How much to offer for RCA w/doors?

[JCFitz]

Beautiful inlaid design on the doors. I'm gonna try to get to test the tube before I make an offer.Got a call from a local classified I placed.

[Kevin Kuehn]

That's in very nice shape. Just tell them you'll waive the disposal fee and haul it away for free. You can always up your offer.

Kevin

[dieseljeep]

That mask doesn't look like a regular RCA issue. It looks to me to be a conversion to a larger screen. It should interesting to find out. Keep us posted!

[ggregg]

There is one very similar to that at an antique store near here for $39. Great shape.

[wa2ise]

Originally Posted by ggregg

There is one very similar to that at an antique store near here for $39.

Only $39 at an antique shop? That's actually not unreasonable.

Is that a "photofinish" on the doors? Fancy woodwork printed on paper that is then glued onto the wood of the door?

[John Marinello]

Is that a "photofinish" on the doors? Fancy woodwork printed on paper that is then glued onto the wood of the door?[/QUOTE]

Yes.

[Phil Nelson]

$50 or less would be a fair offer. Nothing wrong with mid-to-late 1950s B/W consoles, but around here they show up on craigslist at giveaway prices pretty regularly. So don't pay too much.

Photofinish is a paper decal that can't be refinished like real wood. Again, not a horrible thing, especially in an inexpensive set. Just be aware that if it's damaged, you'll need to use faux trickery rather than everyday refinishing techhniques.

Phil Nelson

[JCFitz]

That's what I was figuring on. Maybe try to get it for $25.He says there's slight micro cracking to the finish when looked up close.Maybe the laquer has gotten weathered a bit from being in his garage? He says it came out of his granparents estate from the room the kids weren't allowed in.Has been in his garage a few years.

Originally Posted by Phil Nelson

$50 or less would be a fair offer. Nothing wrong with mid-to-late 1950s B/W consoles, but around here they show up on craigslist at giveaway prices pretty regularly. So don't pay too much.

Photofinish is a paper decal that can't be refinished like real wood. Again, not a horrible thing, especially in an inexpensive set. Just be aware that if it's damaged, you'll need to use faux trickery rather than everyday refinishing techhniques.

Phil Nelson

[Phil Nelson]

Slight cracking or alligatoring on the surface is not a major problem. It could happen to any finish and it can be fixed whether or not the cabinet has photofinish. What's not so easy to fix is a spot where the decal was scraped off and now you see the white paper (or bare wood) underneath. I don't see any big gashes on your panels, so it should not take much skill to touch up little boo-boos.

I'm not a big fan of photofinish, but if the decal's intact, it can easily pass the six-foot walk-by test and impress your guests as real veneer.

Phil Nelson

[Tubejunke]

Originally Posted by wa2ise

Only $39 at an antique shop? That's actually not unreasonable.

I'm just glad to hear that "antique" shops are starting to even acknowledge television! For years, and most of the time these days antique shops either have nothing or will tell me some sad story about having tossed one that they had in order to make space for freaking oil and gas and ELVIS products! TVs sure get a hard way to go; the dumpster! If I go to a shop that is being ran by a woman, they often act as if they have never seen or heard of such things; as if everything else existed BUT television. They usually take my name and # as a contact in case they find anything, but I have never heard from a single one. Then one day roll up into one of the shops that wealthier folks go and there is a freaking mid 50s Muntz tagged as RARE at $150!

A couple of years ago, I noticed a mid 50s console sitting under what was once a gas pump island awning in front of an "antique" store. I stopped and looked; the set was a complete console in decent condition; no knobs missing, complete. This business was hardly ever opened, but was still in business at the time. A number of things crossed my mind that could get me in trouble and make me look REAL stupid in front of a judge, so I did the right (?) thing and walked away. I stopped again several weeks later with a plastic bag to try to cover the finish until an owner could be located. TOO LATE! The moisture had already warped the cabinet. Next time I came by the place was opened and the set was gone. I asked the old man about it and he told me that he finally had found help to lift the set into the dumpster across the road which had long been emptied. Even worse, he told me that I should have taken the set when I first found it. I remember thinking earlier that nobody could possibly care about the set or see it as merchandise, but in this wacky world I might end up with my name in the paper or some weird frivolous lawsuit over having traumatized some person by taking their only family heirloom.

[ggregg]

I've had good and bad luck with antique shops. I paid $85 for my DuMont RA-109 and the cabinet is practically MINT and a little over a hundred for my Predicta. The $39 RCA is a good deal. It's in nice shape too. But I've also seen ridiculous pricing too, just as much if not more than reasonable pricing.

[Tubejunke]

Gosh, I keep hearing about Dumont RA-109s lately! I sure wish that I didn't give mine away now! Just too big! Does yours have a good 19AP4? If so, you really did good on that purchase! Great set! I don't care much for Predicta's really, but even though problematic from the get go, they remain high demand for whatever reason. I guess the oddball design makes them popular.

[ggregg]

It works but is quite weak. I have a tester/rejuvenator on the way. We will see if it's past the point of no return or not. The Predicta has a bright CRT and a good fly so I bought it for that. But eventually I will have to get into the board. Not really looking forward to it after all I've heard, but I always wanted one and now I do.

[Tubejunke]

I hope that the rejuvenator is what a tech in the Early Color forum mentions to me is newer and will not harm the CRT. He said that the older rejuvenators do great harm to the electron gun and only give an improved picture for an ultimately shorter lifetime from the way it sounds. You might want to check out my thread over there called "Color CRT Testing." Have you tried a brightener yet?

[ggregg]

yep.