http://www.ebay.com/itm/WORKING-MID-CENTURY-BLONDE-TANDEM-PHILCO-PREDICTA-TELEVISION-/271107620429?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f1f45fe4d

Not as nice as Bob's! :)

It's the "Stereophonic" version of the Tandem. Unfortunately, it's missing the record player which contains the other speaker.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p88/tgmccm/PhilcoG1606S.jpg

I had a chance to see this set in person and took some photos. It has long, tapered danish modern style legs rather than the curved legs of the Tandem set.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7216/7377866590_c315621ef2_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/70039806@N00/7377866590/)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7075/7377867446_a501dd86f0_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/70039806@N00/7377867446/)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7079/7377870516_c6c31efbbf_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/70039806@N00/7377870516/)

Here's a regular Tandem set for comparison.
http://p2.la-img.com/288/2303/991874_1_l.jpg

Went for $615 - a lot more than I expected.

I've noticed that too, Tandems always go for heaps :(

I'll have to spend a fortune by the time I have one freighted to Australia. One of the most difficult things is to actually get a seller to agree to ship it. Unfortunately people will bid on these TVs and then cry about paying a lot for shipping. When I bought my Holiday with the roll away stand, it had been listed 3 times due to bidders being shocked at the freight price. The first thing I did when I won the auction was to contact the seller and say I knew it'd be expensive and just go ahead and pack it. Of course putting my money where my mouth was really helped!

I never knew about the stereo version of this set, thanks very much for the info. I wondered why the cabinet looked different to the regular version that most people are selling/restoring. I've seen a pic that showed a plug in speaker, it looks as though it plugs into the CRT case near the round collar. I just assumed that it was so that the sound and picture would come from the same place. It would be strange to have sound coming from nearby, but the picture on the other side of the room.

I like the idea of the "better" version, but I definitely prefer the looks of the orginal. Strangely enough, its the curved legs that I like the most.
Just my 2 cents!

Yes, I've seen that ad too showing the speaker. Both my Tandem sets have the plug for it, but I've never actually seen one of those little speakers.

It's a cool little speaker, it reminds me of the one they used in Charlie's Angels. I'd say the odds of ever seeing one would be less than 1%.

To have a mahogany finish Tandem with speaker would make my life complete! Oh, did I say I am a bit of a nerd??? (And proud of it!) :)

This same set has been listed on craigslist repeatedly for the last few weeks but in Chesterson, IN rather than Chicago.
It was listed yet again today for $1500 two days after the ebay action ended. The phone number given is for the seller in Chicago.

Dunno what's going on. :scratch2:

http://chicago.craigslist.org/nwi/clt/3427629269.html

That's really strange, there were bids on it weren't there?

I wonder if it was an overseas bidder who couldn't front up the cash for freight? These people annoy me because they are the reason why a lot of sellers will only ship to a local address. Makes it very difficult to buy some of your awesome TVs!

I know it's a Tandem, but $1500 is a bit steep in this economy.

Well, the buyer paid for it and left positive feedback, not that it means anything.

The buyer was probably a shill for the seller, essentially doing a buy-back because the seller wanted more for the set. toolhaus.org shows they had a prior relationship with the sale of a smoking pipe.

http://toolhaus.org/cgi-bin/mutual?UserA=rontps&UserB=david76901&Item=&Check=Check&Limit=9999&ref=home

.

Definitely something dodgy going on, glad I didn't bid on this.

I probably would have been sent a bag of cats!

It sure does seem odd. I bought one of my Tandem sets from this guy and he was real nice.

A mahogany Stereophonic also without the phonograph just popped up on ebay. Too bad it's got no legs :o
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Philco-Predicta-Penthouse-TV-Television-Tube-Stereophonic-Cabinet-/200859800851

Nice TV, shame about the legs. Glad your TV was all ok when buying it through this guy.

I've seen that white blotchy coating that appears on that smelly plastic cover on the CRT before... luckily my Holiday doesn't have it. Is it easy to clean off? A bit of car polish maybe? I hope to find a nice Tandem one day in good cosmetic condition, preferably ready to restore the electronics. They sure are hard to find though!

Normally they are ridiculously expensive, or too beat up. But one day.... :)

I've seen that white blotchy coating that appears on that smelly plastic cover on the CRT before... luckily my Holiday doesn't have it. Is it easy to clean off? A bit of car polish maybe? [/QUOTE]

I picked up a mahogany Holiday last Friday, nice cabinet and all knobs intact, broken antenna. The cover was almost completely covered inside with that white stuff. When I first looked at it, I thought it was just dirt, man was I wrong! I soaked it in dish soap and water for an hour or so and still couldn't get it all off. I finally ended up using Meguiar's #17 Clear PLastic Cleaner on it with great results.

The outside was really scratched up, so I wet sanded it with 400, 600, 1,000 and finally 1,500 grit wet or dry sand paper followed by Kit "Scratch Out" plastic polish. Finished it off with the Meguiar's #17 cleaner. I couldn't have been happier.

It was all done by hand, no power buffer. To avoid swirl marks, I went straight across the screen with a soft cotton cloth instead of in circles.

Hopefully the caps will be arriving in the mail today and I can get it finished up.

I traded a non-working Philco 90 in fair condition for it. I only paid $20.00 for the Philco a few years back, so I didn't think I did too bad. I figured the knobs alone were worth $100.00.

Surprisingly, mine doesn't have that "vomit smell" to it.

I'll post some pictures when I get it finished.

Dan

No smell?
You are very lucky indeed!

My Holiday is sitting in the lounge until I get to it. Every now and then, the "sweet" smell wafts over, phew!

I really must polish up that plastic! Thanks for the tips on how you cleaned yours, very handy.

The smell comes from the plastic breaking down internally. There's no miracle cure for that, although polishing may help with the smell in the short term.

Phil Nelson

The smell comes from the plastic breaking down internally.

That's really scary, does this mean that the plastic will eventually fall apart? I'd love it if someone could re-model these, but I doubt that will ever happen! It's a shame that the Telstar copies had a different shape. :(

That's really scary, does this mean that the plastic will eventually fall apart? ...

Sure, but I imagine we'll be long gone by then ;)

I don't think Telstar ever sold repro parts - only complete sets. Perhaps they think that helping restore vintage Predictas would cut into their sales :scratch2: