I retracted the toe kick on my 60" XBR about four months ago when I wanted to mount it into a custom cabinet that I bought. It doesn't retract all the way back where it would disappear into the stand. It still protrudes out about 3" but doesn't protrude beyond the plane of the screen in front. My unit is very stable in this position. The talk in this forum about the unit tipping forward in my estimation are greatly exaggerated. I even tried grabbing the top of the screen and pulling on it (carefully). Nada...solid as a rock!
Anyway, to answer your question: I set my XBR on my cabinet and had two friends tip the unit back about 45 degrees and had them hold it there in place while I peeked underneath. I must admit, I was a bit nervous about doing this, but all went well. There is a metal rod underneath the toe kick that is spring loaded. You need to push back on this rod to release the springs from the detent position and the toe kick will easily retract into the base. It is somewhat similar to adjusting your car seat position by pulling on the rod on the underneath front of the seat.