Look, Ma! I’m on TV
The image on this post was a birthday present from my brother, and it’s certainly a unique one. This ad for the Sony Watchman FD-30A, circa 1985, features none other than yours truly on its simulated screen (you can tell it’s simulated, since it’s a color image, and the FD-30A is a black and white model). How did I end up on the small screen (yes, it’s hard to tell, but trust me, it’s me)? Well, back before marketers got the big idea that they could charge movie companies big bucks to feature their flicks on TV ads, they bought images from stock photo agencies. And my father happened to own one of those agencies. So, for this particular ad, the client chose a picture of me (taken many years earlier, natch), and slapped it up on the ad, giving me some extremely small measure of fame, and the ability to boast, some 22 years later (and nearly 40 years after the actual picture was taken), that I could’ve been a successful child model! Oh, and check the price on the ad. This beauty went for $269 on sale back in ‘85. Adjusting for inflation, that works out to over $500 today. Considering that handheld TVs go for well under $100 today, and $500 can get you a high-end PMP, it’s not surprising that even collectors don’t have a lot of interest in this clunker. Last I checked, you could pick one up for about $30 on eBay. And since those models don’t have my face on them, I’m not about to bid on one.
