On July 1st, 1979, SONY released the first personal stereo, the "Walkman" in Japan. Originally named the "Soundabout" in North American markets, the Walkman sold for a price of $150.00 in the United States. Before the tape player was released, critics hated it, as they believed that no one would want a tape player without a recording function. Others pointed out that the most popular tape recorder at the time had only sold less than 15,000 units, and SONY had produced a whopping 30,000. The press was wrong, though, as a month after the Walkman's release in Japan, it had completely sold out. The Walkman quickly became a pop-culture icon of the 1980s, with new models being released and 50 million units sold by the end of the decade. The original Walkman model, the TPS-L2, became popular once again when it was featured in the 2014 Marvel film, "Guardians of the Galaxy".
