Sold in Canada at the Consumers Distributing department store chains, these models were sold in 1985 for around $150 Canadian dollars. Not a bad investment, as these models today would easily receive well over $200 US by collectors. Yes, there are collectors out there and the market is hot. You shouldn’t be surprised; just take a look at the junk sold today. A very smart move would be to bring some of these vintage pieces back into production. Sony, Sharp, Toshiba, JVC, are you listening?

Here’s another in Paul’s collection: a 40 watt thumping classic Sharp. With detachable grills for the three-way 6-speaker system, 7″ woofers, and chrome trim, you know this sucker means business. Sold in ’82 for around $550.

Another Sanyo, this one from 1983 boasts a 4 band tuner, 10 step VU/Sound Level LED display and AMSS, aka automatic music search. What’s AMSS? It’s a “smart” feature that allows you to rewind or fast forward through songs, then stopping just before the next one begins (similar to skipping through a CD’s tracks). It’s nothing more than a noise detection mechanism, that stops the motors when the player hits a spot on the tape with no audio.

Probably one of the rarest boomboxes out there, this Casio surfaced briefly in 1985. It was their second effort to create a crossover musical intstrument/entertainment system, preceeded by their KX-101 a year earlier. This one has a simple look but don’t be fooled! The keyboard is feature-packed with percussion options and instrument selection. The radio is a three-bander, tuning AM, FM and shortwave. The system is light, compact and very portable. Imagine our happiness when we grabbed this one as “new old stock” at a local electronics shop, brand new in the box.

St. Louis’ Chucko strikes again with this unusual Electro Brand. At first glance it appears to be one of the popular “Ranger” style shortwave radios, but a closer look will find the stereo speakers, shoulder strap and side-loading cassette drive. Pretty exotic, but we haven’t even mentioned the band coverage on this baby: Ten, that’s right, ten bands of coverage! Check the pic showing AM, FM, CB, PSB, Air, Ham, Weather and shortwave tuning. Much like the Casio and their hybrid systems, we presume Electro Brand was trying cross over, targeting radio freaks and general stereo enthusiasts with this one. Great find, Chucko!

Whoa, Sean in Canada has the same boombox as the one featured above! His is a Clairtone, and was distributed throughout Canada in the mid-80s. This beast is protected by a promximity sensor (ALARM!) which lets out a deafening siren when someone walks near it. Good luck trying to sneak off with this one. Weighing in at a whopping 20 pounds and measuring 2 1/2 feet in length, this very well may define the blaster in ghetto blaster. Sean is desperately seeking a cassette door for his, so if you’ve got info, send us message! Thanks Sean!!

Dean from Boston is an avid ghetto blaster collector and provided us with this picture of a Magnavox D8443 aka the “Spatial Stereo Power Player.” This was probably the most ambitious release of Maganavox ever, featuring 5 Speakers, 3 Amps, SW tuning, Mic, Line In/Out via RCA jacks and a “Stereo” control which goes from Mono to Spatial. The system is quite large: 13″ high, nearly 2 feet in length. Dean’s quite talented in obtaining his boomboxes for free: “I had to make a pickup at a Postal warehouse, some package or something. I went to a caged-in room in the back and saw a Sanyo M9935K behind the clerk that I had to give my yellow slip to. He told me that it belonged to some guy who used to work there. I didn’t say anything more than, ‘I’m kinda into those old radios,’ before he walks over, unplugs it and hands it over.” Thanks Dean!

Early 80s Aiwa portable offering multi-band radio coverage, and dated looks. We’re intrigued by the illuminated position indicator on the frequency display. It’s red until you hit a station–when you center on a station’s frequency, it turns green!! Very unusual feature not commonly offered on portable stereos.

This giant Helix was grabbed at a New York City flea market–you wouldn’t believe the attention it drew! Surely an indication that the beasts have reached mainstream acceptance. We’re not sure where Helix is today, but their effort to outdo the big audio names back in the ’80s by building ’em larger and louder did not go unmissed.

Another Pansonic model with the Ambient Sound feature, the RX-5080. This one also features a two-color LED meter. Grabbed at the Chelsea Flea Market, NYC (the original one on 6th Ave).