I couldn’t help myself, but can you blame me? Sure, it was another late-night Mercari browsing session. Yes, I searched ‘iPod’, sorting by newly listed, looking for something to catch my eye. No, I don’t need another iPod dock. Yeah, I knew the speakers would be sub-par. Of course I outgrew my Medicom phase years ago. But… But… This one was sealed!

For ¥10,000 new, in box, shipped, I had to jump on it. Glad to say everything was in perfect working order. The tiny speakers are located in the ears, which sound as chintzy as you expect (audio sample at the end of the bottom-located video). The fact that you have to rout the audio from the dock into the Bearbrick via the 3.5mm jack is a bit less than elegant. Although, once people got rid of their iPods, they could have connected any other device via this jack. But of course, bluetooth speakers were becoming the norm at around the same point.

I wish it wasn’t so dang shiny. I guess I could swap in another Bearbrick and forego the speaker functionality and just use it as a dock, but I’ll probably just keep it as is, just the same. It is practical, in that it’ll keep your iPod charged. I’m thinking of getting an old Mac Mini to use as a dedicated iTunes music repository and iPod sync-er. Since this has USB out, it should be able to sync as well. This Be@rbrick perched on top of a 2009 Mac Mini would be era-appropriate.