I have been looking for walkmans at my usual boombox haunts but I'm only finding beat up and broken units that they are still trying to sell for $3 to $5. Is this common? I figured I would find a few like boomboxes but I'm very dissapointed in the junk I've been seeing.

I hardly ever find walkmans at flea markets,but when and if I do they are usually newer crappy ones.

I know exactly how you feel, guys. In six years of frequenting thrift stores and the like, I've only found one box worth having: a Sanyo M9935K. The rest have been ugly a$$ Magnavox, Durabrand, etc. pieces of crap or they are nasty three piece boxes from 1996 and newer.

Walkmans are hardly ever seen. I found a Panasonic walkman about a year and a half ago. I wound up selling it to Kittmaster.

I think there is more up here in Canada for some reason. However, it has really dried up in my neck of the woods lately. Two years ago, there were bomboxes and walkmans in every thrift store, decent ones too. There are still lots but, like you said, mostly beat-up Durabrand eggs and scummy Optimus walkmans. I'm still trying to find the mythical M-90 of Sony D6C in the wild. Joe Cool made a nice find in Toronto recently so that gives me hope.

Fatdog I've found a few boomers at in the wild, some even nice, but the walkman search is really pathetic. I just found two Sony's with dolby and digital AM/FM tuners at the local Goodwill but one had a broken rewind key and the other had a switch punched out, they were also scratched up. The stupid part is they wanted $3 and $4 for them, they were broken junk worth $.10 maybe and they don't even have the headphones.

Durabrand , I see this garbage at all thrift stores as well.

Yup,I've been hitting a dryspell lately too. Maybe things will be different this spring when people start cleaning up from winter.

quote:

Originally posted by jcyellocar:
Joe Cool made a nice find in Toronto recently so that gives me hope.

Hi gang. I have to be honest, and tell you that I was a little hesitant to jump in here, because it was recently brought to my attention that flea markets and thrift stores in many parts of the U.S. are nothing like ours here (that surprised me). If truth be told, most (not all, but most) of my thrift store visits yeild a decent (usually fully functional ) bbx in very good condition, for only a few bucks. This is why I've stopped posting my finds of late (with the exception of major discoveries). I don't live in HK or have access to any wholesale dealers, etc., but, I'm very fortunate that I live in an area that is served by a large number of thrft stores and flea markets, which have a near-constant supply of bbxs and all manner of excellent wm's and other consumer electronics. Often, brand new items show up, and in many cases, even the used stuff is in excellent condition. Just last week for example, a complete Sansui home rack-mount stereo system, complete with cabinet, manuals, speakers etc, in perfect condition was sold for only $100 bucks. Often, I look, but walk away simply because I have limited space. Sure, we have our share of crap too, and the occasional "dry-spell" although these are generally short lived. I'm not telling you this to be boastful-that's the last thing on my mind. I don't take any of this for granted, it's like a blessing. It's even a little embarrassing, the rediculously low prices they charge, and even more so, when they hold their weekly 50% off sales. My intention here, is like jcyellocar says: to offer hope to those who search these places, week after week, even driving great distances to get to them, only to be disappointed. I feel badly for these members, and also for those who pay big bucks on ebay. All I can say is hang in there, there is always the possibility of something decent showing up. It may take lots of patience, good timing, and a little luck...but definitely, I think these places are worth checking out often.

JoeCool Canada does seem to be a hot zone for boomboxes and walkmans. Not sure why but your neighborhood sure seems to have bought many times more Boomers and Walkmans per capita than the U.S. did.

oddly enough i have been finding more cd players than walkmans in the past few months. most are 100% functional also for a couple of dollars. i just passed a couple of days ago on an old 4 battery cassette realistic because it was a base model and the stop button was broken. it did sound decent when i tried it though. only 2 dollars but who needs it. i keep on looking for the fun of it anyway.

olboy your right, CD players have certainly not been hard to find. The flea markets and thrift stores have been loaded with them and many are only $2 to $3. Plenty of eggs as well but the stuff we look for, classic boomboxes and walkmans are mostly MIA.