Why the color tv sets where so expensive at the beging?

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by hi_volt

In 1982 I purchased a top of the line RCA Colortrak console with Dual Dimension sound (simulated stereo) to replace my old CTC-38. I paid dealer cost which was something like $1200, which was a lot of money at the time. I was making $19,000 a year. Our family purchased our first color set in 1967....a CTC-22 portable. I think we paid around $400 for it. My dad was bringing home around $200 a week at the time.

I bought a RCA CTC-22 with a bad damper diode in 1967 for $150.00. The owner couldn't afford to get it repaired and wanted to sell it. It was 6 months old and perfect condition. It was the TOTL model with the walnut grain plastic cabinet and slide-rule UHF tuner. That set, MSRP was $329.95, where the plain-Jane, white or gray model was $299.95 MSRP.
I used it sparingly and sold it for $200, but I did change all the 5GH8's and a few others. The picture was still excellent!
The improved damper diode never failed. RCA furnished two clipped together.