The past few months has turned out some really nice items at ridiculously good prices! Checked off some more from the grails list like this PS-F9. And found stuff I didn't know about before as well... A Sony PS-F9, ICR-9, and MDR-51 with the JAL branding. The headphones was an unexpected find. It was in very bad condition (cable was cut) but I picked it up anyway since I knew about the KLM version of the MDR-3L2 and how rare it is. This one was more plasticky so I thought it was more of a cheap model. But after researching a bit, it appears that it's an MDR-51, and that those are quite good. Couldn't find a pic of another with this JAL logo, though. There was one with older logo. The ICR-9 was a nice surprise as well. I really like the design. It was apparently the world's thinnest radio in 1977 at just 9mm thick.
I wonder how much the radio cost. Quite a lot given the fancy case it case in https://picclick.com/Very-Rare-Working-Vintage-1977-Complete-Sony-ICR-9-263629803967.html it also makes an entry on the Sony Design history site https://www.sony.net/Fun/design/history/product/1970/icr-9.html What battery does it take or is it a buit in rechargable ? Obviously not AAAs as they are 10.5mm in diameter.
They use 2 small button cells. Mine's missing the battery cover, but it looks easy enough to customize. I couldn't find any picture ads, but some text from Google Books tells tells us that it retails for ¥14,800 in 1978. I don't know how that compares to other pocket radios at the time. It's almost half the price of the TPS-L2 from 1-2 years later.
In the UK the TPS-L2 was about £100 so half that would be £50. The same year you could get a basic AM-FM pocket radio from one of the lesser brands for £8 Either of those also had the advantage of being able to buy the battery in any supermarket.
Both of those items are big scores, that little radio was big money, it was more bragging rights for having a small radio compared to the units Longman posted, which most people had. Some of the other guys had some amazingly compact versions with credit card being the ideal size.
Really quite expensive. And it's AM only too. The credit card sized radios are cool as well, but I think they were from the 80's? And they aren't s durable, it seems. This one has an almost all-metal body.
I didn't notice that it was AM only, yup, I'd take any of them if I could find them but they're so rare and I don't think people know how cool and expensive they were and they end up getting tossed. I've got some nice "cheap" models and even some of those are cool looking but when new they were just a few dollars and not high-tech at all like the Sony. So what about the record player, does it work? That's another one I've never run across.....and what about the car collection in the background, nice!
That is a huge surprise; the equivalent of finding out that a top of the range exclusive Walkman was mono only and didn't have rewind. By 1977 you could buy an AM only pocket radio for £2 at any market, similar to the Fantavox one shown in the 1973 Laskys catalogue. The Astrad shown there was the forerunner to the Card radios which as Stuck in time says were from the 1980s. The other craze I remember from back then were Watch Radios. I can't find a single one on ebay as a search brings up pages of Radio Controlled Watches; a different product that would have been Science Fiction back then. There is also a good chance that all the Radio Watches broke and got thrown away as they were cheaply made and priced as a novelty back then. As for the Sony Flamingo record player they were quite expensive when new and even more valuable nowadays. You could get a very nice Walkman or Boombox for the price those go for now.
Nice. I'm not really into radios, so I don't really know the historical market offerings. These days I just snatch up the more interesting units or the collection. I guess they were really just exercising the technical feasibility miniaturizing and combining things. This resulted in various offerings there weren't that successful in the market due to many different factors. The major ones I think would be a lack of demand beyond the novelty and coolness factor, and a too high price for the supposed benefits it brings. Yes. The PS-F9 is a very rare unit and does fetch a premium price. Usually. I'm very happy to get this one for about $20. Sadly this one is a display only piece. Very bad condition internally and missing it's stylus. I don't really mind, though. This is the first one I've seen for sale locally in years of collecting. Now, those I've been collecting since long before I got into this vintage audio stuff. I feel like I collect too many things. One of these day's I'm gonna run out of room...
You two would have got on well with my late Father. The photo below shows one type of van in his collection of about 900 of these types of vehicle. About the only good thing I can say about them is that they kept him entertained collecting them. I have taken most of them (three real car loads) of them to a Toy Museum that sells them on commission. You can't sell them individually on Ebay as the postage costs more than they are worth. If you sell them in bulk you take a big loss on what they cost new as this auction illustrates https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Huge-Job-Lot-Die-Cast-Car-Collection-135-total-120-boxed-CORGI-LLEDO-MATCHBOX-/313117352578?hash=item48e73fa282:g:Zd4AAOSw6iJe6HQe&nma=true&si=LqtQzdgxcbPCXvcYdIk7V7c7CAE%3D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557 The silly thing is that one original James Bond car would fetch much more and really would have been a good investment, https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CORGI-261-JAMES-BOND-ASTON-MARTIN-DB5-54-YRS-STORED-/392931359936?hash=item5b7c88bcc0:g:SYYAAOSwlJhfU3hS&nma=true&si=LqtQzdgxcbPCXvcYdIk7V7c7CAE%3D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557 Of course most of the James Bond cars got taken out of their boxes and played with. A colleague said he had done exactly that when he was a child, to the point where he was a bit embarrassed about the state it was in by the time the relatives who gave it him left later that day. p.s My father did make some good investments in his collection. One of the best was a Tomy Zoid that sold I sold for about 25 times what it had cost 25 years earlier. Again most of those toys got taken out of their box and played with. I still have about three Zoids which I did make back when they were new.
I have a feeling that stuff will be worth more someday, nice quality, big branding and pretty old. Beat up Matchbox Cars are $2.00 USD at our local flea market, cars like the photo go for much more but I don't know if they sell. I paid $7 for a Tomica Land Crusier that's in some of my photos. It's a little depressing knowing that kids don't have the same attraction to toys we thought we'd never get tired of.
The models of Yesteryear and similar models were marketed as collectables, rather than toys and never appealed to Children, who either didn't know what a Ford Model T was, or who thought a Dinosaur was more exciting and from the same era. Churned out by the million, adults bought them and stored them away as an investment. Consequently every Antiques Market in the UK has dozens. The James Bond car was the most expensive from several completed listing. Half that price will get you a restored used one with a reproduction box. A Land Cruiser toy/model probably has far more appeal than a model of any 1920s car. First as a model of Dad's car, then as a model to remind you of what you used to drive. I have models of three of my first four cars and would love to get a model of a 1988 Nissan Sunny Coupe - I recently bought the original sales brochure but have never seen a model. My Capri was easiest to get, since not only was it a popular car here but it was the star car in a couple of TV series. Still in demand too by the looks of it https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CORGI-CL...773790?hash=item3430b9ab5e:g:BScAAOSwNmpfE1DY As for toys you only have to look at the prices 1980s Star Wars, He Man, and Masters of the Universe figures go for to realise that re-collecting your childhood is as strong as ever.
That's a collection to be proud of regardless of the value! I had to look up Tomy Zoids, but I had one, apparently a really good one, but like most 80's toys I played with it into oblivion. Fun to look back!
Corgi's were the fashizzle over here in the 70's early 80's, super cool vehicles and co-branding with tv/movies. We didn't have Thunderbirds but the Corgi's made us lust after the what had to be cool show. The stuff in the above photos, the trucks, busses and other equipment were a riot in a sandbox with a bunch of boys building a huge city. The "collectible" stuff is fine but I think I like finding my old toys because of all of the imagination we had playing with time.
I have some of the Models of Yesteryear series as well, but I'm mostly into the smaller stuff. Something like Tomicas and smaller, down to the 1:150 (N) scale. The vintage British stuff like that are relatively rarer here, so they seem to fetch more than the usual Ebay prices.
This looks like the cut-sheet for the radio, it looks like it was a pretty big deal when it came out since it had it's own information pamphlet.
Back with more rarities! It's been a rather good month with lots of good units found, these being the highlights: The MZ-R3's not really on my wishlist, but I'll take any nice boxed stuff With the yellow WM-F107, now I just need to find the elusive blue one to complete the set. Never thought I'll find the the M-50 anytime soon, and it still has the radio tuner pack! Likewise with thee Guys & Dolls version of the TPS-L2 case, I guess it's rarer than the walkman itself. There doesn't seem to be many pics around of the M-50, so here's some detailed pics: The TPS-L2 case is no longer flexible, but it does come complete with the strap and cassette case
Indeed! I'll say the M-50 was the most unexpected, though. I've only seen this pop up for sale once in my country after several years of collecting (well, twice, but it's the same unit).
