Giant German pointy swivelling TV from the 1950s/60s

No Pattern Required tells us about the KUBA Komet, a 5'7" tall, 7' wide, 300lb TV that could swivel all the way around:

Wow! What can I say about this TV, but Wow! Is this not the most retro, kitschy, crazy TV you have ever seen? This is the Kuba Komet from Germany, and I am totally in love. The KUBA Corporation manufactured the Komet from 1957 to 1962 in Wolfenbuttel, West Germany. These were kind of an early version of the entertainment center, as there were 8 speakers embedded in this along with a record player, a radio, and a TV tuner in the bottom cabinet. For an extra charge you could also get a early version of a type of tape recorder and a Remote control with UHF tuner!

Sara’s Dream TV – The Kuba Komet! | No Pattern Required (via Retronaut)

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

MORE: Gadgets • germany • happy mutants • Old school

More at Boing Boing

Eurovision 2013: An American in London

The technology that links taxonomy and Star Trek

Jake0748

Maybe the most awesome TV I have ever seen. Funny, but I would have gone nuts over it in 1962, (when I was six years old), and I’m going nuts over it now. I want one.
- KBert
  
  eBay watch list… someday one will show up!
  Antique Trader dot com, Sept. 1, 2011:
  “Although the set doesn’t work, a bidder paid $3,250 during an Aug. 28, 2011 estate sale held by Austin Auction Gallery.
  Bidding opened at $800.”
- noah django
  
  hmm… you could probably get it to work with some kinda digital converter these days, but germany’s TVs matched up to a different broadcast standard than other countries (I’m assuming you’re in North America, and it’s definitely different.) not only were the freqs different, but the way the cathode rays scanned the tube (i.e. pixels per inch) was different and I think the power supply was also different.
  
  anyway, kind of a moot point because since we switched to a digital broadcast standard, even our *own* CRT tvs need to be converted. But, this is several extra levels of maker project to get this thing operational outside of Germany.
  
  But yeah, it’s pretty sweet, though. If you can find one, go for it!
oasisob1

Now witness the firepower of this fully ARMED and OPERATIONAL television set.
- Jake0748
  
  Get outta here you crazy nut.
TheMadLibrarian

I betchoo a cookie you could get a cabinetmaker to recreate it, then retrofit it with a BluRay player, flat screen TV, googlephonic stereo, and any other bells and whistles you might want. Coolio, Daddy-O.
- Jake0748
  
  But, but… It wouldn’t be from the SIXTIES man.
- Trefunk
  
  To the cabinet!
http://twitter.com/smknghrtdesigns SmokingHeartDesigns

That really fills up my Q Zone.
- http://noctilucent-studios.blogspot.com/ Noctilucent Studios
  
  No idea what this means, but I like the sound of it. I also would love to see photos of this set in peoples homes from the time, maybe some German family’s holiday snaps?
  - http://twitter.com/smknghrtdesigns SmokingHeartDesigns
    
    There’s a Simpsons episode with a very angular person imbibing Duff in a Space-Age flavored commercial. He turns into a rocket and takes off. Just before lift-off he says something like “Duff really fills up my Q-Zone.”
Rich Keller

I’m trying to figure out if and/or where Germans would put the umlaut in Googie.

I love how the lines are all angular and jet-age, but the material is wood. That would never occur to me.
- mrtut
  
  Google for Göögelchen or Güügelchen, which are attempts at the diminuitive.
  - Trefunk
    
    Plural “Goebbels”.
    - mrtut
      
      That’ll be a Godwün (Futur 2 at sunrise)
rattypilgrim

…And poke your eye out at the same time.
Adam Mangels

For whatever it’s worth, this TV looks like a miniature model of the Libeskind-designed Denver Art Museum. http://ad009cdnb.archdaily.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/1285955743-dam-0000204cbitterbredt-803×1000.jpg
- noah django
  
  ten-to-one his folks had this TV in the living room.
crummett

That has major Maker project written all over it!
http://twitter.com/GDanken G. Danken

they made more of those cool things. http://www.kuba-museum.de/geraete.html
howaboutthisdangit

It was a stylish multi-media center. That phonograph was hi-fi, I presume.
IronEdithKidd

WANT!!!!111!!11
http://www.facebook.com/martinmartin Martin Bauer

Want to see one? The “Museum of Things” in Berlin-Kreuzberg has one set on display. It’s huge! http://www.museumderdinge.de/
Robert Cruickshank

Moses Znaimer has one of these in his TV museum in Toronto. The web page says that they’re currently closed, but moving to a new location in 2013.
grimatongueworm

The ONLY way to watch SCHPROCKETZ!!
http://profiles.yahoo.com/u/ZQ7TZ4C22MZT4G244CYOWPWAG4 Marc

It’s so fascinating, I don’t think I’d ever get past it’s beauty to want to turn the thing on and ruin its presence…