Amtel 12" B&W from 1998
 

This is probably the last of the 12" B&W sets with a conventional mechanical tuner and I think these were around $39, when they were new. Over the years, I've had a few slightly older Action-branded sets that were in a cheap black plastic case and the cheap brittle plastic channel knobs always broke. Of course, they were made in China.

As far as mechanical tuners, I think those largely disappeared in '93, when the CC mandate became law for sets that were 13" and larger. Of course, they could have built a CC decoder into a mechanically tuned set; but, by the early '90's, mechanical tuners were on their way out and it was likely cheaper for them just to make an entirely microprocessor-based tuning system, and incorporate the CC decoder in the microprocessor.

Since these B&W sets were 12", they were not required to have a CC decoder and they usually retained the mechanical tuners.

When I was a teenager and picking up old TV's to fix and sell, I ran into a lot of older people who wanted no part of electronic tuners. They wanted a set with mechanical tuners because that was what they were used to and they were afraid that they might "mess something up" on an electronically tuned set. I also ran into older folks who wanted no part of color and if you were selling used TV's, it was always a good idea to have a few 12" and 19" B&W sets on hand for such folks.

Cool little TV. I never knew that B&W lasted to the late 90s.

This model has a pleasant "old fashioned" look to it. I remember these on the shelf at chain drug-stores; at one point one of my sisters bought one (I guess she couldn't resist at that price point.) By then you could usually find a decent used color set for $65 or so if you looked enough. (the other sister started college around that time and I found her a mid-80's XL-100 19" for that price at a used furniture store.) Soon you could find a used GE "AA" for the same price as this Amtel.

And, soon after that, you couldn't give away a CRT TV that old and then it got to where you couldn't give away any CRT TV. When I first started picking up used TV's to fix and sell, $20-$25 was about the going rate on a good used 12" B&W. I sometimes got $30-$35 for the AC/DC 12" sets.