- Mm, it has nothing to do with my fondness for frozen waffles, but I feel like a kid again within the first 15 seconds of that iconic theme for Stranger Things. Netflix's surprise hit captured the essence of a bygone era, that many of us, even if we didn't live through it, kind of sort of remember, because of the works of people like Stephen King and Stephen Spielberg. Now the Duffer brothers also did an excellent job of making sure they had all the appropriate nerdy tech for their young '80's heroes and they spared no expense to do so. Let's tackle this show's retro tech in the order in which you see it, or I should say don't see it. At its core, Stranger Things' now iconic credit sequence is powered by tech, that's every bit as vintage as the cassettes in boomboxes to come. Start by considering what you hear, Austin, Texas band, Survive is comprised of some vintage synth collectors, musicians Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein use things like the ARP 2600, which is a vintage, semi-modular synthesizer, that's probably most recognizable for those booming sounds in Star Wars.

- Yes, I'll bet you have. The duo also uses the ARP Odyssey, that's another vintage synth, but that one dates back to 1972, somehow 50 years later, Stein maintains a perfectly functional one, you've probably heard it in things like the chorus to Elton John's Rocket Man, ♪ It's just my job five days a week ♪

- but I'd argue this one minute theme is now equally recognizable. As for the visuals, that's the handiwork of Imaginary Forces, they're a powerhouse design firm, now known for things like the credit sequence to Mad Men. They start with a bunch of 1980's reference materials like Stephen King books and then crafted a bunch of variations, but even after finding the perfect font, which is Benguiat, if you're interested, something didn't quite feel right, the team wanted the aesthetic of being shot on film, but they couldn't find anyone who can do this, instead, they faked it, they created a Kodalith, which is essentially a high contrast piece of film put on a stand and back lit for effect, appropriately enough, this technique even predates the 1980s and goes back to the '70s, but you and I probably know it best, because Tron popularized it. Alright, full disclosure, I was born in the mid 1980s and never saw a Heathkit until Stranger Things, but trust me, fellow tech children, this thing was prime gear for the era, Heathkit sold many different devices, but they always sold them in parts, think of it as the 1980's equivalent of R System Guide, instead of buying a straight MacBook or a Surface Pro, in other words, Heathkit is absolutely perfect tech to be in the hands of a 1980's AV club.

- [Teacher] Ain't she a beaut? I bet you could talk to New York on this thing.

- Think bigger.

- California?

- Bigger.

- Australia?

- This particular Heathkit is kind of a precursor to things like webcams, Skype or FaceTime, no video, but you could listen to incoming radio frequencies and dispatch them as far as you could reach, which this particular Heathkit seems to reach all the way to Australia and the Upside Down. Now Heathkit itself sold to Zenith during the early 1980s and the idea of prepackaged computers and devices rose in popularity at the same time, so sadly Heathkit itself dwindled, as the concept of kits did too, so Stranger Things prop master, Linda Reese deserves a ton of credit for tracking one of these things down between Ebay and the flea markets of Georgia.

- My point is he could have played it safe, but he didn't.

- Now, based on the walkie talkies, that you and I had as kids, you know, the kind that could barely reach from the upstairs to the downstairs into the backyard, you might think there's a bit of creative license being taken with Mike and company's favorite piece of communications tech, however this is absolutely realistic, in fact Realistic is the brand of these walkie talkies and it was an in-house line produced by Radio Shack throughout the 1980s, these things are no toys, in fact, construction sites or pro sporting events were more likely to have the Realistic walkie talkies than some Demogorgon-fighting kids, I don't know that they had the ability to communicate with other dimensions, but they definitely would have held up within a few blocks of each other.

- I'm worried about Will, over.

- Yeah, this is crazy, over.

- Even in a world where little kids have law of physics breaking powers and giant monsters from Dungeons and Dragons appearing in your nearby shed, Stranger Things manages to keep its tech on real world spec, whether it appears on camera or off. Now, if Season 2 was any indication, you can expect more culture delights, but also expect a lot more era appropriate tech to come too. Now, if Linda Reese can tell me where she found that Dragon's Lair cabinet, have her give me a call.