'39 Motorola "Picnic" portable

[Electronic M]

Originally Posted by vortalexfan

In my experience those battery only radios or 3-way power radios like what is being discussed in this thread are NOT inexpensive the "cheapest" one I've seen so far was over $100 which isn't inexpensive, for me if its $50 or less that's what I consider inexpensive. So unfortunately I'm probably never going to own a battery only set, seeing as I don't ever spend more than $50 for anything like a vintage radio or stereo equipment.

These portables and farm sets do tend to be on the low end of the market. With farm radio tombstones where there was also an AC set that used the same cabinet the battery only versions tend to fetch ~1/2-1/4 the price of the AC versions. Many portables tend to be cheap as well. Granted better condition tube radios have generally been climbing out of the $5-40 range.

The nicer stuff you gotta pay more for or be really persistent in your search and or lucky. I often go to radio swapmeets ready to spend $100-300...Sometimes I hunt up a bunch of deals on low price stuff sometimes I blow most of it on a big ticket item that I feel I'll enjoy more than 5-10 average or project sets, sometimes I just don't want anything all that much and buy nothing or close to it (and save that money for other stuff).
Also you only have so much space, once it fills (that has happened to me a few times) if you still want stuff you start to realize that selling 10 cheap and or junky sets and spending the money earned on one really nice set both fixes the space issue and improves the overall quality of what you have...

[decojoe67]

Originally Posted by Electronic M

These portables and farm sets do tend to be on the low end of the market. With farm radio tombstones where there was also an AC set that used the same cabinet the battery only versions tend to fetch ~1/2-1/4 the price of the AC versions. Many portables tend to be cheap as well. Granted better condition tube radios have generally been climbing out of the $5-40 range.

The nicer stuff you gotta pay more for or be really persistent in your search and or lucky. I often go to radio swapmeets ready to spend $100-300...Sometimes I hunt up a bunch of deals on low price stuff sometimes I blow most of it on a big ticket item that I feel I'll enjoy more than 5-10 average or project sets, sometimes I just don't want anything all that much and buy nothing or close to it (and save that money for other stuff).
Also you only have so much space, once it fills (that has happened to me a few times) if you still want stuff you start to realize that selling 10 cheap and or junky sets and spending the money earned on one really nice set both fixes the space issue and improves the overall quality of what you have...

I agree. The bottom line is collecting antiques is a luxury. If you can't afford to pay what the average selling price is to be in the hobby, then it's probably best not to be involved. I sacrifice money that I could be putting towards many other things to enjoy this hobby, but then I'll back away from it for long stretches every once in while due to finances.
In the antique radio hobby, if you can't afford these battery sets, or typical AA5's and such, then it's definitely not for you.

[maxhifi]

I find that the days of nice $50 sets are about over. Usually a $50 radio is either an undesirable model, or an example which needs a lot of work. There's a lot to the statement that something is only original once. When I began this hobby, I liked the prospect of buying a beater for low money, and re-finishing it. These days, I have zero interest in a cabinet which needs extensive work. I either want original, or I'll pass on it. Unless of course it's a really cool radio, and there's options for rescuing the original finish.

[Electronic M]

I hope you held onto the original batteries. They can be kept as an artifact or gutted and used to hide modern batteries and or a DC to DC voltage stepup converter.

[decojoe67]

Originally Posted by Electronic M

I hope you held onto the original batteries. They can be kept as an artifact or gutted and used to hide modern batteries and or a DC to DC voltage stepup converter.

Yes I did Tom, thanks. They're in pretty good shape too. Amazing how they never leaked in 77 years. They barely moved when I tried to take them out, but then they finally budged. They actually looked great in the set, but they made it very heavy! The 3 of them are nearly the weight of the radio!