I have the opportunity to purchase this set, but have a couple of questions.

What is a good price for one in good working condition and good (no great) consmetic condition?

What can I expect in regards to picture quality (assuming all components are working and it's adjusted correctly). Currenty I have a '77 Chromacolor II and love the image. I'd like this image quality or better.

I know you can't speak to this set as you haven't seen it. I'm more looking for an input based on knowledge of this particular model.

Thanks!

if its a hybrid or a flat chassis,the picture should be as good as your chromacolor set.maybe a little better.those chromacolors with a 25vdmp22 were very tough to beat.the flat chassis solid state is the best set ever produced.get it.should be a good performer

That's either a 4-tube hybrid chassis or an early flat solid state chassis. Either way, it will produce a fine picture when working properly. As far as price, I probably wouldn't go over $50 unless it was in really good shape.

It's the elusive 1972 C-Line chassis Avante! (4-tube hybrid) You better grab that one! I know someone that would like to get a mint example of that model! Hint: He loves anything Zenith, and will probably open a museum soon!

It has four tubes on the right side and an E-core transformer on the left (as ovserved from the back). So it's a hybrid.

It does have some dings and scratches (a couple of shallow gouges on the front edges), but it looks to be fixable.

Problem is, I don't think I can get them to let it go for under $200. Here in So Cal they don't come around too often. I've been looking for over 3 years now. This is the first that's withing my driving range that seem to be in decent condition and reported to be working "great."

IMHO, $200 is a bit stiff for one with a few nicks & dings. And also based on experience, the 4-tube hybrid might not be the one you want, if you're going to make it a daily use TV. The 25DC56/25EC58 flat chassis is the real battleship of all time, whereas that hybrid seemed to have issues more often. I say it's a $75 set, and a mint one with SC-500 remote, maybe $275.

Charles

IMHO, $200 is a bit stiff for one with a few nicks & dings. And also based on experience, the 4-tube hybrid might not be the one you want, if you're going to make it a daily use TV. The 25DC56/25EC58 flat chassis is the real battleship of all time, whereas that hybrid seemed to have issues more often. I say it's a $75 set, and a mint one with SC-500 remote, maybe $275.

Charles

Sad thing is that here in CA people don't seem to care about anything that's more than a few years old. They just toss it and it's gone forever. I've never seen a tube TV of any value at any thrift shop, etc. Ebay has them, but a vast majority are out of state and pick-up only. I hate the mentality of this state. If it's not new, it has to be destroyed.

Guess I'll pass on this one and keep looking.

Thanks!

Is this the same set on eBay at the preposterous price of $400?

This one seems a tad beat up around the edges but could be repainted I suppose.

http://cgi.ebay.com/1971-Zenith-Avanti-TV-Television-Space-Age-25CC25-WORKS-/120723092444?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c1ba833dc

...

Is this the same set on eBay at the preposterous price of $400?

This one seems a tad beat up around the edges but could be repainted I suppose.

http://cgi.ebay.com/1971-Zenith-Avanti-TV-Television-Space-Age-25CC25-WORKS-/120723092444?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c1ba833dc

I saw that one, but passed it up based on price and distance. The layout and chassis number is the same, I think. That one has more damage as well.

I should have purchased the last one on ebay. It was in Vegas, very good condition and was lowered to $99. At over $4 a gallon of gas, it would have cost me over $200 in gas alone.

Then there's this one. I'm not an expert, but I think the price is a bit steep even if the production number quoted is correct.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Zenith-25-Corner-TV-w-t-Space-Phone-Rare-1972-/150632665691?pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&hash=item231268125b

First off, it's not from '72. It's actually a system 3 from the early '80's. Second, he'd better reduce the price A WHOLE LOT MORE if he expects to unload it. This cabinet style was first used with the CCII chassis in the mid '70's and went through several System 3 designs before it was phased out in the mid '80's. These sets are not that uncommon. I've actually had many of them pass my way over the years and I never paid more than $10 for any one of them.

Only 500 made??, must have meant 500 made that week, these were common as dirt.
eBay is such a Fount of misinformation.

there was one of those near me (avanti), but it was a real mess, I mean the kind you would want ot don a hazmat suit before getting near it. The CL guy did not say what he wanted, but to make an offer, if asked he would say 1mill, gee a joker. I offered 10$, I was going to field strip it and as the mold and damage to the front was real bad. On sets that I have no idea what the status like that I figure I cant get hurt at 10$ plus another 20$ in gas. He came back with a smart a$$ response, which is fine as I really dont need another project. I have a Mint one anyway and was only looking as a parts set. I think a fair offer would be to pay me 20$ to haul it off but I thought I was helping him out.

The world is full of people that think their junk is priceless, no matter what condition it's in. The only way they may possibly learn differently is when they still have the item 10 years from now.

Back when I was buying broken TV's to fix and resell (back when there was real money in it), I never offered over $10 for any kind of broken TV. Some people were very insulted, others were glad to get the $10, and the rest didn't want any money. They just wanted the TV out of their way.

I think the same thing is true all over the country (except maybe for Chicago). Don't base things on thrift stores because most of them won't accept a TV that's more than 10-15 years. If it makes you feel any better, I've seen several of my dream sets show up in CA in the time I've been living in TX (a couple of 50's color sets, and an RCA G2000 at very reasonable prices. In that time, I haven't seen anything particularly interesting around here. I think both CA and TX have the problem of small houses without basements.

I live in a small town near Cleveland, where old TVs don't seem to show up very often. The other day I did see a 25-27" late-model Magnavox table model TV on a treelawn just up the street from me, but I didn't grab it because 1) I had no way to get it home, and 2) it must have weighed 150-200 pounds if it weighed an ounce. The latter wouldn't surprise me if the set had a 27" CRT, as most of the weight of these large-screen CRT sets is the CRT itself. My RCA CTC185 has a 19" CRT and weighs about 60 pounds (70-80 percent of which is probably, even likely, the CRT) -- close to the maximum weight limit of the stand on which it sits in my living room.

BTW, I grew up in a Cleveland suburb in which some houses were quite small and were built on slabs, hence no basements. I went to school with a kid whose family lived in such a house, and I often wondered how they managed, especially since they had a large 1950s-'60s era mechanical pinball machine in the place. My best guess is that they shoehorned the thing into the house somehow, and put it in an unused bedroom. :scratch2:

If there's anything ebay has taught me, it's that people make things up and think that because they haven't seen another like theirs, it must be worth a fortune (they really need to do a little searching on ebay and they'll find plenty of the same item).

What is really making me crazy on ebay now is the outrageous prices of vintage VCRs. I purchase a couple about 4 years ago and spent about $30 each. Now the same units are up there for prices ranging from $100 to $600! What!? I'm not paying that much for one that is NOS, let alone used. I don't need parts that bad.

BTW, I grew up in a Cleveland suburb in which some houses were quite small and were built on slabs, hence no basements. I went to school with a kid whose family lived in such a house, and I often wondered how they managed, especially since they had a large 1950s-'60s era mechanical pinball machine in the place. My best guess is that they shoehorned the thing into the house somehow, and put it in an unused bedroom. :scratch2:

In the 1920's-1930's some New Orleans homes were built with semi-basements and basement apartments - the bottom floor being around 4 feet underground. The idea was dropped before too long - if there's enough street flooding and water makes it to the house, well the basement becomes a catch basin for the floodwater. Better have renter's insurance...