Rare mid-century 1950s vintage Apolex RA-20 portable reel-to-reel tape player, Japan

Rare 1950s vintage, machine age, Apolex model RA-20 portable reel to reel tape player, made in Japan. This tape player has great mid-century deco and chrome case and a leather carrying case. It measures about 7" square and has two 3" tape reels with tape. It takes 12 AA batteries or AC power, but there is no AC power adaptor (connector is a 4 pin plug).

We powered this up on batteries and it works, but it does seem a little slow on the reels and probably needs some lubrication with WD40 or other light oil.