Ayu's TUKA phone ebay auction
 

Incredible! Look at this http://www.ebay.it/itm/Hamasaki-Ayum...item1c25bfb0e2

so rare

500 USD? For that ugly phone? Nope

Edit: also, it says that the phone came out in 1990 and designed by Ayu.? Ayu started her music career in 1995.. And wasn't famous before 1998~1999~2000. That ad with the phone is from 2000.

Ayumi Hamasaki Showcase always jacks up the prices of everything... but this time it's actually a bit cheaper to go through him than YAJ! o___O

I miss when you could find this thing for less than $200... :(

YAJ does have a display model version for $150 though.

that cheetah(or whetever that is) looks ridiculous, they got a bad shot of it and a bad photoshopping work xD

who would even buy this? lol

Nah... you could find this less than $100 on YAJ but not in brand new condition though.

1990? already seems fishy

Didn't you guys know? Before Ayu had a singing career, in 1990, she was an Electrical Engineer who was one of the first innovator's of the Portable Phone, all at the age of....12. Her album "Duty" is a tribute to her former career.

But really, what an ugly phone, who would use that nowadays?

Well nobody would use it NOW. But when Ayu & her cheetah & leopard patterns were all the rage, I'm sure no self-respecting ayu fan (of which there were MANY) woulda been caught dead without it. For Christmas 2001 my sister got me a leopard print case for my nokia cuz I was never gonna be able to get an A MODEL and it made me sad, lol. Now it's just a collector's item. No one would even WANT to use it with how minimal its capabilities are these days.

@Damita almost believed you for a second. just a second.

Yeah, I'm seeing an auction for it right now lol... I wanna get it, but I really can't... I've already spent my fun money for the... uh.. year. XD

She needs to design a new phone. :D

Well it says 1990 but they must have meant 2000 because I clearly remember this phone.
It was launched in the months after Duty was released and it had all these special Ayu things that came with it like ringtones (which were HUGE back then). It's quite a blast from the past; I completely forgot about the Ayu phone until I saw this.

Actually, nobody outside Japan could use that, right? It's so crazy I wonder who's gonna buy it

It's like nobody here understands the concept of a collectible.

No one would use it at this point. They'd HAVE it. Keep it. Put it on display.

A neat collector's item, but not much else than that. I don't think whoever buys this will be using the phone. $500 :thud This is why, I am not a collector.

And don't forget the technology used on the phone may be out of date and may not work anymore for cellular phone use...

Man...sure times really have changed! Back a decade ago there was even cell phones with Ayu themes...but now Ayu uses an iPhone...

You can buy a iPhone which is like 500,000x more advance and an Ayu case for it for the same price.

Sorry, I do understand that it isn't for use and it's a rare item for display only. I guess I'm saying I'd be more likely to buy it if it was actually usable, because as a collector's item, it has no value to me. Here's why:

Imagine in 20 years when Ayu's not popular anymore, this will possibly be worth next to nothing, and you paid $500 for what? If it meant something special to me, that would be different. And it does mean something special to you (you have some memories associated with this of the good old days), as you said, so I completely understand why you want it, and had I been a fan in 2001, it's possible I would want it right now too. But a cheetah print portable phone like this, even if it is a collector's item, is worth nothing to me, personally.

And like I said, if I wanted to collect something, it'd be something that connected my love for Ayu and meant something. I love Ayu for her music. Her lyrics, the messages the songs/PV's represent, everything about her music I like. I would rather spend $500 on representing that (you could buy every Ayu album with that money), rather then spending $500 on a phone she "designed" (aka probably picked which Cheetah print to have as the casing, if that).

oh I've seen that auction on ebay quite a few times. they must be continuing to relist it a bunch.

I just got finished watching iPhone comparison videos, so looking at this phone all I can think is, "I can't play Tiny Tower on this!".

I agree with you here - none of my ayu stuff is an investment. While I do love ayu for her music & message, I also love her for being there in a way. That phone represents a time of my life when I was really happy and things weren't complicated, so I'd LOVE to have it so I can look at it and remember that stuff. :)