The bakelite banjos (usually only the rims were bakelite, the necks wood) were made by Harmony and a few others that were pretty minor players. I bought one on eBay for cheap once and put a new neck on it and frankly I really liked that banjo. The sound is more mellow than the aluminum rims (mine also had a genuine skin head so that contributed to the sound). It's all a matter of taste. There is an Asian company (at least I think it's Asian) that are putting them out again, under the name of Rover, and they are selling for new for about $160 including a gigbag and instructional video.

BTW some of the bakelite banjos were chrome plated so beware if you really want an aluminum rim banjo. The one I bought was chrome plated (or painted) but I took it off with that safe paint stripper stuff, revealing the handsome black plastic underneath for all to see -)