What an abomination!!
A high end Mid Century shop in Knoxville, TN is selling a gutted Magnavox Imperial with different insides, painted white over walnut, and orange and green speaker panels. I suggested it would have brought as much or more in its untouched state. I got a nice answer, that it wasn't in too good shape before they transformed it. Someone, maybe on this site, took the same model as the Union Jacked one, removed all the molded trim, and came up with a Western Auto Truetone inspired cabinet.
If Magnavox, or any other console maker of that era, had offered hand carved cabinets instead of the dreaded "non wood material", only the wealthy could have bought them. And there are die hard Magnavox nuts who despise the faux bois treatment too, not just people of discriminating tastes. Even worse, your walnut, pecan, fruitwood, maple, or mahogany cabinets were just finishes, not solids or veneers. Odd though, that Magnavox outsold all the others for years. Here's my French armoire, yes, the sides and face of the bottom unit are p*****c, but the entire top is wood.
