Today while in Goodwill I spotted one of those late 50s RCA portable sets that had the knobs on the side and was all picture in the front. The set was in very nice physical shape with a $39.99 price tag. I aproached one of the employees and asked if they could do better on the old "junker" set. My game didnt work.
The lady said first that the set played and that they had found out that it needed some "bulbs." Then she said "Them things go fer $99.99 on Ebay so our price is low cause its a collectable."

I went over to see it play and I saw a raster with v and h shrinking and h freguency screaming way off, and a hum in the sound. So now I guess if something is collectable and it does anything at all, then it plays.

Bottom line-even charity organizations are jumping on the $$COLLECTABLE$$ bandwagon:puke:

Anyway does anybody think these sets are worth $40. Maybe I should have picked it up. The thing had that cloth like type of covering over the metal cabinet. No gouges or rot. CRT seemed very strong. A look through the back cover showed a clean, dust free chassis. If it sounds like something special someone please let me know. I will be going back Sunday...

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Was it one like this?
$40 would be a good price for a clean one!

Goodwill and Salvation Army have been doing collectible pricing on things for a few years now,the only problem being that most of the time,they have no idea what to charge.They had this old set of Sanyo speakers in good shape at 60 each,but that same week I bought a Nakamichi CR-2A in wonderful shape that had a note on it saying as is,because it didnt play auto reverse(!) for 4.95.
And dont even get me started on their glassware and china pricing!I saw a made in china large bowl for 19.95,and a set of six swirl pattern fire king jadeite plates for 5.95,so you just have to be vigilant.I find that you get the best buys on things that look old and ugly,like old receivers and turntables.A little elbow grease can turn an ugly duckling into a swan.

Originally posted by Eric H
Was it one like this?
$40 would be a good price for a clean one!

Same type finish I was talking about but a little different set. This one didnt have the ships railing around the cabinet. Also it has virtually no crt border. Just a gold band and all glass front. Same basic shape as your picture. Maybe I should go get the thing. :dunno:

On most things at Goodwill I have gotten a lot of good deals...computers with sound cards, and monitors for $1.99, 8-track players for 99 cents, 70's RCA tube type b/w set for $6.99, Marantz Cassette recorder, working, for $1.99.
Around here, if they think something has collectible value they take bids on it in a silent auction where you write down a bid.
There was a '70s RCA XL-100 console with weak CRT and people were bidding more than $25.00 for it!

I worked on a similar set to the one in discussion a few weeks ago...it is the smaller 8-inch model. There was a black beauty cap in the horizontal circuit that was coupling the oscillator to the output tube that was leaky...that caused a way-off horizontal frequency.

One time at the goodwill there a early 60s RCA Vista combo unit. It wa a ROUNDIE and I didn't buy it :-( . I could've kicked myself but at te time, I didn't know anyone who could help me fix it. I guess it's long gone by now :-(

They wanted alot for it and I guess for good reason because it was so rare.

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Originally posted by jasonlava
One time at the goodwill there a early 60s RCA Vista combo unit. It wa a ROUNDIE and I didn't buy it
They wanted alot for it and I guess for good reason because it was so rare.

I guess when I think of an organization like Goodwill I think of people who get unwanted stuff for free and SHOULD and many times do turn the stuff over at a bargain price. Hence the term thrift store. Not antique, or collectable store. The deals Chad mentions are more like what one would expect. I like old TVs as good as the next person but I have always understood that most people still look at them as junk. Thats why we still find them on the curb, and people (idiots) still make fish tank viewers out of them. As far as rare goes I wouldnt call color roundies exactly rare. At least the 60s versions. I have liked 50s black and white sets for years and even now many "collectors" shy away from them. Even the antique price guides in the book stores say that only the very early 30s-40s sets carry any signifigant value with a few exceptions like Predictas ect.. I have been pissed many times at antique stores telling stories of throwing 50s sets out because of space and lack of interest. Maybe if they had $25 in stead of $125 on it they would have come out ahead and saved an old set.
This whole profit mentality in America kills me. Like finding an old car rotting in a field and asking the price and its some rediculous amount. The person will talk of how it ran so good when it was parked (20 years ago) and now it is a COLLECTORS item. Thus justifying the price. Reality check: the car sits and sits and rots, the person eventually dies and nothing was gained at all. In fact once again if greed was not a factor then the car could have been saved and the owner could have retrieved a portion of an investment. When I go to the flea market once every few years I will except nearly anything I can get out of someone. Serious, if it needs to go to the flea then it dont need to come back home to unload. It needs to be a bargain find for someone to enjoy. Like I have so many times.

Just some things to think about........

Keep old TVs alive:D