I think the high bid was $2. I would have have bid it up to $20 no problem if I did not already own one, and was not trying to free up space. You are right about these being great machines to play 78's on. I have a good size collection of swing 78's and my Philco 46-1203 is my regular go to player for them. That is probably my favorite table radio-phono looks wise.
Captinclock: Sorry about your bad luck with yours. Mine works like a champ all around. I don't know where you are getting the impression these are a rare model....I've seen at least 6 (probably closer to 10, but I lost count a long ways back) in the past decade, and quite a few recently. The folks on Audiokarma tend not to care about pre-HiFi gear, or know much about it. You'd be better off asking us or the folks here:
http://antiqueradios.com/forums/inde...d3efb2f2e1eb8b about pre-HiFi stuff. It is possible you were sold a bad IF can on purpose, or perhaps you just made a mistake in trouble shooting it or working on it.