A modern replica of the 1982 ZX Spectrum 48 box — the printed carton the machine originally came in, remade properly rather than approximated. If you have restored a Spectrum, or built one, this is the thing that finishes the job: the computer stops being a loose object on a shelf and goes back into the packaging it was sold in.
It is also, unglamorously, the best way to store one. A rubber-key Spectrum left out collects dust in the key mat and sunlight on the shell, and the two things that kill these machines are ultraviolet light and being knocked off a desk. Inside a fitted foam insert it is protected from both, and everything that belongs with it stays in the same place.
What is inside
A foam insert with cut compartments for the computer in its rubber-key case, an Atari 2600 standard joystick, the cables and the power supply. The lid side is faced with a centimetre of sponge, so when the box is closed the contents are held rather than rattling.
The right-hand compartment measures 9 x 12 x 6 cm and takes the original ZX Spectrum 48 power supply. One honest note about that supply: it is a few millimetres taller than the compartment, so it will encroach slightly on the computer’s compartment. Either compress the 5 mm sponge underneath it, or use a Spectrum with rubber feet fitted — both work, and neither harms anything.
What it fits
ZX Spectrum 48 computers and rubber-key case replicas, which includes a ZX Spectrum Neo and any modern board built into a ZX Spectrum 48 case.
The box and the foam insert only. The equipment shown in the photographs is not included — no computer, no joystick, no cables and no power supply.
Questions people ask
Is a computer included?
No. You are buying the box and its foam insert. Everything pictured inside it — computer, joystick, cables, power supply — is there to show what fits, not what you receive.
Will my ZX Spectrum Neo fit?
Yes. The insert is cut for a Spectrum in a rubber-key case, which is what the Neo is built into, and there are compartments for its cables and power supply as well.
Will the original 1980s power supply fit?
It goes in the right-hand compartment, which is 9 x 12 x 6 cm. The original supply is slightly taller than that, so it protrudes a few millimetres into the computer’s compartment. Compressing the 5 mm sponge beneath it solves this, as does using a computer with rubber feet.
Which joystick does the insert allow for?
An Atari 2600 standard joystick — the shape that most Kempston-compatible sticks still follow.
Is it a faithful copy of the original packaging?
It is a modern replica of the 1982 ZX Spectrum 48 box, made to be used rather than merely looked at, which is why it has a fitted foam insert and a sponge-faced lid.
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