Aqua Blue 500?

[Greg G.]

I saw a blue 500 in an antique mall today. The proprietor was nice enough to let me take the shell off to have a peek under the hood. Base and components dated 12-58. Shell, handset, elements, dial dated 11-58. Had a soft-center dial, no fading that I could see, original stubby-end handset cord in good shape, but the cover had it's share of minor scratches and scuffs. Price tag was $65. Good price?

[Jim Stettler]

No Fading, I would buy it at the price locally, I would offer $50 cash and work it from there .
JMO,
JIM

[poplar1]

Is it soft plastic?

[WesternElectricBen]

I got mine for 15 dollars, though most antique sellers know nothing so the brighter the color the higher the price. If you can budge them down to 50 thats a good deal!

Ben

[LarryInMichigan]

If it is soft plastic and in good condition (no cracks, not faded or discolored, etc.), $65 is a very good price.  Many antique shops will give a 10% (or more) discount just for asking.  Some will give a discount for paying cash.

Larry

[Greg G.]

Is it soft plastic?

I think so.  There was a modular phone sitting next to it.  I tapped the blue one, it had a dull sounding tap, and the other had a more sharper sound to it.

[Greg G.]

I got mine for 15 dollars, though most antique sellers know nothing so the brighter the color the higher the price. If you can budge them down to 50 thats a good deal!

Ben

I'm so used to getting steals and bargains I don't really know what an "ok" price is, that's why I asked.

[LarryInMichigan]

If it's a WE shell, there should be a date code on the inside of the front lower edge.  If the date is pre-1959, it will be soft plastic.  The soft plastic receiver caps have six holes, but so do the early ABS ones and the Northern Electrics.

Larry

[Greg G.]

If it's a WE shell, there should be a date code on the inside of the front lower edge.  If the date is pre-1959, it will be soft plastic.  The soft plastic receiver caps have six holes, but so do the early ABS ones and the Northern Electrics.

Larry

I did see that, dated 11-?-58.  I didn't think to make a note of the cap holes, I was looking for matching dates.  I'm going to go back in the morning and offer them $50 for it.   

[Greg G.]

I went down and grabbed it today. I did offer $50, but that particular mall has a policy of not dickering on items less than $100, so full price including our outrageous state and county sales tax was $71. I haven't done anything to it yet except to wipe it down with a bit of mineral oil. We have a rare sunny day in the NW and I want to go outside to play, so all I did was take pics for now.

[Greg G.]

More pics.  What is that "18-D" marking?

[Greg G.]

Hard to determine exactly where TWinbrook 2 was.  Problem with that database is it accepts typos and different formats when different people do the input, and the typos and different formats won't show in the search, e.g. a search for TW2 will not show entries for TW-2 or TW 2 or TW.2.  A search for the exchange Twinbrook won't show Twin Brook or Twinebrook or Twinbrok.

[LarryInMichigan]

Greg,

It looks very nice   I think that you got a good deal.  It may not be the find of the month, but aqua blue phones tend to sell for plenty.  I sold one from the late 1960s in fair condition, and which had been painted with Polane, on ebay for $19.50.  Yours looks to be in very good to excellent condition.  These phones are usually vary discolored, and bleaching this color is tricky.

The sales tax in Chicago is much higher.

Now you need the other colors in soft plastic


Larry

[HarrySmith]

A quick google search shows 516 possibilities for 892!!
http://www.area-codes.com/search.asp?frmNPA=&frmNXX=892&frmCity=&frmState=&frmZip=&frmCounty=&frmCompany=&search.x=16&search.y=8

[Jim Stettler]

I'm so used to getting steals and bargains I don't really know what an "ok" price is, that's why I asked.

I resemble that remark. My great show deals from KS  ranged in price from $2.00 -$350.00
Jim