By Elianne Halbersberg
Imagine a boombox/MP3 player/recorder and flash drive/thumb drive … around your neck. Does it sound absurd? Futuristic? Impossible? Too good to be true? Sid Richlin, creator of the Rad Blaster and one of the owners of SubUrban Toys, didn’t think so. He spent three years creating the affordable and remarkably versatile all-in-one music tool and fashion accessory. The Rad Blaster allows you to record with its built-in mic, store and download files via USB, listen to music on its built-in high-quality speakers, and so much more. With its 1.1-inch true color OLED screen, the Rad Blaster supports MP3/WMA/WAV audio formats and has 2GB of built-in memory. It operates on a rechargeable lithium battery, supports multiple languages, has a port for headphones, multiple playback mode, and seven EQs. Planet Ill spoke with Sid Richlin about the idea behind the Rad Blaster and why it’s this year’s must-have product.
Planet Ill: What brought about the idea for the Rad Blaster?
Sid Richlin: It came out of the idea of people wearing their bling. I came up with this line of cool players that people could wear. I started working on the Rad Blaster in 2006, using various chip sets and features and new things I wanted to add, like different aesthetics and where to place the hooks. It started out as a basic player based on a sketch I made, and I worked with that to get it to a perfect scale. I’m in the street; I’m in contact with celebrities and tastemakers on the scene, and since day one the response has been amazing. The first prototype was very basic in features, using triple-A batteries. I showed it to people in the hip-hop world, and even that version of it was well received.
Planet Ill: And the concept of wearing it around one’s neck?
Sid Richlin: That comes from “What’s the sound of your bling?” To represent, this is much cooler than a fake diamond necklace — and those big diamond necklaces are always fake. I wanted something that would make people say, “Where did you get that?” No one ever says that about a big, fake diamond necklace. And that has been the response to the Rad Blaster. It’s an around-the-neck accessory for hipsters. It’s a little cooler, not boring and lame. People wear it as an accessory and for the fashion aspect, not just for the technology. You don’t have to play it to wear it.
Planet Ill: How were you able to manufacture something so compact yet so efficient?
Sid Richlin: I have to give credit to my associates, who are experts in the electronic world. Through trial and error, they got the size and quality of the speakers, the battery power. This is not a plug-in-the-wall boom box. It’s got to sound great and not suck up battery life. You get two to three hours with just the speakers and six hours with headphones.
Planet Ill: What determined the price point?
Sid Richlin: We originally looked at the product and thought we would launch it for $99, but as we developed and negotiated better prices on parts, including memory, I wanted something that everybody could have. It’s a reasonable price [$59.99] and not so cheap as to be a throwaway item. It has a lot of features. You can load an e-book in it, a lyric file, put it in karaoke mode, do something fun. A key feature for me is being able to record into it and download to a computer. There are languages you can change it to, an equalizer, all the bells and whistles. Young kids can use this as a thumb drive, teenagers will love it, and it’s nostalgic for people ages 35 to 45 who remember the boom box they had as a kid.
Planet Ill: When did it debut?
Sid Richlin: We debuted at the Consumer Electronics Show in January. It was amazing. We plan on going worldwide and we’re very excited. CES was huge for us. We have more designs to release, little by little, to incorporate the cool vibe of the Rad Blaster. Some will have more memory, color screens, MP4 capabilities, and we have a tabletop model in the works. I design with the youth culture in mind. We’re not trying to be everything for everybody. It’s something with a coolness factor, and when people see that, it breaks through all age groups. The original design was black, but we’re bringing in other colors and new body shapes, and we hope to have several more out in time for CES 2011.
For more information, or to purchase the Rad Blaster, visit http://radblasters.com/.
Also find them at
www.facebook.com/pages/Rad-Blaster/172875814209?v=app_4949752878&ref=ts,
http://twitter.com/superradtoys and www.youtube.com/user/SuburbanToys
Elianne Halbersberg is a freelance writer whose work has also appeared in Mix, Premier Guitar, Electronic Musician, Audio Media, Ink 19 and many other magazines and websites.
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