New Wave Toys is a relatively new company starting its business in 2016 and is located in the USA. They are dedicated to licensing and recreating beloved classic products from our childhoods by making them useful in modern times and are part of the RepliTronics series of products. Such items as USB charge Machines that are a replica of coin machine dispensers that you would see at arcades to the Power bank shaped like an old-school cassette player from the 80s that we are going to review in the article. New Wave Toys are also passionate about bringing memorabilia from the 80s to the modern day so the old-school veterans and new-school alike can enjoy these wonderful game-changing products we veterans grew up with. A few examples of these items are the Insert Coin Blu-ray feature documentary, Dragon’s Lair Puzzle, and an Insert Coin keychain.

In addition to these fine retro-inspired products, New Wave Toys also makes mini replicas of our favorite arcade cabinets from our local arcades, back in the day, and is part of the REPLICADE Amusements series of products. So far, they have released mini arcade cabinets for Q*BERT, Space, Dragon’s Lair, Street Fighter II, and more! It is now time for the youth to know our happiness, even if at times it was the simplest of things but really, it was also revolutionary. Aside from us veterans taking the nostalgia train back to our childhoods, let’s get right to reviewing the Hotline 16000 Power Bank!

The Hotline 16000 Power Bank is part of the RepliTronics series and is probably the single coolest power bank we have seen in a very long time! The Hotline 16000 Power Bank is made to resemble the traditional style of an 80s cassette player. It is multi-functional with three ways to charge your devices via USB-C, USB-A 3.0 (QC), and a 10W fast Wireless Charging Pad on the back for devices that have the Qi-enabled option (most, if not all, modern smart devices should have this function). There is a mini-USB connector that is specifically used as an option to charge the power bank, whereas the USB-C connector can actually function as both the input and output charge for the power bank. The Hotline Power Bank comes with a battery life indicator (green lights) as well as a Qi wireless charging indicator (blue lights).

In addition to these features, there is also a power On and Off switch so you can conserve your battery life efficiently, and last but not least, the Hotline Power Bank has a small built-in flashlight to use when in dark spaces and you can see inside your bag to find the charging cable for your device or the device itself. Of course, we would assume that you are using the QI wireless charging pad on the back, but not everything is as sophisticated as we like to and New Wave Toys thought about that with your intention in mind.

New Wave Toys has done a great job at showing a true representation of the cassette player from the 80s and even adding some extra aesthetics to the power bank that screams nostalgia. First off, we feel like we’re in the movie Back to the Future when seeing and holding this power bank. While there is no clip to attach the power to anything as the old-school cassette players did, it is damn close. When finding out more about the power bank, New Wave Toys designed this casing for the power bank so that it comfortably houses the battery itself by being protected from very short falls and moderate impact when in use.

In addition to the look and style of the power bank, being a cassette player, New Wave Toys added some tactical buttons that are pressable and sliders that you can slide but have no real function on the power bank. They’re there specifically for authenticity and can act as a fidget tool if need be. They are there for our enjoyment!

The Hotline 16000 Power Bank is nothing short of spectacular! When the power bank needs to be charged, and if using a fast charging cable, the Hotline 16000 Power Bank can charge in about an hour while not using a fast charging cable, can take an additional hour. But that is alright as long as you plan ahead of time. The Hotline 16000 Power Bank can charge up to 3 devices at a time, allowing you optimal usage of the power bank while making your life easier in the end.

We did have a rocky start with the Qi Wireless Charging Pad as the light indicator for the wireless charging was not staying on for longer than 10 seconds. It was puzzling but we think we figured it out. You need to press the power button to turn on the power bank and when you see the blue light indicator light up, that tells you that the wireless charging is on…but…this was not the case for us as we found out that if you have the phone already placed on the charging pad, it wouldn’t always read the device at all… We had to take it off the charging pad, wait a couple of seconds, and then place it back on the charging pad in order for it to work. A small issue but nothing that should take away from the overall experience.

The only thing we can see being an issue for anyone is the weight and size of the power bank. It’s no pocket charger, that’s for sure but in the end, it is everything we could ask for in a power bank and more. The Hotline 16000 Power Bank comes with one USB-C to USB-A 3.0 cable for charging, the owner’s manual, and the power bank itself. Oh, and of course, memories and great conversation when you show off your new toy!