This miniature replica of a 1980s boombox plays music from your phone via Bluetooth. It has two full-range speakers and a 10-watt amplifier, so don’t expect it to sound massive. While it’s made mostly from plastic, it does have shiny zinc alloy accents and a working AM/FM radio. It’s even got a tiny telescoping antenna, just like the real deal.
Most USB-C docks are pretty nondescript. But RayCue’s retro docks borrow their looks from the OG Apple Macintosh. The 128K Dock looks like a 1980s Mac, and packs USB-A, USB-C, HDMI, Ethernet, and headphone jacks. It’s also a Bluetooth speaker, a memory card reader, and a digital photo frame. The simpler Pocket dock looks like a tiny Mac keyboard.
Over the years, there have been numerous different ways of storing data on physical media. The 8-Bit Guy went all out, finding more than 100 different information storage media, from early wax cylinders to punch cards and gigantic tapes used for mainframe computers. That 16″ vinyl record is crazy.
Toy companies have always liked making kids’ versions of adult products. After showing off the 2000s Hit Clips music player, Techmoan got his hands on the Mighty Tiny, a 1960s attempt to make a miniature record player. It required a bit of repair work, but he eventually got it to play some tiny vinyl discs. Ohio Art – of Etch-a-Sketch fame – created the gadget.
Timex time traveled back to the 1970s for inspiration when designing its Celestial watch. The 36mm stainless steel watch features a retro-fabulous style with a gold-on-blue night sky face with sparkly crystal stars and a stretchy expanding metal band. It comes in a flashy goldtone or a subdued blue model.
Technology advances quickly, so the difference between today’s gadgets and those you could buy in the 1980s is dramatic. That said, the decade did give us early cell phones, portable tape players, VCRs, and personal computers. Twenty-something YouTuber Liam Thompson wanted to see what it would be like to live using only tech from the ’80s for a week.
The 1980s and the 1380s were pretty different times. The era of big hair and Rubik’s produced some great synthpop and arena rock, and those tunes sound surprisingly good when played on medieval instruments. This 90-minute medley features bardcore versions of 22 classic ’80s tracks, including Don’t Stop Believin’, Smooth Criminal, Eye of the Tiger, and more.
The Atari 2600 is back and better than ever. The Atari 2600+ plays both 2600 and 7800 game cartridges and has an HDMI output for modern displays. It’s got a widescreen mode, an less finicky cartridge socket, and a light-up Atari logo. It comes with a CX40+ joystick and a 10-in-1 game cartridge w/ classics like Adventure, Missile Command, and Yars’ Revenge.
Artist Eric Blackwell makes unique home decorations, mostly using upcycled scraps from a guitar factory. His collection includes these cool wooden clocks that incorporate mid-century modern aesthetics, including starbursts, satellites, and abstract shapes inspired by Googie architecture. In his Etsy Shop, you’ll find a mix of tabletop, mantel, and wall clocks.
Casio presents a new digital watch inspired by the vintage 1970s 52QS-14B. The A1100 series features a stainless steel case, a metal link band, a retro-style LCD screen, and four front-mounted buttons for setting, changing modes, and turning on its light. It’s available in stainless, goldtone, and a black finish with a green LCD.
Get your groove on in the kitchen while you scrub pots and pans with Fred’s playful cassette tape dish sponges. The set includes four 3″ x 4.5″ sponges packaged in a cardboard boombox. Crank up your favorite retro playlist while doing your dishes with these.
Game controller makers 8bitdo are now making keyboards in the style of 8-bit game consoles. Their 87-key mechanical keyboards are inspired by the NES and its Japanese counterpart, the Famicom, and come with a programmable dual “Super Button.” Compatible with Windows and Android devices via Bluetooth, 2.4G wireless, or wired connections.
The Ford Bronco Sport goes retro with its 1970s-inspired Free Wheeling special edition. Like those classic Free Wheeling trucks, vans, and Broncos, the compact SUV is decorated with red, orange, and yellow body stripes. It’s also got unique 17″ black and red rims, a silver painted grille, and its interior has colorful seat inserts with ombre stitching and red trim accents.
Watchmaker AVI-8 teamed up with Capcom to create a limited-edition wristwatch based on the top-down shooter, 1942. The aviation-themed watch features pixelated planes from the game, skeletonized hands, a bitmapped date indicator, and a “12” marker in the game’s logo font. Each watch includes custom prints by artist Nache Ramos. Drops 7.28.2023.
Pianist and arranger Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox specializes in unique cover versions of popular songs. This time, Scott and drummer Roger Ross teamed up with vocalist and upright bass player Wild Bill for a wild interpretation of The Bee Gees’ disco classic Stayin’ Alive. They call it “Ragtime Rockabilly,” but we also get a Wild West saloon vibe.
This series of 1″ enameled metal pins from DKNG pays tribute to classic arcade gaming, with four tiny machines to wear on your jacket or backpack. The Fly, Fight, Build, and Race machines incorporate sweet retro colors and graphics and a sparkly glitter-filled screen. The set is $10 off the regular price for a limited time.
Martin Miller and his bandmates take us on a journey back in time with a mini-concert of classic rock, disco, prog rock, and adult contemporary songs from the 1970s. The medley includes memorable tracks from Kiss, The Bee Gees, Gerry Rafferty, Toto, Earth, Wind & Fire, Pink Floyd, and John Miles. We’ve always been suckers for the sax in Baker Street.
NASS took archival footage from Los Angeles and used digital restoration tech to sharpen, brighten, remove noise, increase frame rate, and add faux colorization. It’s a wonderful time capsule of life in a different era, from how people dressed to the cars they drove to how retailers marketed their wares. The footage comes from the Prelinger Archives.
Timex rewound their time machine more than 50 years to bring us a pair of 1972 reissue watches, including this bold model with a large 43x39mm goldtone body, a burgundy dial, wide gold markers, and a date window. It has a stainless steel case, a quick-release leather strap and is water resistant to 50 meters.
It’s hard to top the original Sonic the Hedgehog games for their sheer sense of speed, excitement, and iconic level design. Sonic Superstars aims to freshen up the 2D platform action with modern graphics, all-new zones, new Chaos Emerald powers, and the ability to play side-by-side with friends as Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy Rose. Drops fall 2023.
If you owned audio equipment, a car, or a clock radio made in the 1980s or 1990s, you’ve probably owned a vacuum fluorescent display (VFD). After illuminating us to the wonders of segmented displays, Posy is back to school us on VFDs, why they’re so cool, and how their colors can be manipulated with filters.
ChatGPT is one of the most talked-about subjects of the decade. Despite its questionable accuracy, it does an amazing job of creating human-sounding text. Squirrel Monkey set their time machine to 1988 to see what the AI might have been like had OpenAI released the tech 4o years prematurely. Offline mode would have been particularly awful.
While you could buy a playable Pac-Man game for less money, the official LEGO version gives you the joy of assembling one yourself. The 2651-piece kit features a mechanical playfield and scoreboard, spinning Pac-Man and ghost characters on its top, and a light-up coin slot.