Clear W.E. 2500 DM

[Dave F]

Clear 2500 sets are not generally rare.  They regularly appear on eBay and sometimes command very high prices.  Unfortunately, most of the ones we see are not genuine W.E.  Instead, they are most often W.E. bases onto which after-market clear housings and handsets have been installed.  A genuine clear W.E. 2500 is a different story.  These are really rare and not often seen.  I have been looking for one for a long time and recently came across this excellent specimen from 1979.  Enjoy!

DF

[Jim Stettler]

Nice set,
I really like the unpainted "back-painted" touch-pad face-plate on these sets.
all the clear WE 2500 housing I have owned were dated 1979

JMO,
Jim S.

Locally WE clear  were used  in the phone center stores, after the promotion , some  employees took the sets home on loan. After the break-up, employees were allowed to keep WE items and pay $10.00 for design-line sets in their possesion.

I have gotten clear sets from several former employees. they also had the character phones and design-line stuff. They all  told me the same story on how the ended up with the phones.

[TelePlay]

Did you get that off of eBay. I saw a similar phone a month or so ago but the emblem was  not shown so it wasn't known if it was genuine WE or somebody else plastics.

[Kenton K]

I had a clear trimline and it was also dated 1979.

-KK

[Dave F]

Did you get that off of eBay. I saw a similar phone a month or so ago but the emblem was  not shown so it wasn't known if it was genuine WE or somebody else plastics.

Yes, this one came from eBay on October 27, 2016.  Here's the auction link:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/322301051896

(The photos I posted above were taken from that auction listing.)

Informational note to anybody interested in W.E. clear sets:  All genuine clear W.E. sets have a yellowish tint to the plastics (in addition to molded-in W.E. logos).  This color variation is related to the type of plastic used, and is not an artifact of the age of the set.  Most of the aftermarket clear parts are crystal-clear.  In the past I have seen uneducated buyers pay huge sums for clear phones they probably thought were genuine W.E. but were absolutely not.  Buyer beware!

DF

[TelePlay]

Nice find. It was suggested as an auction contest subject but because the seller did not show the emblem and it started so high I took a pass. Also, Iprefer to have several bids on aphone before outing it in a contest. I watched it to the end and it did sell with only your one bid. You took a chance on it but you did well in the end.

[Dave F]

Nice find. It was suggested as an auction contest subject but because the seller did not show the emblem and it started so high I took a pass. Also, Iprefer to have several bids on aphone before outing it in a contest. I watched it to the end and it did sell with only your one bid. You took a chance on it but you did well in the end.

Actually, the W.E. logos were clearly visible in the auction pictures.  You might have been looking at a different set, as there have been several clear 2500s on eBay in the last month or so (but this one was the only recent genuine W.E.)  I know a couple of people with deep pockets who really would have liked to win this phone.  I'm surprised, but certainly not unhappy, that none of them jumped in and gave me some competition.

DF

[TelePlay]

No, that was the one that was suggested and I watched. Went back to my PM to double check.

I must not have gone forward in the listing photos once I saw the high starting price. Too high for a contest. I did comment back then if it has been listed at $19.99, it would have been a contest.

And, yes, the Bell logos are clearly seen in the second page of photos.

It was even suggested as a special auction contest due to the high price but the problem was still the same, a high starting price.

It certainly is a nice, original WE clear set.

[Jim Stettler]

Locally for me is Colorado Springs. I see that is where the set came from.


Jim S.
The last Clear WE 2500 set I got was about a block away from me. It had a damaged housing. I got it for $1.00 .
Interestingly it was a church yard sale at the same house where I found these.

http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=2502.msg34179#msg34179

[Dave F]

<snip>  ... It certainly is a nice, original WE clear set.

Yup, expensive but very nice!

DF

[Dave F]

Here's a picture of a fake W.E. clear 2500 on eBay right now, being marketed as genuine.  Again: BUYER BEWARE!!

Auction link:   www.ebay.com/itm/132002686075

DF

[Jim Stettler]

I just bought another WE 2500 in clear. It is a Colorado phone. I noticed that the date stamp on the bottom of the  phone is 79032, which is the same stamp as Dave's Colorado phone as well as my first Colorado set. It makes sense.

Jim S.


The other WE Clear 2500 set I own, I bought from a collector in Florida. It is dated 79254 I think it was a Florida phone.

[compubit]

I picked up a clear case at the Lancaster show, and although not original, it meets my needs (to show the innards).

Jim

[wds]

Here's the one that sold yesterday.  I noticed that it came from the same area (Colorado) as Dave's phone.  Also the same markings on the bottom.  I wonder if it was the same seller using different ebay handles. 

http://tinyurl.com/clear2500

[Jim Stettler]

That listing is from Windsor  the previous sale was from Colorado Springs, I think this may be a Colorado Springs phone, 634 was a common exchange here.



Mis-listing it as ITT cost the seller some $.

Jim S.
BTW That is the phone I just bought.