Look at what someone posted on CL

[radiotvnut]

Originally Posted by YamahaFreak

Here ya go: http://www.mrsfields.com/

Wow, you guys think the same way I do. I too remember when I could go into my local Sam's Club, and the shelves were full of big CRT sets. I saw my first widescreen Trinitron there, what a cool set. Now, it's all flat panels. I don't even see rear projectors anymore. The last time I bought a CRT set new was from that Sam's; a 13-inch Sylvania for $69, around 2003. I also remember walking through Target right when the flat sets were showing up, putting deep discounts on the CRTs. I think I remember seeing a 32-inch Panasonic for around $80.

You mentioned buying a new 13" for $69. I've sold used ones for more. Back around '93, I had a clean knob tuned 13" Zenith that I'd replaced the 9-160 module in it. I sold that one for $85 and the guy didn't hesitate when I told him the price. A few years later, I had a 13" knob tuned GE that just got a new flyback and I was able to get $75 for that one. Another friend had one of those 13" TX82 chassis RCA's that was cable ready and remote controlled. I was at his house one afternoon when a lady showed up to look at what he had for sale. She fell in love with that 13" set and when he told her the price was $125, she pulled out the money and walked away with the set. At that time, I think you could buy those little RCA's for not much more than $125.

[Dave A]

My ballpark got hit with the 100 year storm a few weeks ago and we blew out 40 flats in outside spaces, some of which had been up for 7 seasons. Not to mention the two broadcast cameras that blew over.

I had spares but fell about 10 short. I wanted a specific brand that we have an ad deal with. My mfr could not do them for a month or more. Web sites for same mfr showed few sets in my smaller sizes at the big stores. Visits to the big retailers could not find them at all. The local "best" retail manager told me that my brand does not compete at the smaller screen price point vs. the house brand and they do not bother to carry them. I bought the house brand out of the ad deal budget and will wait for the mfr sets and then pull the house brand for I don't know what. $2500 wasted.

[danrulz98]

Maybe I'm just weird, but I kinda wish frontal projection systems were more mainstream.
I don't recall EVER seeing anything of the sort in stores.

Well, I guess there is one good thing about CRTs being phased out (I guess you could say) is that they're now darn cheap. Perfect for the economy, right? A better looking, more solid TV for much less :p
I think the last TV I actually bought (not given to me) was a 24" Zenith from the early 80's. It was $4 and really fit nicely with the decore of my living room at the time.

After having a frontal projection system I don't think I'd want a traditional TV. The one downfall to the CRT's is the size.. for people with small living quarters (such as myself) its nice to have something that lays flat against the wall. Or, in my case, a 1ft cube sitting on top of two old computer cases.

Modern CRT sets, to me at least, didn't seem all that nice anyway. I'd much rather have one of these old sets you guys work on over something modern.
The old stuff just has that bit of charm...

[YamahaFreak]

I rescued a little 13-inch Craig color set today. I was at Goodwill, messing around with a (mostly) BPC Denon receiver and some cheap Kenwood speakers. Nearby was a neat row of three CRT computer monitors, with the Craig set at the far right. I was walking around the store later and passed by the open employee-only entrance, and saw said monitors, all three of them, tossed into a crate, to be then tossed into a dumpster out back. I then noticed a staff member going for the 13-inch set, so I quickly grabbed it and asked if I could buy it. ($6.99, the price was still on it) Apparently, these four CRTs had been out on the floor for almost three weeks without selling, so staff figured they should just put them out to pasture. I really didn't need another TV set, but I really couldn't bear to see this little guy tossed on his head in a dumpster!

I got it home, and, not surprisingly, it works fine, has great color for its lineage and age. (1992) It's pretty grubby and will need a good cleaning, but that's not a big deal, now is it? Better sitting around here than in pieces in a landfill.

Photo, pre-cleaning:



I just thought this was relevant to the CRT's plight, even though I went off on a tangent again. Here, now you all get a cookie.

[AUdubon5425]

I remember the disbelief when my wife told me she paid $70 for her 2003 19" Broksonic color remote TV. $70 for a new TV?

Of course, at the time I was watching a POS 1981 Quasar console I paid $10 for. The particle board cabinet had gotten wet at the bottom and would regularly "shed" from behind the lower trim. Picture was lousy too - probably a weak CRT. Come to think about it, I have never paid more than $25 for a set.

[bgadow]

Originally Posted by YamahaFreak

I rescued a little 13-inch Craig color set today. I was at Goodwill, messing around with a (mostly) BPC Denon receiver and some cheap Kenwood speakers. Nearby was a neat row of three CRT computer monitors, with the Craig set at the far right. I was walking around the store later and passed by the open employee-only entrance, and saw said monitors, all three of them, tossed into a crate, to be then tossed into a dumpster out back. I then noticed a staff member going for the 13-inch set, so I quickly grabbed it and asked if I could buy it. ($6.99, the price was still on it) Apparently, these four CRTs had been out on the floor for almost three weeks without selling, so staff figured they should just put them out to pasture. I really didn't need another TV set, but I really couldn't bear to see this little guy tossed on his head in a dumpster!

I got it home, and, not surprisingly, it works fine, has great color for its lineage and age. (1992) It's pretty grubby and will need a good cleaning, but that's not a big deal, now is it? Better sitting around here than in pieces in a landfill.

Photo, pre-cleaning:



I just thought this was relevant to the CRT's plight, even though I went off on a tangent again. Here, now you all get a cookie.

Two ironies: I have rarely seen/heard of the Craig name on TV sets, but today there was one in the paper, just like this one, for $35.

The other-I had to stop off a box of stuff to the Goodwill; not really my favorite place to donate stuff but it was by far the closest. I went over to the little alcove in the back where they take stuff and there, on the floor, having just been dropped off, were 2 TV sets: a 19" Sony from the 70s-I'm not a big fan of Trinitrons but this one was very clean and had a nice look to it; and beside it, a 13" Chromacolor II! Also very clean, probably from the same house. (somebody who had bought quality) So, I wait around for a couple minutes until somebody comes in and I ask about them, letting the guy know that I will gladly buy them even if they don't work. No dice. They simply have to go through the standard procedure, end of discussion. That means, if they work they will end up on the floor (overpriced, no doubt), if they have as much as a vertical roll, in the dumpster they go. Grrrrr! I have sent polite letters to the manager here before to no avail. I looked around front and they had one piece of electronics for sale in the store, a BPC 19" that looked like it could have come from a crackhouse.

Guess I'll try and stop in again sometime over the weekend, keeping my fingers crossed. Not that I need another set, but these are too nice to destroy.

[radiotvnut]

Originally Posted by bgadow

Two ironies: I have rarely seen/heard of the Craig name on TV sets, but today there was one in the paper, just like this one, for $35.

The other-I had to stop off a box of stuff to the Goodwill; not really my favorite place to donate stuff but it was by far the closest. I went over to the little alcove in the back where they take stuff and there, on the floor, having just been dropped off, were 2 TV sets: a 19" Sony from the 70s-I'm not a big fan of Trinitrons but this one was very clean and had a nice look to it; and beside it, a 13" Chromacolor II! Also very clean, probably from the same house. (somebody who had bought quality) So, I wait around for a couple minutes until somebody comes in and I ask about them, letting the guy know that I will gladly buy them even if they don't work. No dice. They simply have to go through the standard procedure, end of discussion. That means, if they work they will end up on the floor (overpriced, no doubt), if they have as much as a vertical roll, in the dumpster they go. Grrrrr! I have sent polite letters to the manager here before to no avail. I looked around front and they had one piece of electronics for sale in the store, a BPC 19" that looked like it could have come from a crackhouse.

Guess I'll try and stop in again sometime over the weekend, keeping my fingers crossed. Not that I need another set, but these are too nice to destroy.

You can't deal with these clowns. What they do put out on the floor is usually overpriced and they'd rather throw something out than give it to someone who can use it or sell it for less than what they think it's worth.

There was a time I could deal with the local SA as the managers would negotiate prices on older stuff and they would save broken TV's for me and I'd usually buy them for $5/each. Of course, they quickly relieved those managers of their duties and replaced them with some dragon lady with "business sense". She is the type that will toss something before she'll sell it for less than what it's worth and I tried to get her to sell me the broken TV's that come in. She let me know that they didn't have time to be saving broken TV's for me and that they would go in the dumpster. The last straw was when she lied about the working condition of a beat up, overpriced '60's Zenith stereo console and then talked down to me like I was some sort of idiot. I ended up writing a letter to the major of the SA over that one, to which I never got a reply. I will NOT, repeat, will NOT go in any thrift store here because I know I'll probably see something I want and it will either be 10 times overpriced or I'll experience something similar to what you did and end up getting PO'ed. So, it's just best for me to stay out of these places.

[AUdubon5425]

Was in a Goodwill far from home where I have seen fair prices. The cashier told me I should come back tomorrow afternoon, as their electronics guy will be there putting out a bunch of stuff. Well, I'm not driving 75 miles back there.

The closer Goodwill with the 50 y/o "Electronics Boy" had an early 90's Zenith System 3 console for $40. They also had a high-end Zenith integrated stereo with an upscale changer with a magnetic cartridge for $35. Passed on both.

[YamahaFreak]

Originally Posted by bgadow

Two ironies: I have rarely seen/heard of the Craig name on TV sets, but today there was one in the paper, just like this one, for $35.

The other-I had to stop off a box of stuff to the Goodwill; not really my favorite place to donate stuff but it was by far the closest. I went over to the little alcove in the back where they take stuff and there, on the floor, having just been dropped off, were 2 TV sets: a 19" Sony from the 70s-I'm not a big fan of Trinitrons but this one was very clean and had a nice look to it; and beside it, a 13" Chromacolor II! Also very clean, probably from the same house. (somebody who had bought quality) So, I wait around for a couple minutes until somebody comes in and I ask about them, letting the guy know that I will gladly buy them even if they don't work. No dice. They simply have to go through the standard procedure, end of discussion. That means, if they work they will end up on the floor (overpriced, no doubt), if they have as much as a vertical roll, in the dumpster they go. Grrrrr! I have sent polite letters to the manager here before to no avail. I looked around front and they had one piece of electronics for sale in the store, a BPC 19" that looked like it could have come from a crackhouse.

Guess I'll try and stop in again sometime over the weekend, keeping my fingers crossed. Not that I need another set, but these are too nice to destroy.

Man, I really hope they don't toss those sets. From what you said, I'd kill for that Trinitron...

My Craig has a GoldStar tube in it, so I wonder who really made it? GoldStar, I'm guessing, though that's also a brand I rarely see on the sets themselves.