This fine Toshiba 6TP-31A was manufactured in Japan in 1962. It has acquired the nickname ‘Bathroom Scale’ for obvious reasons; it looks like an old bathroom scale.
There appears to be a division amongst collectors regarding the nicknames given to the classic Toshiba radios; some are all for it with vigor and others find it an unworthy distraction that diminishes the unique design elements of the radio…
I can see past the nicknames and prefer to minimize them, thinking of them only as ‘pet names’ given in warmth by a legion of adoring fans. Whether you are for or against them I think the nicknames are here to stay.
The Toshiba 6TP-31A can’t be mistaken for any other radio. It features a very interesting design with the speaker grill extending up the sides of the radio and framing the horse shoe shaped tuning dial. The dial itself is rather striking and stunning in its simplicity and layout. The gold and black Toshiba logo is the focal point and is offset rather nicely by the shiny chrome surround. The red dial pointer and CD marks are a nice touch to. The Toshiba logo on the lower left reminds me of a set of bulls horns.
Toshiba produced an earlier version of this radio, the 6TP-31 had the Toshiba logo above the tuning dial where the ‘Six’ is on this version and it also had a longer and sharper spear running down the center of the speaker grill.
The date of manufacture, May 1962, was obtained from the serial number code. The serial number is 20504430. The actual serial number is really only the last 5 digits 04430 with the first three digits representing the year and month of manufacture (YMM#####) with Y representing the ‘year’ of 1962 and MM representing the 5th month or May. T
To learn more about dating Japanese transistor radios refer to Alan Kastners rad site RadioWallah.
