ABS can be collectible, too.

[McHeath]

Good looking aqua 500.  Can ABS and Tenite both be polished to the same level?

[Jester]

Dennis can probably give a better answer, but my experience is that both soft and hard plastics will polish nicely and respond well to any effort spent on them.  From what little I have done so far, ABS seems to require less effort to look good and recovers more easily from mistakes you make with it-- not that I've ever had that happen.

[Dennis Markham]

Stephen, I agree about ABS plastic being easier to restore as it relates to sanding.  I have managed to get a very mirror-like shine on both plastics, but the "hard plastic" is much easier to sand.

[Jester]

My latest addition to this thread is yet another '57 color offering that I have not found in soft plastic yet.  This white 500 came from the same seller as the light gray 554 I mentioned in another thread.  In fact, it came from the same house, as it has the same number on the dial card.  If you check out the auction link below, you'll see its condition as I bought it could be summed up in three words-- Hid-E-Ous!!  The pictures below show what I found underneath that smear of gold paint pencil & UV brown tones.  All dates are from 2/60-- plastics, too.

http://tinyurl.com/nwrheu

[bingster]

That one turned out really nice.  I remember considering that one, myself, but I thought getting the paint off the handset cord would be too much work.  That's definitely the bargain of the day!

[Dennis Markham]

Great job on that one Stephen.  What an improvement---and at a great price too!

[McHeath]

White 500s are certainly pretty when all cleaned up like this.  You did a really good job getting that paint off.

[Dan]

That's a beautiful 500. I like how the feet have no rust. That's hard to find in the post 1958 rubber feet.

[Jester]

This one was a bit disappointing when it arrived.  I had watched several "U"s go for very high money when this one showed up on ebay.  The seller was quick to mention that the base was dated 10/58.  He even "opened the hood" so curious minds could see inside.  It even had a 7C dial & open center fingerwheel.  I don't recall any detail shots of the handset--particularly the inside handle, or the corresponding area at the back of the cover showing the name stamp.  If he had, I would have been able to figure out why this phone barely broke over $150.00 without becoming the high bidder--the plastics are all post 1968 ABS!  The cover is a dead giveaway--the embossing is oval shaped, not rectangular.  The handset had Bell System Property... instead of G-3!  Oh, well--the plastics cleaned up nicely, & I was able to replace the handset & cord with a NOS  G-3 unit dated from '66, so it looks a LITTLE less FrankenPhone.

[Dennis Markham]

Stephen, it looks very nice.  Are you saying that someone "made" the phone by using a housing from another model, like one of those lighted motel phones?  Or did someone drill a hole for the key and use parts from another mushroom?  According to Paul F's site the model (500U) was discontinued in 1963.  Despite all of that it's a nice looking white 500U.

[Jester]

Dennis,

The base is from an actual mushroom.  All of the plastic parts are way newer than '63, but the cover does have the right brass ferrule to hold the lampshade.  I'm not sure what the answer is, but the cover looks "factory".

[bingster]

I know the newer plastics are disappointing, but I'm with Dennis... That's an awfully pretty phone.

[McHeath]

Maybe it was a late factory refurb of a 500U.  It sure is a pretty phone.

[Jester]

When I started this thread last year, I had just filled alot of the slots in my 500 color collection with some early ABS examples.  As things go though,  I started finding soft plastic examples of these same colors right after posting this topic!  I was content with the phones discussed in this thread & expected them to stay as my "first string" for awhile.  But the lesson is clear-- it pays to be patient, especially when it's ebay.  And, since I didn't intend on going to something else after the 500's, I figured this topic was over.  Then Dennis, Jonathan & a few others reminded me-- 554's were made in soft plastic, too!  Well, I had to try to find those, didn't I?  Problem was, after finding six of them, it seemed the wells dried up.  Knowing some colors would be rather difficult to find in tenite, I again resorted to finding the earliest ABS examples I could find.  This first example actually had me fooled during the auction because everything on it dates to May, 1959!  This is the earliest example of ABS I've ever seen or heard of, but it is what it is.  Naturally, I did discover the dial bezel, handset handle & transmitter cap are soft--typical of these early examples.  In fact, the soft parts had suffered alot of blushing-- I suspect from regular cleaning with something harsh.  The ABS was only discolored from kitchen residue or nicotine, but it was definitely "sunburnt".  Some auction pictures are below:

[Jester]

Here are the pics. of how it looks now.  I replaced the dial bezel with a better example, but everything else is an original part to this phone.  Even the cord, although it may not look like it(Thanks Again, D/P! )