Hello all. I have an original condition Sparton 65, completely intact, nice cabinet & speaker. Even has the original "curtain burner" power cord. I'm thinning out my table radio collection, and can't decide if I should sell it "as-is", or do a complete restoration and sell it afterwards. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks in advance for your input.

:Hello all. I have an original condition Sparton 65, completely intact, nice cabinet & speaker. Even has the original "curtain burner" power cord. I'm thinning out my table radio collection, and can't decide if I should sell it "as-is", or do a complete restoration and sell it afterwards. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks in advance for your input.
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From a strictly financial viewpoint, unless a set is particularly collectible, the time and money spent on "completely restoring" it is unlikely to be recouped in a subsequent sale. It's sort of like trying to restore a 1970's automobile: you could sink $8,000 into it bringing its drivetrain, interior, and body up to showroom condition; yet in the end you would have a car that is worth around $4,500 on the collectible-automobile market in pristine condition.

Of course, if the time/money aspect is immaterial to you, it's always a great feeling to "make something old new again". And we are only the stewards of these objects, anyway- so maybe you could look at such a restoration as an endowment to whoever ends up as its next custodian.

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Wise insight, Tom. I dislike selling any of my collection, but it seems that our house has shrunk over the years, at least according to my wife. (I need to control my addiction to wood boxes with tubes inside.) I'm inclined to sell off a few complete sets as-is, and give someone else the chance to do it "their way". I appreciate your perspective.