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Soft plastic beige 302??

Started by baldopeacock, May 19, 2010, 06:26:31 PM

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baldopeacock

Is this for real?  I'm a rookie, haven't heard of one of these, so I'm asking.

Here on eBay:

http://tinyurl.com/22sebhu ( dead link 04-13-21 )

The seller says:

I recently picked this up and thought that it was an ivory 302 that had darkened with age. Upon closer inspection of the insides I found that it is really beige soft plastic. These colored 302's were produced briefly in 1954 and 1955, in the 500 set colors of ivory, beige, moss green, and red. They all had matching painted F-1 handsets.

Doug Rose

#1
Its real. It was made in the mid 50s and is SOFT PLASTIC, not the thermoplastic of the black 302s, but the soft plastic of the 500s. Made for a short time with the demands of color phones at a peak, softplastic cases with matching painted F1 handsets. I had a Green that I later sold. I still have my red one which is the color of a red soft plastic 500, not a Pekin red 302. These are very desirable sets. Pictured is my former green set and my red sets from 1955 including the soft plastic red. ....Doug
Kidphone

baldopeacock

Makes me wonder how many might have slid through on eBay without being identified as soft plastic sets.   Dirty old green telephone, best offer.

Jim Stettler


They made black 302's in soft plastic as well as some early princess phones.
Jim
You live, You learn,
You die, you forget it all.

Dennis Markham

I have a contradictory theory about the plastic.  I think "thermoplastic" is all plastic, by definition.


ther·mo·plas·tic 
–adjective
1.
soft and pliable when heated, as some plastics, without any change of the inherent properties.
capable  of  softening  or  fusing  when  heated  and  of  hardening  again  when  cooled  

I think (and I'm probably wrong) that all of the 302's (except the metal ones) were made with Tenite (soft plastic)--- black and the colored sets.

Does anyone know for sure?  Documentation or history of the composition of the plastic used in the 302's??


Dan/Panther

Dennis;
I've heard Tenite, but never seen it documented.
D/P

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

Jim Stettler

The black 302's that I am calling soft plastic are definently softer (flimsier feeling) than the "hard Plastic" 302 sets.

Back in the day, I considered the hard ones bakelite, and the soft ones plastic.
Later I decided they were both plastic and that the soft sets were probably newer since they were thinner and flimiser. I never gave it anymore thought until  kidphone posted his red 302 awhile back and said it was soft plastic.

The statement started me thinking about some of the "soft" 302's I had seen over the years. I have seen a beige and a green, and at least 6-8 black sets. The intial indicator on the color sets is that the color isn't quite right. squeezing them up you can "feel" the difference in the flex of the housing.

I had a couple of soft plastic housings that I bought cheap at a show. They had shrunk to the point that they would not fit a base plate in either dimension.


There were also "pre-war" (BSP Terminology) colored plastic 302's that were different than the post war sets.

I think I listed the differences in the other thread.

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

Doug Rose

Jim....you are correct on the shrinkage on the color sets. My green one had shrunk and had a small pressure crack on the front right corner. I wouldn't open it as I was afraid I could get it back on. I have had later Black sets that the cases had shrunk and I could not get back on without damage. Then again, I have an AA1 that was used to replace candlesticks with no guts inside. I found it open and I cannot come close to getting it back on the base. Off by almost a 1/4 of an inch.....Doug
Kidphone

baldopeacock

Five days to go, five bids, $102.50 with reserve not met.   Maybe this one's going to get a little crazy.

JorgeAmely

Jorge

Phonesrfun

Quote from: baldopeacock on May 20, 2010, 12:38:42 PM
Five days to go, five bids, $102.50 with reserve not met.   Maybe this one's going to get a little crazy.

I took it to $20 with a maximum of $100.  I got quickly outbid to $102.50  Since I am going on vacation in a few weeks, I see this is not going to be in my ballpark, (and I did not expect it to be) so I am bowing out of it.  So, I will see how this auction goes.

cheers
-Bill G

Doug Rose

I've been looking at the phone and I do not feel it is the original handset. The color is too far off. The handsets on the soft plastic sets were painted and always a bit different in color if you were very close to them, from three feet away they looked fine. This is the case with my red soft plastic 302. See the below picture before the base was really poished. There is a definite difference. The handset in the auction is in really good condition, considering its age with minor use and the color to me is off and does not match. It looks more to me like a handset painted to "try" and match the phone. If anyone in the forum is the owner of this auction, I am not trying to undermine your phone; it is a phone I would gladly have for my collection. I  know the owner is in the TCI, but I do not know who it is. This is just my opinion and is no way meant to be the final say on this. Just my two cents.....Doug
Kidphone

Jester

According to the seller, these 1954/55 sets were offered in ivory, green, beige & red, and all had painted handsets.  That made me wonder--is this run of 302's considered a"reissue" with updated colors?  The dark red & beige are obviously new colors, but ivory & green were original colors for the 302 in the earlier run.  I'm guessing the molds for the plastic handset were gone by this time, or the run was so limited that painting bakelite stock made more sense. Or, as I think someone stated before on the forum, it seemed an excellent way of using old stock.  The other detail I find puzzling is this light beige color.  All the other colors were current offerings for the 500, but "beige" for the 500 was rose beige in '54/55.  Where did this color choice come from?
Stephen

Doug Rose

Stephen...I don't think its beige, I think its Ivory with a beige painted handset. Check out the chip on front of handset, but the paint is perfect. I think it was painted after it was chipped. Would Bell Systems do this?  Still, the base is a fairy tough find and it more than worth trying to get it.  These soft plastic sets with the painted F1s were only made a for very short time. Its still a really nice phone....Doug
Kidphone

Doug Rose

It went for $300, well out of my bidding range. Any one get this?.....Doug
Kidphone