Read an article about building a Redbox either on the 2600 Usenet group or some other hack/phreak BBS probably around 1993. Went to radio shack the next day to buy the tone dialer and crystal. I messed up the solder pretty bad but it still works to this day.
Yeah, definitely just a curiosity. It usually lives in the back of a junk drawer or cable box. Sometimes I’ll come across it and just smile :)