Now that really sucks, a rare, wonderful late 50s Condor tabletop B/W set, completely gutted and turned into a really ugly christmas crib...

http://cgi.ebay.it/PRESEPE-ANNI70-INCASTRATO-IN-VECCHIO-TELEVISORE_W0QQitemZ140173374862QQihZ004QQcategory Z13771QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Grrrrr....But as the song says, "Chicka-Boom, Chicka-Boom, Doncha just LOVE IT ?!?" Stoopid sumbich prolly wrecked the chassis & all the parts, too...

If I'm reading the translation right, the pictured item isn't for sale -- the winning bidder commissions the artist to do another one.

"I SELL ONLY PERCHE' OF IT I CONSTRUCT ONE SIMILAR".

...and for only 850 Euros!

Luckily, the price is steep enough to discourage most people from sending out vintage sets to their doom...

I'll try to ask the guy to sell me the chassises, speakers and CRTs from the gutted sets anyway.

I would not pay 8 Euros for that abomination!

Anyone who does this is a CRIMINAL, but I think doing this to an Italian set is even worse than doing that to an American set, because vintage Italian TV sets are rarer than American ones.

Thank God such STUPIDITY was never popular here. I only saw this thing done once, some jerk took a 60's tabletop set and turned into a fishtank. A friend told me that years ago ( in the 80's ) he saw an early 50's bakelite Admiral turned into a dog's house.

But those were the only cases I know. As far as I know, here in Brazil the only people who likes to go after vintage tube televisions are only those with a passion for antiquities and vintage electronics, and even those who like them only as a piece of design with decorative purposes think that they look so beautiful, so gorgeous the way they are that it would be a shame to turn them into something else.

The people who are not into these things don't even bother: they might find a rare 50's set and send it to the dump without remorse, because to them it's only an old and obsolete TV.

Luckily, 1950's and even 1960's TV sets are so rare here that they more and more tend to be viewed as historic pieces that must be preserved.

Unfortunately that's not the case with 50's automobiles; even those that are rare I see turned into Hot Rods from time to time.

850.00 euro , they wouldn't get it out of me . I'll buy the cabinet , they can keep the rest of the junk .
Any kindergarden class can create that in a afternoon so why pay 850 ?
and the other thing is they are ruining really nice restorable sets .
Most likely ripped the chassis out with a hammer and a crow bar .:tears:

I contacted the guy and he said he still has the CRT, the complete chassis and the speakers as he was waiting for the council's bulky waste recycling program to come and pick them... and he'd sell them to me for 10 euros plus shipping... :thmbsp:

Now it's just a matter of getting the guts, then i'll wait for Christmas to be over with that pricey abomination left unsold, at this point i'll ask him to sell me the cabinet too (a bit cheaper of course)... with a little luck i think i'll be able to reassemble and restore the thing!

Good for you ! Maybe there'll be a happy ending to this nightmare after all...

with a little luck i think i'll be able to reassemble and restore the thing!
Good work. I have contacted a couple of fishtankers in the past to ask whether they had saved the electronics. They assumed they were worthless and had already thrown them into the garbage.

Phil Nelson
Phil's Old Radios
http://antiqueradio.org/index.html

I wonder if they have a clue on how to safely handle and dispose a CRT... i bet they'd give up fishtanking if they get one to implode in their face...

i would like to see the youtube for that

...And we might rid the world of a couple of potential "Darwin Award" winners...Works for me...