WM-FX202

The WM-FX202 was a late radio Walkman distinguished less by its cassette hardware than by the material used for its body. Sony used a corn-based biodegradable plastic derived from polylactic acid for the outer shell, making it one of the company's early consumer-electronics experiments with more environmentally conscious materials. Beneath that unusual case, it remained a simple portable cassette-and-radio device with FM stereo, AM, and TV-band reception through a digital tuner with 22 presets, plus Mega Bass and AVLS for basic late-period listening comfort. Power came from two AA batteries, and the whole machine stayed deliberately plain.

It is the kind of model that is historically more interesting than it is mechanically. The FX202 did not try to reinvent the radio Walkman, but it quietly captures a moment when Sony began testing new values around consumer electronics without changing the core use case. It feels like an ordinary late cassette player wrapped in an early-2000s experiment.