Any of these worth saving?

[ClarusWorks]

http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/atq/3065476758.html

He's probably right about the Admiral and Motorola being 50s, but the Magnavox's styling looks more 60s to me. I like the RCA on legs, don't know anything about it but I'd guess it's from the 60s as well. Is he probably right on them being B&W?

[ctc17]

Cant go wrong for the price, get all of them!

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by ClarusWorks

http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/atq/3065476758.html

He's probably right about the Admiral and Motorola being 50s, but the Magnavox's styling looks more 60s to me. I like the RCA on legs, don't know anything about it but I'd guess it's from the 60s as well. Is he probably right on them being B&W?

Sixties (post-'64) would be my best estimate as well on the vintage of the Magnavox portable. If it were from the '50s, it probably wouldn't have the small UHF channel tuner window between channels 2 and 13 (Sears Silvertone portables of the '60s had this too; my family had a 17" Sears set, '64-'65 vintage IIRC, in a black cabinet, with an orange UHF dial in between 2 and 13).

[AUdubon5425]

RCA looks like early sixties. I agree, for ten bucks a piece you can hardly go wrong.

[Aussie Bloke]

To my opinion, they are definitely worth saving, to other collectors, opinions may vary. If these were on sale here in Australia and I had the space I would definitely buy them! The RCA set looks bit like Philips B&W TVs of the early/mid 60s era that sold in Australia and Europe for example http://www.radiomuseum.org/r/philips_9413.html .

[Captain Video]

Go get them now!!!

[zenithfan1]

Yes. Get them. NOW!! Well, maybe not at 11:46 pm but you know what I mean....

[Sandy G]

I'd Hit It...(grin)

[hi_volt]

I like the RCA with the legs. Late 50's or early 60's I'd say.

[ClarusWorks]

So, I went and looked at these sets today. The RCA set ended up coming home with me, it's a New Vista, probably B&W, model 34 B 222 MV. Sams Photofact 704-2, anyone have a copy of this? The set doesn't have the UHF tuner installed (not that those are good for anything these days anyhow) but appears to be complete on the inside and in decent shape.

As for the other sets, I took down the model numbers if anyone here is in the Pittsburgh area and interested. The seller is a guy who goes to estate auctions and says he occasionally ends up with old TVs. He isn't interested in shipping them, but if someone really really wants one I might be willing to pick it up and pack it (Obviously you'd have to pay the shipping cost, these things aren't terribly light).

The Magnavox is a model 1T5005, small all-plastic portable. Back case has "JAPAN" molded into it and the line cord is a Yazaki so it's almost certainly a Japanese rebrand. It looks to be in very good condition, not sure if it'd be tube or solid state but I suspect tube as 60s solid state gear tended to be labeled prominently as such.

The Motorola's back label is not readable, I have a sneaking suspicion the set got wet at some point. The back was only partially screwed on, there's some kind of large coil on the back of the tube that looks corroded (hence the suspicion of rain). Cool looking, not sure if it'd be restorable. Case is all bakelite, a bit scratched but probably cleanable.

The Admiral is a model PA 17 D 26, front bezel is metal, rest of the case is gray plastic. It looks to be in decent shape although there's some rust/pitting on the metal bezel and carry handle.

[benman94]

I believe all of those sets are monochrome sets, and therefore the thread should probably be moved out of the early color section.

[ClarusWorks]

Sounds reasonable. I originally posted it here because "Early B&W" made it sound like 30s/40s stuff. Also, don't get excited, the cabinet partially in the picture to the right of the RCA is a late 90s or so Zenith console.