I was recently checking out websites on the internet and found that most "big time" collectors won't even consider any color sets made after 1965!
That is their decision, But there are LOTS of very interesting and unusual models made from then on.
My favorites:
Motorola's first rectangular color
RCA G2000
Sony KV 3000
Any tube type remote set!
The saying " if it's not round trash it" Does NOT apply here!!
Does anyone have a favorite they would like to list?

That Dumont that is now in your posession was a pretty set....

Ever do anything with that? :)

I guess I'm glad the things I really like to collect/work on aren't worth much to "collectors"! It means I don't have to pay a lot of dough for an interesting hobby. Another thing besides TV's I collect is school buses...buy them from churches for $200, still running. I still get the enjoyment of working on "antique" vehicles but am not paying premium prices for "collectible" cars, plus I am preserving a segment of automotive history that not too many people care about.

There is always a time at which certain things are looked at as "junk" and then... wait a little bit and they become "collectibles". Was reading about a time when people burned hundreds of old Atwater Kent, etc. 1920's battery radios in bonfires when they bought the new AC powered sets. They were junk then but are collectibles now.

Also I think the same thing is happening with the round color sets. Seems like when ebay first started up in the 90's these were just old junk, just old TV's...now the popularity is starting to go up. Just wait...in 5 or 10 years I predict that tube type color sets, even the rectangular type will probably start to be collectors items. Same thing has happened with Rhodes and Wurlitzer electric pianos, Hammond Organs, etc.

I think it is a good thing for some of us who collect items we enjoy while they are still considered common or junk...that way we are preserving them even as they are being discarded by high-end collectors and when these items finally do get to become collectibles, we haven't had to pay out the nose for them.

Yes, I still have the Dumont and the Zenith roundie. They both work great! I also have a couple never sold nos Emerson and Dumont sets from Doug.
It seems lately that he is finding a LARGE quantity of nice clean hard to find 60's sets. Like you Tim, He has the ability (and good location) to find things that most of us on this forum can't.
I think that's great! At least some of this stuff will be preserved for future generations.
I am not a "high end" collector and will never be, And am glad I have other people like me that collect these "unwanted" items!
Rectangular sets, School buses, post '65 roundies and anything from the sixties or seventies rule!!

Being around a group like this you realize that it is okay to like "later model" sets; sort of a "rectangular screens anonymous". "Hi, my name is Bryan, & I own 3 New Vista Color's":)

I say if you like it collect it & don't be ashamed. The price on these sets WILL go up. Too bad I really can't add to my collection much because I am about "spaced out". I wish I could have kept a lot of what I threw out 12 years ago, which was a great cross section of late 60s color sets. I don't think those sets will ever turn up in the market as fast as they were then-most are landfill now & people today don't even think of selling them nowadays, just straight to the dump because "nobody is interested in those things".

There is an ad in the paper now for "2 older color televisions". I keep debating with myself, should I call? Probably a couple Sanyos from the 80s, though once before I answered such an ad & ended up owning enough tube-era tv sets to fill a house.

Go for it Bryan! Maybe they are portables. Heck, If you run out of room for consoles stack em!
I accept all kinds of sets from people to save them from the landfill and have resorted to this method.

So you've got me curious....what did they need? PICS!!! :D

Originally posted by bgadow
Too bad I really can't add to my collection much because I am about "spaced out".

Hmmm. Got any for saaaaaaaale? I need a color set for my den and I'd be willing to take, oh a Zenith or an RCA, or anything off your hands.
Just doing my part to help you make room! :D
Bob

As much as I like round screen sets, I'll always take one of those big heavy metal cabinet zenith table sets over just about anything else. That ctc27 will be the last set I ever get rid of, along with my 20CC50 table set which has been the daily driver since april of last year!
It will be interesting to see what the future holds for rectangular sets. Part of the problem is with TV is that so many people get spoiled with the "perfect" picture of some newer sets, and cant confortably watch an old set, no matter how good the pic is. I'll get a TV razor sharp with perfect picture, and someone will still complain about it. Unlike vintage audio, it sounds good, but your sight is more sensitive to detail than the ear. A vintage TV will get criticized long before any kind of audio system would. Its interesting as most audiofiles have ZERO interest in tube type tvs for the above reasons.
I know its just a few of us on AK that really appriciate the rectangular sets. Its not that I can find them cheap, but they are built so well, with quality components. A reason I stay away from the 1940s-50s sets, they were not built as well, and components were not near as good as sets from the 60s. The more 6GH8's the better!!!!!!!!

Here is a pic of the #1 set in my collection: 1969 RCA VICTOR "DENNIS" FL490W, CTC27. It built like a tank, and has lots of 6GH8's! I seldomly use this set, as it has almost no hours on it. I want to keep those PCBs like new! Lets see pics of your #1 set! Next in line is my 72 zenith 20CC50 then my 68 rca ctc31 remote set.

The thing for me is that until joining this group I really didn't much care for the roundies, but have now grown to appreciate them.....if nothing else but for their richer Technicolor flavor and of course historical significance.

But my overall favorite modern older sets I'd have to vote for any Heathkits as well as the disco era Zenith consoles like the Avanti. Most any with the slanted front styling and the various Space Command features like zoom or the built in phone.

Granted, these may not have had the super high quality hand wired chassis in the classic Zenith tradition but still represented a quality product (certainly superior to the nightmare Zenith/Gold Sludge of today).

Anthony

So I called the guy in the ad, sets are gone...well, sour grapes, but... couldn't have been too old if he sold them that quick, right?

Veg, give me time...I may have some stuff to part with! There is a roundie and a later 60s RCA combo, maybe a Zenith SC Chromacolor, that I haven't decided whether to keep or not. Hey, did anyone ever follow up on my post about the sets the Radio History Museum in Bowie has for sale?

You know I observed something unusual at an estate sale few weeks ago---saw a 1968 or so French Provincial white/gold style Magnavox color set with phono and remote control. Had what appeared to be a new CRT (no PVA deterioration) but would not come on. Was $40 and I didn't have my checkbook or dolly so passed on it.

Came back later that same day and it was sold! I didn't think it would go that fast especially since it did not work. Maybe it was just bought for the cabinet.