|
I see them around from time to time, but - yeah - they're fairly rare. I think it's part the relative quality of the sets - a 1971 Sylvania probably wouldn't work if you found it now, and it probably broke down in 1986. And in 1986, if your 15 year old TV broke, you wouldn't bother to get it fixed, you'd just by a new solid state one. And the other part - there is no value in keeping it. It's not a piece of furniture. It's not made of wood, it doesn't serve a purpose - it's just a metal box with a screen in it that no longer works as a television. You tossed it then and there. It wasn't a huge investment when it was new - you used it and got your money's worth out of it, it broke, you replaced it.
The large consoles stick around because they are furniture. As much as we all hate the "projects" that involve gutting a vintage TV and turning it into a bar or a bookcase - I think that idea is what kept a lot of these things alive. "Well, this set isn't useful as a TV any more, but, hey - it's a nice cabinet, I'll put it in the basement, maybe later I'll gut it and make a cabinet out of it". Unfortunately, I find several TV cabinets where someone gutted it, and then never made that bar out of it... If only they had been slightly lazier, the electronics might still be in there.
-Ian
|