Retro Thing

Casiotone 202 Keyboard: Holy Woodgrain, Batman!

"A vintage flexidisc from Casio introducing the Casiotone 202 Electronic keyboard, their second ever." This thing probably won a Grammy for the most gratuitous use of woodgrain on a musical instrument. Ever.

Casio went on to introduced a successful range of cheap and cheery professional synthesizers, drum machines, samplers and sound modules in the mid-1980s. [via Matrixsynth]

Casiotone 202 Electronic Musical Instrument

related:
Casio Keyboard/Tape Copier/Shortwave Radio
The Bleeptastic Casio VL-Tone
Battery-Powered Hundred Dollar Synthesizers

Toyota's Historic California Plant Closure

Toyota just announced the closure of the New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc. (NUMMI) production facility in Fremont, California that it shared with GM for a quarter century. It marks the first time in history that Toyota has mothballed a major manufacturing plant.

NUMMI built the Toyota Corolla, Toyota Tundra Tacoma truck, Geo Prizm and Pontiac Vibe, to name a few. The closure hits close to home for the Retro Thing team, since both Bohus and I own cars produced at the plant - his a Corolla, mine a Vibe.

In some ways, the death of the facility comes as no big surprise after General Motors pulled out of the money losing operation in June 2009, killing the Pontiac Vibe in the process. Still, the personal and financial impact will be massive with a total of 5,400 employees directly affected by the closure. Let's hope most find jobs in other Toyota facilities.

Stainless Steel Sharpie

At just over $10, the stainless steel Sharpie costs about five times what you'd pay for a regular one. However, that extra cash scores you a surprisingly pretentious stainless steel design with a laser-etched Sharpie logo. The ink cartridge is replaceable, although the refill inexplicably costs almost as much as the pen itself.

Apart from that, it's pretty standard stuff: a fine point tip for tagging decorating almost anything, and non toxic ink just in case you feel like doodling on an incapacitated friend's tongue.

The Sharpie has been around since 1964. It was available in black until 1979, when a kaleidoscope of additional colors opened up a new world of bathroom stall sketching possibilities.

Sharpie Stainless Steel Permanent Marker [via Make]

The 600: Honda's First North American Car

The Honda N600 reached North America in 1969. Powered by a 598cc 2-cylinder air cooled engine, it had a buzzy top speed of about 80 mph. The 600 carried a list price of only $1545 and got 40 mpg, but it was simply too small and underpowered for the American market.

Honda followed up in 1972 with the immensely successful $2,200 Civic, propelled by a revolutionary 4-cylinder that was clean burning and efficient. This played well throughout the OPEC oil embargo of 1973-1974, which saw demand for compact cars skyrocket.

Honda 600 too small for North America [driving.ca]
Japanese Cars: Then and Now

"The Wizard Of Oz" Film Marks 70th Anniversary

August 25th marks the 70th anniversary of the release of one of the most beloved films in cinema history. Film historians reckon that "The Wizard Of Oz" might be the most viewed films of all time. As with other cherished things, behind the scenes stories have become almost legendary - whether they were true or not. Here are a few that you may not have known...

The transition between the sepia toned Kansas scenes and the technicolor brilliance of Oz is an inspired way to bring audience into the dazzling world of color, but Oz is not the first color movie in film history. There had been about a half dozen other color films beforehand (not counting the many partial color and tinted films of the silent era), and of course the full color "Gone With The Wind" premiered a few months later, so industrywide color production was well on its way. Manufacturers and hopeful inventors were experimenting with a color film process almost since the invention of motion pictures.

This was not the first film made of Oz. The author of the dozen plus Oz books, L. Frank Baum, created the Oz Film Manufacturing Company expressly to create gentler cinematic fare aimed at children than the violent cowboy films of the day. The company made three silent films of Dorothy's adventures that are only tangentially related to the books. Baum also toured what we would today call a multimedia show of Oz with film clips and live actors on a stage. No roadshow footage survives, but the other Oz works are available on DVD.

Folk Art Of The Future: Pokémon Toolbox

At my local thrift, they sometimes give me stuff that doesn't sell, and somehow this precious artifact from the future just wouldn't move. Thanks to the branding I recognize the characters as being from Pokemon, and the toolbox as being a little higglety-pigglety in construction. Did some young lad or lass do their best to build a toolbox, and then emblazon with their favorite really odd characters? Or did dad turn his back and find his tools were now an ad for the strange fad?

Whatever the motive might be, I have a feeling that someone was being teased for having such a goofy toolbox, and it ended up abandoned at the thrift. I'm left to wonder what will happen if someone discovers this toolbox a century from now. Will they think the mysterious made-up word is some forgotten language? Or that odd spherical demons ruled the earth of the early 21st century? Or will President Pikachu simply capture the artifact, and commit it to the National Pokéball Archives?

An 8-Bit Tribute Done In Lego

If you ever got a not-so-legal copy of a game back in the 8-bit days, you rememebr what "crack-tros" are. Enterprising hackers would show off their kung-fu (a bigger pun than you realize) by pushing computers like the Commodore 64 to their graphical limits. These graphical demos were often added to the intro of a pirated video game. Eventually these intro graphics became their own thing, with many demo coders enjoying a certain level of pre-internet fame.

This video captures many of those lo-fi graphics aesthetics by modeling them in Lego. The NES is also well represented in this music video that took 1500 hours of snapping apart the colorful bricks. This is a really professional looking effort. Check out the depth-of-field effects and many smooth camera moves. While the graphics they're simulating seem primitive now, they were cutting edge back in the 80's. This music video is a fitting tribute to computer fans who spent the that decade in the basement starting at those early computer screens.

DVD Giveaway: Bill Jackson's "Cartoon Town" Documentary

Among the many fortunes of living in Chicago are that we had a very healthy slate of locally produced TV shows long after many other markets gave up. The torch is still carried by a local channel or two, but children's programming is sadly long gone. Certainly there are new cartoons, but gone are the golden-age animations and the local TV hosts who built whole shows around these classic syndication packages.

I've been reading a great book about the hosts of local children's TV across the US. Many smaller markets simply had an on-screen costumed host to introduce cartoons, though some were more ambitious with in-studio audiences, prizes, and puppets. In Chicago we were fortunate to have so many driven talents to push beyond simply introducing cartoons. We're known nationwide for our version of Bozo (immortalized forever in the voice of Krusty the Clown), and for the work of another man - Bill Jackson.

Though you may not have ever heard of B.J. outside of Chicago, you'd know within minutes of watching one of his programs that you are looking at the Citizen Kane of local TV puppet shows. Over his many years in Chicago, he built an astonishing ensemble cast of puppets. Puppets with real personality, fantastic voices, and a singular design. Rather than taking on the usual fuzzy Muppets look, B.J.'s puppets are unique in that they're latex rubber. His shows feature deliberately two dimensional backgrounds and buildings (a budget saving move that turned out to be a definite visual asset). Put them together with B.J. as the only human in sight, and the shows look like cartoons that have come to life.

Blancier Crazy Planet Watch

The Blancier Limited Edition Crazy Planet watch incorporates a couple of visible planetary gears. Sadly, the name isn't the only nutty thing about this timepiece - it retails for an astonishing $15,000.

In exchange for enough cash to purchase a reasonably equipped subcompact car, you get to pick the color of the engraved dial and the finish of the 42mm case, which houses a Swiss Cortebert / Perseo movement.

If fifteen grand is a bit tough to swallow, check out Blancier's clever interactive workshop that lets you select from a variety of watch movements (including 18-jewel mechanical mechanisms made in Germany by parent company Lottermann & Soehne), hands, lunettes, faces and straps. The best part? They can manufacture and ship your creation in three to six weeks. Prices start under $600, leaving you with more than enough to buy a spiffy second-hand Honda.

If a $600 custom timepiece is still out of your price range, consider Seiko's surprisingly affordable mechanical watches for less than $100.

Blancier Limited Edition Crazy Planet Wristwatch

Lo Fi 8 Bit Music Tribute To Miles Davis

 

The last few days have marked the 50th anniversary of the release of Kind of Blue, the legendary album by Miles Davis. Noted chiptune artists raised the money to release an official 8-bit tribute to Davis. The lo-fi collection Kind Of Bloop is available starting today for a mere $5 for the download. There are demo tracks on the project's website, as well as this YouTube before & after comparison.

The artists themselves jokingly admit to the project being a kind of sacrilege, but it's amazing to me how much of each tune remains intact even when choked by the limited video game sound hardware of the 80's.

"Kind of Bloop" website
original album re-release in extensive box set

related:
8-bit Kraftwerk tribute album
Kasio Kristmas - it's never too early

The Virtual Apple ][

I had an overwhelming urge to play Lode Runner the other day, which led me to discover Virtual Apple ][. This nifty emulator site offers nearly every Apple II and Apple IIgs game ever made. 

"Virtual Apple ][ now runs on two emulators. While Windows is still required for the Apple IIgs programs, the Apple II Programs now run on any platform using a Java based Emulator. This web site currently uses both an ActiveX application for the Apple IIgs emulator and a Java based Apple ][ emulator to automatically download and play most Apple 2 and Apple IIgs disk images online. This site is completely spyware free and usage of the emulator is completely free!  Documentation and actual disk images are available for download from the site."

As icing on the cake, joystick control is mapped to your mouse or touchpad. Game on!

Try Virtual Apple ][

The Pyrotomic Disintegrator

Behold the incredibly rare and surprisingly beautiful space blaster of my dreams. The Pyrotomic Disintegrator was one of a series of imaginative designs produced by Pyro Plastics in the early 1950s. Even a half century after their release, these look like something worth slipping under your coat while loitering in the local spaceport bar.

The innovative little company's use of metallic plastic added an air of credibility that was sorely lacking in many toys of the day.

However, plastic technology in the fifties just wasn't up to the rigors of childhood space battles and the fragile weapons disintegrated *cough* under the strain of rambunctious kiddie combat. Few Pyro weapons survived to be handed down to a new generation of space fanatics.

Actually, I find it inconceivable that no one has seen fit to reissue updated versions of this brilliant toy. Any takers?

1952 Pyrotomic Disintegrator [Doc Atomic's Attic of Astounding Artifacts]

Realistic Pocketvision 3 Portable LCD Television

When Sony broke the size barrier with their diminutive Watchman TV, lots of other companies were also working on ways to line people's pockets with televisions (think how absurd that last sentence would have sounded just a few years before...). The mini TV's were expensive, and mostly black and white in those early days, relying on a clever reconfiguration of CRT technology.

The Pocketvision 3 is from 1985. Originally offered by Citizen, it was rebranded with the "Realistic" moniker and sold in Radio Shack stores. The Pocketvision 3 is quite slim & compact. It's actually smaller than a lot of today's LCD pocket TV's, though it doesn't deliver any of those crucial Roy G. Biv's. That's right. You're looking at a black and white LCD pocket TV.

The compact television boasts 10 hours of viewing time from four AAA batteries. How? There's no power-hungry backlight. The television swings open, the LCD in the lid (following the same form factor as Nintendo's old "Game & Watch" LCD video games). Natural light acts as the illuminator for the display, but people on the night shift could get an optional snap-on backlight at their local Radio Shack. 

The reversed image is reflected off of a mirror inside (a concept shared by some of the earliest TV's). An interesting byproduct of the design is that the unit can rest on a tabletop with no stand, the mirror offering a comfortable viewing angle for the picture.

  Like the other portable televisions featured in our Retro Thing TV episode, this set still works, but isn't long for this DTV world. Here in the USA there's no analog TV signal for this little unit's tuner to pick up anymore (except for good ol' low power channel 23 here in Chicago). It does have a video input, though it doesn't seem to support sound. Since it's only black & white, that might diminish the usefulness as well (thought this would potentially make the ideal video assist for my modded Pixelvision video camera!).

related:

Retro Thing TV: portable TVs get left behind
Westinghouse portable TV mystery
Convergence IX: Panasonic pop-up TV

Okotoks Show & Shine Photos

A brand new vintage car show took place a mere 15 miles from my home last Sunday. Despite sporadic rain showers, several hundred classic vehicles showed up for the small town event. Best of all, I had the sense to take a camera. Here's a link to my Flickr set...

Olde Towne Okotoks Show & Shine Photos

New Nikon S1000pj Not First Camera/Projector Convergence

Nikon has been making waves with the announcement of their Coolpix S1000pj; a new digital still camera with a built in projector. Imagine... you take some digi snaps, and instead of crowding around a tiny little screen to share the fun, you can project those images on the nearest wall/t-shirt/bone china. It's a logical progression in digital camera tech. You can only cram so many megapixels into your pocket, so manufacturers piled on extras like facial recognition, printers, even GPS.

A convertible camera/projector is a fine idea - so fine that it's been done before. In 1957, famous jeweler Wittnauer introduced the Cine-Twin. It was an 8mm camera that bolted onto a special base to become a projector. The idea wasn't new in '57 either. In 1895 French inventors Louis and August Lumiere patented the "Cinematographe" combination movie camera & projector.

Developed by John Oxberry (Oxberry gained industry wide fame by developing a special animation camera stand that is still used by some animators today), the camera-projector combination was remarkably clever. Unfortunately that innovation comes at a price. The Cine-Twin was terribly expensive in its day, and was sold exclusively in jewelry stores. The exclusivity and novelty of the Cine-Twin outpaced any practical desire for such a device. Needless to say that neither this specific camera, nor the fusion of projector & camera made much of a mark in the decades since.

The camera was quite large for an 8mm model, even for the late 50's. It took a monstrous three D cells. The shooter was freed from winding the clockwork motor every few moments, but it did add dramatically to the overall weight. Adding to the fragility is that the delicate projector bulb of course rode shotgun inside the camera. Obviously you never want to knock any sort of camera around, but one with an expensive glass bulb inside?

The Cine-Twin is emblematic of the difficulties of convergence. Frequently the combo device doesn't offer the advantages of the separate original devices. One positive I can see is that in projector mode the unit is smaller than many stand-alone projectors, but would lack the throw or brightness of a larger dedicated unit. Perhaps there was an amateur filmmaker who benefited from having a compact way to shoot and share movies, but it came at a very high price.

The Nikon Coolpix S1000pj camera/projector combination is certainly a breakthrough in convergence devices (I hope that it can project motion video too). Unusually, I don't see the down side in this particular digital alliance. It looks to me like the Coolpix will be able to deliver the fun that the Cine-Twin just couldn't. While the idea of combining these two types of devices is well over 100 years old, sometimes it just takes a while to get the details right.

YouTube video demonstrating the Cine-Twin
Alan Kattelle's superlative book on home movies, including cameras

related:
Marvelously minuscule Minolta Mini-35 slide projector
Bare bones Pekoscope 16mm projector from 1932
Bell & Howell film cassette projector