I spotted this radio, in the case, lying on the asphalt parking lot in the back of a junk shop next to a pile of old tennis shoes. I couldn't believe my eyes as I approached it and saw the "Sony" on the case, then opened it up to find this ultra-rare TR-66. These weren't even supposed to have been imported to the US, I don't believe, yet here it was.

Sure, it's wounded. And dirty too. And the leather strap from the top is gone. If I cleaned it up it would look better, I suppose, but then the flaws would look worse. So I decided to leave it just as it is, as a reminder of how it felt that day when I discovered this diamond-in-the-rough in one of the most unlikely places. Besides, we've all seen plenty of buffed-up radios. I thought if I showed it to you just the way I found it, you could experience a little of the rush that I felt that day too.

The TR-66 is a slim radio as you can see, measuring 8 3/4" across. It looks to be very similar to its more popular--but still rare--cousin, the TR-6. The TR-66 does not have the Sony easel stand on the back the way the TR-6 does.  Now that reminds me of the Hoffman Home & Travel models and how curious I was when I first found one of those and saw a stand on the back of it that said "Sony." Wow. What could that mean?, I wondered then. It's a different hobby now, still great I think, but much different than in the early days when no one knew anything for sure and the handful of us collectors that had found each other would speculate on the phone for hours on end about it all.