I almost do not believe what is on my grill

[PotsieWeber]

I've always liked the blue kettles.  The problem is the ones I run across are either gone, priced kind of high (for a modern kettle anyway), or not in that good of shape.  Some time ago, I ran across a listing for a kettle that was BNIB. 

I could make out the model number in the pic on the listing, that it was blue & that it had a logo of some sort on it but I did not know what logo.  It was a 22" kettle (a one-touch), which was nice.  But, I'm really not a fan of most logos.  The old bird that was selling it was fairly wily.  First, she claimed she had never opened the box, but it was taped over with masking tape.  I said I wanted to take a look & feigned surprise & disappointment that there was a logo on the lid.  It was for Smithfield.  So, I offered her less than she was asking because it had this weird logo on it.  The wily old lady countered with the, "I'm selling this for a friend & can't reduce the price because this is what they said they wanted to get".  So, I looked at it a bit more closely & noticed there was some rim damage to the lid (a small bend and a small amount of porcelain missing).  At that point, she reduced the price by $10 without getting her "friend's" ok.  She also mentioned that someone had contacted her last night & asked if it said "bud light" on the lid, so she used her x-ray vision to see if it said bud light (I assume, since she claimed she never opened the box).

So, while it was more than I wanted to pay for one with a stupid logo on it, I bought it figuring at least I had a bunch of new parts & maybe one day I'd find a decent deal on a blue one with a nice lid & messed up bowl.

Fast-forward to now & I wind up seeing a listing for a BNIB BLUE 1997 EI CODE 22" LID (only) for a one-touch plus or a MT.  I contacted them within minutes of the listing, but was the second person.  The first person was going to pick it up in 45 minutes!  What the hell was I to do?  (The answer was, I'll wait & see what happens).  It turns out, the first person contacts him back within a couple more minutes when they REALIZED it was NOT a complete kettle, only the LID.  The seller agrees to sell it to me & starts getting a lot more requests, but didn't try backing out even though it appears he realized he probably could have gotten some more $$.

Now, technically it isn't ON the grill yet as I've never put that one together. 

Now, so many questions.  Do I keep it never put together, put it together but never use it, turn it into a one-touch plus, a master-touch, or put some brackets on it & throw it in an SSP frame, maybe a generation 2 frame & eventually replace the table with a black metal one?  So many damn alternatives! 

[ABROB]

Have you checked that the blues match?  I've noticed there are different shades of blue.

[PotsieWeber]

I was actually wondering that.  But, no, I have not checked yet.  I have to actually get the other box out.  Worst case scenario, I've got trade bait, I hope to find TWO different matching shades, or I throw the kettle in a performer frame & I'm guessing the shade difference won't be so noticeable. 

Have you checked that the blues match?  I've noticed there are different shades of blue.

[ABROB]

True - if they were close and in a cart it would be tougher to notice.

[PotsieWeber]

I am kind of hoping that some of the differences might be like the weathered warriors, use and/or exposure.  That being said, I remember bought a blue pickup truck a long time ago & heard (from the guys that sell the fiberglass lids) that the truck shade kind of varied within the same year for that brand.  Kind of funny, but I just checked the old pic of the lid on the other, even though I know it was taken by a different camera under different lighting conditions. 

If nothing else, I'll get to compare NIB blue colors for 1997 vs 2003.  If it is noticeable, I'll probably get my blue performer.

[Mike in Roseville]

What to do?

A kettle will never realize it's full potential unless it has a fire in it and is cooking food.




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