CED VideoDisc and Player Discussion

[Ced Collector]

You guys might have seen these recently auctioned off down by the bay.
I was the winner of both auctions and they have been added to my collection.

Whenever I score something cool, rare and or unique, I like to create a thread to share them.

I'm super stoked to showcase these with you! Two prototypes!

Robin Hood. A 2 disc set. Check out the awesome, colorful box art!










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Gene Littler












"The first CED prototype discs were multi-layered, consisting of a vinyl substrate, nickel conductive layer, glow-discharge insulating layer and silicone lubricant top layer. Failure to fully solve the stylus/disc wear and manufacturing complexity forced RCA to seek simpler construction of the disc. The final disc was crafted using PVC blended with carbon to make the disc conductive. To preserve stylus and groove life, a thin layer of silicone was applied to the disc as a lubricant.

CED videodiscs were originally conceived as being housed in jackets and handled by hand similar to LP records, but during testing it was shown that exposure to dust caused skipped grooves. If dust was allowed to settle on the discs, the dust would absorb moisture from the air and cement the dust particle to the disc surface, causing the stylus to jump back in a locked groove situation. Thus, an idea was developed in which the disc would be stored and handled in a plastic caddy from which the CED would be extracted by the player so that exposure to dust would be minimized."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitance_Electronic_Disc



For future collectable researchers:
My total costs, at ebay auction, no reserve, on Feb. 2024 were:
Robin hood - $169.03
Gene Littler $93.54


To any of you whom I outbid, sorry!....... But not "too" sorry, know what I mean?

At least I get to share them with you all for free this way though.

Enjoy!


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Direct link to my collection in alphabetical order:

https://ibb.co/album/vCk800?sort=name_asc



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My Collections https://ibb.co/album/vCk800
https://ibb.co/album/NrxGtC https://ibb.co/album/0Dmskh https://ibb.co/album/fDYM72

[Ced Collector]

The discs are translucent. If you hold them up to the light, you can see through them.

Robin Hood is labeled as Disc #10020

Engraved on both sides, of both discs, it reads:
Robin Hood - Color - Side (1-4 depending on disc and side) - RCA and Selectavision are Tradmarks of RCA Corp. Made in USA. 10020

Disc 1, side 1, holds a sticker, reading:
16-85
2151
F
Disc 1, side 2, holds a sticker reading:
16-85
2151
B
Disc 2, side 3, holds a sticker reading:
17-18
1151
F
Disc 2, side 4, holds a sticker reading:
17-18
1151
B

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Gene Littler is labeled as Disc #10021

Engraved on both sides of the disc, it reads:
Gene Littler - Color - Side (1-2 depending on disc side) - RCA and Selectavision are Tradmarks of RCA Corp. Made in USA. 10021



Note: The plastic center insert, of the plastic tray reading "Remove and Discard" was missing from Robin Hood. I took it from my other prototype disc "Gene Littler" to make this, higher priced set, more complete, than when I purchased it.
Robin Hood & Gene Littler were both purchased by the same seller of California, at the same time, in different ebay auction listings.
The seller informed me, he purchased them in the SF east bay area, at an estate sale.

After documentation and photographed, they are now together inside a large ziplock bag, being stored in a cool, dry place with my CED collection.
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My Collections https://ibb.co/album/vCk800
https://ibb.co/album/NrxGtC https://ibb.co/album/0Dmskh https://ibb.co/album/fDYM72

[lynx]

Wow! Those discs are really neat! I've never seen any discs like them before, and I'm glad they went to a good owner like you. They are historic treasures in the history of CED, so cherish them! The instruction to "remove and discard" seems unusual; I wonder why it would be on there in the first place if you're supposed to keep it for storage.



I don't know if you ever saw it, but last year, I saw a Lum Fong disc for sale on E Bay, which is really hard to find, so I posted a message about on here.
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Let RCA turn your television into Selectavision!

[Ced Collector]