Q: At a car boot sale recently I paid £5 for a novelty transistor radio which is actually in the shape of a bottle of tomato ketchup. You turn it on by twisting the cap. I have put batteries in and it still works. Can you tell me anything about it?

Mr S

A. This unusual radio was marketed in the early 1990s and was one of a series of novelty designs. This particular one was, I think, retailed by Tandy, and at the time sold for about £10. However its value among collectors today is rather greater, with a nice example fetching about £30 to £40, so at a fiver, it was certainly a bargain.