Who's left?

[RoZyBoom]

Yeah, I know many people have left the party, but if you were guessing how many boomboxes are left at the party, what would be your guess?

How many PC-55s are left of the total manufactured and sold?

How many RC-M90s are left of the total manufactured and sold?

...we have no data, so I'm taking guesses.

 

[Brutus442]

Purely speculation but I'd imagine approximately 25% of the total production still survive. Most are probably used as shop boxes or languishing in some basement cellars or even in countries where radios are more common that TV signals.

Again this is purely guessing....

 

[RoZyBoom]

25% of the total production still survive

That would be nice. You're an optimist! I actually wonder if it's even 5%?

Think about it...40 years, all those moves, years passing, use, abuse, wear, forgotten D-batteries leaking - and that would be by 1989 already. Then walkman/personal radios and shift to CD, which most of our beloved boomboxes didn't have. The fact that they were in unpleasant places, garages, workshops, community centres doesn't help either. Personally I think we're in the 5% range, and I highly doubt we get close to double digits. And certainly if we're going to be picky and demand fully working condition status on these, the total will be sub 5% for both modes. That would be my guess and just like you - pure speculation.

I would really like to have some official JVC sales data on these. That would be awesome. Someone out there has it too, and it's no secret now. I wish they would share.

 

[Brutus442]

The main reason I ballparked 25% is nations like Vietnam, Laos etc still use boomboxes extensively, especially in outlying areas as main sources of information as TV signals are weaker and less channel choices are available.

We're only thinking of Western boxes which were dwarfed by the onset of CD and such. In less developed nations, radio still is very popular because of it's range and strength over local TV output power, but without actual data it's just a shot in the dark.

 

[caution]

Sales data is long gone, if it was ever public information to begin with (doubtful). I'd say 10%-15%

Fires, earthquakes, floods
Misadventure
Evictions/moves
Abandoned properties/storage lockers
Bought a replacement because it broke

 

[mudman]

I think you'd be surprised, especially with the larger or special models. I've been in a lot of homes and people hold onto equipment they loved and anything music related is hard to get rid of. Most of it will still work, even if the tape deck needs belts, and you'll find a ton of old boomboxes in basement shops or garages just for the radio.

I've tried prying away unused audio and it isn't easy, just two weeks ago a customer had a monster Yamaha just parked in his basement wasting away, his wife wanted to get rid of it but he wouldn't. He also said he had a NOS WM-D6, again, no interest in moving it on.

When I go to garage sales I always ask if they have Walkmans or Boomboxes, about 20% of the time they head down to the basement and grab something. It might be different outside of North America, we have a lot of storage room here and the "self-storage" business is thriving.

 

[RoZyBoom]

The main reason I ballparked 25% is...

I get it. But at the same these are old electronics and just the age, cycles, wear will take out a bunch. Look, 25% is not a crazy guess, but 25% would also mean there would be way more supply out there if that was the case, even with many getting hands on their units. Consider PC-55, even today they are quite a hard find. Consider RC-M90 and with prices dropping recently as demand drops off. Consider how many were sacrificed for donors to make others work.

I think 25 years ago, as we welcomed year 2000, 25% of these things were still out there perhaps. But now...25 years later, age, repairs, restoration donors, age failure of components, iPod, iPhone, streaming, it all applied big pressure and I no longer believe that we're above double digits personally. My gut tells me we're under 10% as a guess.

Of course, this is also variable as 'caution' notes above on the sales data being long gone. Like any product, the top of the line units cost way more, and with that price barrier came an adoption and volume bearer. Fewer made because fewer would sell due to price. And higher complexity often means higher chance of failure, and with that comes higher chance of surrender - e-recycle that thing!

How about we take a guess the volume? We're in the '25% or less' category when it comes to what remains of what was made. Some of us higher in that range, some in the middle, some near the bottom, but 1/4 remains.

If you were guessing volume made...(let's stick with JVC) how many PC-5 were made? How many PC-5? PC-55? How many RC-M90? My guess would be 25,000 to 30,000 maximum of each model including all region variants. Remember, they weren't cheap boomboxes, in a sea of very affordable boomboxes at the time with HUGE selection for consumers. There were plenty of great units out there at 1/2 the price of these JVCs for example. Both 5 and 55 aren't great portable units either if that was your purchase goal. I remember looking at JVC PC-55 in a store in '87 at $299 USD and seeing the Sony FH-211W a few spots over for $399 USD - just $100 more - and that was A LOT more boombox for only $100 USD more. No chance I was choosing the 55 over the 211 I thought to myself, but both were pricey. I ended up buying a Lasonic LPC-30 for $149, it had double deck, EQ, VU meters and DISCO LIGHTS in the detachable speakers. And it was lighter to carry. Do I regret it now? Sure. But back then the $250 USD was like 8 weeks of work at my part time job.

 

[Transistorized]

I sometimes think of how many radios were thrown away due to replacement parts being unobtainable. I am so thankful for 3D printing and the people who know how to do that. But 15/20 years ago, even if they could be repaired, who is going to want to have it repaired and spend the money? Probably lots ended up in landfills.

Just like antique cars, there's always a period of time where parts to keep them going are gone and it gets tough. Then, if your radio can make it past that point in time of its existence, aftermarket parts come along and breathe new life into an old project. We are living in a good time for this with our radios.

Who knew that they would become a valued icon.

 

[RoZyBoom]

Yes Transistorized, but also let us take a moment and remember the army of donors who were sacrificed so that others could go on. Sure, replacement parts are nice but you know we all want:
a) Original
b) Working

And how exactly can you get that? What is the easiest path to part sourcing but taking another unit out of the total remaining population of that model?