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Heart-attack worthy listings?

Started by WEBellSystemChristian, February 15, 2017, 10:44:08 PM

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WEBellSystemChristian

Ever see an ebay listing, and for a split second, think the phone is something incredibly rare? Then you sort of calm down after you realize it's worth about 90 cents...
Well, I had one phone those moments. The picture speaks for itself... :o

www.ebay.com/itm/132097333941
Christian Petterson

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

jsowers

So what looked like a light beige 500P turned out to be an ITT motel phone with a replaced dial and no lamp cap.

Yellow phones with black coil cords have made my heart skip a beat or two until I took a closer look and saw what they really were. And then the reverse happened once. The auction had only one smeary dark pic and I took a big chance on it (pictured below). You could see the darkish mounting cord and a replaced dial in the auction pic and the handset cord was hidden in a black shadow.

That time my heart skipped a beat when I opened the box. It turned out to be a 1-56 yellow Tenite 500 with perfect dark gray cords and a replaced dial. I think the phone was about $20 including shipping. That was about ten years ago. I saved the auction pic to remind me that was one time the chance was worth taking.
Jonathan

LoveOldPhones

Quote from: jsowers on February 16, 2017, 12:27:54 AM
So what looked like a light beige 500P turned out to be an ITT motel phone with a replaced dial and no lamp cap.

Yellow phones with black coil cords have made my heart skip a beat or two until I took a closer look and saw what they really were. And then the reverse happened once. The auction had only one smeary dark pic and I took a big chance on it (pictured below). You could see the darkish mounting cord and a replaced dial in the auction pic and the handset cord was hidden in a black shadow.

That time my heart skipped a beat when I opened the box. It turned out to be a 1-56 yellow Tenite 500 with perfect dark gray cords and a replaced dial. I think the phone was about $20 including shipping. That was about ten years ago. I saved the auction pic to remind me that was one time the chance was worth taking.

do you have a better picture of this phone.... i would love to see the gray curly cord.
thanks

jsowers

Quote from: LoveOldPhones on February 16, 2017, 01:19:58 PM
do you have a better picture of this phone.... i would love to see the gray curly cord.
thanks

Yes I do. It's posted below. Since it was a good deal, and I already had one in that color combination, I gave it to a phone collecting friend as a surprise birthday present and this picture was taken by him the day it arrived. Sorry the mounting cord isn't visible. It's the same color as the handset cord.

It's a fairly arresting color combination--yellow and dark gray. They considered it a "full color phone" despite the different color cords. Early on they didn't have matching cords in some colors because technology hadn't caught up yet in making matching cord covering that was durable. Even after they did make them match in spring, 1956, the early yellow and pink cords faded lighter to almost an ivory color with exposure to light.
Jonathan

LoveOldPhones

Quote from: jsowers on February 16, 2017, 04:57:39 PM
Yes I do. It's posted below. Since it was a good deal, and I already had one in that color combination, I gave it to a phone collecting friend as a surprise birthday present and this picture was taken by him the day it arrived. Sorry the mounting cord isn't visible. It's the same color as the handset cord.

It's a fairly arresting color combination--yellow and dark gray. They considered it a "full color phone" despite the different color cords. Early on they didn't have matching cords in some colors because technology hadn't caught up yet in making matching cord covering that was durable. Even after they did make them match in spring, 1956, the early yellow and pink cords faded lighter to almost an ivory color with exposure to light.

WOW ! thanks.... i have been wanting a yellow 500 with the gray cords but have not seen any for sale.
keep looking for one to  pop up on eBay.
maybe I should list a want to buy in the classified here.  lol

anyway....thanks again for posting the picture.  its such a fun color to have with a gray cord.

Jim Stettler

Long, long ago I had one, I didn't care for the open fingerwheel, mismatched cords and funky smell. It ended up in a barrel w/ other phones that were unwanted. A friend of mine almost took it once, but changed his mind because of the smell.  It probably ended up at a telephone show.

I have never had the chance to get another.
Jim S.
You live, You learn,
You die, you forget it all.

WEBellSystemChristian

Once in a while, I come across a Brown ITT 500 that someone took a picture of with low exposure, and I swear it's Mahogany Brown for a little longer than a second. Once time, I saw a Brown ITT with a replaced fingerwheel; an open center for the original solid center!
Christian Petterson

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

RotarDad

This discussion might be a great idea for a new Auction category topic:

"Bad Photo, Great Phone".

Jonathan's yellow/gray 500 certainly belongs in that category.  (I hope the new owner put a #7 dial with open center wheel back in that phone - its a beauty.....).   Of course, the "King" of this category has already been found, probably never to be topped:  Dan's (D/P) '48 field trial 500.   I think the bad photos really step up the game in the Ebay hunt - I like it  ;).   Turn down the lights, bump the camera, take only one pic from a bad angle...... but please, please pack it carefully for shipping!
Paul

jsowers

Quote from: RotarDad on February 18, 2017, 12:57:49 AM
This discussion might be a great idea for a new Auction category topic:

"Bad Photo, Great Phone".

Jonathan's yellow/gray 500 certainly belongs in that category.  (I hope the new owner put a #7 dial with open center wheel back in that phone - its a beauty.....).

He did replace the dial and fingerwheel and now it looks like it did originally.

You made me remember something else that happened many years ago, early in 2004, and it produced quite a bit of excitement, so I think it would qualify as a listing that made my heart beat a lot faster. I had won the first dark blue phone in my collection a few months ago in 2003 and then I saw an auction with the same pictures being used. The phone I had was fairly unique since it had an odd overlay in the center of the fingerwheel, from Cicero, Illinois. So I sent an email to the seller asking if the phone she was selling was the same as in the picture. She answered yes. Then I replied that it couldn't be, because I owned that phone in the picture. I even emailed the original seller and he couldn't care less that his picture was being used for a scam. This was back when eBay emails were not so rigidly controlled and it was more like a community.

So I asked her for another picture of the phone. She actually responded with the smeariest, most out of focus and dark picture of a modular country blue 500 set and another equally bad pic of the bottom, which told me how new the phone was. She went to great pains to disguise the phone to make it look very similar to the picture in the auction! It's funny how she suddenly wasn't lazy with pictures when she was trying to get out of trouble. I replied that the phones were not the same and she'd be in trouble with eBay if she kept that phone up for bids with that picture. I was ready to report her. She finally admitted defeat and took it down the day it was going to end and she sent me a nasty email. I don't know if she ever sold it again, but I had done my good deed for the day!

The average person doesn't see the difference between an old phone and a relatively new one, so buyer beware.

Below are all the pictures from that experience. First is the original auction picture of the phone I own, followed by the two pictures she sent me. I still get excited just thinking about that one.
Jonathan

RotarDad

Jonathan -That's quite a story, and something we hopefully don't have to contend with very often.  If a seller doesn't do their homework, or takes lousey photos, that creates opportunity for folks like us.....  However, dishonesty is a whole different ballgame.  Fortunately, you were able to see through that one!  Paul
Paul