Pantasy are continuing their retro range, and this time they’ve gone full nostalgia with the Cassette Player (85039).
I’m going to show my age a bit here, but I absolutely remember cassette players when I was a kid. My parents owned one. Not this colour, but close enough. Tapes, rewinding with a pencil when the player chewed them up, carefully writing track names on the little label. Different times.
Normally, I’m not massively into brick-built replicas of real-world objects. Don’t get me wrong, I’m always impressed by how accurate and life-like these builds can be, but I usually fall into the camp of: if it’s a real thing, I’d rather just own the real thing that actually does what it’s supposed to do.
But this one made me stop scrolling.
Watching the promo video, seeing the cassette slide in and out, the door opening, the buttons being pressed… yeah, this one got me. I’m pretty sure it’s pure nostalgia doing the heavy lifting here, but it works.
The use of metallic silver parts really helps sell the retro electronics vibe, and the cassette itself looks fantastic. The transparent shell, the spools, the printed Pantasy branding – it’s all very well done. From what I can see, the cassette labels are stickers rather than prints, and honestly? That’s completely fine here. That’s exactly how real tapes were. We used to record songs off the radio, slap a label on, and scribble track names in terrible handwriting. Stickers actually make more sense than prints for this set. I can’t believe I’m saying that either.
Functionally, this isn’t just a static display piece. There’s movement, interaction, and enough mechanical action to keep it interesting beyond just sitting on a shelf.
As of now, the set is available directly from Pantasy’s website, and it’s also popped up on Amazon US. At the time of writing, Amazon US has a $10 voucher discount, which makes it even more tempting at $49.99. Sadly, I haven’t seen it listed on Amazon UK yet, which is mildly annoying, but not surprising.
Is this a must-buy? Probably not for everyone. If retro tech does nothing for you, this won’t suddenly change your mind. But if you grew up with cassettes, Walkmans, or just appreciate clever brick-built mechanisms, this one is dangerously appealing.
Pantasy seem to be getting very comfortable in this retro lane. If this is the direction they keep pushing in, I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on what comes next.
And yes… I kind of want one.
Set Details
Piece Count: 569
US Price: $59.99 USD
