II COOL ICE ~1996 - US
A rare and rather mysterious High Bias Type II from ICE (Information Communications Entertainment Inc.), a company that seemed to appear, disappear, and leave almost nothing behind except this surprisingly slick cassette. Branded in San Diego, assembled in China, and wrapped in the kind of vague 90s marketing that promised “studio quality” without ever telling you who actually made the tape.
Collectors on Tapeheads speak well of it, and the physical tape certainly looks the part: exceptionally dark, glossy, and smooth — the kind of tape that visually whispers, “Relax, I’m better than you expect.” The shell uses screws (always a good sign), feels solid in hand, and comes in six colours: Green, Purple, Orange, Yellow, Red, and Blue. The back of the wrapper features a CD‑disc graphic shared across all variants.
Stock notes: This batch (Nov. 20, 2023) came in with unusual colour distribution, lots of Orange tapes and fewer of other colours. My deepest gratitude to Bert R. of Idaho for sending in this uncommon lot. I would have loved to price these around $7.50, but logistics nudged things upward a bit.
Note 1: Orange: Box-fresh cassettes, but may have a small unnoticed blemish or two. Only 2 available
Note 2: Green: Box-fresh cassettes, but may have a small unnoticed blemish or two. Only 1 available
Note 3: Red: Box-fresh cassettes, but may have a small unnoticed blemish or two. Only 1 available
Note 4: Purple: Box-fresh cassettes, but may have a small unnoticed blemish or two. Only 1 available
Note 5: Blue: Box-fresh cassettes, but may have a small unnoticed blemish or two. Only 1 available
Note 6: Yellow: Box-fresh cassettes, but may have a small unnoticed blemish or two. No stock
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About ICE:
NAD613, member of Tapeheads was able to capture some information on the internet back in July of 2008 (15 years ago) and got this description about the quality of the tape and shell parts used on the manufacturing of this cassette, "Our tape manufacturing plant uses the finest grades of polyester materials and magnetic oxides in a long generation of particle development, resulting in higher frequency response and much lower noise. We use technically superior audio cassette shells, which provide a sleek high-tech appearance with improved recording and playback performance."
A few other Tape-head members speak rather highly of this tape. You may wish to look into it.
The shell looks and appears to be of decent quality and it uses screws as opposed to being welded. The tape is exceptionally dark, very shiny and super smooth... it screams quality.