> I found a radio-looking box at my great-uncle's cabin this weekend.
> It appears to be a music box player of some sort.  It has a small,
> thin slot on the side where some kind of card or something would be
> inserted.  The front says "Melodian" and has a dial: "Off, Slow,
> Fast, Driving".  There is a sticker on the bottom that indicates
> it was made in Japan, and there is a box for 3 batteries.

I have exactly this model of music box, with the same labels on the
control knob.  It does indeed look like a 1960s/70s table radio, with
the cloth grille in front.  I bought it in 1967 as a gift for my
father, and have since inherited it.  I have the instruction booklet,
a few paper strips, and the punching tool, although that just broke
recently.

I _think_ the scale is exactly the same as in the new Sanyo music box
movements: 20 notes, almost three diatonic octaves, and the spacing is
the same.  If so, then you can buy new strips, pre-punched with tunes,
or blank strips for you to arrange yourself.

> Any idea on the age or what this is worth?  Or if you can even get
> the music cards for it?  Please advise.

I doubt it's worth much more than the $20 I paid for it.  But a
Japanese historian and collector contacted me a year ago and asked for
photos to add to his documentation, so at least someone is interested
in it.  I should probably also send my photos to the MMD editor to post
on the web site.

The mechanism is quite different from the new Sanyo, using flexible
finger levers to pluck the comb rather than star wheels.  The top of
the case is used as a soundboard, so the sound radiates from the top,
not out the front grille as in a radio.

Mike Knudsen