cassettes CAN sound better than vinyl.

I buy tapes from small artists in very limited runs of tapes, some better than others and just like vinyl record pressings. Some winners some losers.

That Mattel deck is fine indeed. Excellent isolation. 

I have about 10 cassettes decks and 2 RtR tape recorder's. 2 Nakamichi lower numbers but they sound fantastic. I Had a big Technics 10in.RtR but traded it.I love recorder music on tape.But it depends on the quantity of the tape .Cheap cassettes sound Cheap.

highly doubtful....