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Postage Stamps from Bhutan That Double as Playable Vinyl Records (2015)
- Theodores 8y agoIf anyone wants to know whether you need a miniature record player for these, a Google image search gives a better idea of scale: https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=bhutan+record+stamps https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=bhutan+record+stamps
- Luc 8y agoPassable sound quality! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVVhzO2Rst8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVVhzO2Rst8
- weinzierl 8y agoLong before DVDs, CDs and diskettes in magazines were a thing we had playable records as attachments. They were not real vinyl, I guess, but out of flexible plastic. The ones I remember were about the size of a single but square and also just one-sided.
- jshprentz 8y agoArs Technica described these about two years ago in "Forgotten audio formats: The flexi disc." https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2017/04/forgotten-audio-formats-flexi-disc/ https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2017/04/forgotten-audio-form...
- acomjean 8y agoI had one, in a "Bloom County" cartoon book[1]. It was a flexible black record the thickness of a thick sheet of paper. It even had a spot to place a coin because the black plastic was thin and slippery. It played pretty well though and had two sides. Someone is selling one on amazon with a decent image. edit: see the comment with the art article about "Flexi-disc" [1]https://www.amazon.com/Billy-Boingers-Bootleg-Dalton/dp/5551393534 https://www.amazon.com/Billy-Boingers-Bootleg-Dalton/dp/5551... As an interesting aside in the "alternative record formats", when as a child I had the "mickey ghost chasers" book. It came with a little hand held box, which you'd put over mini "records" imbeded in the books[2]. You 'd hit a button and it would play audio. The underside was like a weird mini-upsidedown record player [2]http://www.thisoldtoy.com/l_fp_set/toy-pages/800-899/800-talktomebookrecordplay.html http://www.thisoldtoy.com/l_fp_set/toy-pages/800-899/800-tal... again the best images I found are on amazon (see the orange circles on the page. https://www.amazon.com/Disneys-Ghost-Chasers-Fisher-Price-Talk/dp/B000JWOQDQ https://www.amazon.com/Disneys-Ghost-Chasers-Fisher-Price-Ta...
- kalleboo 8y agoI wonder if that Fisher-Price player is related at all to the Panapic which seems similar https://youtu.be/quF45LvBtwA https://youtu.be/quF45LvBtwA
- acomjean 8y agoWow, it seems very much similar. They way you line up the player. Even the underside stylus and the poor quality audio.
- miles 8y ago> I had one, in a "Bloom County" cartoon book ... Someone is selling one on amazon with a decent image. Both sides of that record are available on YouTube: Billy and The Boingers, "I'm A Boinger" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxHAElC2FBw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxHAElC2FBw Billy and the Boingers, U Stink But I (Heart) U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubgwVwK0SPg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubgwVwK0SPg
- NeedMoreTea 8y agoApart from flexi discs, the strangest example of a record I came across was Action Man figures in the late 60s and early 70s. They were a UK licence of GI Joe. There were a few sets with added sound from 1" or 1.5" plastic, double sided records: https://www.vectis.co.uk/palitoy-vintage-action-man-boxed-field-commander-and-field-radio-_524646 https://www.vectis.co.uk/palitoy-vintage-action-man-boxed-fi...
- johnnycab 8y agoOne of the examples of Flexi disc. https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/03/160305-songs-of-humpback-whale-record-challenger-deep-mariana-trench-microphone/ https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/03/160305-songs-of-...
- kevin_thibedeau 8y agoBandai tried introducing a new format in 2004 oddly enough. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zW7XLBrBByA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zW7XLBrBByA
- jjulius 8y agoThe 1962 Seattle World's Fair had postcards that were playable on record players. Some of them are still sold today, I was gifted one a few years back. https://mcphee.com/products/seattle-worlds-fair-postcard-records https://mcphee.com/products/seattle-worlds-fair-postcard-rec...
- gumby 8y agoSoftware was also distributed this way ion some magazines back in the day when cassette tape was used as a data storage medium.
- dejv 8y agoMy favourite method for distributing software was hapening during 80s on Czechoslovak television, there was some tech/computer show and at the end, during credits they play sound that when you record it (and was lucky) you’ve got some small game or something.
- jfk13 8y agoFor a bit more background, there's a longer article about these at https://thevinylfactory.com/features/the-curious-tale-of-bhutans-playable-record-postage-stamps/ https://thevinylfactory.com/features/the-curious-tale-of-bhu...