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Some advice from the Boombox community

ian.kay - 2010-05-20 13:43

I must confess to feeling like a stranger in a strange land. But I come in peace and have a question that I am certain can best be answered from within the membership of this community. Here's the thing. I am a project manager working for an international sports brand in England that have asked me to provide 240 of the old style 80s ghetto blasters. These are going to be permenant installations in flagship sports stores where they will be used to promote a range of retro sports shoes. The ideal is that all the boxes will be the same but I suspect that that comment will have any of you that have read this far weeping at my naivity. I've spent 3 hours surfing and realise that my chances of success using the conventional commercial approaches are remote. So now I've snuck a peak into your world and realise that you guys are the specialists in this area and are the most likely to be able to help.

I hope you don't regard this intrusion as a disrespect to your community and its passions but i'd really appreciate any advice that you guys could offer. I guess that the protocol would be a PM.

Any help greatly appreciated

lav.loo - 2010-05-20 13:58

240 boxes all the same Laugh Out Loud sorry ian but that,s impossible Nod Yes youd,e be lucky to get that many different boxes in a life time, some members on here have been collecting years and have nowhere near that many, and that,s going flat out down all possible routes.
i can,t understand why a company would want to use that many boxes Confused i would say one or two nice boxes would be more than adequate for a great ad Nod Yes anyway good luck in your quest coz you,ll need it Wink

roddyradiohier - 2010-05-20 14:05

mmmmmmm...mmm

sinister - 2010-05-20 14:32

talk about miracles ...... you might be better off getting the i931 Big Grin

themobcrew - 2010-05-20 15:27

yeah i was thinking of the same lines of the lasonic i931. maybe if you phone up some guy at sony or jvc, maybe you can get a whole bunch of shells of the same boom box ( a recent one though.) My guess is to get some artistic studio to make/ create a mold of a boom box and mass produce it if you just going after the visual look of the front to mount on a wall or whatever. sorta like ikea does with fake plastic electronics on their furniture. I take it you have a large budget for this?? Since its 240 boom boxes for a certain number of stores? most places that use blasters as instillations are always made up of different kinds. usually the buy them at up scale pawn and antique shops.

but my bet is if you don't want them working, get a place to fabricate a shell of one. wither that or get a graffiti artist to paint boom boxes on the walls in the stores!!

lav.loo - 2010-05-20 16:23

ye there must be another way to do the job Wink the guy who thought you could find 240 80,s boxes must have been on something at the time, maybe L.S.D Laugh Out Loud anyone round here will tell you these prescious gems are only getting harder to find, sorry ian but your gonna get the same reply anywhere you go Wink

- 2010-05-21 08:45

I have 50 you make me an offer, cash on collection in uk

lav.loo - 2010-05-21 12:33

now that,s a good start Nod Yes i just hope the guys got a lot of cash at his disposal, coz he,ll need it Nod Yes

- 2010-05-21 13:08

quote:
Originally posted by lav loo:
now that,s a good start Nod Yes i just hope the guys got a lot of cash at his disposal, coz he,ll need it Nod Yes


Thanks lav Smile I am not sure if the guy is interested but the offer is there Big Grin

mellymelsr - 2010-05-21 16:21

...240 is possible...there are more than that for sale right now on ebay and craigslist. If you have some time (a few months) and some money (several thousand) it can be done...but they will be different models and brands. If it is a sports company with many stores obviously money is not a problem, but it will take time to find, purchase and have them delivered to you...piece of cake...if you have a good secretary with a computer and a paypal account you could have all 240 in a couple of months...

transwave5000 - 2010-05-21 16:38

You might want to contact some companies directly.
JVC, Sony, Sanyo, Sharp, Lasonic, etc.

panasonic.fan - 2010-05-22 09:10

It would be expensive to do so, but there are Chinese sellers on Ebay who seem to have an endless supply of Sharp GF-777 boomboxes for sale. Same model, iconic model, would be perfect for what you are trying to do.

But it will be expensive to purchase 240 of them and get them shipped to you.

ian.kay - 2010-05-22 09:55

Guys, I really appreciate the time you have all taken to reply to my rather hopeful message. 240 is the number of branches in the chain of sports stores that will receive this promtional item so that was the reason for the specific number.

I went down the ebay route and spoke with some suppliers. Some leads were initially quite hopeful whereas others were just looking to engage when they saw me as a prospective sales lead. Ce la vie.

Given my lead time I have decided to follow the route alluded to by Themobcrew above. I'm letting the brand owner select a boombox and then we'll vac form a frontage and then back fill with resin to create a decent level of detail and some sharp lines on the finish. I think I'll be able to include a few funky features like a proper cassette and some authentic looking switches and grills. The model will be finished with some vinyl print for the decals. Initial etsimates suggest that if I made 300 as a minimum quantity the cost per unit would be around £150. Judging by the rates on ebay this is probably dearer than some but cheaper than others. Anyway it looks like the only ball game in town at present so it juts remains for me to thank you guys again for your kind replies. Ian

lav.loo - 2010-05-22 10:02

no worries ian Big Grin hey if you make it a success please visit back with some pics of the finished product, we love pics here Nod Yes and when you have done with the 240 boxes, pass em my way Laugh Out Loud anyway good luck and please don,t hesitate to call back if you need any further assistance Wink who knows you may now be caught up in the boombox web Big Grin

im.out.of.hear - 2010-05-22 11:00

hey you could aproach sharp and ask them to supply you with 240 sharp GF777..they would'nt go for it,but it would be fun to ask,but for availability,if your going to ask any manufacturer,go to lasonic..they might be the most helpfull (i think)
you could buy 240 lasonic i931's..

l1 - 2010-05-22 18:17

maybe that rich guy who had all the conions who was a member here has almost 200 of them by now. he was pretty crazy about buying the same box over and over again.

transwave5000 - 2010-05-22 21:00

Probably a Lasonic i931 would be best.
This model is new and available.
Price is about $150.00 USA dollars.

Maybe Lasonic can make a 'special edition' for you in this case. Smile

litfan - 2010-05-23 04:04

The one person who can do it, has already replied Wink.

im.out.of.hear - 2010-05-23 04:15

Yep Richard,i know who you talkin aboooot...
roddy@RADIOHIER Smile

litfan - 2010-05-23 07:10

Yep. That`s their job. Reet up their street.

adespin - 2010-05-23 11:09

quote:
Originally posted by Boomer:
I have 50 you make me an offer, cash on collection in uk


Hey Boomer, don't sell them all, i'd like to buy one of your DT707's Nod Yes Nod Yes

billy.the.binman - 2010-05-23 12:11

i would supply you with boxes for this purpose, having done it before - but i only have 5! doh!

maybe do the flagship stores with proper boxes and the rest with cutouts and posters for the harder to find stuff?

billy.the.binman - 2010-05-23 12:14

thinking about it, is this adidas wanting this? theyve done this before and they are laying on the ad campaigns right now...

im looking for work in ad media btw, should anyone such as a project manager working on such a job be reading this...

gld - 2010-05-24 12:47

If it was Addidas doing this the GF-767 would be ideal; retro association with Run-DMC.

There's a shop in Covent garden that has transferred pictures onto boxes. Also, there is a customised GF-555 with addidas logos in Selfriges, so this is not a new thing.

transwave5000 - 2010-05-24 14:06

Here is an Adidas boombox from an old thread.

And some more promotional box's LINK