Explore More

■ Miniverse Record Player
If I were to invest in one brand, it will probably be Miniverse by MGA, a Los Angeles company. The main reason is that there is a whole “miniverse” based on this vinyl release, including a $30 “Record Store” with Fender guitar. So, you can display your mini records, along with the Stratocaster guitar and tiny stickers. Their record player, which is sold separately for $22, comes with Beethoven’s “5th Symphony”, along with a table (where you can also store your mini vinyls). Each blind box is priced at $12.

I think where we last left off, I mentioned that I found some the Miniverse’ blind vinyl capsules, but their record player was still sold out. I did contemplate on buying MGA’s competitor Zuru’s record player, which retailed for $20 and they had a few left at my local Walmart.

The good news is I finally found MGA’s record player at a retail store. I’m glad I waited a little bit, as you may, or may not, know, that Zuru’s records are noticeably larger and the two brands are not compatible. It’s a real shame, because in a perfect world, I would have love to buy either brand and collect all the micro records.

One of the main reasons why I went with MGA is because their record player came with a record table and two speakers. The miniature table looks great! All plastic, with fake wood grooves, it looks incredible realistic.

I also bought another blind capsule, so I am happy to report that the one record I was looking for was Amy Winehouse, and I got the record! The tiny teenie speakers plays about a 30 second clip of the “Back to Black” song. I wish it would play the full song, that would’ve been really cool. Still, for a toy, it is pretty magical that it works at all.

Currently, I have some records in a little space that I keep my Fallout guy and his cat, Mr Peebles. He’s a weekend gamer and the records are sitting in the next room. I can’t include the record player, because it’s HUGE in terms of the scale of the house. I would say that the record player is scaled to work with something like a 12-inch Barbie doll, not a small 4 or 6-inch action figure. It’s really too bad, so right now the tiny record player doesn’t have a home. Maybe I can just have it hanging at my computer desk with other random junk. It does sure look cool.

The nice thing is that if you’re at Walmart, they have a whole area for blind capsules in the toy area. I never realized how “big” miniatures are becoming. Having said that, I think it’s a pretty fun hobby to decorate a miniature house. Right now, I’m using clearance ($5 each) Suite Spaces, but I plan on upgrading to something like Rolife Super Creator Series.