Vintage Guru Reveals Her Glamour Secrets
The Killer Mobile Device for Victorian Women
Gloriously Grotesque 19th-Century Pipes
The Beautiful Chaos of Improvisational Quilts
Our Dad, the Water Witch of Wyoming
This 1959 Goggomobil Is Insanely Cute and Gets 55 MPG. Why Can’t Detroit Do That?
California Cool: How the Wetsuit Became the Surfer's Second Skin
The Unfiltered History of Rolling Papers, Plus Tommy Chong's Big Fat Jamaican Vacation
World's Smallest Museum Finds the Wonder in Everyday Objects
Fightin’ Femmes: Unmasking Female Superheroes with Author Mike Madrid
Posted 1 year ago
rocker-sd
(85 items)
This is a Mid Century Modern, Regency Mandarin Red, TR-4 transistor radio, circa 1956. It is almost mint condition with it's original leather case and ear microphone. I spent some time researching this radio. It is the second of this model the first being the Regency TR-1. The TR-1 sells for $500.00 to $700.00, just for the radio. The main difference between the two is the TR-4 has a aluminum dial plate and the TR-1 has a heavier brass dial plate. Most of the Regency radios I have seen listed for sale are for the radios only and the cases and earphones listed separately. I think this is because the case and earhones are same for both models. My delema is if I were to list this for sale should I keep them together as a set or should I list them separate for the highest profit potential?
Transistor RadiosThe transistor was invented in 1947 at Bell Labs in New Jersey. In 1954, Te…
I doubt it makes a big difference how you list the individual items. There were very few TR-1's made and less than 2000 known to exist today. Therefore the asking price is high. A working TR-4 can be purchased for around $40.
Thanks for the imput fhrjr2, I have seen the leather Cases selling for $50 and up, and the earhones bring $35. There is currently a Mandarin Red TR-4 on e-bay with a $169.95 bid with 4 days remaining on the auction.
People on eBay will certainly buy and bid. I have shipped radios from Florida to Hawaii from eBay sales. Your case when new sold for $3.95 so if you get $50 that is a pretty sweet profit I would say.
I would love to get my hands on one of these but them always go for more than I can justify. I'm waiting to find one in an antique store where someone might not know what they have...lol... I would list them seperately. Like you say, a TR-1 owner might want the case and pay a bit more for it. I'm thinking that's a $200-$300 radio easy. Thanks for sharing it!!!
I have quite a few transistors but nothing as nice as this one. Here's a link to a few of mine. I have more posted if you'd care to look....
http://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/7462-three-early-transistor-radios?in=user
This post is in violation of collectors weeklys rules.