Let me start by saying that collecting vintage TVs can be a lot of fun but if you are not careful you could end up with a lot of very heavy junk in your basement or garage. I started collecting TVs back in 1976 when most of them were not very old. You can pick a time period , pre WWII, post war to 1950, 1950s, 1960s, 1070s and even the 1980s.

     Lets start with the pre WWII TVs. These set are extremely hard to find and you are probably not going to find one in someones basement (never say never though). The pre war sets were mostly experimental so not very many were made. Most of them are in the hands of collectors or in museums already and were only available in the big cities where transmitting stations were sending test patterns and minimal programming. One other pre WWII TV is the mechanical scanning disk TV. These are just about as rare as the electronic ones but parts do show up on ebay. I have seen Daven mechanical scanning wheels, Kino lamps and Daven amplifiers, all used in these mechanical TVs. Let me know if you have any questions on these items and I can give you more information.

     Next would be the post WWII TVs up to about 1950. These sets are quite plentiful and easy to collect. They have round picture tubes from 3" to about 16". The small ones are easy to pick up. 7" screens were very popular and you can buy them pretty much anytime you want here on ebay or at a radio meet. The nicest part about collecting the smaller screen sets is that they don't weigh too much, can display on shelves, and you can put more of them in your room. The 10", 12" and 16" sets are quite heavy and large. Some are very nice though and you probably would want at least a few in your collection. Most have wood cabinets and some are quite stylish. Admiral used bakelite for a lot of their 7" and 10" sets and even made a console TV out of one piece of bakelite. Prices on these sets are very reasonable with 90% of them in the $40-$200 range. This is a fun area for TV collectors. 

     Next are the TVs of the 1950s. This is usually an area for collectors of you either love them or you hate them. The big collectible in this group is the Philco Predicta line of sets. These sets had the CRT (picture tube) on a swivel on top of the set. You see them on TV in commercials or promotions from time to time. They made several models in several colors so you could fill a room with just this type. The other sets of the 1950s have mostly rectangular tubes in a square cabinet with the small portables in metal with a handle on top. If you like these sets you can pick most of them up very cheap (except the Predicta of course). Prices on these sets are cheap with 90% of them in the $5-$85 range. The Philco Predicas fluctuate with supply and demand but for a good complete table model you are looking at $300+ and the floor models can go $600 to over $1000.

     Color TVs from the 1950s are also very collectible and not common. From the first RCA 15" set right up to 1959 these can go into the thousands for a good set.

     The 1960s TVs don't really have a good collector following and most of them are worthless at this time. There are a few exceptions but not many. Some early 1960s color sets have some value and some of the early remote control TVs have sold for a descent amount here on ebay. My suggestion is to really research the set before you buy it. Even a free TV from this time period may not be worth the effort.

     The 1970s are an interesting time in TV production. The fully transistorized TV became commonplace and miniaturization took hold. Some of the early 1970s TVs (tube and transistor) are quite colorful and have a character all their own and are quite collectible. Prices are reasonable ranging from $5-$100 for 95% of these sets. Some really collectible sets in the 1970s had a 5" screen and were shaped like a pyramid, a flying saucer and others. The late 1070s have some very small transistorized TVs as small as 1" screens. These are quite collectible and can range from $20-$300 for most of them. Collecting these smaller sets means you could have quite a few on a couple of shelves in your display room. These are easy to pick up here on ebay on a weekly basis and you could get a good collection together in no time. A fun and colorful period at reasonable prices.   

     The 1980s have a few collectible TVs to offer. The Sony Watchman and some of the Panasonic small sets are the majority of the collectibles in this time period. They are very reasonable to buy ranging from $20-$100 for 95% of them. A lot of collectors in this time period want TVs that are new in the original box with all of the paperwork. Nice stuff.

     In conclusion, collecting TVs can be a lot of fun. You may want to pick a particular time period or have a few from each. Whichever you choose, it should be fairly easy to pick up a descent representation of all of the time periods (with the exception of the pre WWII stuff, good luck!). I will be happy to help in any way I can to help you get started or answer any questions you may have.

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     Good luck and happy hunting!!!