Okay, maybe that title was a bit over-dramatic... but I bought another boombox today. Just one. That isn't such a big thing, just one boombox...

But it's after buying three yesterday, and several more over the previous few days. SO, I REALLY, REALLY decided ONLY to buy the best, rarest or most "holy" 'grails', only the ones I KNEW I WANTED, not just some interesting or semi-uncommon but ordinary ones. Otherwise, at rate they've been accumulating, I'll have no room to inhale or exhale in my apartment, even before summer comes!

So tonight I RESISTED a bunch of them. Among the ones I saw but didn't get were things like a Sanyo M7950K, ITT Polo Cassette 109-L, a JVC RC-545W, a Sharp GF-6262, an AJ-420 FS, and many more I didn't bother to write down the numbers of. I was doing well at resisting, until...

I got ONE box tonight. Just had to. It's one I already have, too. The one I already had/have has a double value for me; I like it for two reasons:

(1) I wanted one from the moment I saw it on the Boombox Museum pages, but I almost missed it when it was in front of me, because I didn't recognize it as the same box! The one on the website had microphones attached; the one "in the wild" did NOT, so I almost didn't realize it was the same box...

...EXCEPT for the lucky fact that RADIOHIER was visiting Hong Kong, and was with me at the time. He pointed at it and told me I should get it, that it was a rare, early box, and if I bought it, I wouldn't regret it.

Of course, he was right! Only after I got it and came home with it and looked it up, did I realize that I had bought one of my most-wanted boxes! I owe that to RADIOHIER, and every time I look at the box, I think of his visit and the good time we had "hunting" together.

(2) The second reason I like that box is that it has the original decal/sticker on the cassette door. RADIOHIER said he had seen several (maybe eleven or so) in different cities in the world, but had never seen one that still had the original sticker. I've searched online, but never seen another like that, either, so it is a "special" box, a rarity within a fairly rare box type.

Otherwise, the box was dirty but cleaned up pretty nicely. Some parts, like the steel "feet", needed some real polishing to look decent again.

Well, the box I got tonight was, as you've realized by now, another M-9998K, this time withOUT the sticker, too... but in VERY GOOD condition. It looks remarkably new for its age. I found only ONE scratch on it, very slight and shallow, but several inches long, on the right side. I'm not sure if the scratch is removable or not, but I think not quite. Beyond that, it is pretty clean and shiny. A quick-and-simple cleaning will make it look better than my other one, so I'll probably swap around the cassette doors to put the decal on the best box, and maybe swap a few knobs, if apprpriate (cheating, I know...).

So I only got one box tonight, and it was a duplicate... but I'm not unhappy about it, AT ALL! ...just thinking I have to STOP getting one good box a day like this ...365 boxes after just a year is UNTHINKABLE for me! But if I had the same chance tomorrow, I'd STILL get that box, all over again. It's a good one!

NICE. I love that box,very expensive in the day. How does it sound?

quote:

Originally posted by ash25:
NICE. I love that box,very expensive in the day. How does it sound?

Very nice, actually. One of the better-sounding boxes in the collection. Not up to M90 level in fidelity, and not as bassy as a Kaboom, of course, but better than most. Pretty well balanced sound, and it gets more than loud enough for me. For looks, sound, rugged construction and the fact that it was "ahead of its time" when it came out, I like it!

It also taught me something. I kept finding boxes that had slots (slits?) on the sides, and thinking, "Shoot, I wish I had the shoulder strap that went there!" ... but because of the pic of this one with the stereo mics on the Boombox Museum page, and the generosity of an S2G member who helped me get a mic, I realized that a lot of those slots are actually for mics, whether or not you could put a strap in 'em! ...or maybe they are for straps, whether or not you can put mics in them?!?

congrats!! they are a smooth sounding box that is for sure!! nice find!

Congrats Arkay, a truly nice and unique box.
I really like my 9998 and have no intentions of letting it go any time soon, they are just to cool. The 9998 never gets much lip service either, as a result I think it's overshadowed by many lesser boxes.

I also saw one of those big (well, not too big) black Panasonic things (A2 ?) which looks almost like a professional portable PA system, with inputs even for a guitar and echo control, etc... It has been posted about here on S2G before.

The one I found was missing the speakers; just the basic unit was there, and the boss was too busy with a delivery for me to bother him. The other workers there didn't know whether the speakers were around, but it seemed very unlikely, so I left. I didn't go back, but that thing has been on my mind since. I'm really tempted to do back and get it, but other than for occasional use as a harmonica amp, I don't know why! This collecting stuff is addictive, but I need to put limits somewhere... still, I like that box... Aaarrrgh!

i love my m9998k. i really like the way it sounds as well. its a very nice boombox.
i would say also that its sound quality is much better than most of the others i own even in some ways better than the kaboom.
i really like that boombox

quote:

Originally posted by Arkay:
I also saw one of those big (well, not too big) black Panasonic things (A2 ?) which looks almost like a professional portable PA system, with inputs even for a guitar and echo control, etc... It has been posted about here on S2G before.

The one I found was missing the speakers; just the basic unit was there, and the boss was too busy with a delivery for me to bother him. The other workers there didn't know whether the speakers were around, but it seemed very unlikely, so I left. I didn't go back, but that thing has been on my mind since. I'm really tempted to do back and get it, but other than for occasional use as a harmonica amp, I don't know why! This collecting stuff is addictive, but I need to put limits somewhere... still, I like that box... Aaarrrgh!

Do you mean the one in this thread?

GO AND GET IT!!!! NOW!!!!

You need to go and get that unit and make sure the speakers are with it. Its the loudest portable machine I have, and has a great sound too!

I highly recommend this one, so stop reading this and go!

quote:

Originally posted by beatbox:

quote:

Originally posted by Arkay:
I also saw one of those big (well, not too big) black Panasonic things (A2 ?) which looks almost like a professional portable PA system, with inputs even for a guitar and echo control, etc... It has been posted about here on S2G before.

The one I found was missing the speakers; just the basic unit was there, and the boss was too busy with a delivery for me to bother him. The other workers there didn't know whether the speakers were around, but it seemed very unlikely, so I left. I didn't go back, but that thing has been on my mind since. I'm really tempted to do back and get it, but other than for occasional use as a harmonica amp, I don't know why! This collecting stuff is addictive, but I need to put limits somewhere... still, I like that box... Aaarrrgh!

Do you mean the one in this thread?

GO AND GET IT!!!! NOW!!!!

You need to go and get that unit and make sure the speakers are with it. Its the loudest portable machine I have, and has a great sound too!

I highly recommend this one, so stop reading this and go!

YES, that is EXACTLY the same one, and that is the thread I was remembering/referring to. The problem is, I can't make sure the speakers are with it, because... the speakers are NOT with it! It is possible they get separated there at the warehouse, but I looked and couldn't find them, and the workers also said they thought there were none with it. Very possibly they got separated when whoever got rid of it did so.

SO ...I sort of want it, but it is incomplete without speakers. I have a gorgeous blue-dial Sony portable system that similarly is missing the speakers. I don't really want to collect "orphan" systems, but this thing did/does look cool, and the fact that something like that can be run off of DC batteries is impressive, too.

I wonder if it would be equally loud and good as you describe, through other speakers? It might take some work to find (or make) suitable speakers, and they still wouldn't attach to the body for carrying around...

Sigh...I WISH it were complete... that would make the decision easy!

Arkay..if there is no chance for speakers i would gladly pay you just to get there and get the tape-door for mine

Arkay, another great story. I wish we had something like that here that I could visit a few times a week. Hows the storage problems going? Sure you dont want any to find there way home to Australia ? Keep the stories coming I always skim through to find out what the model is then go back and read the story. ps: buy a camera

noo he has a camera buy a computer~~~~~!!!