Retro Thing

Doctor Who The Computer Salesman?

I recently attended the big annual Doctor Who convention here in Chicago. I've been a fan since about 1983 when my local PBS used to show it on Saturday mornings. First story I ever saw was the crackerjack "Genesis Of The Daleks". Not only did its strangeness appeal to me, it was also one of the first shows I ever saw in color (whoops... "colour") since my family had only just gotten a 19" color set.

I've been a fan since then, having slotted into that uneasy place of liking an obscure show few knew about here in the States. That's why I find the success of the new series so disorienting. It's a smash hit around the world, and pervaded every sort of media. There had always been a trickle of Doctor Who toys and other souvenirs throughout the show's history, but today the selection is amazing.

Of course the show had been a smash hit before now in its native country, peaking somewhere in the 70's during Tom Baker's tenure. Here are some commercials(Where would these have been shown? These are obviously not a consumer item.) that he did in character with companion Romana (Lala Ward who has played the parts of both Baker's wife and ex-wife in real life) for Prime Computers. Even the Doctor didn't realize that a whole room of putty colored cabinets would one day be trumped by a typical tween's cell phone.

If these ads weren't written on the sly by Douglas Adams, they were certainly written by someone who understood the value of the offbeat.

related:
Doctor Who figures by Dapol
Own a full-sized Dalek

Stamp Collectors Celebrate Classic TV

I'm no philatelist... that was more my father's thing. I've always thought that collecting postage stamps might be a conspiracy going back to Ben Franklin (okay, just so you don't have to look it up, he was the first Postmaster General...). It's a brilliant idea to get people to convert their money into postage stamps that they'll never use. Coin collecting is sort of the same (another thing my old man was into...) idea. Use your legal tender to buy legal tender that you would never dare use. Great!

I'm not actually trying to run those hobbies down. Each has a fascinating history, and there is much of interest in what most people handle everyday as incidental ephemera. To their credit the Post Office has issued some stamps that have curried even my interest, and I must confess to having bought some stamps over the years just for lookin' and not for mailin'.

I just found a set at my local branch that had been issued in August celebrating classic TVshows. Each TV show's image is represented in pleasing monotone, bordered by a golden TV-shaped frame, and they've even got the TV tube glare and scanlines there! Very cute, and as an aficionado of old TV I couldn't resist. The selection of 20 shows from TV's early days is a pretty good one. Nearly every show in the collection has been syndicated endlessly since the 50's, so you can still feel nostalgic even if you weren't there the first time around.

If you're looking for a $10 holiday gift for the TV fan in your life, you may still find a set if you trot down to your local Post Office. The best thing is that if anyone hates your gift, they can just use it as postage! I'll probably put my set in a nice frame, and feeling rather self-conscious about it.  I'll also bet that my father is laughing at me right about now.

Pioneer's Last Cassette Deck?

The Pioneer CT-W606DR is a double auto-reverse cassette deck. It would be right at home in the early 1990s, except that it sports a set of decidedly modern 20-bit analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog converters.

Still, its other capabilities are right out of my 1989 Christmas wish list: Dolby B/C noise reduction, Dolby HX-Pro, high speed dubbing (with digital noise reduction), CD-synchro recording and high-speed song search (which plays the first couple of seconds of each track before zipping on to the next).

The big question, of course, is why anyone would part with $229 for a cassette deck in the 21st century. Off the top of my head, I can come up with three potential markets:

1.Folks who love to record radio programs and are allergic to computers. 

2. Former teenagers with a massive collection of mix tapes hidden in their parents' basements. They secretly long to listen to their old bootlegs of The Smiths and The Cure just a few more times before the irreplaceable hand-decorated tapes disintegrate.

3. Loony half-deaf audiophiles who claim that cassettes are "much more musical and open, with a precise soundstage that allows each instrument to breathe with effervescent succulence."

Poor Pioneer. With a potential market like this, they'll be lucky to sell a thousand units next year. Still, I doubt it costs much to keep a heap of CT-W606DRs in the corner of a dusty old warehouse. After all, perhaps the day will come when cassettes are hip again.

Pioneer CT-W606DR Double Auto Reverse Cassette Deck

Avalon Mechanical Skeleton Pocket Watch

I've been shopping for a pocket watch lately, and there's an amazing selection to choose from. It seems that people have abandoned their wristwatches in favor of cell phones and stylish pocket timepieces.

While I'll probably end up choosing an inexpensive quartz mechanism because they're accurate and don't require constant winding, this simple $59.95 Avalon Skeleton caught my eye. It measures 51 mm in diameter and incorporates a Chinese 17 jewel mechanical movement. It also includes an exhibition case back so you can watch it run and comes with a 14 inch chain to ensure it doesn't get left behind.

Avalon 17 Jewel Mechanical Skeleton Pocket Watch with Chain

Introducing The Ace Typewriter & Equipment Co.

Thom Nevarez writes, "Ace Typewriter & Equipment Company has been the typewriter repair shop in Portland, Oregon for approximately fifty years and may be the only repair shop on the West Coast."

Thom plans to offer an extensive gallery of typewriter images for casual visitors on the Ace website, but their main business is equipment sales, replacement ribbons and a repair service to keep these beautiful vintage machines clacking along happily for years to come.

Ace proudly proclaims, "You’ll have to come into our shop to see our grand selection of manual machines, rare machines, display-only machines, and even the best selection of R.C Allen adding machines." And in a nod to the way things used to be, they only accept cash and local checks.

Link: Ace Typewriter & Equipment Company

Limited Edition Retro Thing Pixel Tees

After months of top secret R&D, we're proud to unveil three limited edition Retro Thing shirt designs. They were created pixel-by-pixel on a curmudgeonly old Atari 130XE, ensuring maximum authenticity and the most convoluted workflow since the Apollo missions.

Each pixel tee is screen printed on a heavyweight 6.1oz Gildan Ultra Cotton shirt in Madison, Wisconsin by a genuine American named Rick. There's no digitally printed tomfoolery here, nor are our shirts made by 3-week-old kittens slaving at gunpoint in North Korean sweatshops.

But be warned, these designs are only available for the next seven days. Try to order one after Tuesday, December 8th and I'll just peer mournfully over the top of my scratched old spectacles, mumble something inaudible and shuffle off into the kitchen in search of a late-night Popsicle.

They're only $13.95 each. Shipping is $3.95 for the first shirt and $2 for each additional item. So what are you waiting for? Your new wardrobe awaits.

Early Style Edison Reproduction Light Bulbs

The incandescent light bulb hasn't really changed much in a hundred years. In fact, you can still buy a reproduction of the original Edison bulbs from the 1890s. This 6" clear glass bulb emits a dim reddish glow from a single loop carbon filament. It has a 2000 hour average life and emits a soft glow far gentler than a modern 40W incandescent. Because of the fragile filament, it should only be mounted vertically.

Is it worth $13.49? That depends. We're rapidly approaching the time when an inefficient incandescent of any type will be seen as a quaint museum piece. And it definitely beats having to refill my oil lamp every night.

Edison Reproduction Light Bulb