Uploaded July 2025 | Updated September 2026, 14 hours ago
We've looked at some transistor clock-radios--or watch-radios-- that fit in a shirt pocket. Well, today we're looking at one that doesn't.
No, this gorgeous table top transistor clock radio from Realtone will not fit in your pocket. But it will tell the time, wake you up, play you some tunes.. and the ball game. What else could you possibly want?
Realtone, in case you didn't know, was "The Ultimate In Consumer Electronics." Well, that's something. They offered a "Complete line of transistor radios" as well as radio component parts. Now this last bit is somewhat curious. Most collectors have come to think of Realtone as just a brand name--a company that had its products built in other company's factories. That was certainly the case with this, the first Realtone which was made by Kobe Kogyo, with the Realtone version being just a rebadged Kobe Kogyo. But with this claim in this ad.. of Realtone making component parts, they apparently had some sort of manufacturing capability, likely at or near one of their three offices in Japan, in Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya.
One thing's certain, though. They liked to copy Sony products. And who didn't? Realtone's TR-801 model, sometimes called the Electra, did just that, knocking off Sony's very popular TR-610 model. And long after Sony had moved on to other designs, Realtone kept toying with this basic design, adding a pot belly to it and producing this 8-transistor Comet model. This collector favorite also bears a resemblance to a Marvel radio from Yokohama Tsushin Kogyo. Who copied whom -- in this case-- I can't tell. Obviously, from both radios in this Marvel ad, they were a fan of the "round speaker thing" too. These rotund little radios bring to mind also the portly American-made Motorola from 1960. Exploring the interconnections of these designs is as much fun for me as it is mystifying to non-collectors, who's reaction to such talk can be easily read in their eyes. But.. back to Realtone..they weren't done copying that Sony. Realtone wrung the ultimate amount of cuteness out of this design with their TR-803 Valiant. Radio collectors, who as a lot are absolutely awful at coming up with nicknames for these radios, call this one the "blades" radio.
Later on in the 1960s, Realtone copied yet another Sony radio, their ICR-200, a pioneering model in a couple of ways. First, it was rechargeable (with permanently installed batteries) and second, it was one of the first consumer products to employ an integrated circuit. Quick to rip off its look, with neither the rechargeable batteries nor the IC were the Realistic, from Radio Shack, and the Soundesign, which is the name Realtone adopted in the 1960s. The Realtone/Soundesign folks are still around today and now operate under still another name, a name that is itself a rip-off of the biggest selling smart phone. Share in the comments if you know Realtone's present name.
They sure liked to change up their logo. Or perhaps they just didn't care about a consistent corporate image. It's hard to tell.
And now, completely out of context, a Realtone TV. Well now.. back to the clock radio.
As a category of radio collecting, the clock/radio is about the last category to be collected. Car guys will understand if I call clock radios the 'four-door posts' of radio collecting. But there were some beauties. And in the mid-century transistor era, perhaps none more beauty-ful than this Realtone.
We've looked at some transistor clock-radios--or watch-radios-- that fit in a shirt pocket. Well, today we're looking at one that doesn't.
No, this gorgeous table top transistor clock radio from Realtone will not fit in your pocket. But it will tell the time, wake you up, play you some tunes.. and the ball game. What else could you possibly want?
Realtone, in case you didn't know, was "The Ultimate In Consumer Electronics." Well, that's something. They offered a "Complete line of transistor radios" as well as radio component parts. Now this last bit is somewhat curious. Most collectors have come to think of Realtone as just a brand name--a company that had its products built in other company's factories. That was certainly the case with this, the first Realtone which was made by Kobe Kogyo, with the Realtone version being just a rebadged Kobe Kogyo. But with this claim in this ad.. of Realtone making component parts, they apparently had some sort of manufacturing capability, likely at or near one of their three offices in Japan, in Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya.
One thing's certain, though. They liked to copy Sony products. And who didn't? Realtone's TR-801 model, sometimes called the Electra, did just that, knocking off Sony's very popular TR-610 model. And long after Sony had moved on to other designs, Realtone kept toying with this basic design, adding a pot belly to it and producing this 8-transistor Comet model. This collector favorite also bears a resemblance to a Marvel radio from Yokohama Tsushin Kogyo. Who copied whom -- in this case-- I can't tell. Obviously, from both radios in this Marvel ad, they were a fan of the "round speaker thing" too. These rotund little radios bring to mind also the portly American-made Motorola from 1960. Exploring the interconnections of these designs is as much fun for me as it is mystifying to non-collectors, who's reaction to such talk can be easily read in their eyes. But.. back to Realtone..they weren't done copying that Sony. Realtone wrung the ultimate amount of cuteness out of this design with their TR-803 Valiant. Radio collectors, who as a lot are absolutely awful at coming up with nicknames for these radios, call this one the "blades" radio.
Later on in the 1960s, Realtone copied yet another Sony radio, their ICR-200, a pioneering model in a couple of ways. First, it was rechargeable (with permanently installed batteries) and second, it was one of the first consumer products to employ an integrated circuit. Quick to rip off its look, with neither the rechargeable batteries nor the IC were the Realistic, from Radio Shack, and the Soundesign, which is the name Realtone adopted in the 1960s. The Realtone/Soundesign folks are still around today and now operate under still another name, a name that is itself a rip-off of the biggest selling smart phone. Share in the comments if you know Realtone's present name.
They sure liked to change up their logo. Or perhaps they just didn't care about a consistent corporate image. It's hard to tell.
And now, completely out of context, a Realtone TV. Well now.. back to the clock radio.
As a category of radio collecting, the clock/radio is about the last category to be collected. Car guys will understand if I call clock radios the 'four-door posts' of radio collecting. But there were some beauties. And in the mid-century transistor era, perhaps none more beauty-ful than this Realtone.
