Auction 116: Western Electric Blue Thermoplastic 302

[TelePlay]

tallguy58 posted this extremely rare blue 302 and with the comment from Doug Rose in that post thinking it could go much higher, I decided to turn it into a CRPF Auction Contest. Listed at $74.99, it hit $1,190.00 within a few hours of being listed. Since there is room for this phone to move up in price, there is certainly room for a range of guesses. With the contest starting so high and the top end "sort of" known, Rule #3 will be relaxed again to 4% allowing more "gaps" for member guesses.

So, with that said, what do you think this phone will sell for when this 7 day auction ends? Since it jumped that high, that quickly, I've already posted the update for tomorrow since I don't think we will see any more bidding activity on this phone until the last few minutes of the auction - but I could be wrong 

With Rule #3 once again being relaxed to 4%, guess gaps of 8+% can be split in half. I'll help with these as the auction goes forward and guesses are entered.

The seller listed it as a "VINTAGE BELL SYSTEM WESTERN ELECTRIC BLUE ROTARY THERMOPLASTIC 302 TELEPHONE F1" with the item condition as "Used" and " - - - " and said "This is a relisting since I received so many e mails about the item and the error in the title regarding the color. This Vintage rotary telephone is from the 1940s. I am told it is very rare. It is a very pretty blue color. It is in great shape for its age. It is a working phone. It still has my grandmothers original phone number on the dial. There are no cracks. The pads on the bottom are in very good shape.". The seller did not post large pictures of the phone so the resolution of these are what it is.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/251490192050

Still another chance to either move up a rung or to get onto the CRPF -> Contest Standings <- list.

     - - - >  As always, you have to play to win!

New forum members are very welcome and encouraged to take a guess. After all, there are no wrong guesses, just one lucky one. No one knows the winning bid on any auction until it ends. However, it is important to get your guess in before someone else grabs your guess.

As I said above, I will help members as the contest progresses to prevent guess crowding under Rule #3 lowered to 4% for this contest.

If you want to see the phones of past Auction Contests, click -> HERE <-



S C O R E B O A R D

$ 1,875.00 - baldopeacock  ( 14 )
$ 1,958.00 - tallguy58  ( 1 )
$ 2,031.50 - poplar1  ( 11 )  adjusted to split the difference under Rule #3
$ 2,105.00 - Kenton K  ( 8 )
$ 2,250.00 - Mr. Bones  ( 5 )
$ 2,525.00 - Doug Rose  ( 3 )  -> WINNER - Final Selling Price $2,566.00
$ 2,637.50 - Russ Kirk  ( 12 )
$ 2,750.00 - WesternElectricBen  ( 2 )
$ 2,875.00 - TelePlay  ( 15 )
$ 3,000.00 - RotarDad  ( 4 )
$ 3,150.00 - kleinkaliber  ( 13 ) adjusted to split the difference under Rule #3
$ 3,300.00 - JimH  ( 10* )
$ 3,500.00 - twocvbloke  ( 6 )
$ 3,650.00 - Scotophor  ( 9 )
$ 4,999.01 - HarrySmith  ( 7 )



Early Morning Auction Status Changes

03-29-14   Listed    $      74.99
03-30-14   5 bids    $ 1,725.00 ,
04-01-14   5 bids    $ 1,725.00 , ,
04-05-14   9 bids    $ 2,566.00
04-05-14   5 bidders, 9 bids $2,566.00  Ended at 10:39:31 PDT

[tallguy58]

$1958.00.

[WesternElectricBen]

2,750

[Doug Rose]

$2525....Doug

[RotarDad]

With all the big sales recently and the super clean look of this one (look at the base paint and the great color in the plastic - almost NOS), I'll go high and say $3k.

[Mr. Bones]

$2250.00, if I can fit in there, please!

Best regards!

[twocvbloke]

$3500...

[HarrySmith]

$4,999.01

[Kenton K]

$2105.

[JimH]

$1650

[Scotophor]

$3650

[TelePlay]

Since it jumped that high, that quickly, I've already posted the update for tomorrow since I don't think we will see any more bidding activity on this phone until the last few minutes of the auction - but I could be wrong 

I was wrong!  Two late night bids have a new bidder on top at $1,725.00.

Now, it took me an hour to find this post to verify the existance of what seems to be an unwritten contest rule so I think it may be time to add Rule #4 to the contest rules. I don't know what Terry used as the source for his post but since he ran these contests before and for a lot longer than I have, and given that he wrote/revised the rules after a long discussion about the rules and rule changes, I defer to his knowledge, his expertise in the area of contest rules. So, subject to future change if needed, Rule #4 will read: "A member who has submitted a guess may revise (change) their guess once anytime up to 2 days before the auction ends."

Members who revise their guess will have to do so in a new post (a reply) in the contest topic, so that the change will be caught by me and made. Just revising their guess by doing an edit to their original post may be missed so a new post is required for the change to be accepted.

Revised guesses are still subject to the no crowding rule, Rule #3. The revised guess will be given the next highest order number, an asterisk (*) will be placed after that number indicating a changed guess and all guesses placed after the original revised guess will drop down one in the guess order. That is necessary to enforce Rule #3 in that the first person to take a slot with a guess has precedent over the slot.

Does that make sense? Probably not - too many words.

In short, if there are more than 2 days left in the auction, a member who has placed a guess can change their guess by way of a new post in the contest at a dollar amount that does not crowd prior guesses. I will take care of the rest.

And, finally, with 6 and a half days left to go in this auction (as of this post), JimH may want to revise his guess.

[JimH]

Holy deep pockets, Batman!  I'll double my previous guess to $3300.  Imagine this lady with all these high bids coming in!  She probably wished Nana had a blue phone in every room!

[poplar1]

2000

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EDIT:  Adjusted up to $2,031.50 under Rule #3, split the difference between $1,958.00 (the #1 guess) and $2,105.00 (the #8 guess)

[Russ Kirk]

$2637.50