I’ve spotted so many of these on sale over the past few weeks that I figured I’d blog about them..!
If you’re out clearance-toy hunting, you too may spot these Paper Jamz amplifiers on the clearance shelves. These were designed to go with Paper Jamz toy electric guitars, which you may or may not also find on clearance.
I’ve seen these on clearance for $2 at several Walmarts (Huntley, Algonguin) and really, it doesn’t matter if you don’t have the toy guitar. This is a free-standing speaker in a sturdy cardboard cabinet. And, it takes a 1/4″ headphone plug. (The fact that it looks like a mini Marshall guitar amp is, of course, a bonus.)
For $2, there are MANY things you might use it for! I picked these up for each of my sons, and they are using them for all sorts of things. One son plugged my husband’s old iPod into the cardboard amp to listen to music without headphones! They’re surprisingly loud if you turn the volume up. He’s also plugged a karaoke mic into it and played “announcer,” narrating whatever the rest of us happen to be doing.
My other son has been getting Playaways from the library (these have replaced “books on tape” – they’re like little MP3 players that have an entire book stored on them) and instead of plugging headphones into the Playaway, he plugs the cardboard amp into it so he can listens to the audio book while he plays.
Anyway… they’re well worth $2 if you want a cheap speaker that’s kid-friendly! Despite being made out of cardboard and plastic, they’re quite sturdy, yet light enough for kids to carry around. There’s a larger photo of the whole amp below.
