Vintage Televisions

Early televisions were monsters—very large and very heavy. This is especially true of the earliest pre-World War II models that are the rarest TVs of all. You’d better have a lot of space if you’re going to collect those.

Sony 4-204UW 'Walkie Watchie' 4-inch TV. This black & white television was made in Japan in 1965. It's interesting to see how this 'walking' theme was on Sony's mind even then, leading eventually to their groundbreaking 1979 device, the Sony Walkman TPS-L2. Bottom: Panasonic TR-1030P Travelvision 1.5-inch black & white TV (1984, Japan). From 'Vintage Televisions' at the web's largest private collection of antiques & collectibles: https://www.ericwrobbel.com/collections/tv.htm

I’ve found that collecting transistor televisions is just as much fun and a lot more practical, space-wise. Transistor TVs were the first truly portable televisions and the forerunners of the portable video revolution.

Here is the Sony 4-204UW “Walkie Watchie” 4-inch TV in black & white (1965, Japan), and beneath it the Panasonic TR-1030P Travelvision (1984, Japan). And hard to miss is the pink Sharp 3LS36(P) 3-1/2 inch color set (1986, Japan) that is on the cover of my book about collecting these great little televisions.

The Seiko TV Watch TR02-01 (1982, Japan) is a favorite with collectors. It sports a 1.2 inch black & white non-backlit LCD screen.

I was lucky enough to find the original box for the very collectible Panasonic TR-005 Orbitel, usually called the “flying saucer” TV (1971, Japan).

No vintage transistor television is more collectible than the Panasonic TR-005 Orbitel, usually called the 'flying saucer' TV (1971, Japan). Here is its original box. From 'Vintage Televisions' at the web's largest private collection of antiques & collectibles: https://www.ericwrobbel.com/collections/tv.htm

Vintage collectible Seiko TV Watch TR02-01 (1982, Japan) sports a 1.2 inch black & white non-backlit LCD screen, FM stereo radio, and time, alarm, calendar, and stopwatch functions. From 'Vintage Televisions' at the web's largest private collection of antiques & collectibles: https://www.ericwrobbel.com/collections/tv.htm

In a sort of side collection are these period graphics, from vintage tv station title cards: “To Tell the Truth” and “Art Linkletter's House Party”— a couple of TV shows popular at the dawn of the transistor TV era.

The Philco Safari (1959, USA) was the world’s first transistor television but it was a magnified reflected-view set and a bit difficult to watch. The first direct-view transistor TV came from Sony in 1960. It was model 8-301W and it was Sony’s first television ever.