Remember these Mini Records?

Repair & demo of one of the more commonly reminisced about mini record formats.
00:00 Start
00:25 Toy Records
00:59 Action Man Field Radio Repair
15:15 Field Radio Demo
19:22 Multiple track disc explanation
19:50 Demo wrap
20:32 Human interlude
21:45 The Juniorfon
24:43 Juniorfon Repair
27:10 Nightmare fuel
29:41 It’s a wrap
30:33 Patreon credits
Pre-empting two inevitable questions with a written answer - this was only covered visually in the video.
Q) Will the Action Man records play on the Juniorfon?
A) The Action Man records are smaller in diameter than the smallest Juniorfon record - therefore the needle would drop down outside of the disc. So the answer is No.
Q) Will the Juniorfon records play on the Action Man field radio?
A) The Juniorfon records are larger in diameter than the Action Man records, hence will not allow the field radio door to close, which is essential for playback. So the answer is No.
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[@1973Washu]

My sister had a doll that cried and used a record like that , and the funny thing was that the reverse of that record must of been used for a "bag of laughs" and it had the most maniacal laugh track on it that I have ever heard , I found this out when unzipped the doll to get at the voice thing to change the battery and I found the record and flipped it to see what would happen. And hilarity ensued to my sister's great shock.

[@uselessDM]

Someone set this thing to evil.

[@TheErador]

Outstanding behaviour!

[@josephcronin2965]

What did they edit

[@jooei2810]

Analog hack! 🤣

[@Techmoan]

The funny thing about this is that I remember flipping over the record in my ‘bag of laughs’ and it had a baby crying sound on it. You’ve confirmed my 45ish year old memory wasn’t imagined.

[@Roxor128]

I never cease to marvel at how simple sound playback can get. It's easy to forget that this is a technology that pre-dates electronics.

[@ABrit-bt6ce]

Tessie Talkabout (or some such doll of my sisters) saying "mortar attack dig in" was a classic. We logically created a very camp Action Man that day.

[@MEGAMIGA]

🤣🤣🤣

[@mikemullen8174]

Obviously a Barbie style assault on the patriarchy...😉

[@kevinjokipii4260]

"pitch the tent here" and "what is your position" could take on a different context.

[@skurknilsen]

Oooh, the size of this unit😂

[@pcno2832]

Reminds me of that episode of The Twilight Zone with Telly Savallis. "My name is Talking Tina, and I don't like you."

[@sickkid1972]

Great. The sound of HAL9000 singing "O Tannenbaum" as you rip out his memory modules is just the nightmare fuel I didn't know I needed.😶

[@Cheesius]

I'm waiting for someone to start the next retro music phase, pressing new discs for these. "You think 8-tracks are obscure? Pff. I only listen to music on the JuniorFon, you probably never heard of it."

[@Drmcclung]

I'd get one made that went "America America F yeah!" to compliment my action man set 🤭🤣

[@Arachnoid_of_the_underverse]

The national athem would be ideal@@Drmcclung

[@CarlosPCmx]

I am sure the young hipsters would love small records from their favorite artists, unironically.

[@Drmcclung]

@@Arachnoid_of_the_underverse yeah but that's not as funny as a Team America reference playing through a '60's era Action Man toy 🤣

[@adamkamieniarz9223]

Playback time would also be appropriate for tiktok generation. ;)

[@EinChris75]

That juniorfon ist not just from Germany, but even from East Germany. You can see the "EVP" marking, which means "Einzelhandelsverkaufpreis". Which means something along the line of end customer price (which where for many goods regulated by the government). And the company making it was "VEB Spielwaren Mechanik". VEB is Volkseigner Betrieb (people owned company), basically the legal form for most of the state owned companies.

[@Drmcclung]

That explains the extremely poor quality lol and terrifying playback

[@janosnagyj.9540]

Yeah that motor and the two inductors gave it right away - they used this motor and inductors in every single "PIKO" branded toys.

[@EinChris75]

@@janosnagyj.9540 indeed. I remembered those small red coils as well. But I was reading the text on the box.

[@doktoruzo]

Yes, also explains the rendition of the 'International'...we'll keep the red flag flying here...lol

[@HansKarbach]

„Freue Dich, Weihnacht kommt bald…“ Im Osten gabs kein Christkind 😛

[@BokBarber]

Audiophiles: "The friction from the small point of contact on a record stylus gets to 10 thousand degrees Fahrenheit, so you need to let your records rest after each playing. Playing the record more than once every 10 minutes will damage it permanently!" These toys: "Air attack, air attack! ...Air attack, air attack! ...Air attack, air attack! ...Air attack, air attack! ...Air attack, air attack! ..."

[@NotATube]

That *would* explain the bloody awful sound quality then!

[@RobCamp-rmc_0]

8-year-old audiophile: _[pushes vintage horn-rimmed glasses up bridge of nose, twirls obnoxiously waxed disguise mustache]_ I only play with action figures that use tungsten alloy leaf springs to activate the switch, and I wouldn’t even inhale the microplastics ground down from those pieces of refuse they call “records”, just laughable _[nibbles from uncrustable sandwich made with with hand-crafted almond butter and locally-sourced honey on artisanal sourdough, drives away in Power Wheels Volvo 240]_

[@SimonQuigley]

Also these are plastic, not vinyl :-)

[@kvetcha]

@@SimonQuigley (vinyl is a plastic)

[@christianrottler]

"Liese rieselt der Schnee" and "O Tannenbaum"- two well-known German Christmas songs on the second device which mangled those lovely tunes.

[@michaelmartin9022]

I remember singing O Tannenbaum in German class at school!

[@ParaspriteHugger]

It is also a East German modification of the lyrics that manages to remove "Christkind" - Baby Jesus - from the Christmas song.

[@jaykoerner]

I was figuring it was Christmas songs because it's basically the same tune used in English versions, nice to have confirmation

[@baksatibi]

I'm surprised that O Tannenbaum didn't ring a bell, it got translated to a number of languages so it's also well known outside Germany. I didn't recognise the first song, it sounds similar to Stille Nacht (Silent Night), but it's different.

[@justanothernobody7142]

They also have the same tune in Sweden as a Christmas drinking song but I'm not sure if the words are the same. Usually they sing it before taking a vodka shot.

[@GentlemensWatchServices]

As a 7 year old, I took my action man field radio apart and was thrilled to find a miniature record player inside it. I think it was an earlier version though, it had a pull string and no battery. It was 49 years ago so can’t be sure. Still taking stuff apart now though, I’m a watchmaker!

[@NewFalconerRecords]

The "Big Jim" action figure had a backpack which had a pull string too. It said things like "I'm going in for a look", "Looks like we're in trouble" "We need to send for help" etc...

[@london19657]

Scale the cliff, Scale the cliff.. is all I remember

[@peterferguson2344]

I still have my action man field radio, with figures, been in the attic for over 40yrs now

[@bewilderbeestie]

Did you manage to put it back together again, though?

[@GentlemensWatchServices]

@@bewilderbeestie I can’t remember, so let’s go with yes.

[@EeekiE]

The 40 year old child with the voice of a eunuch in a rally car is truly terrifying

[@Jamato-sUn]

Thanks, I'm crying here ;D

[@verkehrsteilnehmer-berlin]

Unknown singer

[@mdani76]

ROFL 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@angrydove4067]

Perfect description.😃

[@christianpama4943]

that was a woman with christmas songs. First "Leise rieselt der Schnee", second was "Oh Tannenbaum". But it sounds awful!

[@AndrewJones-ik1el]

I have fond memories of swapping the disc in my action man for the disc in my sister’s doll. She was never best pleased when her doll would warn her that enemy tanks were approaching.

[@NotATube]

Bet she regretted not paying attention when the enemy tanks arrived and blew up her dolls' house.

[@Dudleymiddleton]

Ha Ha that's brilliant, made me chuckle! :)

[@emilydm78]

Mattel owned a specially-modified record lathe to create the master discs for these toy records - as they were too small to be plated normally, they'd instead place the master lacquer far off-center on a specialized turntable, cut a tiny "master", rotate the lacquer, cut another "master" and so on, till there were several cuts around the edge of one lacquer. It would be plated, pressed, then the individual tiny records would be die-cut out of it. That lathe was converted back to normal use in the late 90s or early 2000s, and has gone through a few changes of ownership, but is still known as the "Doll Lathe".

[@carlklitzke9455]

Interesting that you mention Mattel. This video reminded me of a board game Mattel made in 1971, talking Monday Night Football used tiny records sort of like this.

[@Recordology]

Fascinating

[@blueskyfox99]

If I’m recalling correctly, Mattel had an almost monopoly on talking toys that involved a tiny record. The large talking dolls, such as Beany and Cecil and Bugs Bunny had a pull string record unit inside. Other toys, like the Chatty Cathy doll and various telephone toys, used battery operated players with tiny records that kids would actually handle to change the disks. The tiniest records must have been inside the talking GI Joes from Hasbro.

[@xAlexZifko]

Great story, got any more like it?

[@kiwibass]

17:00 "Uh-oh, looks like we're surrounded..." - absolutely made my day! 😂😂😂

[@WatanabeNoTsuna.]

His deadpan comments are always one of the best parts of these videos! 😂

[@Peron1-MC]

yes XD

[@maciejrataj4255]

Oh my giddy aunt, surrounded again, aren't we? And on such a nice day too.

[@FernandoMartinez-bo5cm]

Not him again

[@jameswalker199]

For some reason this tickled me far too much and I'm now sat here giggling like a loon

[@starcaster]

“Visibility nil, West Bromwich Albion 1”.😂

[@goldenghostinc]

I won't say that was the highlight of the video, but I absolutely love that kind of dry wit. Left me with a huge grin 😁

[@Hairyfoot_Studio]

Nearly spat my tea out when he said that 😂

[@iRDaBrit]

Not like West Brom could ever score back then anyway :)

[@pseudotasuki]

I was sure Visibility had them.

[@RockyP77]

Shoot! As a united stater, I don't understand the joke

[@marksterling8286]

This brings back memories, I had a doctor who k9 with one of these inside it. I realised it was pink because there was also one of those devices in the back of my sisters doll. The side 2 of my k9 record was actually for a dalek, imagine my sister and parents surprise when on New Year’s Eve day her doll started talking about extermination and world domination

[@paulyh4531]

Lol I just mentioned I had a K9 and dalek with these records in them.

[@huemungus69]

I am a repair technician for small motorized tools and I started using your contact cleaner in the top hole trick for encased motors. This trick is amazing because it frees up the dust from the brushes wearing down against the armature and brings good motors back from the dead!! Your intuitive methods for troubleshooting electronics is much appreciated!

[@ACBMemphis]

Back in the 80s, my grandmother installed batteries in an un-boxed "Star Wars Troop Transport" and wrapped it as a Christmas gift. It contained a mini record player and when shaken the wrapped present would play a random Star Wars sound effect! This was the most anticipated Christmas gift of my brothers' and my childhood. There was no Internet search, we had not heard of this toy before, so we had no idea what to expect, only that it was related to Star Wars... I had no idea how the thing worked until disassembling it and finding the mini record inside.

[@verkehrsteilnehmer-berlin]

About the East German record player: The records were 75 pfennig each. Pretty expensive, because a 45 rpm single with pop music was 4.60 Mark and a pop music LP 16.10. The little record has verse one of the Christmas song "Leise rieselt der Schnee", lyrics are changed to avoid the mention of Christ, it was East Germany. Other side is "Oh Christmas Tree". It seems, that some boys figured out, how similar the laughing record is with talking doll disc and so they could scare the sister this way.

[@rjy8960]

Anything to scare the younger sister :)

[@A_Blip_In_The_Universe]

Thought that last song was O' Christmas Tree. But wasn't 100 percent positive as I know a lot of those older songs tended to 'borrow' their melodies from other songs. Not sure if that song is old enough to have been one of those or not.

[@baronmeduse]

@@A_Blip_In_The_Universe Wiki says the tune for 'O Tannenbaum' is from the 16th century and also the tune for 'Es lebe hoch der Zimmermannsgeselle'.

[@neonwired4978]

i remember learning o tannenbaum in german class

[@verkehrsteilnehmer-berlin]

@@neonwired4978 By the way, the lyrics in verse 3 are a bit weird, tries to fake wisdom. It's a kind of perpetuum mobile to say "die Hoffnung und Beständigkeit gibt Trost und Kraft zu jeder Zeit" as could you use ashes for heating a room.

[@ellisgarbutt1925]

That Juniorfon sounded like something possesed

[@toms5996]

We have seven days.

[@stevenlagoe7808]

I watched a paranormal investigation video before I watched this, but that 'Juniorfon' was way more scary!

[@JeanTheron-cf8zl]

Just Mat summoning some demons again. Nothing to worry about.

[@gotai8]

The two songs on the Juniorfon are the German Christmas songs "Leise rieselt der Schnee" and "O Tannenbaum"

[@TotalRookie_LV]

I guess "O Tannenbaum" is largely known in whole Northern Europe, or at least in my region, which was greatly influenced by Germans at least until WWI, just not in German, we sung it as "Ak eglīte!"

[@skillaxxx]

Yes I recognized it too, but both sounded more like horror tracks on this device !

[@wasserman63]

Das einzige was bei mir anfing zu rieseln waren Schuppen aus meinem Haar die sich aufgerichtet haben gruslig

[@Murgoh]

​@@TotalRookie_LVYes, very well known in Finland too, "Oi kuusipuu" (literally "Oh spruce tree").

[@twocvbloke]

"Oh whacking day, oh whacking day....."

[@vitaminjuk]

Oh yes, I got a hand-me-down dalek that had one of these kinds of mechanisms in the bottom! Exterminate! Exterminate! (etc)

[@Murgoh]

Yes, the voice quality would be perfect for that.

[@AdamPurcell]

Attack, attack, attack! That's the phrase I most remember from my Palitoy Dalek.

[@baronmeduse]

There was also a K9 toy, quite large, with these records.

[@BenHartley1]

I had the K9! "Mission Accomplished!"... "Affirmative"

[@jkeelsnc]

This is quite suitable for a Dalek.

[@josephcronin2965]

19:50 "Scrub ma dong, reach up!" 😂

[@RaverOperatorGeeza]

"come in helicopters"

[@StubbyPhillips]

Wait... what?!

[@uncled39]

Alert ma hymen

[@leximatic]

Take the bitch!

[@georgewhite1972]

Brilliant!! 😂

[@Drmcclung]

Dear God! The German one is the thing of night terrors, a battery powered Krampus hiding under the bed waiting to go off by itself in the middle of the night!!

[@kiwibass]

A whole generation must've been driven into heavy drug and alcohol abuse by these creepy gadgets...

[@StevieZala]

​@@kiwibassThat's brilliant, I love it. I'll try that one next time I see my councillor 😂

[@adamkamieniarz9223]

Krampus reference is quite fitting as the track on the second side is called O Tannenbaum, which is O Christmas Tree in German.

[@_kalia]

It sounds like a Dalek being tortured!

[@GGoAwayy]

O Tannenbaum, How green is your bladder?

[@jayem0187]

Thank you Mat! Now that was a huge throwback... I had this Juniorfon as a 4 year old child. That was 1984 living in East-Berlin. We moved in 1985 and since then i never saw (or heard) that thing again. Wow, what a flashback! Thanks again!!! =)

[@nigelcarren]

I had the Action Man Field-Radio. Ten year-old me would think of complex questions, then press the button so that the Action Man radio was essentially replying to me! This worked very well in the field when under heavy fire from my neighbour throwing acorns at me, with one exception... Because one of the records seemed to shout "Good Hicky now!!!???" This always killed my stride! But when my school-friend informed me that a Hicky was in fact a love-bite in the USA, I started to think that Action Man was having more fun than I was having and the Radio-Game then took a dark turn down a VERY dark alley! 😂👍🙈 I swear there is a hidden message in those records, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the Action Men for their service! ⚔️🇬🇧⚔️

[@andreasu.3546]

Play one backwards and you'll hear a message straight from SATAN!

[@nigelcarren]

@@andreasu.3546 In Bill Hicks we trust 🏆

[@PrinceWesterburg]

I worked for Audio Note and heard this AMAZING big band recording at Peter Qvortrup's house. It was a £28,000 turntable into a £50,000 RIAA stage and about £300,000 of preamp and amp with £75,000 speakers and £30,000 of silver cables (2008 prices) and the sound was coming from a 'flexi-disk' pulled from a magazine, and Yes! You still had to put a 2p on the disk to stop it slipping! :o) Some of these disks can be very high quality but they don't last more than a few plays - transfer to reel to reel or 24-96 or 24-192khz media

[@kbhasi]

As much as I enjoy bluegrass and big band music (mostly due to how much I loved the 'Wander Over Yonder' soundtrack), what you described led me to imagine someone listening to a 96 Kbps or 128 Kbps MP3 file on a high-end DAP. 😳

[@EvenTheDogAgrees]

The reason that door mechanism fails to work is because you bent the spring that needs to make contact beyond the contact point, towards the lever. The spring needs to be straightened a bit; in all likelihood it was supposed to be completely straight in the first place. It's a bit hard to see if that spring comes out easily, but I've encountered similar mechanisms in the past, and the way you fix 'em is you lift out the entire spring and give it a little bend _between_ pivot and contact point to restore contact. Grabbing it beyond the contact point and pulling it inwards, like I saw you do at some point, achieves nothing and it's the reason the door latch mechanism failed to work later.

[@pauldzim]

Yeah, I was yelling at the screen "you need to straighten that leaf spring!"

[@EvenTheDogAgrees]

@@pauldzim hahah, same. 🤣

[@lesbrown5829]

The spring needs to be stroked with a suitable spring tensioning tool to create tension (pressure) in the desired direction. Once the desired tension is achieved the spring is then 'set' to rest in the desired position. This technique was used to adjust/set relay springs on telecom relays on strowger systems. Many moons ago 😂

[@cjay2]

Agreed. After all the repairs that I've seen him make over the years, I couldn't believe he could not figure out what was going on with that spring mechanism.

[@funkybuttloving]

27:18 ahh, the dulcet tones of east berlin

[@padawanmage71]

“I knew i shouldn’t hav done this when i was drunk…” Thank you, sir, i choked on my coffee at this…😅

[@gnooy13mdfk]

i cannot express enough how relaxing it has been to watch your videos through the years

[@Oivindjensen]

That German song was really startling when it started playing, great video as always

[@StubbyPhillips]

Oh my... The smoothly articulated, coherent warmth and transient temporal integrity of those beautiful analog recordings fills me with the urge!

[@samphillips4925]

I got a message from the Action Man. I'm happy, hope your happy too.

[@mikeselectricstuff]

Might be fun to 3D print some new records - a resin printer should have enough resilution

[@ogirdor3225]

Sadly, they don't. These disks were recorded with the same kind of machines that are used until today to make the lacquers for vinyl record production. With 3d printing you'll have an even less quality sound but I don't deny that something interesting can be achieved with it

[@ogirdor3225]

For example you'll have enough resolution to make a groove, yes, but not enough to produce a good range of frequencies within the same groove

[@rocketman221projects]

It can be done with a very high end resin printer. It will sound like crap, but the audio will be recognizable. It will also be very short since the groove has to be wider than normal.

[@ogirdor3225]

@@rocketman221projects you know what, since these records spin way faster than regular records (between 90 and 120-ish rpm) that could improve a bit the amount of information you can put on them. I say it's worth for a try

[@pedrodaniellopesferreira2916]

What a trip to my childhood... In the early 80's I started to play with those "boxes", how I figured that with a portable turntable, needle, and a paper cone, I could play old 45s without electricity... this is the genesis that triggered my appetite for electronics. Thanks for the video, it brough a lot of memories

[@kevinpreid]

Interesting that the Juniorfon has two inductors/chokes on the motor wires. I can only imagine it must have been to meet regulations for radiated interference, because there aren't any other electronic components in the device, and they're too small to have an effect on the playback performance. In a more modern gadget of similar price, I'd expect to see a single capacitor across the motor terminals for the same function.

[@organfairy]

It depends on the quality of the motor. With a good quality motor a capacitor is usually enough but if the quality is low inductors might be needed.

[@lancethrustworthy]

I'd like to see an April Fool's version, where we're watching the close ups of your hands, fiddling with the gadget's innards...then we hear you you utter a few statements of frustration, and we next see a large hammer/mallet come down on the device you were working on, breaking it to many bits. Just an odd thought. Monty Pythonesque, methinks. Carry on.

[@monkeytennis7477]

That's hilarious but I don't think Matt would ever smash anything. 😮

[@whitelion7976]

Like the mad hatter does with the watch in Disney's Alice in wonderland

[@uriituw]

I remember taking apart a toy telephone that would speak random phrases. On the reverse side of its record was probably the creepiest laugh I’ve heard.

[@NotATube]

Did the telephone say things like "Will you talk to me?" and "Say hello to my doggy"? The one I have in mind wasn't battery powered, it used a pull string. Also, I figured out how they got it to (apparently randomly) pick one of several different phrases each time after I'd found out about vinyl records with multiple spiral grooves and realised it must work the same way. (Mat pretty much confirms that here).

[@HD7100]

You have no idea how much fun I had watching this and listening to your comments like "he's slowing down like Hal 9000".

[@scherge]

27:11 Whoa, this must be THE most creepy sounding version of "Leise rieselt der Schnee" mankind ever had to listen to 😂 honestly, this gives me goosebumps. Couldn't make it any worse sounding if you actually tried. Great stuff! 👍🏻 Edit: Stopped the video to comment earlier while not knowing that you would actually flip the disc and do the same thing to "Oh Tannenbaum" 🤣 LMFAO this must be the best Techmoan episode so far, and I think I may have watched quite a few over the years. Thank you so much, this is so entertaining. 👌🏻 Edit2: Should finish the video before commenting on them... However, I'm from Germany and my uncle surprised me with a growling plush bear on my sixth birthday in 1988. It was blue, and whenever you moved it from a laying position to an upright position or vice versa, it would start growling. Can't remember if it made any other noises, but I'm still unsure about how that worked 🤔

[@melkiorwiseman5234]

Bear "growls" were generally a small drum-shaped mechanism designed with a heavy weight inside which would "fall" to the front or the rear of the drum depending on orientation. It would carry with it a noise-making mechanism operated by air pressure caused by the movement. The front and rear of the drum would have holes covered with an air-tight membrane which was designed to keep the air in (to maintain the pressure) while allowing the sound out. AFAIK, you can still get "growls" from some craft shops. They're for replacing a broken "growl" in an older bear or for inserting into a new bear which you've built yourself.

[@rasungod0]

At least English speakers will recognise the tune of "Oh Tannenbaum" we say "O Christmas Tree".

[@vivanecrosis]

Extra points for showing your workings out. I love being able to see the trial and error.

[@theengineer134]

“The stuff of nightmares” - oh yes, the horror of german christmas songs 😂

[@alameachan]

Understanding the language doesn't make it any less unsettling. I have to nick the sound bytes for a horror themed RPG session.

[@andrewf9041]

Brilliant stuff, I had one of those children record players, the only disc I had (where they about 2/3 inches in size?), sang "Oh wouldn't it be lovely" from my Fair Lady. Then when I got my dads old Dansette and could queue up 7" a load of Kinks, Beatles, Dylan, sinlges amd play my mams A Hard Days Night, and me dads Cream Fresh Cream. It was astounding. Interesting vid as always, thanks!

[@bobbobson4069]

I really loved this video! Techmoan is a real technological detective here! Brilliant! I watched with bated breath for the end result.... Well done! Keep up the excellent work! Marius (currently from Warsaw, Poland)

[@reidkeevers]

19:23 The multi track disc technique was best implemented in my opinion on The Monty Python Matching Tie And Handkerchief. A three sided album that was not explained anywhere on the record or sleeve so when you swap over to the B side you would be confused by hearing one of two different tracks!

[@magiclantern66]

I think the Action Man talking commander had a clockwork motor that was wound by pulling his dog-tag. I had a Bugs Bunny toy with a pull-string device which worked the same way.

[@philwoodall9023]

I think there were horse racing games too with the outcome changing on each of the parallel tracks.

[@Gadgetonomy]

It just goes to show that even the simplest of mechanisms can leave us scratching our heads. But I actually relish troubleshooting, so this has made for quite an entertaining video!

[@toypolloi]

Really funny to see these on your channel. I repaired a couple of field radios a while back on mine. So simple, but they work great.

[@andrewknights1304]

An amusing half hour, and it has brought a lot of people's memories back. Thanks Techmoan for this and also the stories below, a delightful half hour watch and read.

[@dereksmith6126]

I had a Monty Python LP 'Matching Tie & Handkerchief' that had two separate grooves on one side of it. I still remember, as a kid, my confusion and delight when it first played a completely new track!

[@verkehrsteilnehmer-berlin]

There were records with 3 grooves per side, so it was a surprise, what tune it will play and also some games with a horse race, where you had more than 3 grooves. The idea of multi groove records is pretty old. Another kind of multi groove record has different selections, different commercial spots or jingles, each one with an own final loop, to ensure, that it doesn't play the next one. So the statement, a record has one groove per side, has some exceptions and not only by home recording.

[@NewFalconerRecords]

I remember both of those. Mad magazine had a flexi-disc called "A Super Spectacular Day' that had multiple endings as well.

[@Techmoan]

Three - that’s nothing when I was a lad we lived in a cardboard box in the middle of the road and had a *sixteen* sided record kzbin.info/www/bejne/f2bPaGiopNKCjrs

[@NewFalconerRecords]

@@Techmoan Luxury.

[@Tim091]

@@Techmoan You were lucky!

[@NandR]

That “There he is!” Sounds like a line from the old Star Wars Battlefront game.

[@ZGryphon]

Look, sir, droids!

[@IronShocker77]

Reminded me of the voice in the space maps from Battlefront II All engineers report to the hangar area! Scramble all reinforcements! I repeat, scramble all reinforcements! Now hear this: All men, to your battlestations! etc

[@the_tux]

Set blasters to stun!

[@madeintexas3d442]

This was an amazing video. I always love waking up on Saturday morning to watch this channel. I did not think that we would be getting a two for one today.

[@kerc]

The Juniorfon invoking the demons from Hades. 🤣🤣 These devices are so cool. I remember my sister had a teddy bear with a pull string that would play a random phrase every time. I would think it's a similar mechanism as these, but with the pull string and spring replacing the motors.

[@ToneHobart]

My first record player was a similar idea but worked with regular 45 RPM records (American style 45's with the large hole) Kenner made it and it was called "Close 'n' play"

[@j0hnf_uk]

I used to have a toy police car that you pressed the blue light on the top of and it would come out with various sound bites. The best, or weirdest, part of it was that it was obviously based upon a US version, as some of the recordings were in American voices, whereas some of the others sounds rather British. The obvious one being the, 'dee-dah', siren.

[@davidwallace785]

Love an obscure music format video from techmoan. Truly lightens my day

[@maxmuster3297]

I really enjoyed this week's video and I'm looking forward to next week's!

[@steve.b.23]

I was hoping to hear the Action Man radio transmission that stuck in my mind... "Enemy tanks approaching!"

[@mwalmsley72]

German second side is Tannenbaum - Same song as “Oh Christmas Tree, oh Christmas tree how lovely are your branches”

[@domosautomotive1929]

Hearing that took me back to 4th grade....1978. I can name that tune in 5 notes.

[@jackbuff_I]

Matt, props to you! I woulda had absolutely no idea of what to do to get that working! Amazing work really!

[@richardthompson6690]

Love your episodes really enjoy repairing these old techs You bring up stuff I’ve never seen,very cool!

[@Crazy_Borg]

22:09 You can read the prints on the side of the box there clearly: Its from east germany, manufacturer is VEB (VolksEigener Betrieb = "People's owned company") "Spielwaren - Mechanik" (Toys - Mechanical), in Pfaffschwende. Its 5 years and up (not to scare the toddlers too much), with a suggested retail price of (EVP = Empfohlener VerkaufsPreis): of 27,00 Mark. No idea how expensive this was in east german in the mid 70s, though.

[@lada2765]

German Christmas songs "Oh Tannenbaum" and "Leise rieselt der Schnee". Techmoan: "that's terrifying stuff" !

[@SaccoBelmonte]

The disc in the Juniorfon has two traditional Christmas songs. We sing those every single year in the middle of the mountains in Tirol. "Tannenbaum (Pine tree, Christmas tree) oh Tannenbaum!"

[@skullscandle]

The Juniorfon is actually from East Germany (DDR) and I actually had one as a child. 😂 Funny to see it on your channel. Cool Ebay finding...

[@Longplay_Games]

Ha! Nice! Had to show my wife, she had a german talking toy with these. Now I have some ideas on how to get it working again. Maybe :D

[@TheGeoffers08]

Gosh that prompted a trip down memory lane. I had the "laughing bag" device as a kid. I got it from a joke shop at the seaside resort of Leysdown. I loved that thing! Right up to when it stopped working, I ended up taking it apart (as A kid I use to love taking things apart and working out how they worked). Thank you, not just for a cracking video (as usual), but also for bringing back many happy memories of younger me when I had that laughing bag.

[@tehlaser]

Watching you figure the mechanism out was a treat Edit: also, I’m amused at how integral “just whack it a bit” is to the operation of this thing

[@uselessDM]

Cursed Christmas carols on the Juniorfon 😄

[@martindooley4439]

Wow childhood Action Man field radio, you could hear the cue for the other sets you could get. Mine sweeper, assault craft,helicopter, had loads of sets. Brilliant video. Thanks for the content 😀🪖

[@Jane_and_Meg]

Thank you Matt, your ingenuity never ceases to amazing me! Was really interesting. Thank you!

[@MikeNHOC]

Love your videos and the effort you put in to bring us great content!

[@WaltTFB]

I don't know why, but "Pitch the tent here" made me snigger.

[@SamyasaSwi]

We're all still 12 year olds deep inside aren't we

[@mandrakethemadcoder]

"Equipment on, winch up!" did it for me. Oh, the innuendo.

[@WouterB76]

Some say that once there was a doll with a record that had the following on it: "Hi I'm Chucky, wanna play?"

[@coondogtheman]

This sound unit is called an Ozen box. There are tons of videos on here about it. I had a pound puppy that had a sound activated version of this box. I'm curious what these record would sound like if played on a normal record player. What I think is happening is that leaf switch that you moved to start the motor is bent. You'll need to bend it back so the motor runs all the time and then when the needle reaches the end of the record it hits the leaf switch and turns off the motor. When you press the button on the toy it releases the needle to the beginning of the record which then releases tension on the leaf switch causing it to close and turn on the motor to start playback. The button mechanism all it does is release the needle. That spring on the piece of plastic is just a return spring. I thought it connected to the wire on the right side of the unit somehow. A pretty sound idea when it comes to audio playback in toys. Very neat technology for the time. Wish I could find one of these boxes.

[@Hamring]

Clearly did not watch far enough before commenting..

[@AndrewWilsonStooshie]

The Juniorfon was from 1972. Exactly the time I was a toddler in Germany. We didn't have that but did have a kids record player that played proper records. It was similar kids songs on the records as you were playing here, so for speed reference it is probably a kid singing and not an adult.

[@dcflake5645]

That being a childs toy from East Germany re-enforces ever preconception i have about the eastern blok in the 1970s. There is no fun child only work and misery.

[@rogerbowen5753]

Yeah, I had the Action Man Field Radio. I think I got it from a jumble sale. My disc said "Dor dicky dow!" which translated to "North Bridge is out!". I do also remember that laughing sack, but it never occurred to me that it was the same player in both things. That mini record player you showed was indeed nightmarish, definite Exorcist vibes! Fisher Price also made a record player which played its own discs.

[@Azeria]

these are from before my time so this is the first i’ve seen them, what a fascinating little thing

[@Roblilley999]

Visibility Nil, West Bromwich Albion One - Best line ever

[@SvenCurly]

The juniorfon is from the GDR. 😊 ❤

[@NotATube]

The whole thing- packaging included- gave me definite "communist bloc" vibes, so that makes absolute sense.

[@iamdarkyoshi]

There's a snake in my boot!

[@k.e.m.h.1145]

Kind regards from the GDR. I was totally surprised to see the toy record player "Juniorfon" from my childhood on this channel... 😮

[@TimHollingworth]

I see that Mat has been on the percussive maintenance course! 28:15 By the way the Juniorfon played the christmas song "Oh Tannenbaum" translated to "Oh Christmas Tree."

[@WilliamHaisch]

27:07 Dear God, that is hauntingly terrifying! 😂

[@mason2511]

That record is deffo haunted.

[@ClaireWW]

It's quite sad that I just shouted "There's a new Techmoan!".

[@cjc363636]

Matt, thanks for taking this apart! The kid in me always wanted to see how these worked. And you have the patience of a watch maker! I'd probably have stomped it to plastic dust about 5 min in. But that's why I love your videos!!! You tinker with things I lack the patience for.

[@cjc363636]

And that German song with the warble/flutter.... That's top-grade horror movie / nightmare fuel. I'm imagining that singing coming out of the walls as someone explores an abandoned house.

[@sklay78]

Geeze..... Those sounds from the second one are absolutely nightmare material. I can't imagine listening to my kid playing that 500 times.

[@andersprivat697]

Put the german christmas song record, in the other player! :)

[@wtfhaveidone6589]

Thank you for the flashback to Kandahar Air Base. "Rokkititak! Rokkititak! Mivtoo te nerst bnkrer! Rokkititak! Rokkititak! Mivtoo te nerst bnkrer!" I have no idea what the guys' native language was, but that's what he said over the loudspeakers every time the tali decided to show their love.

[@IemonIime]

I love this channel soooo much! Also, it amazes me how engineers were able to create toys like this back then, with such dense and clever mechanics, without the assistance of computer aided CAD or rapid prototyping.

[@raeraeraeth]

Really fun watching the repair sections

[@enp82003]

I will be surprised if some horror movie steals those sound clips lol

[@paulturton9755]

Ooh you've taken me back to my childhood. I had hours of fun with that one. Many thanks for the memories 👍

[@sziklafygyula4885]

This was the most haunting version of "Oh tannenbaum" I've ever heard! Sehr gut for a christmas horror movie!

[@Zadster]

More Mark and Lard flashbacks! "Is it difficult to find?" "In that condition, yeah" Weirdly, I'd quite like to hear more of these...

[@letsplayshtum]

We may call that a "simple mechanism", but the days of mechanical designs like this one and then for children are long gone... it's quite fascinating how much thought has been put into making these things work as they do. Compared to many modern toys which break after only little usage these devices still seem way more sophisticated and of higher quality. As always, very entertaining.

[@white-Beard-Michael]

The amount of technologies I absolutely missed as a child never ceases to amaze me. I absolutely love these journeys through the past.

[@Carstuff111]

You, sir, just made my day with the Star Trek: Wrath of Kahn USS Reliant reference!

[@jooei2810]

This is the content KZbin was made for, kudos Techmoan!

[@blunderingfool]

"There he is" "There he is" "There he is" "Uh oh, looks like we're surrounded." Yea, that just about slayed me as I'm rather tipsy as of writing, good job there! XD