Blaze unveils handheld C64 and Spectrum consoles for retro gaming fans

Blaze Entertainment has pushed its retro business deeper into nostalgia’s most durable brands, unveiling handheld versions of the Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum that strip away the original computers’ keyboards and repackage them as portable game machines. The Spectrum Handheld and THEC64 Handheld are set for release in October 2026 at £109.99, or $129.99, each, with collector’s editions sold through Funstock at £129.99, or $149.99, and bundled with a hard shell carry case and a specially created Crash or Zzap magazine.

The pitch is aimed squarely at consumers who want classic hardware to look and feel collectible while still being usable in a modern setting. Both devices are clamshell handhelds, with THEC64 Handheld in retro beige and The Spectrum Handheld in black. Blaze said the design drew on successful gaming handhelds of the past as well as the look of 1980s portable computers and organizers, a formula that has made retro hardware a reliable commercial lane for companies selling memory as much as software.

Each handheld includes 25 preloaded games, a 4.3-inch IPS screen with 840 x 480 resolution, and MicroSD support for adding legally obtained ROMs. A USB-A port allows an external keyboard or joystick, preserving some of the flexibility of the original machines even as the built-in controls simplify the experience. THEC64 Handheld uses tactile plastic controls, while The Spectrum Handheld uses rubber controls modeled on the original Spectrum keys. Both units measure 136mm wide, 26mm high and 86mm deep, weigh 235g, and use a 2000mAH battery rated for more than three hours of play.

Blaze and Retro Games Ltd have built in compatibility that extends well beyond a single game library. The Spectrum Handheld supports 16K, 48K, 128K, +2, +2A, +3, +3e and NTSC variants. THEC64 Handheld supports C64 PAL and NTSC, C64C, C64SX, PET64 and C64 GS. That breadth matters because retro buyers are not only looking for objects that resemble the computers they remember; they are buying platforms that promise access to the broader archive attached to those names.

The release also underlines how aggressively Blaze is keeping retro hardware in physical, collectible form. Its Evercade press page showed a March 31, 2026 announcement for the Evercade Nexus handheld, signaling an unusually active year for new devices. In a market where collector culture, portable gaming and older millennial nostalgia increasingly overlap, Blaze is betting that familiar names, limited editions and shelf appeal can still move units.