Urban Outfitters may be staffed by design-stealing bastards, but sometimes their mining of retro culture dusts off a look that feels new. This “Nomad Traveler Speaker”, for instance, clad entirely in a tweed vinyl. You can plug in your iPod or listen to AM/FM radio. Very sharp.
It’s $72, exclusive to Urban Outfitters, unfortunately, and should be available soon.
Nomad Traveler Speaker catalog page [UrbanOutfitters.com via Coolest Gadgets via Gadget Lab]
Tweed has been ever-lovely for anyone who’s ever been near an electric guitar.
The housing appears to be inspired by the classic Fender spring reverb unit from the early sixties.
Is it me, or either the photographer or the prototype builder did a less than perfect job.
Don’t the panels look crooked and the buttons off center?
To PaulR – If you’ll notice, the picture on the left-hand side shows the radio slightly raised, so perhaps that’s why it looks a little off to you.
My problem with it is, you don’t have to spend almost 80 bucks on something like this if you know where to look. Plenty of junk shops/yard sales/thrift shops/grandparents have stuff like this for way more affordable prices – and they have the extra bonus of being “the real deal,” you know?
Urban Outfitters is over-priced and ridiculous (I am not going to pay almost 70 bucks for a flannel shirt when I could probably find a similar one at a thrift shop for 5 dollars).
Wow that’s ugly. The kitchy attraction of this retro form has long passed. I think Urban Outfitters is off base with this one.
My mother would love this.
If it were wrapped in steel fiber I would love it.
My mother has that radio in her kitchen. I gave it to her a few years ago. I found it on Clearance at the Vermont Country Store website.