I have a friend who has the very First TPS-L2
ever Sold on U.S. Soil. What I need to know
What would a Unit like this be Worth and it
has everything and is still in the BOX...
I am not just talking the First Model Sony
put out ,but the very first one sold here
in the United States ever #1. I don't care
if you know what it is worth,but what would
your Guess would be on a unit like this??? I need an Answer quickly on this. So just give me
a figure What you would pay on a unit like
this and it is in the box Mint condition...
Let me put this in here the unit not for sale
he is just trying to get an ideal what
collectors might pay for a Walkman like this.
Seankw

A mint TPS-L2 in a box with headphones would go away for $400~600. Maybe this one a few hundred more.

Have you checked the serial number? How can you be sure that this was the first?

Yes I had the serial number Checked out at Sony
to see if his claim was true. Sony say that his
serial number falls in the correct spot to be
a unit that actually came into the US before
the official release into America happened.
He had a friend who had it sent to America
a couple months before the official Release
happen in the United States.

Thanks. SeanK

SeanK, can you share Sony's criteria with us just so we can check whether we have any early gems. Myself included I'm sure there are other board members who could use your contacts. If you don't mind, let us know which addrress/email you used to get this info.

If you don't mind sharing, let us know what they told you about the serials.

Sounds like you're sitting on a gem.

For value, sadly it depends on where, how & when you sell it & whether there is anyone around who is interested. I have two boxed units with all accessories mint (ish) in box which I bought for less than $100. My guess is that I was the only one around at the time who was interested.

Can you confirm that your unit does in fact say 'Soundabout' instead of 'Walkman' on the front as this is a sure way to denote the early models that hit the US shores, or better still, a pic.

The unit was not mine and it was a friend of
mine and he sold it off. I wish that the pictures of it I kept. Now I can give an email
address to one part of Sony Corp,but as far as
my father old friend in Sony Corp I am not allowed to give out his email. I think he is President of Sony Corp in a California Branch.

Here is one email address
custserv@info.sel.sony.com

Now I received the serial Number info from
my father old friend You want to Check and see
if your Serial # fall below 70,000 for no Walkman on them these are over seas units. Early American units will be around 120,000 to 140,000 Most of them say Walkman on them, but
the ones around 120,000 should say Stereo and not Walkman. This is for the TPS-L2 units. Well
I have one connection Were I will be getting a
unit that is in the Serial range of 40,000
very low as you can see... If you really want a Gem look for ones that have a lower than 30,000 serial number then you are talking about Sony really first TPS-L2 units...Well I hope this
helps out some.

Thanks Sean

...useless discussion...

Oh dear..

Wassup Auto ?

I see the response to this topic,so if you want to remove this topic you can. I was just trying to supply helpful information, but if no one need this information you can take it off.

agentorange

Thanks SeanK

i learned----thanks alot seank.......

Sean, not at all, it's very interesting & thanks to you for supplying it. Respected fellow board member Autoreverser is prone to the odd bout of cynicism.

Thanks Agentorange...

Ok I am going to give you the Walkmans that will be the most collectable later in order...

1) Sony TPS-L2 Release on July 1 ,1979

2) Sony SRF-80 AM/FM/FM Stereo with Speakers
Released on March 1, 1980

3) Sony SRF-40 FM Stereo Walkman Released
on June 1st of 1980

These are the first Three Walkmans Sony
Ever made nothing was made in between.

So to the ones who thought the SRF-30 was older the answer to that is no. It came out on August 1st 1981. For your WM-1,WM-2,WM-4,WM-5
and so on they all came out after those three
I listed. Now you know what three you should be looking at because later on those three will be the hardest to find anywhere. Big tip get the lowest serial# you can find in those first three. If I were you anthing lower than 20,000
is good and if you are really wanting to get serious about it try getting lower than 5000 on the serial number. Now I said you would have to get real serious about it,and I know most are looking at that 5000 going yeh how that possible. First Don't look on ebay most are newer units. Start checking thrift stores /Flee
markets/Pawn Shops that where you will find the real old ones. Most the time the person selling them does not even know what they have. Ebay ok if you want to just get one for your collection,but Most the serial numbers I have ran into are 200,000 to 500,000 not very low is
it....Get serious and check out other resources.
Antique stores are good too. Just because you have a Sony TPS-L2 that does not make it worth alot of money, but the serial number is what make the difference in what something is worth.
The Lower serial number the more it worth keep that in mind when getting your Walkmans.

Now I really hope this helps out some of the new collectors. I have been collecting Radios
for the last 30 years,and I am now starting all over again since like most of you know I lost most of my collection to pay hospital bills....
I still learned alot while collecting them.
By the way Walkman in Boxes are good but most of them may be the last run of that model with high serial numbers so check them. That could make a TPS-L2 Walkman actually closer to 1980
than the 1979 mark so keep that in mind. Well
enough of me running the Jaw here.I just hope this put a little light on what to look for.

SeanK

quote:

Originally posted by agentorange:
Sean, not at all, it's very interesting & thanks to you for supplying it. Respected fellow board member Autoreverser is prone to the odd bout of cynicism.

hey SeanK, didn't want to put your researches down !!!

just think that collecting walkmen is not for serial-number etc. we all know that the tps-l2 was no.1 and your mentioned above radio-only models are before the wm-series (notice that the wm-2 was before the wm-2, or the wm-f1 was after the wm-4, there's many of those irritations due to sony's strange moddel-no. politics for europe/ asia/ usa), but an early model- or serial- number isn't a guarantee for a rare model.
for europe i do know as a fact, that sony made every year a 'top of the pops'- model, showing their muscles to the other makers of portable stereos, as there appeared f.ex. the wm-7, f-207 solar, dd-100, 701-s, dd-9 etc. etc. those models were extremely expensive and unaffordable to most of us in those days. when the next top-notch came out they did collect the older models from their dealers, there was NO special-sale, they got destroyed to keep up the price for the next top-model. those ones are harder to get i do believe, because who could afford one of those either keeps it or doesn't hesitate to throw it away, no need to put it for sale...

there's many more of those mostly unknown portable stereos not coming from the 'big ones', wich were made by the millions for the masses, but only very few survived, who keeps a no-name or cheap player ?

you see, it's all a question of attitude towards the collectible... sorry if i insulted you, bro !

na--numbers don't matter much but it did get me thinking though, so i looked at the serial numbers on my 2 tps-l2's. they were about 10,000 apart which is no big deal. what i did notice then was that the early numbered one has a smoothed surface case and an extra pouch for putting a spare cassette in. the other case is textured and came without that extra-pouch. i know there was a different case for the very early ones but i thought all the later ones were the same. there is a definite change there at some point even in the later ones.