The Sony BM-12 came out in 1978 and was intended as a small dictation device for business use. Using standard sized compact cassettes it worked well and looks to have sold pretty well. Indeed by all accounts this little machine would have joined the ranks of ‘interesting but not particularly note worthy’ tape players had it not been for the infamy of the Sony Walkman which followed it. Keen to fast-track the design and construction of their first Walkman (the TPS-L2 of 1979) it is believed that Sony decided to use the design of the existing BM-12 as the basis for their new machine. While I don’t know if Sony has ever confirmed this connection publicly, the extremely close design similarities between the two cassette player cases seems to confirm it. Therefore the BM-12 remains a great item for anyone wanting to tell the pre-history of the beloved Walkman.
This boxed example is in excellent cosmetic condition but internally needs oiling and a few connections looking at to get fully working again. The serial numbers on the box and machine all match and it comes with all its accessories and leaflets intact.
Dimensions of box: 19.5 cm wide x 13 cm deep x 7 cm high
