Not sure even how to start a thread like this but here goes. I will use the term "Walkmans" interchangeably below with all personal portable cassette players, not just those made by Sony. After many years of patiently and carefully collecting Walkmans and spending hundreds of hours and a small fortune of money, acquiring tools, knowledge, service manuals, watching Youtube repair videos and writing hundreds of posts on forums and even building a website. I decided this week to cease from expanding my collection and gradually move toward selling off the models I do still have. I have been collecting Walkmans now for many years, electing to wait patiently and purchase only absolute "museum-tier" S+ condition units. I grew up in a rainforest with a father who had an analogue recording studio and he listened to everything on cassette tapes. My father started off with vinyls but after the player broke and no one was able to fix it he bought a stacked dual front loading TEAC tape deck which was the best we could get at the time and he generally fixed that thing more than anything else in the house. Trust me when I say that music was playing at our house practically 24/7. At one point I think it had 4 or 5 stickers on the back from different times/years that it had been professionally repaired. I knew at a young age that cassettes took a lot of work and I butchered many of his tapes by pulling out the tape or dropping them and so on. My father recorded many albums and even people he picked right off the street busking, giving them a pretty unique first professional experience in a studio on cassette. He even managed to record a couple of people who are now pretty famous. Shortly before he retired he moved to "digital cassette" with the purchase of a TASCAM DA-78HR. After retirement my father produced unofficially a couple of CDs but never really liked the sound of them. Before he passed he gave all of his equipment away to a friend who also had a recording studio. I was a little sad and jealous back in the day because I thought I'd get to have his equipment but ultimately I ended up being happy to see them getting many years of use and I moved overseas anyway. In the process of producing and recording a lot of other people's music, my father also played harmonica and provided vocals for a few other bands including his own. Occasionally he played guitar but only in jamming sessions or with friends and left such acoustics in his own recordings to those he felt more skilled in guitar. In his later years he travelled the world living out his dream of singing blues and jazz in bars and nightclubs. After he passed away, I was really saddened that one of the people who rented his house later threw out all of his cassettes, CDs and even his vinyls without permission. These were stored away safely and totally out of the way but sadly they were disposed of via pure uncaring negligence. What remains of my father's own music I thankfully still have in the original .wav files. I, many years later and dissatisfied with the quality of streaming services and having had much of my own collection ripped from physical CDs to .flac files and lugging those around in various ways for much of my life. I somehow came across Walkman Archive and pulled the trigger on my first cassette Walkman. I bought a few cassettes in advance from Discogs, not realising that one or two of them were probably unofficial fake bootlegs, and another one or two were pretty beat up and would likely do more harm than good to my player. Some week later I had my first Walkman in my hands too. My first model was a perfect blue WM-DD33 which I later swapped for a WM-DC2. I was not too happy with the Mega Bass or the overall sound quality of the WM-DD3. It was beautiful but I sort of longed for the more "retro" and blocky WM-3/30 looking model. I told my then girlfriend at the time I wasn't interested in buying any more models but that changed almost as quickly as I said the words. In the coming months I spotted a couple of bargains like a WM-DD3 and some Aiwas to add to my collection such as the HS-P202 MK1 and HS-PC202 MK3. Being extremely impressed with the quality of these, gradually I expanded to Panasonic models too. A few years went by and I was pretty satisfied with what I had and thought I was done collecting. Until I got my hands on a SHARP JC-K99. This sent me straight back to the auctions and classifieds and with the newfound interest I revisited the idea of making videos and trying to help realise a bit of a cassette and analogue revival. As my collection grew with extremely high quality models like the Panasonic RQ-S80 and Sony WM-DD9, I started to target listings that only came with all the accessories too. So even if the unit I wanted was in immaculate condition and cheaper, I'd ignore it because I wanted all the accessories to complete the set. I simply didn't have the time to try and source everything separately. God has blessed me with an amazing career, so I never really thought too much about the cost of these devices and I generally paid (within reason) what someone was willing to ask. Provided of course the condition was perfect, it came with all the accessories and the device generally worked. As I didn't collect anything else and am otherwise debt free, I had freedom to buy models that other people simply couldn't justify. The reason why I mention this isn't remotely to brag but instead mention that this didn't just come at a financial cost to me, but at a huge emotional cost. I was spending countless hours researching, learning and eventually writing about and collecting these devices. Therein developed a need to do "justice" to the models in league with the price I paid. I started to become borderline obsessed with ensuring the condition of them stayed immaculate, and collecting each of the accessories, cases, remotes, cables, manuals and so on. My wife started to get a bit sceptical, as I went from using the few I originally had, to having too many to make use of all of them. "What's this one good for?" and "Are you going to actually use this one?" started to become her go-to comments any time she saw me looking at an auction or ad. Even if I could argue all of them are worthy of being in a museum. My collection and library of cassettes didn't grow much either alongside my Walkmans, which was growing. Initially I just wanted a "few" cassette players to make Youtube videos and review tapes and try to work toward a sort of 'cassette and analogue revival'. That was the young and maybe foolish dream I started with. I did originally make a couple of videos on a now deleted channel, but I wasn't too happy with the 'production quality' as I am no professional. Again this came back to the sort of "obsession" I had that everything had to be perfect. Transforming into a massive hobby of collecting and repairing complete with all of the little tools and things needed to do any work needed. My previously clean workspace was suddenly covered in belts, pinch rollers, circuit boards, soldering irons and tools for repairing and so on. I also gradually ran out of storage space and anything I did clear up ended up being a space for Walkman paraphernalia. Today I have almost 20 models in my collection. Maybe you're thinking I am missing a zero, but I am not. I focused on quality over quantity. All of mine are generally the "best" at some or even many things. I have the world's lightest Walkman (JC-K99) at 99 grams, the one with the most special head (RQ-S80), the only Dual Direct Drive (WM-DD9), the only cassette sized model with a "Line Out" (WM-DC2), the only radio Walkman with Dolby-C (WM-F701C), the only one with Mega Surround (WM-EX2000) and arguably the world's smallest model (WM-30), just to name a few. In the parallel to this and with daily praying and reading The Bible. My wife and I both couldn't help but start to see that this idea of "collecting treasures" is in direct opposition to Jesus' teachings. I can't remember exactly when it started that the spirit has been gently rebuking me, but gradually a second feeling started to manifest alongside the enjoyment of collecting. "How badly do I want this one?" and "I haven't seen this in years, and here it is so what I am I willing to pay?" and even "I haven't fixed those other 2 yet, and this one will need a bit of work too". The Bible had a clear answer to all these complicated questions and feelings. When thinking carefully on Matthew 19:21-23 I can't help but feel like that man Jesus spoke to. The worst part is I never expected to. Even when my wife asked me "Why can't you just decide to keep one like Jesus said in Mark 6:8-9?" I... just couldn't really muster a real answer. There's a good reason I felt for owning each of them I tried to argue. "Who owns only one coat or one pair of shoes?" I said knowing all well that one absolutely can own only one of something that well and truly suffices. I can't even call her a hypocrite because she has such few belongings, collects nothing herself and only has one pair of shoes! We left the topic for a few days and I kept praying on the matter and well, I woke up this morning to find the final nail in the coffin by opening up Dwell.app this morning and seeing "Luke 12:16-21" as today's devotional... A portion of Luke that I had actually sort of forgotten in lieu of 1 Timothy 16:17-19 or Matthew 6:19-21 (especially verse 21) which was already at the front of my mind. So that's it then. Full admission that I kind of have a problem. Yep this isn't some kind of holier-than-thou post. It's an admission that I bit off more than I could chew, didn't stop to think and also didn't even realise the kind of control or grip my collection of Walkmans had on me. Truly I admire these devices and the engineering genius it took to make them. All of them sound incredible and I wish I could keep them all, but I just can't. The thought that I'd be buried with them is ridiculous to me. More so when I think of Matthew 13:44 there is so much more in my life I could and should be doing than collecting and maybe in doing so I forgot some of my purpose along the way. Today... the dream ends. I've discussed with my wife and agreed that even though I simply can't spend faster than I make on Walkmans. It's clearly not a valid reason to keep up this kind of work on patiently scouring classified sites, fixing, maintaining, photographing, storing, collecting, posting and so on. All of this even before I ever started to realise the initial dream of making a Youtube channel and half-decent videos of the devices etc. Furthermore it's not in line with either of our beliefs and truly I simply don't even have the time to make use of all the devices I own, regardless of the fact they all work so well or maintain any I'd get in the future. So I've made a decision that I hate to admit is a lot harder than I honestly ever thought it would be. One that I really didn't ever realise I would have to emotionally prepare myself for. The decision to sell off all but 2 of my devices. Keeping only my WM-EX2000 and my wife's WM-EX9. I previously considered that everyone was allowed to collect something and Walkmans were (to me) one of the more noble pursuits (ego I admit). But treasures are treasures and clearly I have my reasons. I've given up a lot of other things in the past and never regretted it, so I'm trying to be excited about this. In closing. I want to say the following. Despite the fact that I have made the decision to sell my collection. I am not going to just "disappear" from the forum here and not look back. The single biggest factor I ever got into collecting and caring about cassette players is due to the joy I've shared with other people who also enjoy them. Listening to and sharing stories, advice and painstakingly repairing and maintaining these devices. I started this journey because I really care about this small community. Where some people flip these devices from cheap "penny auctions" and sell them for 5000% profit; I simply cared about owning perfect condition models, enjoying their music and ensuring it stays that way for many years to come. I see all of us from the people importing them into the EU to sell, trough people like myself to those who spend most of their time just repairing them for us all. We're all part of something incredible, something I never could have imagined. Dare I say, a family? A special huge thanks to the following people for sharing their stories, wisdom and generally just putting up with me: @Valentin @Cassette2go @Emiel @TooCooL4 @Michelle Knight @Doctor Walkman @mihokm @Radio Raheem @Mister X and many more kind and wonderful people in this community and off the site. P.S. I find it ironic that I never ended up finding my dream Aiwa PX30 or PX50 despite the fact that these were the 2 models I wanted to own above all else, all along. I did get to hold a PX900 albeit it was in horrible condition and maybe that also helped open my eyes. That seeing the device so negligently treated shouldn't have made me feel so disappointed.
These are the models I have currently photographed in my collection. I have a bit less than 10 more models I still need to get around to putting on the site. All of these are now for sale, excluding the WM-EX2000 and WM-EX9 (the latter is not currently visible on the site but it will be soon). https://tapefactor.neocities.org/walkmans/gallery The couple remaining Walkmans are just donors/backups for a few models I've already got photographed. Still in perfect condition, but no point taking more photos of models that are already on the site. I'll start selling these slowly and I won't reserve any for anyone but I am happy to sell them to members on the forum here. Otherwise I'll end up listing them on eBay but I'd rather avoid the ridiculous fees, so I could ask for a bit less if we do the transactions eg. via PayPal. I'm not in a hurry to get rid of any and I need to get a few things together in the meantime. Having any large collection generally entails a bit of a need for organizing. Each of my devices are in perfect condition as shown by the photos. They should be considered "As-New". Models to which I have all the accessories, eg. bags, remote, AC-adapter etc. will be sold along with the model. That is, for those models I'll sell them as a complete package. For others, I'll sell them with whatever additional accessories and so on that I do have included in the sale. The photos on the site are a mostly secure indication of what I do, or don't have but may be missing an extra accessory or two that I do have (but didn't photograph). I also have speed and W&F tests and records for all models. All of them are within about as perfect specification as is possible. Of course I am also happy to provide a video of the device condition and full operation upon request. All will be shipped from the EU. I won't accept any returns and the postage and insurance costs are the responsibility of the buyer.
I am sure you can find collector to buy your Walkman units but I can buy the following models if you have: DD-100 in brand new condition with its box in excellent condition. WM-3 "Excellent", in brand new condition with its original box. Box must be in pristine condition. Okinawa Walkman with its original box WM-BF22 with its original box in new condition.
