Awesome Retro

Musician AaronGrooves puts a seriously shiney new coat of paint onto the theme music from the 1980s arcade game Pac-Man, playing the classic 8-bit tune on xylophone, drums, ukulele, cowbell, and a loop machine.

Based on a 1991 Toyota LiteAce, Yota Imports‘ lifted minivan is the perfect retro-styled off-roader. It packs 4WD, a 2.0L turbodiesel engine, a sweet skylight roof, and offers seating for eight that converts into a bed.

Julian Palmer of The Discarded Image takes a look back at the unique sound textures found in movies from the 1980s. While some of the highly-synthesized soundscapes feel dated or shallow, others were pioneering and perfectly suited the content on screen.

“You better be as good as Letterman… or else!” To celebrate the upcoming launch of their online archive, Team Coco re-released the first ever episode of Late Night with Conan O’Brien, dating back 25 years to 9/13/1993, when he first landed on the talk show scene.

This retro console is now available for preorder. It not only can play games from CD-ROM based systems like SEGA CD, Saturn, NEC TurboGrafx, Neo Geo, and PS1, but it can be expanded with modules and controllers to play cartridge-based games.

Think having to put on a suit and tie for work is a drag? Check out this demonstration from the National Liverpool Museums which walks us through some of the complexities of menswear in the 1700s, and you might feel better when you can’t go casual. Ladies had it way worse.

Throwboy is back with a series of throw pillows inspired by some of Apple’s most iconic designs. The collection includes the 1977 Apple II, 1984 Macintosh, 1998 Bondi Blue iMac, 2001 iPod, and 2007 iPhone. Each pillow measures appx. 13″ x 13″ x 5″.

A charming classic interview from The Arsenio Hall Show featuring the late, great Jim Henson, in which he, Kermit the Frog, and Rowlf the Dog all answered Hall’s questions. We love his explanation about Rowlf’s broken arm.

Love Hulten’s wall-mounted arcade machine not only plays classic games, but is modeled after the design of the original 1972 Pong machine. It has dual arcade controls, and an 19″ LCD screen, and a software barrel-distortion mask to match its curved bezel.

Artist Wyatt Little presents a truly unique way to cultivate a houseplant. This handmade, rust-colored ceramic vessel looks like an old-school desktop computer and monitor. Measures 8″(l) x 7.5″(w) x 9″(h). We suppose you could attempt the same with an actual computer case.

FozzTexx offers a flashback to what life was like for computer users in the late 1970s. Check out the sleek styling and cutting edge monochrome screen on that TRS-80 Model II, complete with 8″ floppy drive and acoustic coupler! They left out the modem squeal, so here you go.

This clicky mechanical keyboard captures the essence of classic typewriters. It works as a dock for tablets, offers both Bluetooth and wired connectivity, and its clever carriage knob doubles as a volume and backlight brightness control. Coming to Indiegogo June 2018.

Show your love for retro video games with this sweet dark red messenger bag, embellished with the Japanese version of gaming great Atari’s iconic logo. We suggest using it to carry a LYNX portable, a selection of game cartridges, and some old Antic magazines.

“All day long, wearing a mask of false bravado…” The eclectic Sydney, Australia band Ocean Alley dusts off a 1970s classic – Player’s 1977 hit Baby Come Back, making us feel all warm and fuzzy inside thanks in no small part to Baden Donegal’s soulful lead vocals.

YouTuber Squirrel Monkey continues to build an archive of historical videos for modern applications had they existed back in the 1980s and 1990s. This time, music and podcast streaming service SoundCloud gets the CD-ROM and floppy disk installation kit.

“The worst is when I go to Japan, all those cars are so small over there.” A classic 1984 interview between David Letterman and wrestling great and The Princess Bride star André The Giant, as he chatted about his size, his wrestling injuries, and how he relaxed.

Techmoan is usually showing off unusual retro tech, this time host Mat has something a bit different. Here, he shows how to play vector-style video games using Wicked Lasers’ LaserOS. Check out StandupMath’s video for a more impressive demo of a laser-based game.

Mat from UK channel Techmoan loves to dig up obscure old technology and examine it in depth. Here, he checks out an old 1970s tech from 3M and Ricoh which allowed audio to be recorded and played back from sheets of paper which were backed with a magnetic coating.

Great Big Story presents a short interview and documentary about Nolan Bushnell, the man who not only gave birth to the video game industry, as founder of Atari, but who also founded numerous other companies, including Pizza Time Theater, home to Chuck E. Cheese.

Squirrel Monkey’s alternative past video series looks back at how WhatsApp might have worked if it came out in the late 1980s – using an MS-DOS computer, a dial-up modem, and a pager to deliver messages to its users.

The Raadition is a PC chassis that looks exactly like the classic Apple II computer. It even comes with a built-in mechanical keyboard with your choice of Cherry MX switches. It’s not for newbie builders and is a bit noisy under load, but it sure beats modding the real deal.

Techmoan loves to collect and examine unusual bits of technology from our past. One of the more interesting gadgets he’s come across is the Nu-Spin – a single purpose device which generates random numbers and displays them on cool old gas-filled nixie tubes.

You can play The Oregon Trail on your phone and even in your browser. But Basic Fun’s port adds a fair amount of nostalgia with its chiptune music, retro case and large buttons. It’s officially a Target exclusive, but you can also order it from Amazon.