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500 and Princess Promos with odd fingerwheels

Started by jsowers, December 15, 2010, 04:46:05 PM

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jsowers

A week or so ago this aqua blue 500 promo ended very high...

http://cgi.ebay.com/220703009562

Same seller also had a Princess promo...

http://cgi.ebay.com/220703008615

Look closely at those fingerwheels. They look like they're homemade from some kind of blister plastic from a take-out box. The holes are haphazard and the fingerwheel is too large in places and it looks cut out with scissors and very uneven. I was surprised those two promos brought what they did with those odd fingerwheels.

Now the same seller has more of them and they have bids...

http://cgi.ebay.com/320631274125
http://cgi.ebay.com/220711566897
http://cgi.ebay.com/320631275019
http://cgi.ebay.com/220711568360
http://cgi.ebay.com/220711568851


( dead links 10-19-21 )


In all my years of collecting these promos, I've never seen any with goofy homemade fingerwheels like this. A collector friend of mine asked the seller and never got an answer about the fingerwheel on the aqua blue one. Anyone ever seen anything like this before? I haven't.

And please pardon me for posting auctions that haven't ended, but I thought maybe the group needed to be forewarned that something fishy may be going on here. You have to look closely to realize something is wrong. I didn't notice it the first time I saw it.
Jonathan

HarrySmith

I bid on the first ones he had up but they went too high for me. I am high bidder on all the ones he has up now. I guess he does not answer questions because I sent him one too with no responce. I was not asking about the fingerwheels though. You are correct, they do not look right. I will leave my bids in place because if I get them cheap I can live with incorrect fingerwheels but I would not be happy if I paid over $60 for one with the wrong wheel! I am sure he would not be willing to hear about it either, "the item is as pictured"!
Harry Smith
ATCA 4434
TCI

"There is no try,
there is only
do or do not"

Dennis Markham

That is odd, Jonathan.  It seems just as odd that all of those items would have bad finger wheels that would require a replacement.  Something smells fishy.  Those dial cards have the appearance of being old and original.  Did those that had dial cards on them have cards that matched the phone's color?  Other than the Princess, they all are blue.

jsowers

#3
I don't remember ever seeing a blue logo card exactly that color on any promo, or color-matched logo cards on promos (but I have seen color logo cards on actual 500s, especially Teletrainer sets). My two plastic 500 promos that have logos have a slightly darker blue color and it's smaller and in the center on the outside and has two blue rings around it. See the picture below. They're very similar, but the one on the aqua blue promo looks larger. Maybe it was an attempt to have a dial that actually spun? That's why I'd love to hear from someone who's seen another one of these.

Harry, I'm sorry for posting the links to items you were bidding on, but maybe you'll get them for less that way? I just thought it was odd to see so many with those strange fingerwheels after the first ones that went higher than usual. I've seen aqua blue soft plastic 500 sets go for less than that promo brought.
Jonathan

HarrySmith

No problem. I appreciate the heads up as I did not notice the fingerwheels. I am going to ask about them as he did answer my other question finally. Next time you see a soft plastic 500 for less than $60.00 please let me know ;D
Harry Smith
ATCA 4434
TCI

"There is no try,
there is only
do or do not"

AE_Collector

Maybe the promo sets were converted from manual to automatic operation sometime during their life and the telco went with another manufacturers dials in this case.

I know, just being stupid again!

Terry

jsowers

A manual promo, which I haven't ever seen in plastic, wouldn't have the numbers and letters on it, so it would be pretty hard to convert a 25-cent promo as opposed to just making a new one. I have seen manual 500 promos made of plaster. I have several of them and there is just the standard dial blank with no numbers or fingerstop. I think by the time the plastic ones came out, they were promoting dial and color, so a manual promo would be a real oddity. Thanks, Terry, for thinking about it. It's definitely puzzling.

Below is a photo of the manual plaster promos, in case there are some who don't remember them. I think they predate the plastic ones and may have been handmade by someone at the phone company. They don't look machine made at all and they're in the early colors of dark beige and dark brown, and show the early dial blank that changed about 1956.

The handmade aspect of these plaster promos also tells me they did all kinds of things at the phone company and these odd dial plastic promos could be something they tried to convert to an interactive toy. Heaven only knows, and possibly the seller. Harry--good luck getting an answer. You're a bidder, so you stand the best chance of getting one.

Jonathan

Dennis Markham

Those manual promos are very nice Jonathan and probably very "rare" (to use a common eBay term).  I don't recall ever seeing on on eBay.

HarrySmith

Ok, got a reply to my questions on the fingerwheels and dial centers.

Dear d_and_h_cool_stuff,


Im Not Sure.I Purchased At Estate Sale.Whay You See Is What You
Get.Thanks Mike


- treshombres44

Now that clears it up ???
Harry Smith
ATCA 4434
TCI

"There is no try,
there is only
do or do not"

baldopeacock

Quote from: HarrySmith on December 17, 2010, 07:35:11 AM
Ok, got a reply to my questions on the fingerwheels and dial centers.

Dear d_and_h_cool_stuff,


Im Not Sure.I Purchased At Estate Sale.Whay You See Is What You
Get.Thanks Mike


- treshombres44

Now that clears it up ???

It's Always More Clear If You Capitalize The First Letter Of Every Word.

Dan/Panther

#10
My gray promo is exactly like Jonathan's.
With the exception of white numbers/letters.
D/P

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

HarrySmith

Harry Smith
ATCA 4434
TCI

"There is no try,
there is only
do or do not"