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Storage Cartons For Boomboxes

Discussion in 'Tech talk' started by Easthelp, Feb 11, 2017.

  1. Easthelp

    Easthelp Active Member

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    Where can I find new (unused) boxes in which I can store boomboxes? I don't have the shelves to store or display the boomboxes or jamboxes on. (My collection’s far too small for displaying, to begin with.) And handling this big, heavy Sharp GF-800H(S) in an obviously slippery 30-gallon drawstring trash bag is not very safe for the stereo -- and, at times, for me. (Shrug)

    Suppliers like Uline (or "U-Line") have a huge assortment of cartons of all sorts of sizes, shapes and types of material. They have a carton that will fit relatively closely around the '800 – and, indeed, around other boomboxes like the JVC RC-M50JW. You see, a relatively close fit around a boombox is what I'm seeking in a storage carton. But such a huge collection of boxes -- always in stock and ready to ship -- comes with “major strings.” They only sell in bulk -- for instance, only in quantities of 25. They obviously envision selling to retailers and shipping companies who use huge amounts of such supplies, not to guys who need at most two or three cartons before wondering what to do with the rest of that 25-pack that weighs close to or more than forty pounds (about 18.15 kilos).


    4985577-Thinking-man-and-question-marks-3d-rendered-illustration-Stock-Illustration.jpg


    I don't have a lot of storage space here. And I certainly don't want to try the patience of family members -- none of whom are rambunctious or preoccupied kids -- by having some big, thick cluster of cartons taking up valuable space in a garage (no attic for such storage; that is, none safely accessed). Cheep Cheep Boxes also have a good assortment of boxes. True, they don’t have quite the variety of sizes that U-Line’s collection has. And, anyway, they also have minimum-order requirements of, say, ten cartons per bundle. Ten 1.8-pound (0.8166 kilo) flattened cartons, shrink-wrapped and dropped off by UPS, by FedEx or whoever, might be fewer (and easier to handle) than 25. But that’s still eight or nine boxes more than family or I will care to mess with. (Shrug) Some may say: “Just keep what you need and toss out the rest.” But isn’t that all but shopping for the Dumpster – that is, shopping to have valuable items tipped into the nearest landfill come garbage-pickup day?
     
  2. Jorge

    Jorge Well-Known Member

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    Methinks in the last paragraph there is an answer to the question: buy something you need in a box that fits!
    ;-)
    Or make your wife happy and go to Bed Bath & Beyond: one of my babies is sealed inside a duvet plastic bag, with a zipper: the bag is like 6-8mil PE. some of those duvet bags are made for boomboxes! Pillowcase bags are perfect for your headphone collection ;-)
    Always a test for my skills of steering The Boss to my ends...
    It sounds pathetic but the art of being married and staying sane is a tough one!
    Jorge
     
  3. Jorge

    Jorge Well-Known Member

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    my Toshiba "bagged" for safe storage:
    ToshibaBagged.jpg
    :crazy
     
  4. Vintage Guy

    Vintage Guy New Member

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    Wow, do not over think this. I'd get plastic containers or totes to store them in over boxes. More protection and better stackability.
     
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  5. T-ster

    T-ster Moderator Staff Member S2G Supporter

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    Yes exactly.
     
  6. Brutus442

    Brutus442 Well-Known Member

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    Simple storage totes are ideal. Especially if moisture is an issue in your area.

    It may also be advisable to add moisture absorption desiccant material in a sock or other perforated material to help prevent mold or rot issues
     
  7. Easthelp

    Easthelp Active Member

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    Hmmm ... I suppose, Jorge, that your zip-top plastic-bag idea is better than letting that RT-S-series Toshiba get drenched in a downpour. (Brr!) True, like my later-built Sanyo M-1770K, that modest Toshiba model doesn't even have a tape counter -- despite its being made in the "Golden Age" or at least in the "Silver Age" of boomboxes -- but, hey, the electronics are still valuable, yes? And that "flat-top" unit is not a horrible sight, so, aesthetically, its loss due to a deluge would be a shame.

    Speaking of "storage totes," I've spent a number of hours browsing retail websites such as WalMart.com, hunting for just such items. Many Rubbermaid and Sterilite products seem to have come close to "fitting the bill," so to speak, but there is always some quibble or another: the container is a bit too wide, a bit too narrow, it tapers a bit too much, et cetera. (Shrug) I know that Vintage Guy cautions against overthinking the matter (with moderator T-Ster agreeing), but ...
     
  8. Jorge

    Jorge Well-Known Member

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    Duly noted! I am in a stress mode re my plastic models collection (see them at square-2.com): how to store the beauties safe from dust vs displaying them, so you stepped on my nerve here ;-)
    Re dessicants: do Not overdo this thing! A few years ago I put a few belts into my dessicator (I have quite a few in my lab) and they all disintegrated!! The rest, kept as-is, are still solid, as they should!
     
  9. Easthelp

    Easthelp Active Member

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    Uh, Jorge: you put rubber tape-deck belts into one of those science contraptions that I see via a Google search when I look up "dessicator"? (Should be "desiccator.")


    One of those transparent or translucent devices sold by Cole-Palmer or Southern Labware held your tape-deck "stretchables" for more than, oh, ten minutes?


    Oh, boy! I guess they are going to go all brittle on you. Were you trying to dry out flat belts, tape-counter belts and so on? Could you replace them after their crumbling act?
     
  10. Jorge

    Jorge Well-Known Member

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    No, it was just a test. I tested the advice from one of the sellers to keep them dry. Now I know what it means: not in a jar of water. The rubber seals on the doors of these desiccators (!Thanks!) get brittle pretty fast, thats why I questioned the whole idea. Well, at least under 20% humidity rubber is not getting gooey, it stiffens and goes brittle
     
  11. Easthelp

    Easthelp Active Member

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    UPDATES (Beginning March 17, 2017, After 2:09 PM ET): The previous Friday, I placed an order for a corrugated box from BoxJedi, a carton-order website that I found the previous month with a Google search for "Boxes 29 IN x 12 IN x 12 IN." I had been fussing for a while about finding and buying exact- or near-exact-size boxes for storing items like my vintage boomboxes (since eBay sellers almost never have the original cartons of them). I’ve already written about the infeasibility of ordering from the well-endowed likes of Uline and Cheep Cheep Boxes (see above). So coming across the BoxJedi sponsored-ad’ link in the Google search results seemed delightfully helpful ...



    Almost too delightfully helpful. You know, I thought that BoxJedi was somewhat gimmicky, that it was too good to be true: a company selling -- and perhaps making -- corrugated boxes in the exact or near-exact sizes that I had wanted for months and months, with no high minimum-amount orders. How come I hadn't heard of them before now? (Then again, how come I hadn't heard of Cheep Cheep Boxes before early 2017 or whenever?)



    Anyway, I tried doing due diligence: I hunted online for proof that BoxJedi is a real, legit' business. I found the data on one website or another with various, simple Google search terms: a brick-and-mortar address here, a different telephone number there. (Stuff I didn't seem to find with my first few visits to BoxJedi.com, I shrug.) I found the correct 'phone number that I think I saw an incorrect listing of earlier. I called before four in the morning, left somewhat awkward voicemail and called later that afternoon. I spoke to the man whose voice I heard in the voicemail. I used my cellphone (thinking it was reasonable caution) and the connection was spotty, but the man assured me that, yes, BoxJedi is a real, legitimate business that has been busy for years.



    I wished that my e-mail messages would have been returned; a quick check earlier today of my e-mail -- junk-mail folder included -- shows no specific reply from BoxJedi to my messages. But maybe the one- or two-person business is backlogged with 'phone calls, e-mail and so on. Besides, receiving the order is what counts, right?



    And receive the order I did: March 17, 2017, minutes before or just after 2:00 PM Eastern Time. Family members got the package from the UPS driver while I was, well, using the restroom. Speaking of UPS, even their most affordable Ground Shipping option on BoxJedi.com doubled or more than doubled with just one extra carton added to the order. The $35-plus amount on my prepaid VISA -- literally completed with pennies -- was overwhelmed by trying to order two boxes (let alone the three that I hoped to get). So a one-box order it was. Hey, I told myself, consider this a trial run: if you in fact receive the order, if you like the product and if you like the overall customer service, try ordering again -- this time after a more careful pricing "dry run" on the website. Here's the first photo' of the item, taken arrival day. (Had to wait a while for the smartphone to be "available"; again, my Helix box peeks out.)

    FIRST MARCH 17, 2017 PHOTOGRAPH OF MY MARCH 10, 2017 BOXJEDI ORDER.JPG

    After 10:56 PM ET: Here, it seems, is the "main event": the ECT 32, singlewall regular slotted carton (RSC) that I ordered from the Fairfield, Iowa-based BoxJedi.com. (Facebook data seen after 11:20 PM reveal that BoxJedi went about merging with Honeycorr as of May 2014.) The product isn't every bit of the cardboard that one can see and touch when the shipment arrives. No, the actual product is sandwiched between two proportionately heavier and tougher, double-walled cardboard sheets (or "slabs"). They provide shelter from the elements -- rain, mud, dust, etc. -- and they maintain the item's pristine, flat-shipped structure. The cardboard is all fastened quite securely with some sort of industrial-strength shrink-wrap and packing tape, with one of the cardboard slabs being affixed with the shipping nomenclature. In this image, though, the product is on my bedroom floor. The BoxJedi company seal is seen in the lower portion of the photograph, with the refolded invoice keeping the item company.

    SECOND MARCH 17, 2017 PHOTOGRAPH OF MY MARCH 10, 2017 BOXJEDI ORDER.JPG

    March 19, 2017 (After 4:52 AM ET): Here's the RSC that was ordered some nine days earlier from BoxJedi.com. It's sitting on my bedroom floor some twenty hours after I assembled it probably sometime after eight o'clock Saturday morning. I fussed to get the taping-up of the box's flaps just right, leaning over the cardboard cuboid and trying to line up the flaps' edges oh-so-neatly. I held down the bottom flaps of the box with a hardcover World Almanac volume to assist me for much of the taping, using the 800-inch Ready Post packing tape for the first time since its January 17, 2017 purchase (the day I returned the can't-record Aiwa CS-600U). The packing-tape strips were split in two to make four slim strips to hold down the inner bottom flaps for a neater (and maybe stronger) item. Yes, the Sharp GF-800H(S) fits neatly, with enough room left to have that high-powered hulk wrapped in bubble wrap for storage. Or to have it shipped off if tape-deck scares keep coming (or if they "settle in" as a nightmare known as a breakdown) ...

    MARCH 19, 2017 PHOTOGRAPH OF THE NOW-ASSEMBLED CARTON ORDERED MARCH 10, 2017 FROM BOXJEDI.JPG

    And, of course, of greater importance to others here on Stereo2Go are the contact details:

    BoxJedi
    2805 West Grimes Avenue
    Fairfield, IA 52556-2694
    (641) 209-9872
    www.boxjedi.com

    The Postal Service version:

    BoxJedi
    P.O. Box 1057
    Fairfield, IA 52556

    Another telephone number (for a Ridgway, Colorado cellphone number somehow connected to the BoxJedi/Honeycorr enterprise):

    (970) 729-0838

    Did I reveal the gist of the matter? Yeah?:biggrin:

     
  12. Jorge

    Jorge Well-Known Member

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    :thumbsup:Great tip, thanks!!!
    And I thought that I am obsessive, Ha!
     
  13. T-ster

    T-ster Moderator Staff Member S2G Supporter

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    Longest way of saying "i just bought a box guys" ever. Well done.

    Your circumlocution knows no bounds.
     
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  14. Deliverance

    Deliverance Active Member

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