Sega IR7000 Communicator

If there's any one thing I share a love and frustration with, it's the company Sega. I am through and through a voracious fanboy, and most of my video game collection is rife with all things Sega.

Front of the IR7000 Communicator

The IR7000 though was one device that for a while, I didn't even know existed. I seem to have remembered seeing it once or twice many years ago, but because it never gained any real ground in the marketplace, much less from any of the other few people I knew that had Sega systems.

The back featured a small visual guide of some of the main features on the IR7000.

In recent years I've started looking for more for more of the obscure or rarer Sega items. The IR7000 is not often found out in the wild, at least around here in the midwest, but I did find a seller out of California (where it seems the majority of finds of rarer things are found) that had this one on hand a few years back.

The only area that had any kind of cosmetic marring was the cover, and though they look fairly evident in the picture on the right, the light has to catch them just right and then they are apparent.

I haven't yet procured the CR2032 battery needed for the internal memory, so I will update this in the near future showing a bit more of the functionality of the unit.

There is a one/two player game "Brain Drain" that is embedded in the device, and features a scheduler, calendar, calculator, currency converter, alarm, memo pad, and a world map, with the ability to display in ten different languages. For my part, I think I would have enjoyed the Virtual Pet that was in the predecessor to this model in Casio's official line up. [I was a Tamagotchi nut, having carried around a Yoda virtual pet for like 4 years, in college, until that little thing just wore out.] 

Like all the rest of the Casio line up, this organizer has a comfortable layout for handheld typing.

Under the protective shield cover, the keyboard was very clean, no wear or scuffing was evident on any of the characters on the type pad.

At first, I really wondered why in the world the manual was so large..., but then I found out that it was multilingual. If you've ever messed around with a pda of any kind, there's probably not a lot of need for this tome. I do have to say that if this was aimed at the younger demographic, nothing screams overwhelming more than an instruction manual that thick.

From what I can tell, this was an effort by Sega to maybe get more people on board and loyal to their brand with this communicator. I mean, in school, as an alternative to note passing, this was probably cool as hell. For the students anyway.

Come to think about it, I wonder now how teachers deal with the proliferation of electronic devices kids have now at their disposal to "talk" to one another. It's always a bit of wonder to see how far tech can come in a ten or in this case, twenty year span.

So my final thoughts? Well, since I've still not fired it up as of yet, I can only say that the form factor and look is slick and compact, but Casio has almost always made well designed electronics. I think it's a great and usually affordable odd end collectible for those of you into retro tech or Sega in general. You can usually find one online for around $30 for just the unit, and it's really pretty easy to figure out how to use it.

Until next time, cherish the good things in life, keep your hobbies and interests alive, and be kind to your fellow beings. - Mario, the Rogue Hobbyist.
 

Stats	Rating/Information
Item	IR7000 Communicator
Made by	Casio/Sega
Rarity	Very Uncommon - Box and Manual are far more rare
Classification	Retro - Released in 1994
Condition	Very Good
Procured	Sacramento, California
Worth	$30 to $80 (depending on condition and if box and manual are included)
Investment	$27
Further Research	N/A
Trivia & Fun Facts	The the IR7000 was a very forward thinking bit of tech, but was actually a Casio product (part of the Secret Sender series) that had been created/branded for Sega. It was marketed to attempt to capture the much younger gaming/school age demographic and bring about texting and messaging aspects using it's IR sender. It would be some years before texting became the mainstay it is now with phones, and a practical cultural norm for most people even as young as eight years old.

Rocketeer Thermos and Lunchbox

The Rocketeer is one of those movies that probably 90% of people are oblivious to nowadays, which is a shame, because for all it's faults, it had a lot of promise and will always be to me, one of those "could have/should have been" tentpole franchises.

The lunchbox is in a used condition. Fair amount of plastic stress point marks, a slight bit of water damage to the front sticker, and a bit of grime stuck in it's beveled areas, but nothing a bit of tlc can't take care of. This variant was one I had wanted mainly for the metal latch that locked it shut. (Most later production models in all lines had plastic lock tabs on them.)

Dave Stevens, creator of the Rocketeer, was a fantastic illustrator who was sadly taken far too soon from us, and like his character, is in some circles unfortunately relegated to a niche fandom.

Steven's work on the character was probably very much influenced by the early Republic Pictures productions like "King of the Rocketmen" (released in 1949) and my favorite "Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe" (released in 1953). When I was a kid, a lot of my dad's old favorites would be aired late at night, and if the late night monster movies weren't on, then usually something like those would be playing. Years later when Joe Johnston (Star Wars SFX artist and much later the director of Jurassic Park 3 and the first MCU Captain America film) was set to direct the Rocketeer, I wondered how they would pull it off on the big screen.

The movie for some is a bit hit and miss, but for me, it's a bite out of the Indiana Jones sort of feel, with a good leaning towards the recent first two Mummy movies with Brendan Frasier in the lead role. Not as much fun as the Indy movies, but full of potential that should have been carried out longer in other movies.

Closer look on left of some of the "residue" that I have to clean off. (Right) Close up of the flat graphic artwork on the decal.

I'm not an expert by any means on these sort of lunchboxes, but as I got older I remembered so many over the years that I wish I'd been able to get when I was younger. I mean I did own a few, that I believe are still in storage somewhere at my parent's home. I think I got a new lunchbox like every two years or so. I had one based on the "Hardy Boys", then one on "How the West was Won", and the last one I believe was a G.I.Joe one that had the original Mobile Strike Force on it. 

DO NOT KID YOURSELF, people who are unaware... social acceptance was often tallied by your choice not only in clothing, but in lunchboxes and Trapper Keepers!!! That was the legacy of the 80's. 

(Left) The inside had some pressure marks and slight scuffing, but otherwise looked intact. (Right) The Thermos graphics were immaculate. Usually the pattern of planes or the Scitex like printing of the larger Rocketeer head were worn away.

I had a heck of a time tracking down these two items because I had passed up on many others prior to these two, that just didn't really measure up to what I wanted. With things like this, the graphic elements and completeness of the items is key. 

(Left) The Thermos as it fits in the lunchbox. At this point I did notice that there was a bit of damage on the lower half inch divider. Most people would not have noticed this, and I missed it completely myself. (Right) The front graphics of the Thermos are just as bright as the day this was put on the shelf.

The more I got to looking at the Thermos, the more I began to think that it had maybe been used once, maybe a few times. The lack of scuffs, or any residue to clean off, as well as the tell tale school kid aspect of "chew the hell out of the spout like a deranged beaver eating a stick" teeth marks were not present, and the internal area still had that new Thermos smell.

I know the person that sold it to me said it was used, but I'd be surprised if it had been at all.

So there's a review of my first Rocketeer item, I've got a few more that I'll try and get to in short order including one that I happened across at an Aldi grocery store of all places that has a nifty internal variant to it.

Until next time, support your local artists and businesses, leave no bargain bin unchecked, be kind to your fellow beings! - Mario, the Rogue Hobbyist

Bonus Addition! An episode of Commando Cody! On YouTube!

 

Stats	Rating/Information
Item	Aladdin Lunchbox and Thermos "the Rocketeer"
Made by	Aladdin
Rarity	Uncommon - Thermos based on the Rocketeer license is fairly scarce. Rare - Metal latched lunchbox was made in limited numbers.
Classification	Retro - Released in 1992
Condition	Excellent - Thermos colors are bright, no scratches at all. Good - Sticker graphic is clean and bright. Some scuffing.
Procured	Iowa (both items)
Worth	$20 to $35 (more so to fans of illustrator Dave Stevens, like myself)
Investment	$15
Further Research	http://www.davestevens.com/
Trivia & Fun Facts	Cliff Secord's girlfriend Betty is modeled after "Queen of Pinups" Bettie Page in the original stories by Stevens, but for the Disney movie effort, Cliff's girlfriend now named Jenny Blake, was played by Jennifer Connelly. Other changes attempted included replacing the iconic Rocketeer helmet with a NASA styled one, which thankfully Joe Johnston rallied against.

Sega Genesis 16 bit game "CLUE"

The board game.

 Clue is a murder mystery game for three to six players, devised by Anthony E. Pratt from Birmingham, England and currently published by the United States game and toy company Hasbro. The object of the game is to determine who murdered the game's victim ("Dr. Black" in the UK version and "Mr. Boddy" in North American versions), where the crime took place, and which weapon was used. Each player assumes the role of one of the six suspects, and attempts to deduce the correct answer by strategically moving around a game board representing the rooms of a mansion and collecting clues about the circumstances of the murder from the other players.

Numerous games, books, and a film have been released as part of the Cluedo franchise. Several spinoffs have been released featuring various extra characters, weapons and rooms, or different game play. The original game is marketed as the "Classic Detective Game", while the various spinoffs are all distinguished by different slogans. - Wikipedia

I'll be honest. This is one game that I own two versions of, the board game variant, and the Sega Genesis version... and I've never played either. Now, that may sound so bizarre, but in the case of the board game, it had been one of those things where I every intention of playing the game, but just never got around to it. But I collected board games so it seemed like one of the games that I should probably own (I'll review that version later...)

But this version I'm covering today is the one for the Sega Genesis game system. It was released in 1992 in a standard plastic case version with a pack in poster, and was re-released later in a card-stock variant (towards the end of the Genesis' life cycle).

The card stock packaged version. It also did not come with the fold out poster/advert of Monopoly/Clue.

One of the things to remember about the Genesis, is that the hardware and so many of its games are over thirty years old now. With each decade, with each passing year, like anything now out of production, items become more and more rare. Even games or peripherals that might have been manufactured in mass amounts at one point start to become more uncommon because of factors like:

1. Time
2. Wear and tear
3. Disposal
4. Stored and forgotten
5. Recall because of low sales or manufacturing issues

All of those make finding complete games a huge part of the fun and challenge for someone like me, but also allow for there to be levels of re-completing games or systems in a piece meal collecting style (So you got the game cartridge, and maybe the game manual, but not the case, for instance). It creates an incredible secondary market that manifests both online on marketplaces like ebay or on fan forums that often have trading/selling areas, and in a fair amount of brick and mortar stores that deal in retro collectables.

I really lucked out on this gem, as the outer label and case were in immaculate condition and color, and the plastic case had the coveted tab (which was used in store peg hanging) still intact.

Pardon the glare on this, I have a much nicer camera area set up that I will be using to replace these photos and use for all future posts.

Internally the cartridge had no scuffs and had it's graphics in stellar condition as well.

Not even a slight scuff on this cartridge or its label.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that the manual was there, which had a bit of damage in the form of some corner folds on the lower corner, but had no writing, marks or tears anywhere on it. An added bonus was the presence of the pack in poster which featured advert posters for Clue on one side, and Monopoly on the other. That as well showed a little worn sort of "shelf storage".

The interior elements were all in place.

It really seemed like this might have been a game that was purchased and maybe played once or twice, put away, and then later sold. I tell you, these are the kinds of finds that I enjoy because the worth and quality is rarer than the actual game is.

The two sided poster featuring artwork from the physical board game versions used to promote the video game versions. The game manual had no signs or markings of ever being used.

I plan on later making a comparison between the play in this version and the actual board game at a later date (and I'll have some screenshots of the game of course to see and compare with).

Thanks for reading! Take care of the things in your life, promote the well being of history, never forget the Library of Alexandria, and I'll see you next time!

-Mario, the Rogue Hobbyist  

 

Stats	Rating/Information
Item	Sega Genesis 16 bit game "CLUE"
Made by	Parker Bros./Waddingtons Games Ltd.
Rarity	Common - Cartridge only. Uncommon - Package complete or in "Card Stock" variation.
Classification	Retro - Released in 1992
Condition	Excellent - Colors are bright, slight corner bends on manual pages.
Procured	Warrensburg, Missouri
Worth	$15
Investment	$3
Further Research	-n/a-
Trivia & Fun Facts	In keeping with the nature of the board game, in theatrical release the movie was shown with one of three possible endings, with different theaters receiving each ending. In the film's home video release, all three endings were included.