Auction 34 - WE 302 in clear plastic

[Dennis Markham]

It looks like soft plastic though.  The center hole seems to be missing when I enlarge the photo.  Early 1959 or before.

[Bill Cahill]

What the heck. I'll bite. 1.575.69.
Bill Cahill 

[Dan/Panther]

Dennis;
That shade of red still eludes me. The burgundy red is more what I have. Would like to find a Coka Cola red.
D/P

[bingster]

The photo is overexposed, making the red much brighter than it should be.

[Dan/Panther]

Yeah I agree, but didn't W.E. make a Red Red 500?
D/P

[McHeath]

Final price:  $2,738 big ones. 

[Dennis Markham]

Wow!  That's a lot of soft plastic 500's!

Jester, looks like you're the man on this one.  Congratulations.  That seller is going to Disneyworld!

[bingster]

Nice result!  It nearly topped the highest guess!  At that price, Jester was only off by $12.  Congratulations to Jester on his win, and stay tuned for the next auction!

[HobieSport]

Thanks Bingster. I love the auction guesses.

[Dennis Markham]

Bingster, Hobie is right.  These auctions are fun and spice up the forum.  Nice job picking out the good ones for us.

[bwanna]

congratulations stephen! 

[Dan/Panther]

Jester;
If this was "The Price is Right", you'd be over.
D/P

[Jester]

I wondered if this one would ever go past $315.00!  It sure sat there a long time, but items like these never seem to have the final bid in until the last second.  I'm still not sure if this one was original Western Electric or a Ray Kotke "original".  Someone wrote in about the solid F1 handset being out of place with the '51 date stamp that was visible on the base.  Either way, it was a really nice example of an uncommon 302.

[Phonesrfun]

It appears to be an original, or at least not one of Ray's.  

Ray Kotke has stated in the past that he does not create clear repros that have the circle in the base for the cut-off switch.  The one in the auction had that.

-Bill

[Dan/Panther]

It appears to be an original, or at least not one of Ray's.  

Ray Kotke has stated in the past that he does not create clear repros that have the circle in the base for the cut-off switch.  The one in the auction had that.

-Bill

He also added, that is exactly why he omitted the ring. So future copies could not be passed a originals.
Great move on his part.
D/P