Is this Zenith really "rare" ?
 

I think I've seen this set kicking around for a while.

1956 Zenith 24" Blonde Maple Y2672E Royal "X" Chassis Antique Television Set **RARE**

(no affiliation)
http://sites.google.com/site/antiquezenith/

Think it's just "medium rare" :D

Comes with a golf ball sitting behind the speakers... Two 5U4s atop the power transformer!

Wow-sure did put a lot of effort into that! But, no, not very rare. Not so common as an RCA or Philco from that year, I guess, but they turn up frequently enough. This is the kinda set that, if the crt was known to be good, and I had the space, I might-might give $20. But, if somebody really likes it, they should go for it.

An interesting read, but I doubt that they'll get anything near the starting bid.

I wonder where he got the 12 surviving sets number? Is there a database other than ETF's?

John

Nice set, but no biggie. Those did come with Flashmatic remote available, but that one in the ad is not equipped with Flashmatic (as seen with no flash windows at the corners of the mask). Just another nice 50s console is all... Probably worth $75-$100 to the right buyer... AND ONLY the right buyer.

Probably nobody has bothered to log any of them in any database... I bet the National Milestone Car Society has very few 1987 Plymouths in their database either. :scratch2:


Charles

I think they're gonna be surprised when they get NO bids after all that hype.

Hell, you couldn't get $400 if it was a Flash-Matic, or a Space Command, much less a rather plain jane set.

"Less that 12 of this model known to exist" Who's counting them?

I just DON'T care for the "Gee Whiz, Mister Wizard, suddenly its 1960 !" styling, either..

I agree. It's much more exciting when you seen an ad that you "almost" don't click on, such as "Large old television in wood case; needs repair", and it turns out to be a really rare set! A collector friend of mine found a prewar DuMont that way, and I found a rare 630 TCS (console version of 630) that way! :banana:

Charles

Wow - lucky you! I could really go for one of those :yes: or a 721TCS

Try finding ANY buyer these days. I STILL have a 24" 1958 Space Command that I can't even GIVE away. I hate this because we all know what happens eventually when you need to move something and can't. I just don't have the heart! Beautiful set!

We have an unfinished apartment in Los Angeles (waiting for the economy to get better), which is now full of TVs that I "rescued". Must be 30 of them in there. When the time comes, I sure hope I can find new homes for those sets. If not, I won't junk them, but they'll have to go in our barn out in Moorpark, which is better than being exposed to the elements, but not much better. A fellow AKer came by last fall, and left for Northern Cal with a fully loaded trailer. Made two married men and one of two wives happy.

Charles

If you were setting up a '50's era room this would be a nice display piece. Not extremely rare and the over use of the word antique for a '56 TV is a bit extreme. I guesss if you were born in the 70's or early 80's it might seem like a TV from the dawn of television.

-Steve D.

It's a 24" tube, that makes it much more scarce than a 21" but I still wouldn't give $450 for it.
Maybe $200 if you were setting up a 50's room, I'd still want a remote set for that much.

Tubejunke if you were closer I'd find a way to fit your set in here somehow! :)

Don't seem rare to me , it's a nice exaple of mid to late 50's styling , but I have seen many on ebay over the years with a low starting bid .
I got a good laugh out of this ::D

There's at least one AK TV collector I met, who was born in the 90s :jawdrop: .

Maybe we need to start preserving Daewoo TV-VHS combo units from the early 90s! Of course when I was 10 or 11, and showed up at the SCARS swapmeet looking for old TVs, I was looking for 30-year-old 7-inch electrostatic sets!

Charles