I keep looking at that photo of Henry Dreyfus and the preproducrtion set, I sure like the black on black.
Dan;
I like to take a close look at auctions with bad pictures. Mostly to see if I can pick up an early date 500. I'm trying to get one each of the 1950 to 1959 black 500, so far I have 9 all but the 50. then I started to concentrate on converting each year to my birth month, so far I've found 3, 54, 55, and 57
Second Just a few days earlier Dennis Markham had made a comment about the Z dial face, and that it would be very difficult if not impossible to find one. I also recalled seeing the pre-production photo with Henry Dreyfus. It appeared to me the phone had a strange dial, and plunger mechanism. When I saw the auction, I screen captured the photos, and enlarged them and enhanced them.
I knew right away I had found something different, but just how different I was even amazed. I spent the next week busting at the seems trying top hold it in, and praying literally that no one else would catch. It came down to the last day, I had put in a bid at $5.77, on an opening bid of $4.99. Then someone else bid $10.50. I went back in and bid $15.77. Then I went and snipe bid $500.00. Well about 2 hours before the end of the auction , I went back and looked again, I was no longer High bidder, the price was now $510.00. I felt sick, because I knew right then that others saw what I saw. I went back to the snipe and put in $750.00. I knew I didn't have a chance and some high roller was going to get it for thousands probably. The cat was out of the bag. About 30 minutes before the end of the auction, I went back to check where it stood. Much to my amazement, I was once again high bid at $10.50. I though, what wrong Ebay has goofed up, then I thought refresh the page that was the problem. Same thing still high bid, then I checked thew bid stats. The guy that outbid me at $10.50 had retracted his bid, because he meant to type $16.01, instead typed $1601.00. he still didn't thing the phone was worth Even $20.00. I was in, Except for one thing, the ASS had revealed my high bid of $500.00, that !!!!ed me off and made me mad, because now anyone curious about the high price on this train wreck chassis would realize, at least one person thought it was worth big bucks. My heart sunk. I had it, lost it, had it again, and now was probably going to loose it again. I watched until the end, and no one outbid me at $10.50. Well I about pooped myself, until I refreshed the page and realized someone, had a snipe bid at $220.00. I though my luck, somebody just cost me $200.00, all kidding aside, that $200.00 never bothered me for one second, well maybe one second, because I new I had landed something special. But My snipe saved my butt and I ended up the winner. I will say I was a basket case until I got the phone in my hands, total about 10 days, I was a real Ass to live with for that time.
D/P
I wonder what the guys on ATCA email site are saying now about my brain damage, and DB cooper landed on his head.
