Found Two Zenith Metal Cabinet Color Sets!

[drh4683]

I recently went to a local estate sale and found a couple of Zenith table sets from the same home. It was a pretty large ranch, so there was a lot to see. The first set I found is a metal cabinet 1979 Zenith Chromacolor II with space command 800. Interestingly, this is a duplicate model of the one I recently found a few weeks ago in Skokie. I didn't expect to find two late model CCII table sets one after another like that. They only wanted $5 bucks for this one and it came with all of the original manuals and papers. It was in the finished part of the basement on top of an 80's Zenith console. I figured that was it for the TV finds, and I'd get help and move the TV on up into my truck and then look around the rest of the house afterwards. Before I did that, I had to flip through the paper work, and while doing so, I noticed paperwork all mixed in for a 1972 Zenith 25" tin can color set. Naturally, I figured that one was LONG gone and all that was left were the papers. So I kinda dismissed it. I went ahead to plug in the '79 and sure enough it worked. As I'm checking it out, this one lady who was visiting the sale walks up and says "there's another old TV kinda like that one in the back (basement) bedroom". Well I hadn't checked the back room yet. I figured it would just be some other newer set. So I walked back there, and to my complete surprise, it was the '72 Zenith color set! The set was originally sitting on a dresser, but the dresser had sold so they took the set off and set it down and there it sat on it's side. They were careful whoever moved it and the floor was carpeted so nothing got scratched.
A guy at the sale offered to help me load up, so I got the two table sets all in the back of the truck.

After I got these sets, I carefully looked through the papers again to see what I had. There was a purchase receipt for the '72 Zenith. The total price was $858.84 when it was sold new on 10-2-1971. That seemed kinda high for one set, but then noticed there were two models listed. The big '72 is model C4707W, but then there was also a model C5722 listed. That was a little 16" space command 100 color portable! I jumped back out of the truck and asked the ladies running the sale if they sold any other older sets. They said I was the first to buy any kind of TV from this sale and that they know they didn't see one like it when they first started prepping for the sale. I went back in to carefully look around one last time but no luck. However, I did find the SC100 remote for it! So my guess is that the set probably got junked years ago. The people probably bought it for their bedroom TV and it got replaced but didn't make the cut to get saved like the other ones.

One thing that had me curious was why they had those big full sized table sets to begin with yet none of them had carts and both were in the basement. While I walked around the house, I noticed in the upstairs family room that there was a spot where a TV would have sat in the wall to the left of the fireplace (pictured). So that's probably where they got used and once they had problems, they got pulled and replaced.

The '72 Zenith uses the 25CC50 chassis, which is a "mostly tube type" variety. This was the biggest table color set that year and featured the then new and ultra modern 25 inch "square corner" CRT. In the paperwork, there was a sheet from a TV shop from 1979 that said "bad yoke". So I looked in back of the set and I see the yoke plug was disconnected from the HV cage and just dangling. So lets assume the yoke in the '72 failed in 1979 and instead of fixing it, they upgraded and got a Chromacolor II with space command and brought the '72 down in the basement where it sat untouched for the next 36 years... While that seems to be the case, I find that somewhat strange though. The TV was only 7 years old then and I know a yoke would have easily been available for it then, so if they were going to keep it, why not get it fixed? The '72 looks like a low hour set too, all original tubes are still in there and no other signs of servicing, original Zenith bonded lens chromacolor CRT as well. As to why the '79 Zenith got pulled, who knows. Perhaps it developed an intermittent or they were just ready to upgrade. I think these people had plenty of money, they seemed to just buy a new TV every few years! Maybe they wanted a cable ready TV by the end of the 80's? Who knows.

But the good news is, the original owners decided to save them after all these years and they're safe now. Hopefully soon I'll see what's going on with the '72 and if the yoke is truly defective or not.


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[Findm-Keepm]

That 842 dollar hybrid set would be 4,900 dollars in 2015. Ouch.

Nice sets, more for Doug's Zenith-o-rama.....

[DavGoodlin]

The best TV deserves the best antenna", which was a Jerrold VU-933 branded as a Zenith. There was just one on the truck and we installed it with great results.

I need to get a picture up in expeditions and passions forum. I got one locally - the elderly woman was relieved I removed it.
Its flat on my barn roof with many others awaiting DTV tests-

1979 was the last year for the antenna sticker and the vertical chassis - RIP

Nice post Doug

EDIT: Found this sample at a local shop last year http://videokarma.org/showthread.php...77#post3147977 #50

[Olorin67]

wow, I need to get to more estate sales
That '72 sure screams "Early 70's!"
Alwasy fun to go to an estate sale from a family who never threw stuff out...

[TUD1]

Awesome finds, Doug! My daily driver is a 1989 Reynosa Zenith. It works, but it's a little too new for me. I love that 1972 set, though. I really enjoy watching your YouTube channel. I'm just trying to get my feet wet in vintage color TV, and your videos help me trenendously. Keep them coming!

[Electronic M]

That 72' is awesome! I've got a 1976 tin can Zenith with cart, that I'd let go (or trade for the 72') if you are looking for metal cabinet Zeniths.

[Carmine]

Those are nice sets, although I wonder what good they'll be now that all broadcasts are in a digital format that is incompatible with analog receivers.

In any event, I'd be interested in the '79 set if you decide you have one-too-many. Those sets always fascinated me, because even as a kid seeing them at K-mart, I knew they were pretty outdated. Of course, I wanted one. I remember they were often found in bars, bowling alleys, etc. Probably anyplace that wanted a good-quality "big screen" color set on the cheap.

If I recall correctly, they should still have mounts for legs on the bottom. I wonder how many were sold to oldsters with the leg kit?

[Jeffhs]

Doug, it never ceases to amaze me how you can find room for all the TVs you collect. I've said this before in another thread: Your basement must be huge, or else you have storage sheds on your property.

BTW, I had a Zenith J121Y b&w 12" solid-state portable TV which was made in Mexico (that's what the sticker on the back said). I don't know just what part of that country the TV was manufactured in, or for that matter how many manufacturing plants Zenith had in Mexico in the late '70s; perhaps the one in Reynosa was the only one they owned. That Zenith portable was probably the best b&w TV I ever owned in my life, as it lasted 22 years and was still going strong, bright CRT and all, when I got rid of it after moving to my apartment in late 1999. Only thing wrong with it was a broken UHF tuner detent mechanism. Perhaps someone else in the building spotted it near the trash barrels in back and got a few more years of use out of it; heaven knows I got a lot of enjoyment from it.

[Findm-Keepm]

Originally Posted by Jeffhs

Doug, it never ceases to amaze me how you can find room for all the TVs you collect. I've said this before in another thread: Your basement must be huge, or else you have storage sheds on your property.

Haven't you heard? Doug's mattress lays upon a foundation of working CCII duramodule sets - they are, after all, the best at keeping bedbugs at bay, unlike the wimpy System 3's.

[sampson159]

love to see that tuber in action.saw one at a furniture store a friend owned.best picture i had ever saw.to this day,i still remember how sharp,bright and clear that set was.by the time i saw it,the set was sold.

[drh4683]

Thanks guys!

All of my TV's are kept at home. I do not have any additional or outside storage, but try to keep the collection "reasonable", and by that, I mean not having TV's stacked all over in the house. I try to keep an organized display in the basement and often sell TV's or give them away to other collectors and friends on a somewhat frequent basis. If I kept everything I ever found, I would truly be out of space, but luckily I do have a nice full sized basement which of course is very important with a hobby like this. When it comes to the metal cabinet sets, they are my favorites, yet show up in the fewest numbers so those typically make the cut when I need to thin the heard.

The '72 is indeed a really neat set. I see in the brochure it was $599 new and that they had the price penciled in for the concentric tuner model next to it. I'm sure the original owners were probably debating which set to purchase. I'm glad they picked the C4707 as I think it's the best looking one of the group. I always liked the curve around the control panel on the 72's, very sharp looking.

Chris, you've got first dibs on the '79 too. The picture quality on those are impressive!

[Jon A.]

My 1973 brochure calls the 25V square-corner CRTs "Super Screen".

[TUD1]

Say, I'll be in Naperville next June for the Vacuum Cleaner Collectors' Club Convention. Maybe I can stop by and purchase a classic TV and meet THE Doug Harland. That is if you've got one you want to get rid of. That would make my whole trip!