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Show us some pictures of your ideal set from what you can find online to give us a better idea of what you are looking for.
Would you prefer to work on a tube-based set or solid state? Typically, solid state sets are better performers as they are not nearly as fussy as tubes are. The flip side of that is that tube tvs are much more friendly to service (if you don't mind the lethal voltage thing). If you were looking for a roundie, that is basically a color tv with a perfectly round picture tube. Hence, the face of the tv from the cabinet is rounded. This was the standard color tv from 1955-65. After that, tubes became squarer and squarer. Most collectors tend to value roundies made by Zenith as they are among the most reliable of their breed.
I have had very poor luck with finding old color tvs on Craigslist. I'm afraid these just get junked as they have little nostalgia factor to anyone. B&W sets come up much more frequently as the average joe can claim that as an 'old tv'. It seems most people here on AK find their sets at estate sales. Almost every house sale I go to has an old floor model tv somewhere in the house. This includes roundies. One auctioneer put it best when he told me that he could fill a dumpster with all the color consoles he sees every month. He went on to curse sofa beds in the same breath (I do agree with him on that one). I use auctionzip.com to find upcoming estate sales in my area. Tvs are almost never mentioned. I can usually tell by the age of the rest of the stuff that it was the home of an older person who hadn't bought anything new in thirty years. That's been my system and it has worked well.
Hope this gets you started, and best of luck to you.
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