DuMont Danish Modern

[John Folsom]

Hmmm

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...ADME:B:SS:US:1

At a starting bid of $99, it is pricey. But check out the buy it now price! Well, it is good to dreqm.

[Sandy G]

$1250 for a black 'n' white console, that's been "rode hard 'n' put up wet" as we say here ?!? I'd like to have some of what he's been smokin'....

[daro]

The set looks like more like mid to late 60's then 50's, For $1.250 for somthing that has been in the weather, I don't think so.

[blue_lateral]

Arent rectangular combos something you still have to pay to have hauled away? I wish it werent true, but....

[jstout66]

and they threw out the "Eames" word in the auction. WHY do people always have to name drop Eames when they want a high price. Like the Eames collectors don't know what they're buying? Kinda like how some people use the word bakelite or catalin for EVERYTHING. Helllooooo it's WHITE plastic...... LOL!

[electronjohn]

Yah...I'm sure there were a lot of solid-state amps in the mid-50's.

[Jeffhs]

The seller says he cannot get a picture on the TV because he "does not have an antenna..." Sheesh. He could get a cheap pair of rabbit ears to test it, or else hook it up to cable through a matching transformer. If he is in Phoenix, he should have more than enough signal to air test it with an antenna. Heck, even a piece of wire run off one of the VHF antenna terminals should give him enough of a signal if he's in a good signal area.

As to the starting bid and BIN, well, this person may be very new to online auctions and may not realize that his opening bid for a set that old is too high. The BIN, however, is so far out of line it's ridiculous. If this were an RCA CT-100 or some other sought-after early color set, I could see having a BIN that high, but not for a set of this type.

Many times ebay sellers will throw important-sounding words around in their listings just to make the set look good, without having any idea what the words mean; this certainly seems to be the case with this person. Seems to me he/she just wants to get rid of the set at any and all costs, even if it means making the thing sound more important, rare, etc. than it really is.

As I said in a previous post: Sheeesh! What some people won't do these days to sell something quickly.

[Chad Hauris]

The stereo is most likely a tube type tuner with germanium transistor power amplifier, probably from around 1964 or so.

Most people do not have much technical knowledge about TV or TV history so I think it may be too much to always expect accurate information in ebay descriptions...those of us with technical knowledge can come to our own conclusions.

[pallophotophone]

A single finger on one hand on either of the antenna screws should be enough to get some sort of image other than what he has now- unless you're 500 miles from nowhere.

Bob

[Sandy G]

Uhh, yeah...Whaddabout another old standby, the Metal Coathanger EVERYBODY has a potful of them damn things....

[RetroHacker]

It does seem that most TV's listed on eBay are owned by people who have never owned or used a television before, and have no concept or knowledge of what a TV is capable of doing. This leads to things such as a set with no vertical deflection, no high voltage, or improper vertical height to be classified as "working". This is due to the mythical belief in the rarest and most sought after devices in existance - the antenna. This is a very complicated and powerful device, and a seriously precision instrument. It is capable of bringing a picture to a set with missing tubes, burned out flyback or rotted coils. Since we all know that these sets are working, since the tubes light up, and that if only an antenna were present, we'd be watching reruns of "Everybody Loves Raymond". Nobody owns an antenna _and_ a television set, these things simply do not happen. Such a powerful entity is rare and mythical, and has never been actually seen by an eBay seller. That, and the arcane wisdom and technical knowledge required to construct something able to serve as an antenna has been lost to time.

There are some, however, that are disbelievers in the powers of the antenna - they believe that a television can operate without it's influence, and that the only thing standing between a blank screen and glorious lollipop color, is a tube or two. Yes, in the back of a television live tubes. These are also very sacred things - so sacred, in fact, that they cannot be referred to by their true names by those of weak constitutions - and thusly have become commonly known as "bulbs". Bulbs are vital to a TV's operation, and if they light up, they are known as 'good'. Bulbs that light dimly, or that are unable to be seen through dirt, crud, spiders and RF sheilds, are 'bad', and must be replaced. Everyone knows that with a couple new tubes, a set will be just like new. Unfortunately, these hallowed tubes are no longer available anywhere, so finding replacements will be hard at best. 6GH8's are so rare, that people have killed for them. Or paid 29.95 plus shipping for them.

The antenna and the tube are believed in by many, but few believe in both. It is, however, very common for eBay sellers to ignore both beliefs entirely, opting simply to worship under the alter of the mighty bubblewrap - a single sheet of which can protect a fragile amplifier from a hundred gorillas wearing brown uniforms. There are some forces in this universe that are not to be trifled with - only believed in and worshiped silently.

-Ian

[Sandy G]

That numbuts bestid that was trying to unload tree branches as rare, exotic Mpogopogo antennas needs to branch out into the wide wunnerful world of TVs.....

[Carmine]

Here are a few fun quotes...

I am willing to change the buy it now for anyone who requests a different price.

Somebody request .99

The TV powers on and has sound, but I can't get a definate picture. I assume it needs an antenna, of which I do not have.

You have an eBay store that specializes in mid-century items, yet rabbit ears are a mysterious concept?

The record player is a Garrard - has multi speed and plays 16, 33, 45, and 78 records.

Unwilling to claim a "definate" picture, but you're sure it plays 16 RPM records? And these are more common than an antenna?

These Televisions are highly collectable and much coveted!

I'll eat my hat if it gets one bid.

Purchased from an estate were original owners were doctors. Telesets like these were VERY expensive brand new and only the affluent could afford them!

Wow if I owned it, perhaps I could suddenly heal the sick! I wonder if the servants were allowed to even glance at the Teleset?

These DuMont Teleset Consoles were in the same price range as plasmas are today - around $5K and up.

Expensive? Yes. Equivalent to $5K in 1965 dollars? No.

Most DuMont televisions that are available on the secondary market are not this style, they are more boring - this teleset is way cool

Ok, this implies that the TV is "somewhat" boring, just not as boring as other styles. Aren't all DuMonts on the secondary market, or could I buy one of these new at Curcuit City? I'll have to look closer next time I stop in.

[Sandy G]

WTF izza "Teleset", anyway, fer cryin' out loud....This guy is tryin' REAL hard to Polish a Turd, methinks..."definate" picture..."teleset"...and no anteeny...Yeah, right..Everybody in Ebayland trying to hawk one of these tired old appliances always lives on the far side of a hill, 3.7 metric lightyears from a teeVee station, so reception is terrible, and, umm, we can't check it..Sheesh !!

[David Roper]

"Teleset" was a Du Mont trademark going way back to the beginning, so it's probably so called somewhere...maybe prominently on the back cover.