Motorola Portable - Videokarma.org TV - Video

tvcollector · #1 04-10-2011, 10:35 AM

Saw one of these at the local flea market

I asked the guy if it works, he said he tried it and only the tubes light up, no sound, no picture.. He wanted $100 for it when i saw it a few months back, than again i saw it this morning, and said he'll take chunk change for it, basically said wants it to have a good home, i said ok so how much are you wanting to sell it.. He said $75.. I took his number this time.. It has the hinged door, and a couple wires with it.. I noticed the knobs are gray, and the middle knob is missing, but he has a replaced knob in the baggy with the wires.. What do you think? is it worth $75?

miniman82 · #2 04-10-2011, 01:04 PM

Offer $50, no telling if the tube is good. If it's bad, you'll pay double that for a good one if not more.

tvcollector · #3 04-10-2011, 06:29 PM

Thats what i was thinking of, offering $50

bgadow · #4 04-10-2011, 11:06 PM

$75 is more than fair, I think, but only if the crt is good. Condition is important, of course. I'm a cheapskate but I paid $100 for my first VT-71 (some years ago) and was very happy with that price. But, last year at the flea market I picked up a Crosley portable similiar to these, and the seller was all too happy to sell it to me for $5.

miniman82 · #5 04-10-2011, 11:28 PM

Vintage TV's are a crap shoot as best anyway. Half the time you get some dope who thinks he's sitting on a goldmine of a rare set that usually ends up being some mid 50's common as the hills RCA set, the other half you get the one you're after for beans. No rhyme or reason to it, really.

I picked up my first vintage set off the curb, and it had a new testing CRT. I paid $400 to get my CTC-7 in non-working condition here from Seattle, and the CTC-4 turned up misadvertized as a B&W set for $150 along with a working Zenith roundie. Go figure.

charokeeroad · #6 04-11-2011, 08:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by miniman82

Vintage TV's are a crap shoot as best anyway. Half the time you get some dope who thinks he's sitting on a goldmine of a rare set that usually ends up being some mid 50's common as the hills RCA set, the other half you get the one you're after for beans. No rhyme or reason to it, really.

I picked up my first vintage set off the curb, and it had a new testing CRT. I paid $400 to get my CTC-7 in non-working condition here from Seattle, and the CTC-4 turned up misadvertized as a B&W set for $150 along with a working Zenith roundie. Go figure.

That's why I invested in a CRT tester (40bucks) that has saved me hundreds and hundreds so far and will continue to save me money into the future. I don't buy from ebay or any set that I can't go and look at and pick up in my hand. One seller on CL here local took four pictures of a 50's set and not one of them showed any damage. I went to look at it and had to reject it because it was a mess.

That being said I think that CRT is a 7JP4. and somewhere on this forum or AntiqueRadio forum collectors were saying that they have never found a bad 7JP4 in a used set. I have three sets with that CRT that I bought before I had a tester. They were all good. The CRT is worth 50. If the set has all the knobs they are worth about 30 bucks and if the cabinet and chassis are all togher and not damaged there's another 40 bucks. So on this one you can't loose. It would be nice if it had a back and a lid for the front but you can probably find those around.

bandersen · #7 04-11-2011, 12:37 PM

I'll second that. I have six 7JP4 sets and all have usable CRTs.
It sounds like it does have the lid. I wonder if it has the detachable antenna ? It took me a long time to track one down for my portable.

Phil Nelson · #8 04-11-2011, 02:18 PM

I would not go over $75 for one with missing parts. You may find the missing stuff eventually, but you can't just skip down to Wal-Mart for those things.

I guess you have already seen this article, since that's where the photo came from.

http://antiqueradio.org/motvt73.htm

These Motorolas are just about the most common vintage TV model, along with Philco Predictas. Don't pay too much for one, or you may regret it later. It's an unusual week when you don't see at least a couple of these on eBay.

Phil Nelson

tvcollector · #9 04-11-2011, 06:10 PM

It has the lid, That's just a picture i found like it on the web, on that site in the link... I did read the article and saw that mentioned. But here in South Florida it's not common at all for anything that old to pop up anywhere around here. Cragslist never has any set past the 90's, but one does pop up on a blue moon, and that's maybe once or twice a year if lucky. I have yet to come across any color roundies in Florida which I'm dying to get..

charokeeroad · #10 04-11-2011, 06:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tvcollector

It has the lid, That's just a picture i found like it on the web, on that site in the link... I did read the article and saw that mentioned. But here in South Florida it's not common at all for anything that old to pop up anywhere around here. Cragslist never has any set past the 90's, but one does pop up on a blue moon, and that's maybe once or twice a year if lucky. I have yet to come across any color roundies in Florida which I'm dying to get..

I've been told by several collectors that California is the palce to look for roundie color sets. I do see them out here but must admit that I'm not drawn to them as a collector. If you look on CL and you find one you like maybe I can be of help getting it for you. The color set that I've seen, with the exception of the most early sets (and most collectable) have fairly good size cabinets. maybe if you get a couple that you like stored up you could take a trip out and pick them up.

tvcollector · #11 04-11-2011, 07:54 PM

Hum, California is quite a ways from Florida, I haven't been out of this state since 1990, nor do i have a proper vehicle to fit something like that.. Only way would be to ship, and that's going to cost a furtune, a few hundred dollars I'm guessing.

charokeeroad · #12 04-11-2011, 08:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tvcollector

Hum, California is quite a ways from Florida, I haven't been out of this state since 1990, nor do i have a proper vehicle to fit something like that.. Only way would be to ship, and that's going to cost a furtune, a few hundred dollars I'm guessing.

Yes, probably more like 200. Who ever sends it needs to pull out the chassis take out the CRT and package everything seperately. That's three boxes but it's probably the only way it will get there safely. Nothings worse than finding, buying and shipping a great find only to have it arrive on your door step like junk. I know it's happened to me more than once.

Good luck with your search.

Electronic M · #13 04-11-2011, 11:00 PM

I sympathise with tvcollector! Back when I lived I Florida I could not find hide nor hair of any tube color set(though I did get two monochrome ones), and I was not able to find one till I moved back to the midwest(then two rectangulars and two roundys came into my possesion).

I'd guess that folks in florida did not (for the most part) have the kind of money to buy color sets.

Tom C

tvcollector · #14 04-12-2011, 12:55 AM

I think one of the reasons would be, Florida doesn't have basements, or not many. I think thats the reason why they come out of the wood works up north, because people have stored them in there basement for 40-50 years and forgot about them, than they pop up when the grandmas/grandpas pass away and the relatives take over and have a Estate sale etc.. We only have garages and sheds in Florida, and most cases anything is exposed to whether conditions. I use to see alot of neat sets on the side of the road as a kid back in the 80s, I wish i could go back into time and grab them lol..

I would probably have a set shipped eventually, Right now, just don't have that kinda money to spare..

AUdubon5425 · #15 04-12-2011, 10:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tvcollector

I think one of the reasons would be, Florida doesn't have basements, or not many. I think thats the reason why they come out of the wood works up north, because people have stored them in there basement for 40-50 years and forgot about them, than they pop up when the grandmas/grandpas pass away and the relatives take over and have a Estate sale etc.. We only have garages and sheds in Florida, and most cases anything is exposed to whether conditions. I use to see alot of neat sets on the side of the road as a kid back in the 80s, I wish i could go back into time and grab them lol..

So true. If anything gets stuffed in an attic it lives in 120-150 heat for half the year. Moisture gets to anything kept in a shed or garage.