Bring Me The Mini's...The Quintessential Collection!

There's been a few threads over the years with mini-boomboxes but I'm thinking this is time to make the biggest-baddest thread of all the over-the-top little tiny boomers.

I've got a handful but some guys have posted some real beauties and I know some members have a ton of them all waiting for this thread.

For some reason, people get stuck on the rules, I don't, so the most basic qualities are:

1: Built in Speaker
2: Radio
3: Battery Power
4: Cassette Deck (or even newer tech)
5: Handle, this can be a grey area for purists but post models without for everybody else.

Size can be an issue, personally I feel like height is a big factor and some dual cassette decks with 3" speakers can be pretty wide, but at the same time I have a few boxes that look like 1/2 scale boomers. Fell free to err on the side of being wrong, the world will be the final judge.

 

My first will be the Sanyo MS 30 Mini Radio Cassette Recorder with AM/FM Radio. There's no handle but it does have some interesting features like a tape counter, which is kind of rare for these later models. There's ear and mic jacks and a plug for wall-wart power. The most interesting feature is the three-speed setting, making me think this was aimed at the dictation market. The buttons on the top are very 80's and capped in pink, blue and turquoise and nicely finished, they don't look or feel cheap. This is a newer Sanyo Model sporting the new logo but I'm not sure when they released it.

 

So I'm blurring some lines and that's ok. I'd be surprised if anybody has seen this one before, it came on my radar after looking through all of the magazines that I've posted articles from but even then there's only a blurb or two. Numark has been around for a while and I've always thought of them as a DJ equipment supplier. Around 1980, when the Walkman first came out, they released the Numark XL-100 Micro Stereo HI-FI System.

This three piece unit took a 3.5mm jack and let you listen to your Walkman without headphones. The two speakers and main unit are pretty impressive, they're all metal, the speakers are connected with 3.5mm jacks but also have spring clip connectors for a direct connection (I don't know what to). This is heavy before you add batteries (6 x D-cell) and while it seems like electronic-store construction, it's still very nicely put together and made in Japan.

I've got it in it's ultra-cool plastic case which has held up nicely for the last 40 years.

 

Nice stuck-in-time, that's interesting about the logo, yours also has three bands!

Reli, it's really beefy, I'll pull it out and take more photos. The speakers surrounds look like rubber, the dust covers are huge for some reason.

 

Very nice! mrp32Dave that Mitsubishi is so cool they patented it, I think this is there's.

 

You snagged two of my boxes in cue mrp32Dave! Your photos are super nice, how do you keep the static dust off of them, are you using a phone or a nicer camera, now I don't have to worry about dusting mine off. JVC had a ton of mini-boxes, the early units have outstanding build quality, believe it or not they may have the most out of any of the early manufacturers. The JVC RC-S22 is one of my personal favorites, released in 1983, 7 short-wave bands and a battery saver switch on the back, maybe the only one on a box.

This is the only information I've found on it from Radio & Records Magazine 1983

 

One of the little JVCs, you don't see it very often, the JVC RC-S1R with AM/FM and short wave. This is one of their first minis from 1978, there's also the JDM Victor Version that doesn't have full FM band but does have tv channels. This is another beefy little box with beat cut, fine tuning and mic input! The dial on this is very well put together, personally I find JVC Radio Indicators to be some of the best looking, tons of hash marks, beautiful blue and some allen head screws to give it a little more class.

 

The Sanyo MS450, now this is a slice of 80's design, mauve and turquoise (the colors) were big along with stripes with "v's" and triangle sliders. This model was a citiation for a US Design Patent, I think it's for the dual cassette with a radio but I don't see anything that make this one different. I got this one cheap at the thrifts but it's kind of a beefy box, much heavier than you'd expect, usually models that look like this are light-weights. Search Google and you'll see a ton of color variations, some are really nice looking but overall it seems to be an obscure model.




https://patents.google.com/patent/USD312637S/en