The stage is all black crackled paint which is like new. The cloth stage has no rips or tears.
The on / off switch works. It measures a little over 5.5 inches square. The microphone is bakelite I believe, and is mounted on a circular wooden base with the instructions on the bottom. The microphone and cloth cord are in excellent condition, the ends of the cord that plug into the stage have some cracking due to age. The metal lamp post and wire are like new.
Sam also is near mint, some light paint wear on his head/hat, he has no breaks or cracks. This close to 90 year old toy works.
Remove the bottom to insert the 4 "D" cell batteries. I found that Sunbeam batteries found at the dollar store work best since they are a hair shorter than today's Eveready's or Duracell's. Connect the lamp post to the back of the stage, connect Sam to the lamp post support wire (Still have orig bag that the wire came in) via a hook in his back.
Carefully plug in the microphone into the stage. When turned to the on position it clicks. Using a loud voice Sam starts to dance via the vibration and a plate that's electrified under the stage. This doesn't always fully work but, it does work almost all the time. The 1929 batteries which are included are rare, they have some mild rust on the top and some old dried battery acid on the bottoms. Lastly the box is in fantastic condition, still strong and sturdy, has a label on each end of the box. A truly rare and collectable time capsule of an era long gone by. Please ask any question that you may have. The item "MICROPHONE DANCER SAM BATTERY OPERATED 30s BLACK AMERICANA N MINT IN BOX WORKS" is in sale since Thursday, February 09, 2017. This item is in the category "Toys & Hobbies\Electronic, Battery & Wind-Up\Battery Operated\Pre-1970". The seller is "ddzrave" and is located in Hightstown, New Jersey. This item can be shipped to United States, to Canada, to United Kingdom, DK, RO, SK, BG, CZ, FI, HU, LV, LT, MT, EE, to Australia, GR, PT, CY, SI, to Japan, to China, SE, KR, ID, to Taiwan, TH, to Belgium, to France, to Hong Kong, to Ireland, to Netherlands, PL, to Spain, to Italy, to Germany, to Austria, RU, IL, to Mexico, to New Zealand, SG, to Switzerland, NO, SA, UA, AE, QA, KW, BH, HR, MY, CL, CO, CR, PA, TT, GT, HN, JM.