I hit the motherlode!

[benhutcherson]

There are several antique stores around here which I frequent, most of which the owners of know me and know my interests.

I visited one today that I hadn't been to in a while, and was promptly informed that someone had just brought in "a whole bunch of telephones." They said they though all of them were too new for my liking, but pointed me toward them anyway.

Well, the first thing I spied were a couple of relatively new telephones. A black AT&T 2500, one of those GTE Rotaries that's shaped like a 2500, and a relatively new blue AT&T phone that's shaped like a 2500, but has a K-type handset and memory. These were all priced at $1 each, so figured that I couldn't go wrong for that price.

Then, I turned around and spied a few more. There was a cheap-looking 2554, from Radio Shack, as it turned out. There was also a decent looking WE modular 554. Both of these were $1 each also. Once again, I figured I couldn't go wrong for the price.

The, right beside the 554 was the real prize of the day-a shiny black AE 90 for the princely sum of $2.

So, all said and done, I walked out with 6 telephones for $7.42, tax included-probably less than I would have paid on shipping for one off of Ebay.

[Dan/Panther]

All of our "THRTIFT" shops now have an Antiques, and Collectable section.
D/P

[Dennis Markham]

Ben, the only way to get them cheaper than that is to get them for nothing!  I think you did real good there.   Can't get much for a buck these days---maybe a double-cheeseburger at Micky-D's.

[HobieSport]

I like that AE 90!  What a great deal.

[benhutcherson]

Thanks for the comments, guys.

From what I understand, the AE90s are sort of difficult to find-I probably would have gladly paid $7 for it alone, as I've been wanting one.

The 554 has a network and ringer date of '57.

[Bill Cahill]

I've got first dibbs on the blue push button phone. I'll double your money on that one!!
Think I'm kiddin'?
Bill Cahill

[BDM]

Great deal on any of them. The 90 is nice, especially if it has the older potted network. Very nice operating phones. I have the table version 80 as one of my present daily drivers.

[AET]

WOW!  Those are some serious good deals, I gotta hit up the thrift stores more often!  DANG!

[Greg G.]

I haven't seen deals like that for a long, long time, especially if it was an antique store rather than a thrift or second hand store.  Not sure about other areas, but around here antique stores and even thrifts are known for price gouging "collectibles".

[mienaichizu]

nice deal, i like that AE 90

[McHeath]

Great buy, lots of good parts and good phones in this mix.  I have that exact same Radio Shack 2554 that I paid 2 or 3 bucks for at a junk store, it's donated several parts to the cause to my more collectable phones.  In fact I discovered early on it was a good idea to have a stock of parts phones for the odd screw or wire or whatnot. 

[AET]

Yup even the saint vinnies and goodwill are getting to be a bit extreme on the 70's and earlier goodies.

[benhutcherson]

Back when I first started collecting the things, which has been about 4 1/2 years ago now, I could buy them up all day for $10 or less.

It was a big deal to me when I first paid over $10 for one-in that case, a very nice all-original '52 500 set. My first 302, bought locally, was $5-I had to really fight to stay calm when I first saw that one.

It seems like lately, though, every one I find is priced far over what I'm willing to pay. This same store has yielded some good deals before-a really nice 302 for $35, and a 5302 for $20, but the problem is that most every phone I find there is priced in this same neighborhood. The same vendor who had the 5302 also had a black modular 500 from the late '70s for $20. Another vendor had a bunch of 500s and 2500s priced in the $10-20 range.

So, I was quite to find these. I would have paid what I paid for the whole lot for just the 554 or AE90 alone.

So, I guess the point is that there are still bargains out there, they're just getting harder and harder to find.