I don't know about such sets in general, but all the ones I've had like that (with the exception of a 15" Zenith and a later model RCA) never worked or worked right. I had a RCA CTC-22 that never worked at all, a GE HB 10" set with screwy color blotches in the picture, and a Sears like you threw out that had a dim picture with wrong colors (the CRT was good).

I wouldn't mind having a few of these old portables myself, especially the chance to get a fixable CTC-22 again.

I sold a 1972 RCA 14" hybrid set on Ebay a few years ago. Someone just had to have it, I guess, it brought over $150. The thing played beautifully and all, but I didn't expect to get much more than $20 for it at the time.

The GE HB color portables show up on Ebay from time to time, if you're interested in one of those. With the exception of the RCA I sold on Ebay, I haven't seen one of these tube-type color portables since the ones I had mentioned above in the mid-80's. Perhaps they were smaller and therefore easier to leave out on the curb for the trash collector.

Come to think of it, I don't see too much of the older 19" tube sets either.