^ My Optimus from Radio Shack is blue (cat.#12-794), but made in the Philippines. Uses 2xAA (what I try to "standardize" on for availability/price/longevity) and runs for almost ever on a set it seems. Only problem it has is looks, looks like I spilt some heavy DEET on it plus dropped a whole lot... I use this radio every day. All my more modern and small portable gizmos have FM only.

CC Crane has some decent small AM radios, but a little more digital (and pricey) than I exactly had in mind...I specifically didn't want synthesized tuning for "emergency" use.

Edit: OMG, this lady has a ton of the type of radios I actually want, go to the index for amusement. Here's the Clairtone mini e.g., it does in fact have 2 transistors, but is older than she thought. Clairtone was a big Canadian brand in the 60s (maybe before too).
http://www.transistor.org/collection/clairtone/clairtone1.html