Vintage unboxing ONE-TRANSISTOR 'Boy's Radio' made in Japan - collectornet.net

Here's an unusual radio. You've heard of a six transistor, and a nine-transistor... Well, this is a ONE transistor. And it is marked "Boy's Radio" on the back. With just one transistor, it doesn't have the power to propel sound out into a room with a loudspeaker. Instead it plays only through an earphone.

Some of these earphone-only radios liked to try and make a virtue out of their limitations. This one does that with the line "Specifically designed for personal listening without disturbing others." As if you had a choice.

On the side of the box this one says "Complete with battery, ready for immediate use...Made in Japan." And IN that box came the radio, the earphone, and an antenna rod. It's funny but there isn't really a brand name on this box. It just says "Transistor Radio." There is some maker name but I can't quite make it out. It says: A Codeg Production or something like that. C-o-d-e-g I'm pretty sure of, but the last word is too hard to read. Product? Production? I don't know.

It's a very toy-like radio. There isn't even a volume control. There's just the one volume--not loud enough. You turn the radio on by plugging in the earphone, off by disconnecting it. I'm surprised that's not a selling feature too. "Turns on and off automatically when you want it!"

You may know that these one-and two-transistor Japanese radios were imported as "toy radios" or "boy's radios"--names used interchangeably, though most of the time it is "boy's radio" that you find inscribed or molded on the back.

Some of us collectors have a weakness for these cheap little radios. I like them all! The high-quality, well-designed, beautiful little gems at the height of the transistor radio's golden age. AND... funny little cheapies like this, that seem to operate with almost no parts inside of them. I guess I remember well what it felt like to be a kid and be lucky enough to have something like this as your prized possession.