Motorola Brick Phone - Early UK version

[paul-f]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/394005841666

Price: GBP 5,555.00 (Approximately US $7,242.33)

From the Description:

_MOTOROLA DYNATAC 8000X__________

Superrare very first Motorola handportable telephone!
Nice condition piece - investment, museum, collection!
Very first manufactured piece - United Kingdom version!
This is the mother of the handheld cellular telephones!
Guarantee of the item, goes working to your hands!
Completed item!


DynaTAC is a series of cellular telephones manufactured by Motorola from 1983 to 1994. The Motorola DynaTAC 8000X commercial portable cellular phone received approval from the U.S.on September 21, 1983. A full charge took roughly 10 hours, and it offered 30 minutes of talk time. It also offered an LED display for dialing or recall of one of 30 phone numbers. It was priced at $3,995 in 1984, its commercial release year, equivalent to $10,000 in 2020. DynaTAC was an abbreviation of "Dynamic Adaptive Total Area Coverage."


"A handheld portable phone was considered a gimmick, a "look what I got!" rich man's toy with dubious utility.
Measuring 13 x 1.75 x 3.5 inches and weighing 28 ounces, the 8000X was so big and heavy, even its creators had nicknamed it "The Brick."
  On March 6, 1983, Motorola officially unveiled the DynaTAC 8000X, but it would be seven months before the FCC gave the phone its blessing. On October 12, 1983, Ameritech initiated the first commercial cellular service in the U.S. Service cost $50 a month plus 40 cents a minute from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., 24 cents a minute off-peak. Two months later, Cellular One launched its Motorola-designed DynaTAC network in Washington, D.C. and Baltimore


Time Period - 1983
System - TACS
Condition - Nice and clean, few scratches and dings,
Tested - working, keys are dirty inside, need some internal cleaning, no battery leaks, locked
            - there is an unlock procedure, 1000 combinations (000-999) need to be dialed
The proper way to unlock a brick cellphone is, entering 3 numbers. If first combination of numbers don't work, press "CLR" (clear) and then try another.
To ship - Telephone, Antenna, Battery, Charger

[FABphones]

A regular sight in English cafes; builders/workman (et al) would order up their breakfast (usually huge plates of eggs, bacon, beans, sausages, tomatoes, mushrooms, toast...  ...and a large mug of strong tea), then gather around their tables, ritually placing their phones in the middle as they sat to eat. The centre of the table would be filled with these phones, each standing up proudly.

As each phone was identical, an amusing prank of the time amongst themselves was to swap the phones around, so some guys went off to their job with the wrong phone.

——

*Image of advert for US version added below.