The $5 and $10 club-a post to tell about the bargains you've found

[benhutcherson]

Hello Folks,

One of the things that really hooked me on telephone collecting in the early days was how inexpensively I could often get telephones. I was able to build up a nice collection really quickly by buying only locally.

So, with that in mind, I would like to start a post for everyone here to tell about some of your real bargains at two elite levels-the $5 club and $10 club.

The $5 club is for telephones whose total price, including shipping(if purchased off Ebay) but excluding sales tax, were between $0 and $5. Likewise, the $10 club is for those telephones whose total price, including shipping but excluding sales tax, were between $5.01 and $10.00. Given my luck in finding bargains in that price range, I wouldn't be surprised to see lots of posts here.

So, bring them on. Here are mine to start off with:

$5
AE40-free
WE 500, hardwired, green-free
WE 500, modular, white-free
WE 500 modular, white-free
WE 554-black, soft plastic-free
WE 554-beige, modular-$1
AT&T 2500-black, modular-$1
AE90, black, hardwired-$2
WE 500 non-dial, black, soft plastic('59)-$2.88
WE 2500, beige, modular, G6-$2.88
AT&T 500, beige-$3.00
WE Trimline rotary, white-$3.00
WE 500, black, Signal Corp-$5
WE 564HD(key telephone), black, modular, soft plastic-$5
WE 302, 5H dial, '52-$5

$10
WE 500, green, hardwired-$7.50
WE 554, black, modular-$8
AE80, white, hard wired-$8
WE 500, black, hardwired, metal fingerwheel-$8.50


So, let's see what all you all have

[Dan]

Hard to remember what my best deals were, but I went to an auction in a guys basement and he had two working AE90 white wall phones one in the basement and one in the kitchen. He gave them to me for $2 each, provided I removed them safely and taught him how to wire his two cordless phones in their place.

[AET]

5 Dollar Club
White Wall Hanging Phone
(Packed away and yet to be identified)
Found in my dad's store when he bought it and he gave it to me.

Ten Dollar Club
White 1978 ITT - $7.00

[McHeath]

I'm not sure I have much in this list:

5 dollar club:

1984 Yellow touch tone princess  (actually it was 2 bucks)
1989 Radio Shack 2554  (it was a dollar I think)
1955 Yellow 500
1989 Comdial, (Stromberg) 2500


10 dollar club:

1978 Snoopy Design Line rotary  (7.99 actually)


Absurd club:

1968 Aqua WE 1500, with all the various new parts such as cord and shell and handset I think I have about $150 invested.   

[HobieSport]

Ha ha; Heath has a Snoopy phone!  (What; no Lucy phone? )  In the novelty phone department, the only one I've been temped to get is the ones that look like an aqua and white 1957 Chevy Bell Air.  But so far I have resisted, because they are new.

I guess I'm out of the club, except for a couple of black 1950s WE500s for about $10 from Ebay, not including shipping.  I have to go through Ebay as we have no flea markets and very few thrift stores in our area (small town on North Calif. Coast).

As for "the absurd club" (I like that, Heath ) my most expensive phone is a totally refurbished and like new Feb. '57 black WE500, my birthday phone, for $80. It's absurd because it's so darn nice that I don't actually use it. It just sits there looking too shiny and smug.

[mienaichizu]

Ok I converted all my phone prices to the current Peso - Dollar exchange rate and here's mine

$5 club

LM Ericsson Type 50 - FREE
AE 186 Multi line black - FREE
NEC Rotary - FREE

$10 club
AE 186 Multi line beige - 7.44
Stromberg Carlson 2500 - 6.38
ITT 2500 (modular) - 6.00
PacTel 2500 (modular) - 6.25
AE 80 - 10.00
AE 80 - 7.50
AE 85 - 8.00
ITT Wall Phone (modular) - 6.33

[Kenny C]

Here is a topic that needs to be revived

5$ club:
1959 SC 500-free
11-55 500- 3.99

10 dollar club

1946 302-10.00
1937 302-10.00

[AdamAnt316]

Since most of my phones have been found at yard sales and flea markets, a large number of them fall into these categories. Here's my list:

$5 Club
Western Electric 220 Trimline turquoise: free
Western Electric 500 light beige: free
ITT 2500 red: free
Western Electric 500 black: 25¢
Western Electric 554 ivory: $1
Western Electric 2220 Trimline black: $1
Western Electric CS702 Princess yellow: $1
Western Electric 500 black: $1
Western Electric 2500 white: $1
Western Electric 660A1 Card Dialer beige: $1
Western Electric 500 beige: $2
Western Electric CS2702 Princess ivory: $2
Western Electric 500 moss green: $2.50
Automatic Electric 192 Starlite yellow: $3
Automatic Electric 80 black: $4
Western Electric 220 Trimline moss green: $5
Western Electric 1500 moss green: $5
Western Electric 750 panel phone: $5

$10 Club
Western Electric 554 black: $10
Western Electric 951 Country Junction: $10
ATC Deco-Tel 158001 Chestphone: $10
TeleConcepts candlestick black: $10
Western Electric 554 beige: $10

[gpo706]

Free is always nice.

2 x 746 MK1 Topaz Yellow (converted to speak to each other for a school physics demonstration, now de-converted and rewired), and 3 Dictograph units thrown in.

a blue 722, just done after 25 years sitting on a shelf (filthy beast when I cleaned it).

A master Dictograph for less a tenner and another set thrown in for 9 quid extra.

Most of my other "junk" was maybe a just over a tenner.

Most recently and not leastly, a Panasonic 616 PBX for 99p, thats probably the biggest bargain I'm ever likely to get, ever.

[jsowers]

Those are some really nice bargains posted so far. I wish I had better records kept of what I paid for everything. I did write what I paid, when and where on a label for thrift store phones and put it on the bottom, but I never put it in a database.

In 2007, I got an ivory soft plastic 500 from 11-58 on eBay for 99¢. The shipping was quite a bit more, but not over $10. It was a nice phone and even had a surprise original number card and all its cords, faded though they may be. I have pictures of it as it arrived to me, below. The dial seems to be the only thing replaced early on, and they must have re-used the card.

[ESalter]

A couple of the ones that stick in my mind are:

Pink 1220 Trimline $4 or $5(can't remember anymore for sure)
NIB 211 Space Saver $10
Complete WE black Magicall system $5
GOLD AE 80 $2
Black WE 702 hardwired Princess ($10 or $12)
Yellow WE 1500 $15

I too find a lot of stuff at yard sales/flea markets, so I'm sure there's more, but it was a long day at work, so my brain power is lagging.  It's been a while since I've found something that gave me "that feeling" after I found it though.  ---Eric

[AE_Collector]

GOLD AE 80 $2

Gold as in yellow or the gold plated housing? Any pictures??

Terry

[ESalter]

Gold as in gold plated.  Found it in a Salvation Army store next to the board games(still can't figure that one out).  I don't have any pictures handy, but I'll either dig some up or take new ones.   ---Eric

[AE_Collector]

Gold as in gold plated.  Found it in a Salvation Army store next to the board games(still can't figure that one out).  I don't have any pictures handy, but I'll either dig some up or take new ones.   ---Eric

So does it have a matching gold plated handset? What color cords did they equip it with? I've seen them on ebay a few times and wondered what their purpose was. I assume maybe sets presented to employees as I have never heard of them being available for customers use. However, presumably Automatic Electric would make anything that would sell and it would be up to the operating company what they did with them.

I've seen gold and silver plated housings and possibly bronze or copper as well.

Terry

[Greg G.]

$1.50

54-500

$5

5302

I have many that were just above $10, like my avatar, around $12 including gas.