I'm getting totally superficial with components here. Have 2n5088's ever come in that tin can style that germanium transistors come in? It's quite sad really...it's not enough for a component to just perform within reasonable limits -now they must also look cool while doing it. That site Mr.Snowberg linked with all the Angela and Orange Drop caps have got me trying to color co-ordinate my components.
Just stop me before I buy a $600 knob, ok?
No. They've always been black plastic TO-92's.
Contrary to what you might think, modern plastic component packages are actually superior in most ways to metal ones. The plastic ones are more impact-resistant, and have lower parasitic effects (leakage resistance, for example).
Some of the antique radio restoration guys scoop out the insides of old leaky caps, and put modern caps inside... but I think it would be a tad excessive to do this with transistors :roll: