Offer $20,000 and boom, top 20 gone
Hip-hop ya don’t stop.
One of the world’s best collections of ghetto boomboxes is up for auction, and it’ll cost you $20,000 to open the bidding.
Craig Kenton, a 45-year-old Dunedin man and teenager of the 1980s, put his collection of more than 400 boomboxes on Trade Me this week and by yesterday had more than 3000 views.
‘‘If I just sold the top 20 they would reach $20,000, and I’ve already had interest in some of those,’’ he said. ‘‘But I would prefer to sell them as a collection.’’
Kenton started collecting 15 years ago and admits the more he looked for them, ‘‘the more out of control it got’’.
‘‘When I was a kid I used to stare goggle-eyed into shop windows wanting them. They were a real statement of ‘80s culture.’’
The first boombox, developed by audio compact cassette inventor Philips, hit shop floors in 1966 and was a revelation because it could record radio broadcasts on to cassette tapes without cables or microphones.
By the 1970s Japanese electronic giants had improved sound quality and design. When it hit the American market the ghetto boombox was the iPod of its generation.
It became closely linked to hiphop culture and was instrumental in the rise of hip-hop music, typified by LL Cool J’s 1985 love song to the boombox, I Can’t Live Without My Radio.
Trade Me expects to see viewing numbers climb rapidly as Kiwis check out the collection.
‘‘We’ve seen a lot of incredible collections on Trade Me over the years but this is one of the more extensive and best displayed that’s ever appeared on the site,’’ a spokesperson said. ‘‘Retro is very cool right now, we’ve seen a resurgence in sales for hard copy books and vinyl records.’’
The auction is due to finish on Monday.