Making Sound Waves with Urban Redux 2 Transistor &Radio Variant

 

Transmitting from the Vinylmation Vault this week are two of coolest sound wave making Vinylmations to come out; The Urban Redux Series 2 “Transistor” and the Variant called “Radio”. With attention to detail these vinylmations do a wonderful job of capturing the Transistor Radios of the past.

The Common Vinylmation known as “Transistor” has a two-toned color of a beautiful Water Blue and Antique White with a classic black/gold “Chevron” Shape trim that was popular with manufactures of these nostalgic radios especially with the Japanese Manufactures. Continuing with the look of the front are the words “Transistors” with a gold #10 set behind it indicating that the radio is equipped with 10 transistors. The emblem looks incredible and really lends to the classic feel. Finally along Mickey’s feet and arms one can see the Saddle Brown Leather case with a darker brown trim and cream colored stitching that protects the radio.

Located on Vinylmation Mickeys head is the speaker and the ears are the tuning and volume controls. Though not quite accurate with the exact location but still there are two Triangle pointers on the Tune side that have a unique meaning.

Below is an excerpt from an article from “Antique Trader” with the meaning of those markers.

“At the height of the Russian Red Scare, the United States enacted the CONELRAD program, which was an acronym for Control of Electromagnetic Radiation, establishing two civil defense frequencies, 640 and 1240 kilohertz. During times of emergencies, all stations except the CONELRAD stations at 640 and 1240 AM would cease operations (note that some Japanese radios made by Sharp and Hitachi during the late 1950s left out these marks).”

 

Moving to the back of the Vinylmation one can see the back of the speaker with the Saddle Leather case protecting it. The leather appointments continue along the back of Mickey’s arms and feet with a nice touch of gold accent on the top of the mickeys feet. To top it all of is the classic VM Label and 9 Volt lettering on what looks to be the back access panel and to compliment off the leather look on the back there are two gold accents on the feet. This is truly a wonderful piece.

The Variant called “Radio” has a two-toned color of White and Orange with the classic Black/Silver “Chevron” and the number 10 is in silver. The leather case is Black with a gray trim and white stitching. The colors work well with each other too. I like the variant and have it in my collection but I must admit the common looks 10 times better than the variant. To me the colors pairings are just spot on to a vintage Transistor Radio.

 

As for the Urban Redux Series 2 it was pretty much a blunder for me with exception of the Chaser “Fan” and possibly the Multi colored Skull Toppers.

Perhaps the Urban Redux Series was the final breath of a series that needed to be put to rest for good. Though to be honest there were quite a few Vinylmation from the Urban Series that were quite interesting. Recently Disney released a

D-Tour Series 2 and it looks quite promising!

In my opinion the D-tour Series captures the look of what the Urban Series should have been. Of course that is only my opinion.

 

The one this I do enjoy about writing these articles is that I find I get a better understanding of what the artist were trying to convey when they designed each peace of 3” art.

 

I would to get your thoughts on this so please leave a comment about the vinyl or an opinion of the whole series or anything at all.

 

Thanks for reading.

 

Credit:

www.antiquetrader.com