Retro Appliances - overpriced crap?

[Stinky The Clown]

I saw this in a Home Goods store today.



Looks VERY cool.

Glossy finish. Authentic styling.

But all it is is a bolted on skin over a cheap, white, plain box refrigerator of indeterminate lineage. To be honest, it looked like one of the lower end made in China cheapos. The slick looking retro skin was actual steel with a very nice paint job screwed, literally, to the unmodified original refrigerator. A half an hour with a screwdriver and you would have the skin off and an unremarkable refrigerator sitting there.

This was their $2500 "studio size" 14.4 cu ft job.

It was basically, this $400 refrig with a fancy skin.

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&q=14+cu+ft+refrigerator&cid=1669295525860621594&os=sellers

[Warpy]

1. A genuine, reconditioned retro refrigerator

will set you back upwards of $4000. I know because I once toyed with the idea of renovating my kitchen with retro stuff and almost had a CVA when I looked at the websites.

I suppose the price of this one will go down if the fad catches on. It's expensive right now because they're trying to pay off the stamping dies.

It looks like they did a good job on it, though. The proportions are wrong, of course. Retro fridges either didn't have a separate freezer compartment or had one that was only a foot high. The average freezer compartment was about a foot square and bolted to the roof of the fridge. It would do ice cubes but not a hell of a lot else.

[Stinky The Clown]

2. Yeah, that's what they play up on their web site - and they do the job well.

Retro style in a thoroughly modern appliance. I just wish they'd used a better quality refrigerator as the basis. It was a plain, builder's grade, low end cheapo.

[Warpy]

3. It's likely their prototype

but yes, if they want people to pay that kind of money, they'll have to use something a bit better.

I've noticed lately that the trend is toward bowed fronts and other rounded features in off the shelf appliances, so they might be catching the trend just at the right time.

[supernova]

4. Not a fan of the retro look

There's a reason all that stuff went by the wayside, and the tiny storage capacity was one.

We've looked at a full capacity fridge/freezer combo that sit together as one large unit. I guess it mimmicks a commercial setup. Sears sells them together for around $2K for the stainless versions. Best deal I've seen so far. Edit: No ice/water dispenser in the door, however. I'm trying to see if they do make one.

Edit2: I guess what really irks me about appliances from that time is the design points echo the design aspects of cars.

[Stinky The Clown]

7. These are modern refrigerators with a retro skin. They make two sizes. Each have full size freezers

[supernova]

8. What we are looking at is a

complete separate upright freezer and a complete separate upright Fridge w/o a freezer. Both about 18-19 sq ft.

[Coyote_Bandit]

5. I live in an old house

with a galley kitchen that does not accomodate most of the current refrigerator models. !8.0 cubic foot is about the largest size the available space will accomodate.

Found this fridge here:
http://bigchill.com/site/fridges

The retro look does well in my home. But I want a modern high quality product and am not willing to pay a high premium for a retro look.

If I could get that for a price not much greater than what I can get a fridge for at my local appliance store then I'd consider it. But I can't. This retro fridge carries a much higher rice tag.

Edit to add: I'm thinking of replacing my fridge in the not too distant future. I'll probably go with an old style fridge with the freezer on top - in bisque - to match the other appliances. I expect a cost of less than $1000 - excluding the cost necessary to remove the monster fridge that currently resides in the kitchen (and came with the house). Apparently its removal will require removing the door, removing the door frame and removing the doors from the fridge.

[supernova]

6. Heidi and CMW got a retro fridge

last year, I think. I remember because it was fire engine ORANGE!

:rofl:

As far as I know, they've been happy with it. Perhaps it was from this company, but I'm not sure.