1966 Sears Equatorial Refractor 60mm 450X Telescope #4-6333 WOOD CRATE Complete/Superb+

Stored since the early 70s, this is the REAL DEAL of refractor telescopes from the end of the Sears era in America. That was pre-Internet, pre-shopping mall days when Sears cataloged EVERYTHING! Generators, clothes, tractors, telescopes, firearms, toys......This was made in Japan, where the finest optics and cameras were from beginning in that era as well. The US made the best for decades, but in the 60s, Japan emerged as a car manufacturer with Datsun, Toyota and Honda and also a camera manufacturer. It took a while for US buyers to accept Japanese items as equal or finer quality, but look where we are now. Sears labeled their products for sale in America. This is a very large and heavy wooden case, OVER 3 FEET WIDE and weighs a LOT with hinges and the case alone would cost you this much to buy today. Look at the edges and you see finger-groove construction and metal corner caps. Seriously, this crate alone is worth a couple hundred. This was not made by robotic machines, and these days, it would be injection molded plastic. Opening the top, you see a packing list (see photos) on the top lid, an instruction and specification booklet and the tripod and scope with 3 eyepieces and Barlow lens....as far as I can tell, it is ALL there. The last one of these I saw sell for $335 in 2009 and that one had some issues and scratches and dents. This is the same light blue that most 60s Sears telescopes had and though various models came with a wooden tripod, this deluxe model had a fully metal tripod. It has the mount (theres a mount selling on Ebay for $50...just the piece joining the tripod to the scope is $50) and all sorts of pieces, all in their original plastic wrap. Visit the online astronomy forums and you will see these telescopes mentioned with reverence. Many astronomists love the 60mm vintage Sears Discoverer scopes as the long 900mm focal length + superb lenses provide awesome color + clarity and can top many modern scopes. The No. 4 6333 is the model to get