1971 Avanti 25CC25

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by andy

I think the same thing is true all over the country (except maybe for Chicago). Don't base things on thrift stores because most of them won't accept a TV that's more than 10-15 years. If it makes you feel any better, I've seen several of my dream sets show up in CA in the time I've been living in TX (a couple of 50's color sets, and an RCA G2000 at very reasonable prices. In that time, I haven't seen anything particularly interesting around here. I think both CA and TX have the problem of small houses without basements.

I live in a small town near Cleveland, where old TVs don't seem to show up very often. The other day I did see a 25-27" late-model Magnavox table model TV on a treelawn just up the street from me, but I didn't grab it because 1) I had no way to get it home, and 2) it must have weighed 150-200 pounds if it weighed an ounce. The latter wouldn't surprise me if the set had a 27" CRT, as most of the weight of these large-screen CRT sets is the CRT itself. My RCA CTC185 has a 19" CRT and weighs about 60 pounds (70-80 percent of which is probably, even likely, the CRT) -- close to the maximum weight limit of the stand on which it sits in my living room.

BTW, I grew up in a Cleveland suburb in which some houses were quite small and were built on slabs, hence no basements. I went to school with a kid whose family lived in such a house, and I often wondered how they managed, especially since they had a large 1950s-'60s era mechanical pinball machine in the place. My best guess is that they shoehorned the thing into the house somehow, and put it in an unused bedroom.

[TinCanAlley]

If there's anything ebay has taught me, it's that people make things up and think that because they haven't seen another like theirs, it must be worth a fortune (they really need to do a little searching on ebay and they'll find plenty of the same item).

What is really making me crazy on ebay now is the outrageous prices of vintage VCRs. I purchase a couple about 4 years ago and spent about $30 each. Now the same units are up there for prices ranging from $100 to $600! What!? I'm not paying that much for one that is NOS, let alone used. I don't need parts that bad.

[AUdubon5425]

Originally Posted by Jeffhs

BTW, I grew up in a Cleveland suburb in which some houses were quite small and were built on slabs, hence no basements. I went to school with a kid whose family lived in such a house, and I often wondered how they managed, especially since they had a large 1950s-'60s era mechanical pinball machine in the place. My best guess is that they shoehorned the thing into the house somehow, and put it in an unused bedroom.

In the 1920's-1930's some New Orleans homes were built with semi-basements and basement apartments - the bottom floor being around 4 feet underground. The idea was dropped before too long - if there's enough street flooding and water makes it to the house, well the basement becomes a catch basin for the floodwater. Better have renter's insurance...