IBM Model M 1390131

[codekhol]

Hi all,

Is it normal to see all black legends on a silver badge Model M? It also comes with a "black" DIN5 coiled cable, is that normal?

[fohat]

Seems normal to me. Over time, sub-legends were made in many various colors.

[modelf]

I've seen green, light gray, dark gray, black and more of a "toasted mauve" color on the sublegends.

[codekhol]

Yes there are color variations, but is this all-black normal for a 1987? I've seen Lexmarks post 1995 with all-black legends to reduce cost.

[Green Maned Lion]

I have only Ms from the mid-late 80s (excluding a Lexmark 122) and a couple of New Model Ms from unicomp. I have both blue and black legends, and I have battleships that came with no legends at all.

[Falkenroth]

The sub-legends aren't as black as the numbers in your photo. I own early boards with that color variant. Later keys under Lexmark and Unicomp is when you would find all black on the keys. Wouldn't want to find those on a 131 board seeing they probably wouldn't be original to the board and had been replaced.

[fohat]

The sub-legends aren't as black as the numbers in your photo.

That is probably true. Besides blue (and am I remembering orange?) there was light and dark "gray", and light and dark "brown".

Those may be what I always called dark gray, as I look closer.