Anyone see/get this one?

[Sargeguy]

Overspent my budget for this week, so while I was rationalizing I let this one slip away:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/200837760445

Weird listing but the parts alone add up to more than the BIN, if he puts the correct phone in the box.  Seems a little confused.    






I would have bought it to solve the mystery of the nickel plating and the missing fingerstop.  Is it under the fingerwheel? 

[LarryInMichigan]

I love the tiny pictures.  Why are so many ebay sellers these days posting really small pictures on their listings>

Larry

[teka-bb]

One of the pictures shows a stick with a dial and another picture shows a stick without a dial. Makes you wonder what you will actually get...

[Sargeguy]

Funny you should ask.  My wife bought this for me for Christmas, which I suspected at the time I posted this (i was trying to figure it out).  She wanted to buy me a phone for Christmas, so I set up a "Christmas List" board on Pinterest (the most effective means of communicating with a woman these days is through Pinterest) with a few eBay phones in it.  Unfortunately she looked in the "Telephones" Pinterest board which is full of random phone crap, including this one that was nickel plated 2AB and missing its fingerstop.  I had considered buying it but the missing fingerstop was a deal-breaker, and I had spent my $$$ on a 2-boxer or something.  Here is the full story that I posted in the CHristmas 2012 Phones thread:  

I received a Christmas phone from my wife.  It is sort of a "Frankenphone X-Mas miracle"  I did a BIN from a seller on eBay for a nickel candlestick.  It had an older transmitter and a " PAT. APPLIED FOR" base with phenol grommet, all the nickel seemed intact  so it was a no-brainer Cost was $36 plus S&H.  When it arrived I noticed the face plate, cup and perch had been re-nickeled.  The transmitter was originally a 323 which had been xxx'd out and re-designated 337.  The perch had 20-AL xxx'd out and was re-designated 51-AL on the front of the perch.  Now neither 20-ALs or 51-ALs came in nickel, so I was a little annoyed.  Around this time my wife bought me a phone that I had put on my eBay watch list.  Now I usually put interesting phones on my Watch List.  Phones I actually want I bid on.  ANyway, Christmas arrives and I open my present, and see the baseplate of a WE dial candlestick.  On the base is a sticker from the seller.  I Thought "I've seen one of these before!!!"  When I pulled out the phone, it was a nickel plated WE-dial candlestick base with an original nickel perch and transmitter from a 20-BC on top.  I switched the parts between the phones and instantly had an original 20-BC and a nickel plated 51-AL abomination.  The dial stick came with a #2 dial.  Unfortunately the fingerstop was missing.  I will have to watch the seller's auctions to see what he did with that.

Here is a link to the phone I purchased:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/200852783164

Here is the one my wife purchased:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/200837760445

If you look you can see that some of the auction photos of the phone my wife purchased are of the phone I ended up buying.

[LarryInMichigan]

I noticed that OPW lists repro finger stops for #2AB dials for $25: link.

Larry

[Sargeguy]

Thanks, Those had been out-of-stock for a while.  I think they were $35, so $25 is a relative bargain!!!  Of course I could always do my own #2 to #4 conversion!

[Jim Stettler]

Some nickle and other "special finishes" were done for retirement and special order sets.
I used to have a factory copper D1 retirement set. WE also made chrome 302's with a matching handset.
I suspect this may be a factory finish.
Jim

[Sargeguy]

Could be, but the transmitter is stamped 323 337.  It looks a little sloppy for a presentation set.

[Sargeguy]

I was just dismantling this for cleaning and. Found a decent notchless 132B dial plate.  I swore I checked and it was notched, but that must have been the grassed out  51-AL I bought last month.

[LarryInMichigan]

I was just dismantling this for cleaning and. Found a decent notchless 132B dial plate.  I swore I checked and it was notched, but that must have been the grassed out  51-AL I bought last month.

The notchless plate could well be worth the cost of the entire phone.  Your wife deserves a big "thank you".  If you try one of the OPW repro finger stops, let us know how it goes.  I am thinking about buying one for a converted #4 dial which still has its outside holes intact.

Larry

[Sargeguy]

It is a little beaten up, but the letters and numbers are all there.  Probably not quite worth the price of the phone, but certainly banishes any reservations I had about her purchase!