Own the streets by buying up this giant collection of vintage boomboxes
Loud and full of bass, the boombox a.k.a. the ghetto blaster is an unforgettable relic of the '80s.
Now you can own a giant collection of these boomboxes, currently being sold by New Zealander Craig Kenton in an auction starting from NZ$20,000 (US$14,202).
There are over 300 of these classic audio pieces in the collection, which has slowly amassed in the space of 15 years. Kenton, who grew up as a breakdancing teenager in the '80s, explained that his collection was something that just spiralled over time.
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"A lot of us boombox collectors, it often starts with one then ends with hundreds. It's just one of those things when you start collecting something, it goes out of control or it doesn't," Kenton told Mashable Australia.
Often travelling as a salesman, Kenton began buying up boomboxes from second hand shops and picking them up from people who were throwing them out.
"There was nothing wrong with them, it's just that they play tapes," he laughed. If the boombox happened to be faulty, Kenton would repair them himself. "You kind of need to do that when you're collecting vintage stuff," he said.
Many of these boomboxes on their own can fetch more than US$1,000 each, so an entire collection is likely going to be a steal for anyone who is willing to stump up the cash. Around 90 percent of the collection is working, Kenton said.
For the boombox aficionados, the set includes models such as the Sharp GF-1000, the Sanyo Big Ben and the Promax J-1. Kenton's favourite is the Sanyo Big Ben, as well as the JC-2000 which he said was the biggest boombox ever made.
Tucked away in his home for years, Kenton hopes that the next owner will be able to display the collection in public.
"I'd like to see them go to a museum, where everybody can see them. I've had that many comments of 'oh I remember those back in the day' -- it's something that's so embedded in '80s culture," he said. "I've always had them on display in my garage, but who's going to see them?"
The auction closes on Aug. 1, so get poppin' and lockin' before these boomboxes disappear for good.
