Take a Look at this Beauty!! Gray Telephone Pay Station - Model 75

[Stan S]

Hi folks
Many thanks to Dave Hunter for posting my comments in the past. Figured it was time I joined the forum and stop bothering Dave.

A few last comments about 'Take a look at this Beauty.

This was not the first time Kleenax posted one of those phones. There was a black one posted a few years ago.
It's possible this was the same one only repainted.  As I recall and please bare in mid that I am old. (You know what they say about getting old; the memory is the second thing to go.  I forget what the first thing is.)

Anyway, as I recall, that phone had a repro shoe and model number plate just like the latest one. The seller stated that they were both cast in his shop from originals.  However, as I recall those parts were cast out of PLASTIC! It's possible given my advanced age that I have imagined all of this, BUT I DON'T THINK SO!!!

There is a difference between a repro part and an original part, but original to what! All the parts on that phone except the shoe and tag ARE original parts but not to a Gray 75A.
I did a quick check. The wiring harness appears to be from an Automatic Electric LPA-86. That's a postpay paystation.  A model 75A is a prepay paystation. There is no way this would have been a legitimate modification to a payphone 'DONE IN THE FIELD', in the woods, or in any other place on this planet.

If you are keeping score, the only parts of that payphone that would have been in or on an authentic Gray75A are: the receiver hook, the receiver, the dial and the transmitter. The rest of it is a movie prop. What's it actually worth?
To me, nothing!

Hey, Mr. Payphone installer.
Jim, nice pictures!

30

[DavePEI]

Welcome to the Forum, Stan!

Hi folks
Many thanks to Dave Hunter for posting my comments in the past. Figured it was time I joined the forum and stop bothering Dave.

[Stan S]

Dave
Thank you.

I just did a Google search of Gray 75A. 
SURPRISE!

http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=6309.0

http://tinyurl.com/o9vx6or

Looks like I didn't imagine it!
Have a nice day.
Stan

[HarrySmith]

Welcome Stan!
For those of you who don't know Stan, he is the guy who wrote the book on payphones. Literally!

[Doug Rose]

Stan....Welcome to the Forum. I started this thread as I was amazed at how good this payphone looked. I knew it was repainted, but I would have loved to have it in my phone room. It is a real eye catcher. Stunning.

Reading between the lines, if you will, the emails from you and Mike Davis, another great payphone collector "imply" that this was done with intent by Ray. I don't know the first thing about a Payphone and have zero knowledge. It would have sat on a shelf in my room and been the high point of my collection. Ray is a member of the Forum, although he has not participated in over a year. I hope he will answer to what is being said.

The $3250 that the buyer paid is a lot for a "put together" phone. $3250 is a lot for any phone!

I sell on eBay and always try to do the right thing. I am a collector first and have been on the wrong end of some bad eBay dealings. With all the experts in the Clubs as well as the Forum, I can't believe Ray would try to "pull a fast one" and risk his credibility. I hope there is more to this story.

I do trust your expertise on payphones and certainly not questioning your opinion. I do hate seeing a fellow collector in this situation.....thanks for your input on this....Doug

[Stan S]

Harry and Doug.
Thanks for the welcome.
 
Doug, I decided not to comment any further on this subject.  However, I went back in history today and found comments I posted to the ATCA listserve four years ago regarding this auction:
http://tinyurl.com/o9vx6or

At that time I had the same comments about that auction that I posted to the forum about the latest one.
The four year old auction was even more amusing because to the best of my knowledge there was never a 75A marked Automatic Electric manufactured by them.  They were manufactured FOR Automatic Electric by Gray Manufacturing.

I'm not accusing anybody of anything.  I'm simply commenting on the hardware.  Everyone can draw their own conclusion.
Four years ago both TCI and the ATCA saw fit to do nothing about this matter.  The same reaction from both organizations to this auction:
http://tinyurl.com/o9vx6or
three years ago.
Strike one, strike two, and now strike three.

Just one of the reasons I am no longer a member of either group.

What gives value to what we collect is that it is true to history.  If it isn't, it's just a bunch of old junk.

Hopefully this time the spell check didn't do me in.
Thanks for the welcome.
Stan

[Stan S]

Doug
This is the link to the auction in 2011 for the 'Automatic Electric' 75A.
http://tinyurl.com/6ye4s84
Apparently I clicked the wrong one.
Stan