Browsing Radio Shack Retro Tech Catalogs 1979-1991

[@glorfification]

Back in the 80's, they had fake car phones, too, so you could pretend you had a car phone even if you couldn't afford one. I was so poor, I couldn't afford the fake one either.

[@RCAvhstape]

They also sold fake car phone antennas to stick on your car lol.

[@marcusdamberger]

Yes, that was a thing, or replace the FM antenna with one that looked like a cellular antenna because it had the curly bit in the middle. Why would you advertiser that you had a cell phone in the car for thieves to go ahead and steal? All they had to do was look at all the antennas in a parking lot to make their mark. Doh!

[@jenkins80526]

LOL!! I love that story!

[@pro5p3c7or1]

"I was so poor, I couldn't afford the fake one either." LOL!!! 😂😂😂😂😰😂

[@glorfification]

@Fan of Leafnation I think it was meant as a "gag" thing - like Wayne's World, where they roll the car window down and ask the rich guy, "Excuse me, do you have any Grey Poupon?" It was the 80's, normal people enjoyed making fun of yuppies.

[@AnimalFacts]

It’s kinda sad RadioShack wasn’t able to capitalize on the maker movement and make a comeback.

[@toasTr0n]

They tried, kind of. They sold Arduino-based kits and common shields and accessories in their stores for the last couple of years, but it was a small section at the end of an aisle with no real advertising, specials, etc. to back it. It was too little too late. Their selection was poor enough and their prices high enough that I would have bought everything at a competitor's Web site anyway. They were too busy trying to push cell phone plans to the customers instead at that point because it was the only thing that was really making them money.

[@AnimalFacts]

Yeah, that's pretty much my experience. Sadly.

[@RaketenKuhGewehr]

To be fair: "hacker" is also a stupid name.

[@RaketenKuhGewehr]

I do, actually, and it's not exactly hard to find out about it in the times of google. It's still about as "stupid" as "maker".

[@RaketenKuhGewehr]

Oh I'm not saying that it isn't. It's a stupid term. My point is that both terms are stupid and no one is better than the other.

[@SueBobChicVid]

I would watch a channel dedicated to this sort of thing.

[@Wallyworld30]

Suebobchicvid here is a channel that looks through old EGMs and other magazines. kzbin.info

[@miked3235]

There IS a channel dedicated to this sort of stuff, it's a RADIO SHACK CATALOGS channel with EVERY Radio Shack Catalog: kzbin.info/door/YVzIMQE2KQTl19ZgLYHXPAvideos?sort=da&view=0&flow=grid

[@TerrisLP]

LGR Blerbs

[@GTA1395]

My university has hundreds, if not thousands, of these old computer articles bounded into books in our library. I love to look through them and see them all. It's free to the public too.

[@ShamusOGrady2]

I don't know why looking through these as a kid was like looking through a christmas catalog every sunday. I miss it.

[@volvo09]

Yep, I'd wear out the magazine just going through it so much and dreaming about something I could not afford (like the boombox tv, and the better rc cars), and it wasn't even christmas!

[@Wythaneye]

4:06 That is a HTX-202 handheld. My first ham radio, I still have it, and it still works!

[@MrJest2]

The 79 issue is more my time in terms of nostalgia. I was 14, and my friends and I went to Radio Shack all the time to buy components and things for various projects. Usually CB radio stuff, but often odd things. Around the time the original Battlestar Galactica came out, I got a plastic model of the ship. Suddenly and quite randomly, Radio Shack started selling these fiber-optic kits. Boom!! Fully lit up Battlestar model!! It was awesome, and I couldn't have done it without the odd and random components they sold. Sad to see it go downhill in recent years...

[@TheAdatto]

When my grandma died i got her Yamaha stereo receiver and i still use it on my pc with 2 Kef speakers. Sounds amazing. Brushed aluminium. The remote shows the age but the receiver doesn't. Amazing sound.

[@bigt9745]

Yeah dude, old receivers can still bang

[@8BitBrody]

Can we just talk about the fact that if someone got one of these computers brand new in '91, took it home, set it up, and wanted to play some games, they wouldn't be able to play Doom because it wouldn't come out for two more years? That kind of stuff blows my mind.

[@Cristofre]

I loved Radio Shack as a teen in the 1980s. It was a magical wonderland for a kid with an electronics hobby. Then I got a job at a Radio Shack around 1990-1991- I didn't like it. We were paid by commission and we were graded on things like selling extended warranties (Tandy Service Plan) and getting EVERYONES address to put them on our catalog list. Man I just wanted to play with the electronics, not hassle people! Still, I did have fun from time to time. First time I used a cell phone was in 91- one of those old brick phones. This is really bringing back some memories.

[@aserta]

You know that catalog is a relic of the past when you see the thick clips binding the pages... you could build a whole house with all that metal.

[@LutherMasonVitaminL]

take em off the magazine, staple the shingles down.

[@MartinKronstrom]

Now As Seen On KZbin.

[@SpegD]

You just gave me a huge rush of memories, man. My parents had huge ass wood grain speakers and a glass front case for their hifi setup. And the speakers looked even bigger to 5 year old me because they were set on wooden Molson crates full of cassettes. I'm in nostalgia overload here. Thanks, Clint.

[@SweetLittleAki]

Clint, what I love about LGR for lack of a better way of putting it is you. Whether it's talking about the histories of tech giants to reviewing obscure bottom bin software no-one ever thought to buy, goin' thrifting, or even talking about retro cameras; at the end of the day it's your genuine enthusiasm for the stuff you cover that I personally have come to love. You, much like the retro tech you review, have acquired your own unique aesthetic. You convey so much personality through your voice, and as an aspiring voice actress I can tell you how important that is in fostering a community. I may go out on a limb here, but I think a lot of us just want you to make whatever makes you happy. Cuz' what ever makes you happy makes us happy. That's my 2 cents on the issue. Stumbled upon your channel in the summer, and I've been hooked ever since.

[@trippydrew8492]

These videos are fantastic! Takes me back to my childhood, scouring catalogues for the coolest shit going that I would never be able to afford lol

[@linksbro1]

9:12 The Bible in two electronic editions, $200 each. That's $400 just to read The Bible on a dot matrix screen. Adjust for inflation, that's about $725 in 2017. What the actual hell.

[@nikhildabas]

Pretty much all screens today are still dot matrix. Just that the dots are much closer together and have better contrast and the ability to display color etc. But yeah, the modern equivalent of those Bible devices would be the Kindles of today with a Bible ebook on them.

[@awwrelic]

I remember buying my mom a Franklin Bible back around 1994 (she was a Sunday School teacher but by then wasn't really healthy enough to go out). I think I paid $109 for it at the time if I'm remembering it right. She played around with it right up to her death in 1999.

[@PilkScientist]

Nikhil Dabas actually, the modern equivalent is this shitty looking 20 dollar thing where you type in a bible verse or book and it reads it

[@ronniepirtlejr2606]

Consider that you can download the free Bible app, wow! Your Android phone reads it if you want.

[@Caledon91]

I miss RadioShack, that was the only place you could find electrical parts and components. Sometimes you just needed an LED or a resistor or a spool of solder and you didn't want to pay for and wait for shipping.

[@ebayerr]

The silver faced 1979 Realistic STA-240 receiver was manufactured by Matsushita and branded as Realistic for Radio Shack. It is essentially a modified Technics SA-500.

[@TheRealMentat001]

I miss Radio Shack. I miss being able to just walk down the street and pickup a resistor, or a cap, or an odd connector. Now it's order online in bulk, pay shipping and wait 3-5 days.

[@EngineHeadCW]

I'm glad that you pick up stuff like this, then present it to us with your enthusiasm. I dig it.

[@knubbin1827]

Great way to start my Monday - thanks for sharing ^^

[@Whitingbolt]

Hey LGR, I wanted to start out by saying your voice had become iconic to me. Your videos are amazing and even ones I thought I wouldn't enjoy I ended up watching in pure amusement. You're the review wizard by far. I'm sure you have plenty of video ideas but I figured I'd share some of mine with you. There's a very unique game that I think you'd enjoy called Proteus. I'd make for a wonderful quick review I feel. Also might I suggest the Command and Conquer franchise for a long review? I feel like you'd do both justice with your superior in-depth review process. Thanks for your time! Keep up the amazing work!

[@Henchman1977]

In 1991 Memorex's consumer brand was still owned by Tandy (Radio Shack), so it was just another house brand.

[@vwestlife]

And many of Radio Shack's house-brand products were actually just rebadged name-brand items. For example, their pocket LCD TVs and musical keyboards were made by Casio and the Tandy 1100 laptop was made by Panasonic.

[@5roundsrapid263]

Most of their speakers and stereo gear was made by Pioneer. That 8-track deck with Dolby definitely looks like a Pioneer.

[@alexandrecouture2462]

My parents bought back in the days a memorex VHS at Wal-Mart, so di it changed later in the 90s?

[@vwestlife]

Radio Shack only had the Memorex brand name for a few years in the early '90s. By 1994 or so they had already stopped using it.

[@stonent]

I had a set of Yamaha speakers that I bought at Incredible Universe (owned by Tandy) that went bad under warranty. The Tandy service center issued me a Tandy store credit since they were no longer sold and I found an identical set of Optimus speakers at Radio Shack. The speakers were identical in every way except for the logo. So those at least were made by Yamaha or the same source as Yamaha.

[@bongodoug]

I just love these catalog videos. Clint, you make my Mondays bearable. Thank You!

[@martinr4940]

I still have one of those Tandy stack challenge handheld games. Still works, one of the best handheld Tetris games I've ever run across. I remember buying several back-in-the-day and giving them as Xmas presents.

[@iladelproductions8820]

you really splurged that year lol

[@seanc.5310]

Awesome video Clint! I remember flipping through these as a kid and pining over old Tech and Computers too. So much nostalgia...

[@MCMonsterbuilder]

When you said something about the car in the car radio add it came to my mind, the perfect car for you, a 1996 Buick Roadmaster Station Wagon. It's super cool, has Woodgrain panels and a Corvette Engine . I'd totally own it

[@LGR]

I've owned several beefy Buicks with woodgrain, I really dig 'em

[@MCMonsterbuilder]

I wish I could own one especially the Roadmaster because they are so cool in a not cool way. But there aren't many here in Europe and Gas isn't exactly cheap

[@hansmuller1625]

This was a really nice vid. Never had a Radio Shack in my country, but the nostalgia sweeping over me seeing similar products to the ones i grew up with was immense. So many memories.

[@Sam-lr9oi]

Oooooh yeah, time to settle in for some nice, relaxing viewing.

[@doctorwhofan6340]

RadioShack is still around. Thier mostly a online business now but thier are some physical locations still out thier and in business. I actually got a retro style logo t shrit from thier website and I really enjoy it.

[@metfan4l]

5:01 Your 90s Santa Clause kind of sounds like Hulk Hogan, brother! :D

[@AltoidJTP]

Well.... i.pinimg.com/474x/d3/e2/bc/d3e2bcf4537dd6136c01b50d3ed493b2--hulk-hogan-merry-christmas.jpg

[@beefcurtainz69]

Love when you do these videos. I myself am very intrigued by older catalogs and sales flyers as well. Keep them coming!!

[@forestine_]

For those who want to hear the answering machine tape (I think this was on Beware of the Blog originally) kzbin.info/www/bejne/Zn6uZH1qarVofpY

[@tempestfury8324]

Awesomeness Clint! I truly miss Radio Shack! In about 1975/76, I became a proud, card-carrying member of the "Battery of the Month" Club! Yes! You could receive one crappy Tandy battery of your choice, absolutely free! I usually went for the 9v. Keep it up! I love your videos!

[@whitb003]

The last page of the 90s ad, the yellow robot looking thing called Bank with Robbie. My brother and I had one, you put a coin in it’s hand and it would eat it. Completely forgot about that thing. Memories.

[@guyfawkes9951]

"As seen on TV" was the new, cool thing. What RS meant in this context was this was the super cool thing on the commercial you saw last week.

[@SteveM000100]

In the UK 'RadioShack' was just called 'Tandy'

[@bitrot42]

Wow, thanks for posting this video! Sooooo many memories. I spent hours poring over these catalogs, even back to the one from 1979. Back then, the Rat Shack catalog was one of the main sources of technology information available to the average kid.

[@grodenbarg]

RadioShack used to be my go-to for parts that I needed for immediate projects. The sad thing is now that you have to order parts ahead of time online for any project now.

[@MusicFanatical1]

17:52 what a reaction. When other guys had centerfold posters of girls on their wall, LGR stuck this on his. I kid.

[@BirchKST]

As a kid RadioShack was my favorite store to go see at the mall! This is so nostalgic lol

[@jimbol8695]

Especially at Christmas time when they had the free flashlights.

[@yvonnerogers6429]

Shared! Thanks, Clint. I really enjoyed this! Please find more catalogs! I will totally watch.

[@n-azure981]

The noises you make are what people sound like while looking through a playboy mag

[@rricci]

A Radio Shack catalog IS porn for geeks.

[@DemonStink]

These catalog videos, thrift videos and tech tales are just the best. Love them. Thanks Clint!

[@OtterWarlock]

it's sad to see radioshacks closed, but they closed for reasons. The last time i tried to get something from radioshack, a 9V AC adapter, they wanted 30 dollars for it. online they had them for less than 5.

[@toasTr0n]

Not only that, but the salespeople knew nothing about the items they sold and would hound me about purchasing cell phones and other things I didn't want or need because they worked on (paltry) commission. I eventually learned to be aggressively dismissive because it was really the only option, other than shopping at competitors' Web sites, which they motivated me to do more of!

[@CapnHolic]

That was all my radio shack became was a cell phone store. They had a few toys and a very small components section. I'd rather things die than live on as a decaying husk of it's self.

[@jeremiefaucher-goulet3365]

Never knew these could be so entertaining... Kudos Clint, you sure are good at making this funny and interesting

[@FinalBaton]

Here in Canada, Radio Shack got bought out by The Source, and they are TERRIBLE! Severely overpriced accessory, and I don't mince my words here (HDMI cables for $20, when they can be bought for $3, generic power bricks for $40, etc), they never have what you're looking for(shit inventory and not nearly enough variety), and they got rid of electronic parts, which was one of the best things about Radio Shack! I legit hate that store, lol

[@dreded7961]

i find the source often has the lowest price.. I always check them when buying stuff, typically their price sucks but once in a blue moon its significantly cheaper

[@MadMac5]

The Source is essentially a cell phone store and a place to drop off old batteries for recycling. And most of them are in a mall next to an actual cell phone store. If you absolutely POSITIVELY need some overpriced blank CDs to make a "Boomer Mix" disc for your uncle to play in his Lexus ("I can't pair my god-damned phone with the car because the text on the screen is TOO SMALL and I won't wear my glasses they're for NERDS"), then this is the store for you.

[@thatrudager]

"The Source" was the name the stores got when Circuit City bought InterTAN (Tandy Canada). Circuit City went under so Bell now owns control of the company. Mainly to sell phones.

[@AssaulteedOne]

I was able to get them to order a new belt and record needle for an old record player I used to have back in like 2010 - the only thing The Source has really been good for. That, getting an actually good headphone splitter for cheap, and Resi Evil Revelations for the 360 for $5.

[@rricci]

@@MadMac5 Sounds like what Radio Shack had become by the mid 90s. That's what did them in. Too focused on cell phones.

[@Mitsukara]

I owned that Puppy Watch as a child! The watch readout popped out when you pushed a little button and then you could push it back down to put it away. And the entire watch piece could slide off the band, and I would pretend it was a little robot with a head that popped out like a turtle (ignoring the dog part I guess?). I loved that thing when I was like, very tiny. These types of videos are great, I love it when you do these. Thanks!

[@kingreid1994]

The TRS-80 sounded cheap until I looked up the price in an inflation calculator. It would have been $3,451.88 today. It is amazing how much computer costs have come down over the years.

[@MegaTechpc]

My Note 8 that I'm typing this comment on probably has more processing power in it than the most powerful super computer on earth from 1979!

[@rricci]

Don't forget to note How much memory you got back then. 16K!! Yes, 16 THOUSAND bytes. Not 16 gig not 16 Meg, 16 THOUSAND...and NO hard drive either. Ithink you need Donald Trump's money to get back then what is standard now.

[@malcolmdane8819]

You can thank NAFTA and free trade for jump starting the information age. While job losses were substantial in the manufacturing area, without free trade computer prices would still be sky high and out of reach for regular people.

[@malcolmdane8819]

@@MegaTechpc Your note 8 has about as much computing power as a x64/86 chip from 2004-2006. Which is insane.

[@MegaTechpc]

@@malcolmdane8819 Its a Note 10 now lol.

[@JayRaxter]

You're only a couple of years younger than me BUT everything you talked about brought back memories...I also grew up right down the road from you so I get a lot of your references. There were 2 Radio Shack's in Gastonia NC from mid 70's until early 90's. Oh..and I had a Tandy bag phone in the early 90's on the AllTell network.

[@deVryz]

Aaaand.. I´m procrastinating again.

[@Novalight2550]

Please keep doing these as often as you find them. They're great windows into the past.

[@jetCold1]

I completely forgot about those 'Electronic Lab Kit' things that RS sold. I *loved* those when I was a kid.

[@volvo09]

I got a few spring shaped burns as a kid from shorting the terminals out, haha.

[@pokepress]

I had one or two of those growing up as well. The most practical thing you could make would probably be a radio, but it was still fun.

[@MochaRitz]

Wow, I completely forgot that I had one of those. I gotta find out if my parents still have that in their basement somewhere, now I wanna mess with it lol.

[@stonent]

Most are still available for purchase under the Elenco brand on Amazon or other online retailers. www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0035XSZDI/ref=s9_acsd_hps_bw_c_x_2_w/130-5728229-1326236

[@chrisrobinson82]

Just watched the whole thing and it was amazing. Thank you Mr Bassinger!

[@CountZeroOr]

I always wanted one of those electronic chess sets as a kid. (Yes, I was in the Chess Club when I was in grade school). EDIT: Also, Futuristic Galactic Man looks like something Phelous would review in the Bootleg Zone (as a bootleg Robocop).

[@waterspigot8404]

Alexander Case You sounds like Todd Howard lol “Yes, I was in the chess club”

[@keithkenney587]

It's so neat to see this. I own a pair of Realistic Nova 6 bookshelf speakers that my Uncle bought back in the early 1970's and they travelled with him all around the world as he was military. They are now my garage speakers and still hold their own! I also have a set of original 4024 (I see a set of 4024a in the 1979 catalog) Realistic Mach One 15" speakers, we have one of the radios seen in the 1979 flyer and I had a bunch of the early-mid 90's RadioShack RC stuff. We also have RadioShack intercoms still from the early 80's and later models from the early 2000's, still in use today. My grandfather was a TV repairman in the 1950's/1960's so places like RadioShack were a go-to for repair parts. We are very lucky that both of our local RadioShack's rebranded in the early 2000's to another audio/video company which still stocks a lot of the obscure tech accessories that were lost when RadioShack disappeared. I know it's 4 years late, but LOVE videos like this!

[@knelson3145]

I wish I still had the giant Computer Shopper magazines from back in the early 90's. Those things were great.

[@chrissawyer1484]

Those things were awesome.

[@rricci]

You mean those issues that competed with the phone to see which was thicker??? I remember those too. I don't know why, but the dead tree catalogs were funner to look at compared to today's digital ones.

[@MaraIndigoJade]

I still have several actually, along with some smaller ones. In fact, I have a large PC mag collection from back in the early to mid-90's including most of CGW and PC Gamer's run during that time. It's been a royal PITA to move them the five times I've moved but it's still worth it I think.

[@1blisslife]

I remember buying/getting a lot of that stuff back in the day. I even got my parents to get me a casio pocket t.v. which burned through batteries very quickly! Watching the wonder years & Saturday morning cartoons.... Even the scanners to listen in on stuff. The CD players that didn't have antishock/skip protection & would skip with the slightest bump! The stereo system with large speakers we had was realistic brand as well. Now that I think about it, we bought most everything electric/electronic at Radio Shack. Those flyers bring back memories! Thank you for sharing them LGR

[@larsmuldjord9907]

COMPUTERS! 20:13

[@zvonkokarabatic2169]

Milena Smith lol really a cam bot here xD

[@m9078jk3]

You would have liked the Radio Shack binary counter kit from 1972

[@Bananachan289]

The gasp was so funny!!!

[@formdusktilldeath]

6:00 lol I love how he caresses the pictures like I would a woman XD

[@DentonClone]

Clint! I've got that EXACT plasma ball featured at 11:00! It was a thrift store find from a friend. It's crazy seeing it pop up in one of your videos, even if briefly.

[@annmareeofoz]

Oh the VHS Cam Corders that were HUGE. If people back then knew how small and diverse cell phones would be in just 10-15 years from then! and I was always jealous of those clear phones, usually always on American TV Shows where teenagers had their own phone in their bedroom! Like 'Clarissa Explains it All' or other Nickelodeon shows of the time period!

[@MegaTechpc]

More like 20-25 years on the smart phones, but yeah, blows my mind how we really are living in the future right now!

[@henrydave6603]

Wow, that was really neat! First, the twelve year difference between the two. You never realize how much tech changed over that time. Second, It was also cool seeing that April 1979. The very month I was born ^_^ neat to see! Third, on that last page of the 1991 flyer ... was that "Banking with Robie"? That guy was so cool, he ate your coins! Even if ya didn't talk about it, still cool to see. Just like this video! Not only was it cool old stuff to see, you had that generation gap to show just how different twelve years of electronics did. Thanks this was awesome!

[@STRATOHOLICRichman]

I always loved Radio-Shack, I was a kid in the 90's and they just had all sorts of cool stuff for us. Most, if not all of my radio controlled toys came from there, as well as small electronics builders kits/tinker sets that were cool for a kid into electronics. Now I'm older they always had some switches DPDT or Momentary switches for buttons on retro gaming machines, capacitors, resistors, you name it. Now where the hell am I going to get this crap now? I can order it but it takes a lot of the fun out of it, at least for me...

[@killerrobotics3194]

I love these videos! Crazy nostalgic! I remember going through similar ads when I was a lot younger.

[@GeoNeilUK]

Perhaps Maplin could buy up what's left, they do pretty much what Radio Shack used to do. Funnily enough, Radio Shack used to be in the UK under the Tandy name, I actually had a Micronta alarm clock for years. It had a red LED display... and woodgrain.

[@bmh67wa]

I miss the Radio Shack of my youth. I miss those ad inserts but I really miss the catalog you used to be able to get from them every year. At one point they were a couple of hundred pages long. Thanks for the memories.

[@LazerLord10]

I only went to Radio Shack for individual components back when it was open. All the way up to when it closed I would buy components there. Can't buy a resistor at walmart.

[@genxrants]

Google "Hobby Town." Apparently, they are an authorized Radio Shack dealer and you can find resistors, circuit board blanks, etc. I found out by accident when my daughter wanted to find Mech models.

[@cowgoesmoo3850]

Was looking for this comment. easiest and fastest way, to fix electronics was just to go there and buy a capacitor or resistor. Just for pennies, could be more expensive than that. Cant remember the prices lol.

[@cowgoesmoo3850]

@@genxrants mech models, like mechwarrior/mech assault?

[@djditty8012]

Oh my! I had one of those Realistic wrapped like a pro keyboards! Loved that thing as a kid! Thanks for helping me travel back in time.

[@texaswilliam]

"It's a radio inside a stuffed animal; that's amusing." I think it'd be worth the risk to break causality and have this review appear on the box.

[@pippinunderhill9667]

Old publications may be one of my favorite sort of collectable. I remember drooling over the Sharper Image catalog as a kid. I loved those old wired/clear phones, too! PS: Look at those big_brick transceiver radios! Radios at Radioshack, who'd of thunk?! This is great LGR! PS: Did you see that huge rechargeable square/rectangular flashlight! LOL! Holy crap telephone-type receiver! I've never seen those before. Now, that Multiband Portable Radio - I've seen that exact model and it still works like a charm! Intercoms in a word: Necessary.

[@AgeofReason]

the realistic/ optimus music keyboards were absolutely insane and i WISH i could find the old huge optimus i had in the 90s now online. awesome fn keyboards.

[@rricci]

They had a synthesizer that came uot in the late 80s/early 90s. That thing was SOOOOOO fricking fun to play around with. It had like a gazillion sounds. If only I can find one on sale on Ebay.

[@callmejimmy2812]

My grandfather owned a radio shack in Asheville NC in the 80s, i may have the time period wrong, it could have been 70s or 90s but he had one

[@JosiahIsWrite]

This makes me want to track down a Sears or JC Penney catalog from about 1989. I used to circle just about every toy in the toy section and my Mom would buy me clothes, damn responsible parenting.

[@shibolinemress8913]

We never had a car phone, but we did have a CB radio at one time. I never thought about it as a kid, but were there any laws about talking into those while driving? Of course there was no texting on them, but they'd still be distracting. (Not that anyone would have paid attention to regulations anyway, I guess.) On family road trips, dad was usually the "pilot flying" and mom was on the CB 😊. Thinking about it now, there was a huge amount of blind trust involved. If you broadcasted your location, who knew who was listening and what they might do? That "friendly tip" about a repair shop could end up being a trap to rob you, or worse.

[@segaboy9894]

Clint... Would I be right to assume that you track all your KZbin finances in Lotus 1*2*3 on a 286? I also challenge you to do a video where you make dot matrix iron on transfers.

[@JeffDeWitt]

Even better, use "Worksheet", the spreadsheet program included in Tandy's "Deskmate".

[@segaboy9894]

OMG. Clint, please confirm what you use for your accounting needs!!! We. Need. To. Know!

[@stridermt2k]

Gonna make me cry...yeah. A piece of my life, dreaming over this stuff, and lo! the wonders we have today! Still they were fueled and engendered by these...these wondrous items. Thank you, sir.

[@RCAvhstape]

I miss Radio Shack.

[@AirborneSurfer]

Man, I used to while away hours in Radio Shack when I was a kid! I even remember that store on Roswell Rd (from the 1979 circular)! Thanks for these, Clint!

[@genericgreensquid6669]

13:12 It's Robert Cop!

[@BenetteG]

Generic Green Squid i was gonna say that, but you beat me to it lol.

[@goufr3540]

Somebody might have to get Phelous on this and find one of those Radio Shack knock-offs. It would be so worth it.

[@thaddeusmcgrath]

At 15:46 bottom left corner is a TRC 548 CB base station I had as a teenager in the early 90's. It was a Tandy brand but made by Uniden. I had the PLL chip modded so it had high and low bands. I talked all over the world on that rig on side band. I still have it in the closet with a bad Cap. That was cool seeing it brought back allot of memories. Thanks for sharing!

[@Diego_BR]

I used to have a Cassio pocket TV, just like the one on the left 2:30 :-)

[@zed-xr4353]

I had some of these items, from the toys to the electronics. So much nostalgia. Love these "Let's Read" catalog and flyer videos.

[@madba5tard719]

I had one of those keyboards, in the UK it was the Casio Rapman though www.synthmania.com/rapman.htm i assume radioshack just rebranded.

[@hydorah]

It's got some seriously cool sounds in it!

[@JeffDeWitt]

Great stuff! I was one of the people who actually read the "Flyerside Chats" (I'd totally forgotten about those and I've got one of those WeatherRadio's around here somewhere. I also know for a fact there were Radio Shacks in North Carolina in 1979. There was one at South Hills Mall in Cary (I spent WAY too much time there), and another at Crabtree Valley Mall.

[@whitefire351]

every think of scanning that and putting it online?

[@LGR]

There are folks doing so already! Although my particular catalogs aren't on there yet. www.radioshackcatalogs.com/extra_stuff.html

[@terrornoize81]

Best retro-channel of entire internet. Greetings from italy.

[@vhfgamer]

"... and I would send it to 8 bit keys..." ROFLMAO +1 like

[@retrotechnerd3124]

Bless you, LGR. I was smiling & laughing all throughout this video. I hope you continue making people like me laugh. :) P.S. I could also use some woodgrain in my life. ;)

[@mariosuck123]

COMPUTERSSSS!!!! 20:09

[@stephl8304]

Computergasm lol

[@ronniepirtlejr2606]

Some of the electronic stereos Radio Shack sold were off name Pioneer stereos branded under a different name but I can't remember at this very moment.

[@jtsleazeball2548]

I don't know how or why I ended up watching this but holy fuck I'm intrigued

[@italiansunrunner]

I love these man great job. Im surprised that you were able to find those old catalogs

[@lodomir5519]

Retro Nut Shack Catalog Nostalgia

[@MegaTechpc]

I love this kind of stuff Clint!! I thought I was the only one who perused Ebay for old magazines and sales pamphlets!

[@BeCreative]

i bet microsoft bob would run real great on those machines

[@castirondude]

1:30 I always wanted a VHS camcorder but couldn't afford it. Now I have a camcorder that records crystal clear 4k on a solid state drive. And yet still when I see these VHS recorder, I'm like, wow they're so cool... at the time I was mowing lawns for about $2 each.. :/

[@AnimalFacts]

Prodigy > AOL

[@toasTr0n]

I came into the online service world a little late, when AOL was already around, and there were a lot of things about AOL that were technically superior. As a community, though, the service catered to novices and was filled with obnoxious and disrespectful users, and it didn't take me long to realize that the serious and dedicated users were all on Prodigy and CompuServe. Good times. R.I.P.

[@AnimalFacts]

Good times. Good times. Online wonders in glorious 16 colors.

[@toasTr0n]

I have to admit I really enjoyed watching Prodigy gradually draw its vector lines on the screen every time it loaded a page. You can't get much more immersive with images than having the entire service represented as one big geometry project. It was like viewing the world though a giant, color graphing calculator.

[@AnimalFacts]

I wonder why that seems so much more miraculous than things like streaming HD video? LOL

[@Krenum100]

CompuServe > All

[@j.t.5178]

What's interesting was the one in the Bronx, NY in the 1979 catalog that "just opened" at that time closed in 2015 and actually stayed at that location the entire time. I remember buying capacitors and wires for a physics project in high school to learn about electric currents back like over 10 years ago. It's sad to see them go. Great find LGR!

[@thebrianster6752]

C:\>THAT WOOD-GRAIN LIFE

[@deadfox852]

Man bringing back some Memories with those, My Dad had plenty of those old Stereo's wish we still had some of that stuff from back then.