*** The "Find of the YEAR" for 2013 ***

[paul-f]

This is a great way to review the year in perspective.
 
How about a favorite auction contest of the year to go along with it and the Auction Contest Hall of Fame?

[AE_Collector]

Not certain how we would do that....any ideas? I'll pawn it off on John anyway so doesn't matter how difficult it is to organize! Just putting this Find of the Year together just about did me in.

Keep the votes coming in for the Find of the YEAR.  I think our record month for 2013 was 36 voters in November so it would be nice to meet or exceed that number for the 2013 Wrap Up.

Terry

[TelePlay]

Not certain how we would do that....any ideas? I'll pawn it off on John anyway so doesn't matter how difficult it is to organize! Just putting this Find of the Year together just about did me in.

Terry

 

I thought I would just ignore that post from Paul . . .

Maybe this weekend, I'll think about it until then . . . 

Keep in mind there were 30 auction contests last year but the criteria to set up such an annual poll escapes me right now.

And, Terry, thanks!

[AE_Collector]

Okay, I think we are going to pull the plug on the "Find of the YEAR - 2013".

It has been a real good competition with 36 seperate voters matching the record for 2013 set in November. Thirteen individual winners from the monthly competitions in 2013 all competing with each other one more time to determine which one was ultimately the favorite amongst CRPF voters.

I should have given everyone thirteen votes to make it easier for everyone as ultimately these were all fantastic finds. But I didn't and when the dust settled Paul F had squeaked past the others in what was almost a photo finish. Now I for one have to admit to being a little bit surprised at the winner and I'm betting that Paul might be as well!

There is no doubt about it that the January 2013 winner, a clear AE34 that Paul was given is the most in need of restoration out of the lot and in many ways it is "unrestorable". It does show the interest given by phone collectors to the old colored and in this case clear AE sets. The fact that it is an AE 34 which was only made for about five years (1934-1939) rather than a somewhat newer AE40 might have helped a little as well. I have joked that the four old Colored AE sets that I have in my collection are pretty much basket cases as well so this clear AE34 would fit right in my collection!

Of course Paul had some very close competition that should be mentioned as well. Gilas with his June 2013 winner, a Mediterranean Blue WE 500 was right on Paul's tail the entire contest. What a surprise that a Med Blue 500 would feature prominently in this competition!

Cchaven was the last winner in December 2013 and his entry, a Mahogany Brown WE 591 was also tied with Gilas' Med Blue 500 and one single vote behind these two came AE40FAN with his find from May, a much sought after AE Mahogany 1A with chrome trim.

These four competitors are the ones with the most votes overall but all of the others fell in right behind them. In my opinion a very good competition where absolutely no one was a loser. These are all phones that we would all love to have in our collections!

So congratulations go to Paul and his clear AE34 for being the ultimate winner of 2013 and to everyone else in the competition as well for their terrific finds. And a big thank you to everyone who voted for the "Find of the the YEAR - 2013".

Terry

[TelePlay]

Congratulations to paul-f for winning the first ever Find of the Year contest. Had to wait a whole year since the phone was "found" but when the dust cleared, that clear plastic AE34 stood in first place. A few very close runner's up in a tight contest and all were fine finds but there can be only one winner. Congrats again to paul-f for being Number One of Number One.

[paul-f]

Thanks voters!
 
I still don't know whether to chuckle or shed a tear when I look at the set.
 
Gilas deserves congratulations for taking the crown four times in 2013.  That's one third of the competitions and 32% of the overall vote!  Well done!

[AE_Collector]

There is one final order of business needed here to finally close off the "Find of the YEAR - 2013" competition. That is....to present "paul f" with the "Find of the YEAR - 2013" Trophy!

No expense has been spared here, John "TelePlay" put hours of work as well as half of his life savings into the design and manufacture of this Trophy to commemorate Paul's winning of the first ever "Find of the YEAR" competition.

Place this proudly on display Paul, right beside your war torn and much abused yet highly prized and appreciated for what it is.....clear Automatic Electric model 34.

Terry on behalf of all CRPF members

[paul-f]

Thank you Terry, John and CRPF voters.
 
The trophy is stunning.   
 
I'll have to hook up a bigger monitor to fully appreciate it.  At full resolution, the base more than fills the screen on my laptop.
 
The trophy will be displayed next to the set in its niche in the vault, and will travel with the set on its museum tours.  We may have to add an additional armed guard for protection.

[Matilo Telephones]

Congratulations, Paul! Well deserved.

[AE_Collector]

Sorry about the extra expense associated with the trophy Paul. CRPF can help offset a small amount of the costs from our annual subscription fee surplus account though I hear that people were hoping for a membership price reduction since we have been maintaining a surplus.

I too will have to buy a second iPad to hold one above the other in order to view the expanded version of the trophy. Might I suggest having it printed on a 3D printer?

Terry

[Mr. Bones]

Congratulations, Paul!

I made a reduced-size version of the picture, for the folks with the smaller screens; hope this helps.

Best regards!

[TelePlay]

I made a reduced-size version of the picture, for the folks with the smaller screens . . .

I assumed all of the comments of the trophy being to big for screens was tongue in cheek humor. That trophy is about 1/3 the size of many raw phone photos posted, you know, those 3,000 by 5,000 4 to 5 MByte photos that take forever to load.

On all of my computers (6) and my very small Kindle Fire screen, the trophy shows full size on one screen and opens up in a separate window showing full size with the cursor then turning into a magnifier icon allowing one to blow it up, at which time, yes, it is bigger than screen size but the detail is high resolution.

The trophy was posted with enough resolution so that it would print out well. It's only a 582 KByte file , about 1,700 by 2,500 pixels in size, much less than half the size of many of those extremely large raw digital camera photos posted by many. Are people experiencing the same viewing issues with those humongous photos?

Here's what it looks like on my 6 year old laptop computer, before and after I click on the trophy. I am using Firefox, not IE. Is this another image loading issue? What am I missing, other than the joke?

[paul-f]

What am I missing, other than the joke?

I think the joke is all you're missing!   
 
The original comment was intended to be a compliment to you for so neatly arranging all those pixels.
 
Fortunately, in addition to the laptop we have a desktop system with a larger display, that could do justice to your great work.
 
Thanks again, John!
 
 

[WesternElectricBen]

Paul F,

That is quite an interesting setup you have there, with the portrait monitor, next to your very nice clear AE!

Ben 

[Mr. Bones]

     It opened up fine on all my computer screens, as well, John. No image loading issues. I was just trying to help others, and it was in no way shape or form meant to deride your beautiful graphic.

     I also use Firefox.

Best regards!