High on everyone's list is this 302 Blue beauty. It is already at $150 and the sky is the limit.
http://tinyurl.com/3rlfrvw
( dead link - 10-10-21 )
Someone please transfer a picture of this beauty for me so the auction will make more sense for the archives.
I'm going $ 1,535.34 :o :o :o
Quote from: Dan on April 01, 2011, 10:31:40 AM
High on everyone's list is this 302 Blue beauty. It is already at $150 and the sky is the limit.
http://tinyurl.com/3rlfrvw
Someone please transfer a picture of this beauty for me so the auction will make more sense for the archives.
I'm going $ 1,535.34 :o :o :o
Look at that handset, it has grooves....it looks painted to me. Limited Pictures....Warning Will Robinson ....DANGER .....DANGER... Robot
Looks painted to me too, but it sure is pretty!
Quote from: JimH on April 01, 2011, 10:51:54 AM
Looks painted to me too, but it sure is pretty!
I asked seller, he said it was "original." I asked him to unscrew the caps. No answer. Its a good space holder, but not the real deal. No open face finger either...Doug
Notice how you cannot read the Western Electric under the handset grip. Polene. Goes on thick, won't chip. I had one as a placeholder for many years. $200 is about what its worth.....Doug
This looks like the "painted blue 302" from Old Phone Works, right down to the repro blue dial card. Sometimes if the person bought it that way, they don't know it's painted.
Here's the Old Phone Works phone (top), and the Auction phone (bottom).
They look almost the same, exept the lighting makes the auction phone look more teal.
That's why I stay away from 302's!
Does the color seem a lttle off to anyone else?
It does look turquoise and should look more like my avatar color. The blues do yellow over time.
Y'all have probably noticed this, but the dial has a solid-center fingerwheel, and it's a #6 dial, and the number card appears to be printed rather than a blue mask over a white card per original.
Methinks an Old Phone Works creation. Excellent work of course, but not the same thing as a blue plastic 302.
And while we're on the topic of Polane paint jobs, is there anyone out there who'll do those to order, and can color-match components? I'm thinking of my smashed & repaired HES 2+10 in gray, for which the repair isn't quite up to my normal spec, but the whole thing might look better if given the Polane treatment. I would also be reluctant to bake on a finish on this one since the heat might cause the acrylic repair areas to expand differently than the bakelite, and break out again.
This painted-polane beauty is up to $610! WT*???!!! Somebody's going to be very disappointed!
Seller never answered me about unscrewing the caps. They must know. This is a shame....Doug
I just emailed for more photos. It's definately got a groove on the handset. Looks like new cords, possibly a dial overlay, and repro clear plungers.
Quote from: Dan on April 01, 2011, 06:16:14 PM
That's why I stay away from 302's!
Dan....no reason to stay away from 302s because of this, like any phone; the more knowledge you have the easier it is to spot an issue. In my opinion, the 302 is still the coolest looking phone that was ever made. From the heavy metal 8 pounders to black thermoplastic to color thermoplastic to the variants with an on off (305) to two line (410) to multi line 302s (444). The 302 was the workhorse of the Bell System for over 15 years, so there are alot of them out there. I had a blue polane coated on for many years as a place holder. Its tough to spot, even up close. It feels just like thermoplastic. With a handset that doubles as a weapon, there is no better phone than a 302. In-destructable, easy to repair and just so cool looking....Doug
Quote from: Kenny C on April 01, 2011, 06:19:17 PM
Does the color seem a lttle off to anyone else?
Maybe it's been "aged". ;)
So is this a fake one? It's up over 700. Gotta get a few cans of polane :o
Quote from: Dan on April 03, 2011, 07:04:01 PM
So is this a fake one? It's up over 700. Gotta get a few cans of polane :o
Not a fake, painted. Polane is a thick coating, notice you can't make out the writing in the rectangle under the handset grip. I had one just like this and you could not tell the difference from 6 feet, unless you knew what you were looking for. I asked the seller to unscrew the caps after they told me it was "original." They did not answer. This auction is so wrong. For a seller with 100% feedback and 1600 positives this is really crossing the line. I'm sure I'm not the only person to ask a question about this. ....Doug
I think this is one of those cases in which the buyer probably won't care whether it's original or not. An experienced collector would immediately spot the grooved handset and know it's painted. Non-collectors just want a pretty phone. This definitely fits that bill, and would make a non-collector very happy.
The real problem, of course, comes with the person in between those two--the inexperienced collector. Let's hope there's not one of those bidding.
I hope not, Bingster. He or she could get just as "pretty" of a phone from Old Phone Works newly refurbished for $249. :-\
I think the housing is real... what say ye?
Real black, maybe. This is undoubtedly an OPW phone, and if it is, there's no blue plastic anywhere on the set.
The baseplate was painted flat black; good paint job, but none the less a paint job. (Otherwise the rivet heads would be shiny steel or whatever the metal was.)
Notice the "British" arrangement with the cords: both coming out at the rear like a 332. How is it that whoever last worked on this one didn't route the handset cord via its all too visible mouse-hole on the left of the set? Or were they leaving the mouse-hole open for a miniature mouse to occupy? : - )
The housing appears blue on the inside as well, which is interesting. From some angles in the photos it does appear to be blue plastic, but from other angles it appears painted.
The key to this one is interior photos of housing and handset. Which apparently the seller isn't providing. Yet. I think it might be possible to entice him/her to provide those photos by being just a wee bit sneaky about it rather than by being accusatory.
Sheesh, this really brings home the points various people made in objecting to my euphoric promotion of the idea of mass-producing colored 302 housings & handsets! There really does need to be some highly visible external method for differentiating repros & make-overs from originals. (But the thing that killed off the idea for me, was that it would end up driving up the price of black ones, as they would be cannibalized into other colors: the goal was to produce affordable color 302s rather than drive up prices of black ones or get original phones cannibalized.)
Its painted!
I did as you asked by taking the caps off of the reciever. I found that it is BLACK on the inside instead of Turquoise. It has been painted. Someone did a beautiful job. Did the phone company paint these or did private parties do this. I noticed that in the Telephone Collecting by Dooner, there are a lot of colored phones of this model?
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It's Baaaaack. This time with more pictures (according to the seller) so that there will be no claims of deception. > http://cgi.ebay.com/Turquoise-Blue-Western-Electric-Rotary-Desk-/320684732028 <. ( dead link 01-23-22 )
Doug Pav
Why would anyone spend at least $300 "As is" when they could get it brand spanking (refurbished) new from Old Phone Works with a warranty for $249?