Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2018 — For starters, I wanted to announce that I have purchased what I believe will be my “final” 100th Anniversary Vibroplex. As I have mentioned before in this space, I have been searching for a Knoxville version of the key (i.e., one with the Knoxville nameplate). And I recently picked up a mint still-in-the-box Knoxville-plated 100th Anniversary bug.
When the company switched to the aluminum Knoxville nameplates, it dropped the specialty serial numbering that had been used on the brass ones last used on the Mobile bugs. I’m sure there were a number of keys made in Knoxville with the Mobile nameplates, just as there were New York nameplates used on keys made after the company was moved to Maine. Use what you have in stock.
The fragile nature of the paint on the 100th Anniversary bases probably means it is unlikely we’ll see that finish make a return. I still prefer it to a textured painted or chrome base, but that’s me.
If you’re like me, you often browse eBay code keys just to see what’s listed. I ran across a couple of keys with Mobile shipping boxes that are listed that I found interesting, particularly the nameplates.
The 100th Anniversary keys — for the most part of the run that I’ve seen — have poorly stamped brass nameplates. This isn’t news, of course. But I found a seller 
that has two keys with very close serial numbers, though the nameplates were apparently stamped at different times.
VIBROKEYER SN 112,220. This key’s nameplate suffers from the same poor stamping quality as those found on the 100th Anniversary keys of the same era. The text on the “bug” logo is mushy and indistinct, the larger letters lack the crisp lines found on earlier nameplates. This key has the black wrinkle standard finish.
SQUARE RACER SN 112026. This Square Racer has the similar black wrinkle textured base finish as the Vibrokeyer above, and has a serial number a little lower than the Vibrokeyer. What I found interesting was that the nameplate on the Square Racer is crisply stamped, as you would find on earlier Vibroplex keys. Its interesting that two keys with serial numbers so close have very different quality stampings for the nameplate.
If I had unlimited funds, I would consider picking up the Vibrokeyer simply because it is the first non-100th Anniversary key I’ve noticed with a poorly stamped nameplate. I’m sure there are others out there. I’m not in the market for another Vibrokeyer … I own one Vibrokeyer already and I used it once; since then it has a earned a nice place on a bookshelf.
Any of my readers seen other keys with the poorly stamped nameplates on them — outside the 100th Anniversary Vibroplex keys, of course? These keys were apparently built and sold during the final days of the brass nameplate era, and maybe one day they’ll be a noted collectible. Or not, lol. One thing I learned a long time ago is that scarcity doesn’t mean something is valuable — if there’s no demand for it, there’s precious little value attached to the item.
That’s it this time … 73 es CUL de KY4Z SK SK … dit .. dit