by ggregg »
Thu Jul 29, 2010 4:56 am
The short answer is follow ebay. Watch the auctions of similar sets and see what they go for. Remember there are funny games played. The most common is people buying back their own stuff so it looks like it has some value. Console radios have a big problem. They are expensive to ship. Now I'm going to get on my soapbox. Skip over to the end if you don't want to hear it.
Again, what you have is a parts set. If you want to teach yourself to fix radios ( it's not that hard, I did it), probably about $50 worth of parts and a lot of time and you can probably get it to work. When it's done, it will be worth between $50 and $100 if that. In all honestly, I sold one, same model as yours, about 7 years ago for $35.00 and everything worked on it. It wasn't perfect but good enough to put in the house. Hate to be such a crumugeon but honestly people, quit worry about what somethings worth. Fix it or get it fixed because you LIKE it, not because you want to make a quick buck. Unless you know what you are doing you will be in for a big surprise. I was into radio collecting big time in the 1990's. Prices were better then than they are now on many radios. Many, if not most, console radio collectors are after only a few high buck sets that were rare when they were new. EH Scott, Midwest, Mcmurdo Silver are a few that bring big bucks but they were expensive when they were new and quite rare. Every collector wants a Zenith Stratosphere, the big 25 tuber. You know how many they made? I've heard between 15 and 25. Chances of finding one in a barn or garage sale are pretty slim. Little catalin plastic table sets bring into the thousands. The thing is everybody wants them uncracked. In real life, over 80% of them are cracked so they will not bring top dollar, not even close. Someone who can repair radios can usually get just about anything to work but finding a piece of trim or a good plastic dial cover is another story. Condition means everything and a good original can bring more money than a restored one because they are only original once. Many marginal or even OK sets are parted out because that's the only way they are worth anything. There are still more around than demand.
Zenith black dial console radios from the late 30's and early 40's and the bigger shutterdials from the same vintage are probably the only somewhat "common" console radios that bring good money consistently. Good money is $200+ depending on the cabinet and tube count. Even the low end of that price range would be for a complete set in good shape.
Off soapbox now. There are a number of books available to learn how to repair old radios. I would try Antique Radio Classified (they have a website but don't know what it is) and Antique Electronic Supply (
http://www.tubesandmore.com) to get started. This might be the one to learn on. I learned on a 1938 Fairbanks Morse that I sold when I got it working and regretted it immediately. I've been searching for 20 years for another one and haven't come across one yet.
Greg Carlson
"it must be a fuse"
I just wonder what to do with this...