collectible tv's

[bre's dad]

I've new to the tv realm. I was basically given a 1949 Arvin roundie (not working, but has potential.) OK, I paid a friend $5 for it & he paid less than that at an auction. How collectible are say some of the older console color tv's, say 50-60's? I've often thought it'd be kinda neat to have a working one sitting around, kinda like what I grew up with. I've seen some really nice consoles on ebay for cheap, but too far away.

Not that I want to turn my house into a tv museum. My basement already looks like a used stereo shop and my wife has forbid me to put anything else in the house, but there IS still the garage...

I know it all boils down to personal preference and what you can find, but are there certain models or lines to look for that might hold their value or be worth more?

[bgadow]

The TV hobby is still establishing itself and prices are all over the place. As you might guess the older the better. Most early color sets you will see will be RCA. They are usually referred to by chassis numbr. The oldest that shows up at a regular frequency seems to be the 56-57 model, the CTC-5. the early-mid 60s models (CTC-11,12,15,16) are more common and easier to bring back to life. Next to RCA, Zenith is most common. All of the above are "roundscreen" models. Rectangular screen models started in the mid-60s and command lower prices. More desirable later models include early solid state sets like the first Motorola Quasars or the RCA G2000. If you are looking for something that might be valuable look for a high-end roundie. If you are just looking for a cheap old color tv look for a decent late 60s rectangular set.