Here we go again... Here is an RCA 9-T-246; seller says 1949. Well he is wrong on that date, since it must be 1928 or earlier in order to predate Jenkins with the "first" TV as his eBay item title says :nono:

http://cgi.ebay.com/RARE-1949-RCA-VICTOR-Television-10-Inch-FIRST-TV-SET_W0QQitemZ6271263804QQcategoryZ3638QQrdZ1QQcmdZ ViewItem

Charles

...

It seems like most Ebay TVs come from areas where there is no TV reception

Ane even when the ebay seller says "it works", they mean "I turned it on and it did not catch fire".

Is it just an optical illusion or is the neck of the CRT bent, looks to me like it may be cracked at the yoke. May explain why there was no picture!

Slight optical thing, I'm pretty sure. Round tubes that gain air suddenly usually have next to nothing left of their phosphor surface.