News:

"The phone is a remarkably complex, simple device,
and very rarely ever needs repairs, once you fix them." - Dan/Panther

Main Menu

If 500's were Purple.....

Started by Pourme, April 09, 2017, 07:10:49 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

Pourme

They would look like this.....

https://www.ebay.com/itm/252851731813
Benny

Panasonic 308/616 Magicjack service

Dan/Panther

And that is why they aren't.

D/P

The More People I meet, The More I Love, and MISS My Dog.  Dan Robinson

Jim Stettler

I have seen a factory violet WE trimline.
JMO,
Jim s.
You live, You learn,
You die, you forget it all.

Pourme

Benny

Panasonic 308/616 Magicjack service

KaiserFrazer67

"Dirty pink accent"?  I think it's called "beige"... ::)

Back on March 4th, I took a trip out to PhoneCoInc out by LaCrosse, WI (actually Galesville) to get some parts and stuff, and to see what they had, and the owner gave me a tour of the facility.  They had a whole warehouse aisle full of Franken500s and a few AE 80s and 90s done up in wild colors like that, all bagged up, ready for final packaging and shipment.  The difference was that the dial number bezels were also done in the body colors to match.  I didn't examine them closely enough to see if they were actual reproductions (the lady told me that they do have some outfits reproducing things in China/East Asia), or if they were old dial bezels sanded smooth, painted and decalled (they have a full paint shop and refurb shop on-site, too).  I suspect the latter.  The main thing is that they were all in bright orange, plum purple, bright red, bright lime green, Kelly green, vivid royal blue, lemon yellow (WAY brighter than the stock WEs and AEs ever were), and other wild colors in which the originals were never made.  They did a real good job of painting them too; so good that I couldn't tell the difference between painted or molded, even by looking at the AECO diamond logo on an AE 90 that was in bright orange (which is usually where you can tell, because the paint fills in the corners where the raised part of the logo meets the body).  I highly doubt they would have gone to the trouble of getting exact reproductions done of those AE shells, but they were painted well enough to fool the uninitiated.  (Also working in their favor was the fact that since it was a Saturday, they didn't have all the lights on in the warehouse, so I couldn't examine many of them as well as I'd liked.)  They were done up well, in any event.  I remember the purple 500 had white letters and numbers on the dial.

Here's a link:  http://phonecoinc.com/category.asp?map=1&hhrl=home&group=main&gorl=group&category=Modern  The order numbers of some of the non-stock color versions are followed with a "C" or "RC", which I assume is "colored" or "reconditioned".
-Tom from Oakfield, Wisconsin --  My CO CLLI & switch: OKFDWIXADS0--GTD-5 EAX

"Problems are merely opportunities in workclothes." -Henry J. Kaiser

WEBellSystemChristian

Western Electric built clear dial bezels specifically for use on either transparent phones, or phones painted in specialty colors (like Gold or Silver). The numbers and letters were just indents in the plastic on the back, and were visible through the front. Instead of painting the exposed layer of plastic, they were painted from the back, to avoid wear from dialing over time, and so the numbers and letters were clearly visible (they were painted either white or black before the final coat went on. The result was a painted bezel that matched the rest of the phone.

Up until a few years ago, collectors were still finding NOS clear bezels, and I would assume that those custom painted phones received those bezels.

If anyone finds a trashed aftermarket-painted phone with a clear bezel, I would suggest stripping the paint off the bezel and selling it. There are dozens of clear 500s out there with mismatched bezels that collectors would probably a hefty price to find a matching bezel for.
Christian Petterson

"Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right" -Henry Ford

Jim Stettler

Quote from: WEBellSystemChristian on April 09, 2017, 03:28:31 PM
Western Electric built clear dial bezels specifically for use on either transparent phones, or phones painted in specialty colors (like Gold or Silver). The numbers and letters were just indents in the plastic on the back, and were visible through the front. Instead of painting the exposed layer of plastic, they were painted from the back, to avoid wear from dialing over time, and so the numbers and letters were clearly visible (they were painted either white or black before the final coat went on. The result was a painted bezel that matched the rest of the phone.

Up until a few years ago, collectors were still finding NOS clear bezels, and I would assume that those custom painted phones received those bezels.

If anyone finds a trashed aftermarket-painted phone with a clear bezel, I would suggest stripping the paint off the bezel and selling it. There are dozens of clear 500s out there with mismatched bezels that collectors would probably a hefty price to find a matching bezel for.
Very early 500's had clear back-painted bezels.
I know the "fully" clear bezels were available.
I think the black and white lettered versions may of been produced by WE (vs coloring the letters at the shops).

JMO
Jim S.
You live, You learn,
You die, you forget it all.

KaiserFrazer67

#7
Quote from: WEBellSystemChristian on April 09, 2017, 03:28:31 PM
Western Electric built clear dial bezels specifically for use on either transparent phones, or phones painted in specialty colors (like Gold or Silver). The numbers and letters were just indents in the plastic on the back, and were visible through the front. Instead of painting the exposed layer of plastic, they were painted from the back, to avoid wear from dialing over time, and so the numbers and letters were clearly visible (they were painted either white or black before the final coat went on. The result was a painted bezel that matched the rest of the phone.

Up until a few years ago, collectors were still finding NOS clear bezels, and I would assume that those custom painted phones received those bezels.

If anyone finds a trashed aftermarket-painted phone with a clear bezel, I would suggest stripping the paint off the bezel and selling it. There are dozens of clear 500s out there with mismatched bezels that collectors would probably a hefty price to find a matching bezel for.

Quote from: Jim S. on April 09, 2017, 04:19:58 PM
Very early 500's had clear back-painted bezels.
I know the "fully" clear bezels were available.
I think the black and white lettered versions may of been produced by WE (vs coloring the letters at the shops).

JMO
Jim S.

Thanks for the info, Christian and Jim!  I don't think I'd turn down a clear anything if I could get it reasonably enough, and it was in good enough shape.  Although IIRC, many of those bezels at PhoneCoInc did look like the numbers were printed or decalled on and clear-coated afterwards.  If you look very closely, you can usually tell if the numbers are double-injection molded (there is the tiniest bit of separation between the colors if you look closely enough), or back-painted on a clear bezel due to the thickness of the plastic.  These at PhoneCoInc looked printed on.  They were done very nicely, but you could tell they weren't original.  I still can't help but think there might be some outfit overseas through which they contracted to have them made.  The owner told me she had a lot of items made through Far-East vendors, particularly pay-phone parts and those reproduction British "kettle-phones."  She had a ton of repro stuff there, most of which I couldn't even tell you what it was, since I knew even less at that time than I do now, if that's possible...  :D

P.S.  My guess is that seller is going to have that phone a loooooooong time, especially at that price...   That beige really clashes hard with that purple. :P
-Tom from Oakfield, Wisconsin --  My CO CLLI & switch: OKFDWIXADS0--GTD-5 EAX

"Problems are merely opportunities in workclothes." -Henry J. Kaiser

WEBellSystemChristian

Quote from: Jim S. on April 09, 2017, 04:19:58 PM
Very early 500's had clear back-painted bezels.
I know the "fully" clear bezels were available.
I think the black and white lettered versions may of been produced by WE (vs coloring the letters at the shops).

JMO
Jim S.
In fact, I believe WE used the same molds to produce the later clear bezels that they did to produce the early bezels. They both use a small font 'OPERATOR".
Christian Petterson

"Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right" -Henry Ford

Jim Stettler

I think they changed the  clear mold around the time they started putting clear 500's in the phone center stores. That is just a guess.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I have a 1958 F# clear 500. It has the early "operator" bezel back-painted white.

My later clear 500 sets have a "fully clear" bezel in the later style "operator".

I think I have 3  different styles of "fully clear" bezels (for different dial #'s) I think they are all later style operator as well.

JMO,
Jim S.
You live, You learn,
You die, you forget it all.

andre_janew

Someone from Manhattan, Kansas will probably buy it.  That town is the home of Kansas State University.   The school color is purple!