Does anyone have more info on these drums? Just picked em up for $100. I think that is about right for their value, but I just wanted to see if anyone had more info about their construction etc.

This is what I know:

As far as I can tell, this is a student line kit from 1953 (Feb 27 1953 stamped inside of bass drum). Bass drum is made of a lighter (both in color and weight) wood with grains running around the inside (not from head to head). No rings. Inside is stamped "Feb 27 1953" and in pencil the number 243 is scribbled across the bottom.

Gretsch "Responso" snare wires, all calf heads in REALLY nice shape. Silver + Blue finish is in really nice shape as well. Looks like it was barely played. No major finish blems or cracks or anything like that.

Snare batter head is a "Radio King" head. Not sure if they got heads from Slingerland at this time or if this is a replacement. It doesn't actually say "Slingerland on the head...just "Radio King". Snare side head says "AMRAWCO STANDARD". Can't seem to find a name on the bass drum heads.

Both drums are single tension. 8 lug bass, 6 lug snare. Strainer doesn't seem to be broken in any way, but is not really functional. The tension knob is pretty much the only way to get the snares on and off the head. Seems to just be really cheaply made.

Looks to have the standard Gretsch round badges.

Clip on spurs don't say "Gretsch" anywhere. Could they be original?

-Outfit name?

-Type of wood?

-Construction?

-Value?

Like I said, I paid $100 for them, and I figure that is about what they are worth...though I do see people spend more than that on original Gretsch heads/wires/spurs/round badges in pieces on popular auction sites. Not going to part these out or anything....definitely just keeping them for my collection...just curious if anyone has any cool info.

Thanks in advance for any help!

-Adam