Sports Walkman: Sony's Go-Anywhere Portable Electronics!

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As the personal electronics craze exploded in the 1980s, people wanted to take their gadgets everywhere. Sony came up with a product line that promised to hold up to (mostly) anything their owners could throw at them.
Featured music: "Disco Soul" and "Liftoff" by Discoholic: discoholicmusic.bandcamp.com/...
Sources:
WM-F5 photo: www.sony.com/en/SonyInfo/desi...
Multicolored WM-F5 models: walkman.land/sony/wm-f5
Sports boombox photo: philamuseum.org/collection/ob...
Sports Watchman photo: www.larkclub.com/gallery/2014...
Sports Discman photo: www.larkclub.com/gallery/2018...
MZ-S1 photo: page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/...
Panasonic Shockwave cassette player photo: tyo.deedpowerfactor.xyz/index...
GPX sports cassette player photo: www.etsy.com/listing/10424502...
My First Sony box photo: www.ebay.com/itm/125826219756
My First Sony commercial: • My First Sony Commerci...
My First Sony product range photo: www.flickr.com/photos/mawari/...
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Music by Epidemic Sound (www.epidemicsound.com).
Intro music by BoxCat Games (freemusicarchive.org/music/Bo....

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5 авг 2024

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Комментарии : 354

@JamieBainbridge Год назад

It's always nice when someone designs a device for obvious serviceability. There's a retired Japanese Sony designer sitting there satisfied he did a good job like this walkman for his whole career. Arigatou oji-san 🙏

@ClassicGameSessions Год назад

80's nostalgia here - those Sony Walkmans, ghetto blasters and radios were and still are pretty cool looking. Quality as always!

@1sonyzz Год назад

I have Sony Walkman WM-F10 the first cassette box sized walkman with fm radio in 1984, very good condition and it's upgraded brother - WM-F100II from 1989, I love how small Sony made them to be - 30 years ago

@ClassicGameSessions Год назад

@1sonyzz That's one to hold on to!

@tarstarkusz Год назад

Original boom boxes and ghetto blasters were really of the late 70s and very early 80s. By the time this thing was released in 1984, ghetto blasters were dead and replaced by low end portable stereos. The early machines we call "ghetto blasters" and "Boomboxes": were high end machines made possible by the solid state revolution. They were "solid state" machines in the truest sense in that they were discrete component machines. But by 84, they were no longer discrete component solid state devices, but loaded with ICs to the point that most of the space inside was empty. The sound quality and even the quality of the radio tuners plummeted like a stone along with the price.

@ClassicGameSessions Год назад

@tarstarkusz Agreed, portable stereos is a more appropriate term and name for the time. You know your stuff

@reboxtherapy Год назад

Oilers/Spartans circuit city brings nostalgic memories, 5 years later at the Pomona store she had a chance to fill out a form for arbitration because of rejection. So don't feel like she haven't suffered, because she makes 4x more money NOW than circuits city employees

@hanakomisa Год назад

Thanks for the video and thanks for introducing me to Discoholic! (I am saying this again we really need a TDNC curated playlist for the music used in the videos!)

@ZenithMusicNet Год назад

My best friend his dad worked at Sony in the 90's. We visited him at work, when he was cleaning up inventory. My friend and I both got a Sports walkman, which to this day I still have!

@TechfulThinking Год назад

I think the one thing I appreciate the most about new technology is the battery percentage indicator. I still remember the heartbreak of finding out only after I’ve gotten on the schoolbus that my batteries were dying. *Nothing* made the day go by slower than neither you nor your friends having any spare batteries 😔

@techmaester 2 месяца назад

Fun fact: Digital media players/recorders, mainly two decades ago, drain battery faster than analog tape. Why? CPU uses more energy than a little flywheel motor. Isn’t that something?

@SoulSilverIV Год назад

Another great Walkman video, but can we take a moment to appreciate the absolute BANGER of a cassette you chose to use as your test cassette!? Hoooooooly crap my dude, I need more of that!!!

@Discoholicmusic Год назад

👋 😘

@AJC508 Год назад

Yes, I had to shazam it because it was so great. Would defo get that to listen in the car. Very much like late daft punk.

@jayglenn837 4 месяца назад

@@AJC508 What music was it?

@Van_Der_Lay_Industries Год назад

I bought one of these in 1988, had cassette and radio. Also had dolby I believe. It was my pride and joy, and boy did it get a workout! It got stolen in around 1993 and replaced by insurance. I still have it stored away in a draw, I'm pretty sure it still works.

@michaelpalm2210 Месяц назад

Me too. Got mine at service merchandise for around $75-$100 in the 1980's .That was a lot of money.My sister stole it and brought it to school in her backpack, broke it by dropping the bag. so sad!I miss that walkman

@jonahc.4234 Год назад

Hi Colin, great video! That's awesome you were able to use the Sports Walkman I sent in it. Glad it worked out.

@luismaldonado1494 Год назад

The color combination of those Walkman looks so cool.

@Jackster743 Год назад

Glad to see the Sports line finally getting some recognition! My first Walkman was an F397 I found at a thrift store for only $5. It had a bit of corrosion on the battery contacts, but after some isopropyl it worked just fine. If you can find one for a decent price, it is a no brainer to pick it up.

@tarstarkusz Год назад

I honestly don't get why anyone would want to pick one of these up. These were generally low end devices. I suppose 5 bucks in a thrift store might be worth buying, but not ebay. If you want a portable cassette/radio combo, there are much better models. SInce you will likely have to do at least some maintenance anyway, you might as well get a decent model. Also, do not buy cheap belts from Ukraine. You should buy the proper belts. They are much more uniform and are sized properly. Using a too small belt, even by a very small amount will burn up the motor. They use bushings and those bushings will wear very quickly.

@Jackster743 Год назад

@@tarstarkuszOf course there are always better models, but most people getting into them now don’t really care about getting the Best sound possible, we have digital music for that. So just having something that sounds alright, is cheap, and is easily repaired if it wears out are the main draws. Also, these were built as runaround machines, so they’re far more durable than some of the higher end slimmer ones. And even though they were low end when they came out, most of them are still light years ahead of any of the cassette players being made today, in both build and sound quality.

@tarstarkusz Год назад

@@Jackster743 I don't like modern digital because I don't want to pay for a virtual item. To me, that's the draw of a CD or cassette or vinyl. What you are paying for is connected to the medium itself. I agree this is much better than what is sold today. My point is if you are going to buy vintage, there are better models. I also would want a high quality AM/FM stereo. I actually still use a walkman till this day. I don't like carrying my personal tracking device (AKA phone) while biking. So I carry a cassette walkman I can control right through my clothes. I also create playlists on youtube and then record those playlists onto a cassette.

@skrepy15 6 месяцев назад

they go for 30$ - 60$ nowadays - worth it ?

@tamazonx Год назад

As a kid, I got the GPS "Sports" clone you showed in this video. Thank you for that shot of nostalgia!

@phildile Год назад

Whoa! Great to see. This was my first Walkman. It is just beautiful

@mattb9664 Год назад

I think the closest example in today's electronics store that we had from back then with a huge selection of Walkmans is the camera and camcorder section at Best Buy. Just imaging going to an electronics store and having about 30-40 different Walkmans and Sanyos and Panasonics at various price points all just sitting out on a couple chest height shelf lined with carpet. Minimal to no security cables. No portable cd players yet. You could try all them out too. Great times!

@Edvuxas112 Год назад

I have been watching your videos since your review about JBL go speaker. However since the pandemic it has been almost like a tradition watching your videos on fridays when going home to my parents home for the weekends. I hope you keep it up

@Shadow_Lifeman Год назад

Very cool. I remember my mom had a yellow Walkman under the Sports brand in the 90s as her daily driver. That yellow color of yours instantly reminded me of it.

@TimelessGamingUK Год назад

My Dad had one of these and I used to listen to tapes on it a lot. I can still remember the feel of the latch opening and closing and the little rubber stopper in the headphone port. It’s a really tactile device.

@lucasRem-ku6eb Год назад

it was always crap, failed format !

@omahahaha Год назад

Cassettes and Walkman/portable players hold a very special place in my memories. Thanks for the video.

@GYTCommnts Год назад

So we got: a Walkman repair video, with excellent production and awesome music all the way... All wins in my book!

@tonycollazorappo Год назад

The best, I was 19 in 1980. I like tapes, records and even the 8-track, lol. Home phones with no apps, the simple way of listening to music is what I missed. I think I'll get one of these on Amazon to make me feel even better. They have a Sony CD player, that I like very much, and I'll get one of them as well.

@Carstuff111 Год назад

In the mid to late 1980s I had a 1970's stereo radio with 8-track player and record player. I had a handful of hand-me-downs of both. By the 1990s I had my first stereo with a compact cassette player. It was around 1998 I got my first compact cassette Walkman, and it was a Sports Walkman that I won with tickets from a local go-cart/mini golf/arcade place. That thing sealed the deal on my buying mobile Sony music products! Their cassette player and the two CD Walkmans I had after were great! I still have my Sports CD Walkman as I type this, and it STILL works!

@ernestperryjr Год назад

Great video covering a compelling classic device...with good music to boot?! SHEESH 🔥

@PaulN504 Год назад

I had completely forgotten about the "My First Sony" line. Me and my brother had a set of those headset walkie-talkies you can see the kid in the commercial footage wearing. They were voice activated, which was not typical for children's walkie-talkies at the time, so they seemed so cool back then.

@pacmania1982 Год назад

I can just imagine Colin at a roller disco throwing his moves to the music between 6m43s - 7m42s

@firaonoyus2112 Год назад

When unique ideas and colorful design are beyond our imagination. That's the 80's heartbeat. They never comeback

@MatSpeedle Год назад

Always great to have a new video from you on a Friday Colin. My own small Walkman collection is a result of your videos and I've repaired many as a result. Love your video style and editing too, really high end production values.

@davidmartineziii7343 Год назад

YES!! :-D I found a really clean WM-A53 at a thrift store a few years back and I was a little stumped as to how to disassemble it once the belts finally broke. I now know how to do it because of your teardown log! Thank you :-D

@Ojisan642 Год назад

I still have fond memories of the Sony WM-F57 Walkman, which I got in 1986. It was one of the only Walkman models to have a speaker built in. I used the heck out of it through junior high school and high school, and took it on so many trips I couldn’t even count. I loved that it gave me the option to not use headphones. And it was just a very high quality Walkman overall. It wasn’t my first one but it was the best one in my humble opinion. I remember the bright yellow Sports models being around at the same time, but I was never jealous about having one!

@St0rmcrash Год назад

Hope you do get to do a video on the My First Sony line. I still have the "My First Sony" analog alarm clock/radio that I got as a kid, remember seeing it in a catalog and waiting for it to come out on the conveyor belt at Service Merchandise. It felt somehow grown up to have an analog ticking clock even in that bright red, and during power outages it was the only battery radio on hand already set to got and would get moved to the kitchen counter. At one point it did stop running for a couple years until one day it started up again on my desk where it was being just a radio, no idea why it ever stopped but it continues to run to this day

@LukeRichardson1981 Год назад

Love your videos about old tech. That yelow Panasonic Shockwave player you show later in the video was my first ever cassette player (I believe I got it for my birthday in 1995) and I loved that thing - the design and headphones were the epitome of cool to 14 year old me. Would love to see you do a video about that one if you could, because I'd totally forgotten about it and this video brought back all the great memories I had of it. 😊

@tonystark6306 Год назад

Man. A great video as always. Even better; thanks for turning me on to Discoholic. This is like a Jamiroquai/dico hybrid and I dig it. Their music SLAPS!

@CrabOfDoom Год назад

'Disco Soul' started sounding like Debarge to me, which I 100% mean as a compliment. Gonna have to look up the rest.

@Discoholicmusic Год назад

@@CrabOfDoom thanks! debarge rocks

@SaturdayMorningGamer Год назад

Man, do these every get the nostalgia vibes going. Fun video - thanks for all the awesome content and info! :)

@General_M Год назад

I dig the song choices, thanks for putting it in the description

@SonicManEXE Год назад

I have one of these sports series Walkman with its wire over-ear headphones (I think it’s the tape-only model that can read different kinds of tapes). My aunt used to use it when visiting my grandparents. I don’t have many cassette players anymore, so at this point I think it’s the best player in the house. I love how it looks and it feels solid.

@AlejandroKar98k Год назад

Discoholic: excellent musical taste!

@elphive42 Год назад

I’ve got one of these - it was my dad’s. I love the design of it, and it gets surprisingly good radio reception.

@SjoerdvanGestel Год назад

This brings back memories of my first time using my (sligy later model with a yelow slot cover / more rounded features) yellow walkmen outside. Great video!

@RefugioVillegasIII Год назад

I've always been interested in tech and the 80s is where it all started from there. Through video games like the NES, Walkmans and boom boxes, it also lead me to have a strong interest in computers. It's good time to be alive.

@shkeni Год назад

The Sports line looked great. I always loved the look of their boomboxes growing up.

@foxyloon Год назад

Glad you're covering a Sports Walkman, I have a soft spot for these and believe they're highly underrated units! I grew up playing with my mom's WM-FS191 and appreciated the overall ruggedness and built-in radio these are known for. Used to listen to FM stations when riding the bus to/from school with it, years before I got my first iPod. Was very happy with the reception and fidelity it provided, and never felt ashamed when other kids would make fun of me for having it. (It was the mid 2000s, when iPods and mp3 players were commonplace.)

@samexists5776 Год назад

I want to thank you for making this video. I bought this model Walkman because of this video, and I’m extremely happy with it. I really appreciate it. I hope to see more Walkman videos from your channel. Thanks again.

@yokaidigital3033 Год назад

I actual had one of those the exact same color as well. Such a great rebuild of a iconic device. Nice video

@MichaelEilers Год назад

Definitely have had the itch several times in my life to build up a bookshelf of the Sony yellow sports items, there were so many from portable TVs and boom boxes and even headphones, as well as the various Walkman models.

@carlmorenor Год назад

I had one! Thanks for bringing back beautiful memories 🎉

@shawnlespar5495 Год назад

I love this new way of editing. it's dynamic now. I've been watching this channel and I just subscribe

@brennanpatrick Год назад

Im 37 years old and I'm obsessed with this channel. Its so therapeutic to me.

@JHMBB2 Год назад

I have the slightly newer one of these I believe. It's my favorite walkman for sure. I love the way the door opens, and reverse at the touch of a button is nice!

@johnclintonmusicandmore Год назад

Hi, I learned from RU-vid if you use Brassow wadding, it comes in a tin can You can polish the see-through plastic and it gets most of the scratches out on the walkmans. Just be sure if you’re plastic comes through the inside to put something behind it or hold it so you don’t pop it out but on these Walkman sports you’re showing I don’t think you have to hold anything, great channel Thanks for your videos.

@SunnySidePups Год назад

1:45 Okay pop off with your groovy self

@KS-yw6oo Год назад

Thanks for the video. I thoroughly enjoyed it! Btw, those S2 cd Walkman and Net MD were really beautiful devices. Brings back alot of memories.

@lucasRem-ku6eb Год назад

horror memories you need ?

@summer20105707 Год назад

Seeing this brings back so many memories of my youth. Riding around on my mountain bike with the headphones on. Jogging in the park on a cool summer evening listening to tunes. Walkmans were and still are cool as far as I'm concerned.

@southeastgasservices Год назад

I had serveral Sony cassette models back in the day, including the sports model. wonderful pieces of engineering.

@Turtle_1976 Год назад

My first CD player was a my first Sony branded one. I remember I used it until it died, at which point I finally replaced it with a home stereo component player. I was lucky enough to find another one complete in the box a few years ago on eBay for a very cheap price. The only thing it was missing, was the included, audio CD, which I just happen to still have from mine!

@BehindTheCode_wGerry Год назад

This is such a great video! This brings me back to when my Dad got a Sony Walkman "Professional" model back in the late 80's. A big deal at the time, as it was a $$$ Pricey little bugger...at least from what I remember. LOL Gotta love the Retro Tech! Once again, Great video! Cheers! -Gerry

@OCDRex11 Год назад

Great vid as always! I bought my childhood favorite walkman a few months ago - Sony WM-FX43. I got a great deal on it and it is in fantastic shape minus the rubber belt needing to be changed. I have the belt but stare at the walkman sitting on my nostalgia display. I really need to change that out, lol.

@goodiesguy Год назад

It was so nice to see a cassette related repair video and not have to suffer listening to those awful 'Retro Grooves' cassettes all the RU-vidr's seem to love.

@JB-mk4ry Год назад

Have had that same exact Walkman for almost 40 years now. Still works, and spent an entire winter outside in the snow.

@rsolsjo Год назад

Holy nostalgia, pretty sure my parents had this exact model, I briefly remember it being around growing up.

@marcelofrau8818 Год назад

ohh the "my first sony" walkman.. I used to have one of these when I was a kid... I used to love that thing... Maybe it is still on my parents house somehow.. great video and I am happy that this repair worked out :)

@janusu Год назад

I've got a WM-FS420, which is a really nice Sports Walkman model, but I have to do some desoldering/re-soldering in order to get to the belts and replace them. It doesn't look too difficult, but I'm new to soldering and haven't felt ready to take it on just yet. The mechanics and radio seem to be working fine, though, apart from the belts. I recently bought some soldering equipment based on your tutorial video on it, Colin. Thanks for publishing that!

@cookinuts1923 Год назад

Excellent vidéo! I really love your Walkman journey! For those who wanted to enter the game, be aware that not all sports players are so easy to repair. Some of them are linked to high-end walkmans with more complex mechanisms. For example, the F5 has a DD mechanism, the F75 shares the mechanism of the WM55 series and is a nightmare to reassemble. So find out before you buy so you don’t have any bad surprises.

@lichen8855 3 дня назад

That board is a thing of absolute beauty!

@Bearcade Год назад

Great video. Love the music included in this one.

@burendasan Год назад

So glad to see you finally came across a Walkman until that was easy to repair!

@ACBMemphis Год назад

Nice to see this still functions. While the "Sports" line was rugged, some of the others were not, a friend had a Sony "dubbing" walkman (with dual cassette decks!) which if I remember correctly broke within a year or two...

@michaelpalm2210 Месяц назад

I have many of the Sports boomboxes and they are indestructible to this day I still use them outdoors in the yard

@rexfreund9025 Год назад

I owned one of these bought with the $ from my first job when I was 16. I LOVED it!!! It went everywhere with me and once I took a spill on my bike and my Walkman splayed across the road. I was terrified I’d killed it, but it I was able to repair it myself. Truly, they don’t make ‘em like this anymore!

@discocrisco Год назад

My childhood Walkman was from this era. I drooled over the sports models, mine was black though, with a metal body, the bass boost button shared this model's shade of green.

@Emmepi37 Год назад

I had yellow walkman, and also the famous yellow MDR-W15 headphones. The 90s, the best years.

@michaelpalm2210 Месяц назад

I bought mine around 1987 and it was identical to the one in the video. Love it! Those headphones were funny

@Chris-techgamesfood Год назад

I could never afford a genuine Walkman as a kid, I had a bush one I think! Great video

@rrrmmmm5059 Год назад

Hi. This was the Walkman I had in the 80s. It served me well 😊💎

@KarlZeift Год назад

I got one of these for birthday when I was young. The motor was so weak that it couldn't play all my tapes. I got it replaced with another one, it had the same problem. That made me completely disregard Sony as a brand for walkmans. I got the second one also replaced, but then chose a Philips which was much better. Great video and fun nostalgia, thanks!

@turbo-sturbo Год назад

Holy crap it’s Discoholic

@aswxwing Год назад

OMG I had one of these when I was a kid, we did a lot of travelling in my childhood. As my family tramped around europe I would listen to audiobooks on it. What a time.

@OhItsMulligan Год назад

Great video! And thanks for the my first Sony nostalgia xD

@Th3OmegaPoint 10 месяцев назад

I used to own one of these Walkmans when I was a kid. The thing I remember most about it was whenever I tookit on an aeroplane, it would be really difficult to open due to the air pressure and the fact that it was airtight. The rubber seal would get super compressed.

@michaelpalm2210 Месяц назад

I was just thinking about the that. I went to disney workd and flew to florida with my sports walkman. 1989! Man i feel old now. Love that walkman

@edivaldosony Год назад

I love SONY WALKMANs. I still have several. Great video! 😃

@Internetspaceships Год назад

Wow this takes me back. I remember my grandpa having this. Maybe my grandma still has it in storage somewhere.

@TheRealTrididos Год назад

I had this one as a kid in elementary school and I felt FLY with that yellow.

@javiles2331 Год назад

That white noise that produce this Walkman is pure nostalgia! 😢 6:43

@christopheroconnor2632 Год назад

I had the Sony sports boombox in college. It held up to sand and spills. It did an adequate job making Grateful Dead concerts sound pretty good.

@scroggins88 Год назад

The sports walkmans are also great for finding interchangeable parts. It was easier to find a donor for parts than I though it would be.

@FoxerTails Год назад

I'm not 100% sure, but I think my mother used to have one of these along with matching yellow headphones. She would use it not only for music but also audio books for book series she had already read before to play at night to help her sleep.

@DriantX Год назад

Hah, I actually still have one of those "My First Sony"s, it literally was my first Sony from when I was 4-5 years old, more than 30 years ago. Put a smile on my face seeing it in the video.

@Yesica1993 Год назад

I loved my old Walkman!!!

@headwerkn Год назад

Strong memories of those ‘waterproof’ yellow clamshell Walkmans back in the mid to late 80s. Always wanted one but by the time I was buying them with my own money the fancier digital units always seemed the better buy. Ironic that their ‘sealed’ design ended up making them much easier to repair 30+ years later.

@simplexicated Год назад

Great video, a history lesson for the kiddos of the future and today. Something so apparent aesthetically about 1980s and 90s PCBs design. I suppose it's the single sided low layer basic design.

@subozor Год назад

i have this exact walkman still in box and rarely used . I bought it back at Consumers Distributing here in Canada. Nice to know my belts are still good

@JessicaGorehamPenney Год назад

The sports line is so cool. That yellow!

@DaveAdams222 Год назад

I choked on my coffee when that My First Sony advert played. HOLY CRAP that's a throw back!

@EggTamago7 Год назад

My first Walkman was a grocery store brand knock-off of one of these from the mid-90s. It lasted me about a year at best. I’ll be honest - I never really liked the aesthetic of these (the DD line is where it’s at, for me), but I really like that they existed, as they clearly pushed personal electronics in a few new directions.

@perchayweas Год назад

dude you make me remember "my first sony" i have one in the 90´s

@kingofthegrapes Год назад

god dang! those sports walkmans look sick!

@Curtis-Randall Год назад

The slow zoom while testing the Walkman was “chef’s kiss”

@stolmich Год назад

Well done, great job.

@ipodworshiper Год назад

love the music!!!

@andresbonelli1826 Год назад

Beautiful industrial design!

@TheOriginalCollectorA1303 Год назад

Nice to see this one still works well! I’ve got a Sports Walkman from the 90s, similar to the one at 9:07 and it works very well. The original belt still worked although I have since changed it, and it’s even better than before! Not exactly top of the line hardware, but very easy to open up and service!

@CommodoreFan64 Год назад

I have my late step father's mono speaker(stereo headphone jack) AM/FM cassette boombox version with the chunky grab handle, and it's held up very well since the early 90's even the rubber antenna. The only things It needed a few years back where new belts, cleaning the battery contacts, and an overall good cleaning. So yeah I agree they are not the top of the line, but their more simple rugged design is a bonus these days compared to Sony's other models when you have to service them, Plus that Yellow plastic sure does make a statement you don't get from electronics these days 😊

@TheOriginalCollectorA1303 Год назад

Nice that it still works well! Even with a plastic housing, it doesn’t seem low end. They definitely knew how to make them last. Plus the plastics can’t yellow, when it’s already yellow! (It can still change, but I haven’t seen any Sports models look “yellowed”.)

@michaelpalm2210 Месяц назад

@@CommodoreFan64 I have 3 of the sports boomboxes. They are indestructible!

@TheReviewer63 Год назад

So nice to see one of these that didn't give you a whole lot of trouble fixing!

@nmd7142 Год назад

I loved the Walkman. I kept borrowing my cousins as a kid. And as an adult was really wanting to get the orange and white themed Sony Ericsson mobile phone, but Nokia at the time took over.