Overpriced eBay "collectable"

[jstout66]

Here we go again..... I have been having fun today looking at some eBay sales. I cannot believe how many dipshits are listing items they know nothing about, and with a HUGE starting bid. Check this one out..... It says early 1970's Japanese B&W set. You can clearly tell from the pictures that it is a color set. And also... who the hell would want it? Especially at $100.00! I also saw an auction where in the description the seller put, and I quote, "worked the last time it worked" What the hell?? Anyway, check this one out. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...&category=3638

[Charlie]

Since the set is located in Tokyo, it wouldn't work here anyway. in addition, it would probably cost as much to ship it to the states as it would for the opening bid!

Yeah, it's a bit crazy, but it does give us a good laugh and a good reason to bitch!

Yeah, it's B&W, cause the color's shot!!

[Kamakiri]

Rob will tell you, there would have been a time when I'd have bought that. I had a brief love affair with foreign TVs.....had a National pop-up set (like the Panasonic) that had channels 0, 1, and 5A on it in addition to the regular stuff. Was heartbroken to get a smashed Perdio Portorama from Wales and an obliterated Phillips set from Derbyshire, so that ended that.

[Jeffhs]

I just looked at the pics of the Japanese TV being discussed here. It is a 1972 model color (not B&W) set made by Hitachi (notice the brand name "Kidocolor" and the RGB color logo on the set's nameplate beneath the tuner cluster), with all standard United States TV channels (2-83) on its VHF and UHF tuning knobs (as I discovered by supersizing the pic of the control cluster and studying it closely). The set's power supply is designed to work on 110 volts AC as well. Unless this TV has been designed to work only with Japanese TV signals, which I doubt, I would think it would work perfectly well with North American and Canadian TV stations. The 110VAC power supply is a dead giveaway. I don't mean to insult anyone's intelligence, but this TV would not work in Tokyo unless its power supply were rewired to operate on Japan's electric power system, which is 220 VAC at 50 Hz. I suggest that anyone who doubts this reread the set's description on ebay. It will confirm everything I have mentioned here. Personally, however, I would ask the seller (in an e-mail) for more details on this set before placing even one bid on it. The description of the TV as a black-and-white set, for example, is obviously incorrect.

There is also the possibility that this ebay listing is a hoax. Why would anyone living in Japan own, let alone be selling, a TV set built to American television standards? Their TVs won't work in this country and vice-versa. I did notice, however, that the control labels were all in Japanese, which raises the same question--in my mind, anyhow. If the set were meant for export from Japan to this country, it would have the controls labeled in American English, would it not? (Not many Americans born and raised in this country read Japanese.) There are some serious discrepancies in the description of this set, which is why I suspect the whole listing could be a huge hoax.

I agree as well that the opening bid is far too high. I purchased a brand-new Zenith solid-state 12" b&w portable for $62 in 1978; sets like it and the Hitachi-built set can be found today at garage and yard sales for far less than even that (even free, if the seller is anxious to get rid of it). I think the seller is just trying to get as much money as he/she can from this auction, the rules and principles of fair trading be darned.

I suppose the lack of bids on it probably says a lot for the super intelligent pricing. Another good one was a few weeks ago: Some dingbat put a $1750 Buy It Now on a mid-eighties Fisher rack system. Now that's a wishful thinker.

My latest eBay money-making scheme: Wackos on eBay are paying $4 a can (plus shipping!) for an ENERGY DRINK promoted by some rapper that I can buy at the gas station down the street for $2 a can. Nice way to get rid of all those itty bitty little boxes you never know what to do with, but never threw away because they might be good for something some day.

[Chad Hauris]

I think that Japanese power is 100 V. AC 50 hz. Some equipment such as older Sony cassette recorders has this as a choice on the multi-voltage power supply, along with 115 v and 230v.