati, mounted on an electric element. The quality of workmanship is high. There are several known electric Atomic variants, but this is one I haven't seen before.

A short-lived miracle

I'm told (14 June) that Bon Trading are once again advising customers they are out of stock with supplies expected "in a few months". Let's keep our fingers crossed.

Some more reseller badges

Here are a couple more reseller badges. The Robbiati Milano one comes from Francesco Ceccarelli and the Frentana one from Greg Dahl. I'll add these to the website shortly.

Plus ca change...

Well, it's taken a while, but Bon Trading have finally delivered on their promise to import brand new Atomics. You can see one below. I haven't seen it personally, but I'm told it is a dead ringer for the vintage models, right down to the sample coffee grind in the manual and the bland cardboard box. With two important exceptions. First, as you can see in the top photo, the underside of the kettle has an embossed stamp on it saying "Made in Italy". The second, as you no doubt guessed, is the hole pattern in the baskets. This is circular rather than star-shaped, but since BT has been supplying the round pattern for several years, this is not a surprise.

It remains to be seen whether the market will come to regard these "modern" Atomics as simply a continuation of the vintage pedigree, or whether they will be viewed as yet another pretender to the Atomic throne alongside the La Sorrentina reproductions. The first clue is already here - prices for good vintage machines are flat, which might just be a reflection of the global economy, but maybe it also suggests buyers are happy to accept the modern versions for their looks alone. And prices for the modern versions have been set within a fairly narrow band, which might stabilise prices around this level, and provide a "ceiling price" for vintage machines. I guess we'll see.

My grateful thanks to Jon for the pics.

Two New Badges Added to Website

Ugo da Milano has thoughtfully provided images of two badges from his collection (which you can see at his website) The one at left is a Swiss badge - Culinor - while the one at right is another Milan one: Stemac.