Higgins' Typewriters

[BWheelz54]

So thrilled to be a part of the MPI forum. I have become a huge fan recently after rediscovering MPI on Netflix. Anyway, here is my question. I am a very big geek who also enjoys collecting typewriters now and again, and I am curious if any of you MPI fans out there recognize any of the typewriters that grace Higgins' office. I think I have noticed two or three. My favorite appears to be a Royal (I notice the Royal emblem appears to have been modified to avoid any copyright issues?) model, the one featured (the episode that pops into my mind) during "Holmes is Where the Heart Is." I would so love to find these typewriters on Ebay and pursue adding them to my collection, so that I could sit down behind my desk with my two german shepherd dogs (can I be forgiven for not having dobermans?) and type away at a new short story. Felt such a post might be obscure enough to attract some people's attention. Thanks all. Can't wait to scroll through the forum listings to continue to see the show in a new light.

[308GUY]

Welcome, BWheelz54!

Don't know a thing about typewriters, but I wish you good luck in your search for MPI related keyboards.

Sooner or later, there WILL be somebody on this board who DOES know about typewriters, and they will chime in and may be able to help you with identification and/or location of what you're looking for.

That Would be cool to be able to sit down in front of the same machine that JQH used to write his memoirs!

At any rate: welcome aboard..get comfortable and enjoy the ride and the scenery!

[KENJI]

Welcome BWheelz54!

Your question is a good one!
I have no idea either, but look forward to the answer!!
I like your idea of adding them to your collection......and yes you are forgiven for the German Shepherds as they are at least from Germany like the Dobermans so that counts....

[Sisophous]

About all I can tell you is that it is not an electric typewriter. I hear no sound at all other than the keys being punched, the electric typewriters emitted a light buzzing noise. You have to go way back to find them, I remember in the early 70s as a very young boy, my father even used an electric typewriter.

Like you, Netflix got me hooked on MPI, I routinely rented them until I chose to purchase the entire series which was well worth it for such a low price of $82.

Higgins was at this typewriter for a long time in this episode.




Looks like Courier font.

[Rembrandt's Girl]

Hi and welcome, BWheelz54!

This is what came to mind for me...at the beginning of "Kiss of the Sabre" (5.11) there is a manual typewriter shown before Higgins brings Betty an electric one from the rental company. It looks like the same typewriter Sisophous has already posted, though...

Hope you have a great time with us all! I'm new too, and having such fun!

~RG

[BWheelz54]

I am so going to LOVE this forum site. Thank you to everyone for the replies. The screenshots captured by the forum members put me right on track. I now believe the typewriter we most often see Higgins clacking away at is a Royal Magic Margin FP typewriter produced during the sixties. I wonder if the show ever hints when Robin Masters wrote his first story "Babes in Babylon." I would sure like to be able to present this typewriter as a piece of evidence to support the theory that Higgins is indeed Robin Masters, arguing that Higgins would have used this "new" typewriter to pen "Babes..." in the sixties, along with his other bestsellers! Thank you all so much for helping. Now, I know what to keep an eye out for on Ebay so that I can get my very own Higgins typewriter! I am going to include a link to a page I found on the web concerning the typewriter.

I also know that there is at least one other typewriter shown at Higgins' desk. I can't remember the episode for sure, but I know Higgins says the line, "How is anyone supposed to get in writing done around here," when someone buzzes the Nest's front gate (think it might be the Simon and Simon crossover). I think one of the main reasons I so enjoy Magnum is because the show is brimming with inside jokes and winks at writers. The "Kiss of the Sabre" episode includes the running gag of the writer punished by writer's block who desperately tries one machine after another to find a story thread - I also remember Higgins brings the struggling writer a very early portable computer by the end of the episode trying to help the visiting character break through her writer's block!

Thanks again everyone for such quick replies. Tells me Magnum is alive and kicking, and I am going to visit here very, very often!

http://www.sljohnson.net/typewriter/roy ... 72313.html

[J.J. Walters]

Greetings BWheelz54, welcome!

Are you sure it's not a standard 'Royal KMG'?

[ConchRepublican]

Aloha BWheelz54!

I know nothing about typewriters and can contribute nothing to this thread except welcome, I think you'll like it here.

[Doc Ibold]

Welcome aboard!

[Fr. Paddy McGuinness]

I thought Robin Masters dictated his novels and someone else typed them?

[KENJI]

I thought Robin Masters dictated his novels and someone else typed them?

He does Father.
It's Higgins that uses the typewriter.

[Shopclock2006]

It's a Royal Typewriter I worked on them for 14 years

[Gorilla Mask]

Good hint Shopclock2006 !

I am not a machine typewriter aficionado, however, for what it's worth, with a little research i found this:

https://ibb.co/MNykcLB

Indeed, that model seems to be likely a Royal Typewriter FP 1957...

http://mytypewriter.com/royalfpc1957.aspx

... But again i am absolutely no expert there.