Sorry for hikjacking this thread, but some of the comments here, especially the last post are in favour of what I propose HERE.

Mine is not the only answer, but a step in the right dircetion with US, the collectors and people who care about these things making design decisions. Helping to preserve what is there, while putting our collective wisdom, wants and desires towards buiding something which, as Smokin_Endo puts it, "...(takes) all the greatest aspects from all of the different grail boxes and come up with a better than anything we've seen before NEW BOX".

So if this is really to happen, lets put on OUR thinking caps. Mine is on, and I'm gonna try and get a prototype out soon.

We're talking about two ideas here actually.JLF was talking about the idea of giving a sample box to these Chinese who are excellent at making duplications of any given item.Even if we were to come up with a new box,somehow a completed sample prototype would have to be engineered and constructed.Then it could be duplicated in the numbers we require.The problem with this is the cost of designing it and having the prototypes pieces custom made.You already know what you'll get if you send a completed item to them and say "Duplicate this".All that design work and fit and finish/testing was done by the original box manufacturer.It's certainly not impossible but is a much more involved process.I say send them something that has already been produced and see the quality and speed of their work.


Again the best box for this purpose would be a larger,all plastic,glitzy (plastic) chromed,basically hollow (without any internal sub assemblies),big woofered,larger box like one of the Techsonics or the bolt box.There's basically nothing inside of them to complicate matters.These types were very loud with thumping bass and have that massive cult appeal.Bid prices on Ebay for them are at times insane.If you ran off even 100 new ones you might have people actually killing each others to get one of them.As Petey Awol said even urban clothing stores would be keenly interested in them.Simple construction,quick turnaround,and almost instant gratification!If their work was up to par then maybe we could think about duplications of some of the nightmarishly complicated tanks like the early Aiwas or an M70,etc..or better yet,manufacture of the new Beatbox Rambunction!

Yeah, good point(s) Jovie.

So wait, can someone clarify this -

These manufacturers are able to reproduce ALL the components? I mean, are they able to source speakers, electrical components, moving parts etc, or even as said reproduce them?

I have some reading to do! Im not fully done with the most recent posts, but I will catch up.

To quickly answer you BB, either! If the facility cant do it, the one across the street can... Its a 'manufacturing town' to my understanding. Many companies world wide have their stuff made there.

Concerning the economy:

Even if some companies are cutting back in this current economy, there are still niche markets that do well... and a small company making one or two items that appeal to a particular audience, especially if its with a 'hobbiest' attititude and not as a main source of income... a side gig... Should do fine.

Yeah Petey! The Chairman did say that!

Thanks Jovie... excellent read!

Endo... Id like to see that seatpost! I just got an old school ELF PRO BMX...

Her you go Jeff

enjoy (this bike is built up with all new old stock parts with the exception of the seat post and cranks)



and I also have the laid back version on my Profile (1 of 4 known to exist)

Damn! Those are some tuff looking bikes!
Great to see them preserved! But you use them right?
You got any 26" BMX bikes?
Peace,
Paul Z.

Na... no 24's or 26's yet I mainly collect 20' Freestyle scouts from 1984 through 1988 and I try to ride as much as possible (on my 88 Haro Master set up with all team parts)

Was going to let the debate go on without commenting but.
I believe the one thing that makes are hobby worth while and attracts some in the younger generation although small %) is the fact that these things we collect are 25+ years and still work.When I take my boomers out and show them to people the first thing I enfasize is 25+ years and still works,the younger generation often accustomed to cheap throw away equipment just stare and say: "wow" that's almost as old as my dad DAWG.The 40 plus group says :I had one back in the 80s can't believe they still work today.The older people often say:they sure don't make the them like that anymore.Will a China repro box be able to wow us and them in the same manner?

nice idea, but...these old tape decks too complicated to reproduce, too many tiny parts in there, i don't think they will able to make exact copies of the internal components, to make a high quality dc-motor from the scratch worth a lot of $$, but if they put a cheap motor... or an egg's deck inside a nice cabinet...
would you buy a M-90 with an egg's deck?
it's like a Rolls-Royce with Trabant engine.

Indeed.
it would LOOK like the real thing, but the internals such as the speaker drive units would be the cheapest found that looked the same...

Just spoke to my friend via I.M. he's over in China now...

New idea for another product... Why not make plastic covers in COLORS for the new Lasonic TRC-931?

Chrome... Camo... Red... Gold... $100 bills... Graffiti... anything!

Hmm! Wood paneling? Lots of great ideas here, I am excited to see what the future holds! JLF, I want to thank you for this thread, and the possibility!

That sounds BRILLIANT to me ! In fact you can put me on your short list and lmk when you need a deposit

Off branded black boxes like the bolt had rather cheap decks actually.As their sound was about dynamics over fidelity,I don't think a cheap deck would be an issue in those boomboxes.This would be another reason to consider doing a reproduction of that type of box.

Just have a moment to chime in. Jeff, I'm in as well for ANY repro box you're thinking of. I'm easy