Kind of cool, but wish it were older. I wonder if manufacturers made others?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=360260080659&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

I doubt that that was ever meant to be an official RCA salesman's sample. I've seen that model of TV before. It's just a basic table model B/W TV that was installed into a cabinet who's styling resembles the larger, full sized, console TV at that time. I think it was part of RCA's regular line but with bit of a novelty twist to it.

Color TVs were always the top money making models for any TV manufacturing company. Why would any company, esp. RCA, represent their line of TVs with some cheap little B/W set as their official salesman sample. I think the old lady just said that just to help sell that TV to this guy who's now selling it on ebay. I just can't vision any prospective customer deciding to buy a RCA console TV, especially a color TV, based on seeing that little B/W TV. I'm sorry but I just can't vision it.

I was service manager for an RCA dealer in the 70's, and can verify those little sets were NOT salesmans samples. They were indeed a part of the regular RCA line of sets. We sold quite a few of them, nearly all to people who intended to use the set in a bedroom as it would look cute sitting on top of a dresser or night stand.

It's amazing how many people will make up stories about things they know nothing about. Distributor salesmen used catalogs to sell sets to dealers, and dealer salesmen used catalogs to sell sets that they didn't actually have on display on the sales floor. Our sales floor was huge, and two rows high, so it was possible to display almost every TV set in the RCA and Zenith product lines on the floor.

I've been hearing that "Sample" story for years now, I think it's been repeated so much it's believed to be true.

I have the regular plastic cased version of that set.