Hello,
Just another post with me moaning. Ha!
This will apply more to the UK collectors, but I am sad to say that the 3 in 1 range from vax that has been going since about 1978 has been discontinued. These machines were brilliant, they always were plastic and yes the quality has gone down over the years and production has moved to China but the machines were still the same style and still worked quite well. It all started with the 101 that came out in about 77 or 78, this machine was the famous orange and black that we all associate with the original vax machines, it had an orange and black body with a white tool kit and was vaxes first ever machine and is what sparked the 3 in 1 trend. It seemed like everyone who was anyone had a 3 in 1 in the 1980s, ha. In about 1982, this machine was updated and the model changed to 111, the tool kit was black but the main machine still the ssme colour. However the recovery bucket was translucent but you have to look very carefully to see that. In I think about 86 the model was changed again to the 121, this was the final and longest running machine out the original design and is even today the most common out the three. By now the VAX trend had caught on and everyone in Britain wanted one, you were a nobody if you didnt have a vax! The 121 rocketed to the number 1 best selling vacuum cleaner and vaxes sales soared. Literally thousands and thousands of 121's were made and dare I say it, even today they are quite common and easily available as used machines on ebay. The huge success of the 121 made vax want more, and they thought of bigger and better ideas. In 1988 the machine was completely redesigned and the vax 2000 was released, this was the first of the design that we still know and have today. The classic original 121 carried on alongside the new 2000 machine for two years, until 1990 when the original 121 was finally dropped. The 2000 was another huge success and made vax have another think about ways to improve. This happened in 1992, as this was the year that vax brought out the Powa 4000, vaxes first pumped machine, the older models relying on a gravity feed system. The 2000 wasnt discontinued though, it was sold alongside the Powa 4000 and the price was reduced significantly and it was sold as a budget machine next to the Powa 400. So basically if money was of no object to you you were supposed to buy the Powa 4000 and if you were on a budget you were supposed to get the cheaper gravity fed 2000. This went on until 1994 when the 2000 was dropped, the following year in 1995 the Powa 4000 was discontinued to and a new model was introduced. Pretty much from the 2000 onwards the machines were all the same, they just went through a series of colour changes and different names, but they were all the same machine. Vax brought out other models of uprights and cylinders as the company grew, but the 3 in 1 was what started it all and to me it will always be the best, most important and special VAX machine there is. Obviousley rival brands brought out there own 3 in 1 machines as a solution and win some customers back of vax, Hoover brought out the Aquamaster and Goblin brought out the Aquavac. None of the others were quite like or as popular as the vax though. I will post a few pictures of some of the most significant cleaners down below, but I am just saddened that another great model has been discontined. And if you read the reviews online, they were still selling in the thousands right up until the very end! I suppose all good things come to an end, it long outlived the Aquamaster and Aquavac. A 32 year run, WOW! They were obviousley doing something right wernt they! The 3 in 1 series from vax will be dearly missed by me and I am sure it will be dearly missed by a few other collectors too.
Just another post with me moaning. Ha!
This will apply more to the UK collectors, but I am sad to say that the 3 in 1 range from vax that has been going since about 1978 has been discontinued. These machines were brilliant, they always were plastic and yes the quality has gone down over the years and production has moved to China but the machines were still the same style and still worked quite well. It all started with the 101 that came out in about 77 or 78, this machine was the famous orange and black that we all associate with the original vax machines, it had an orange and black body with a white tool kit and was vaxes first ever machine and is what sparked the 3 in 1 trend. It seemed like everyone who was anyone had a 3 in 1 in the 1980s, ha. In about 1982, this machine was updated and the model changed to 111, the tool kit was black but the main machine still the ssme colour. However the recovery bucket was translucent but you have to look very carefully to see that. In I think about 86 the model was changed again to the 121, this was the final and longest running machine out the original design and is even today the most common out the three. By now the VAX trend had caught on and everyone in Britain wanted one, you were a nobody if you didnt have a vax! The 121 rocketed to the number 1 best selling vacuum cleaner and vaxes sales soared. Literally thousands and thousands of 121's were made and dare I say it, even today they are quite common and easily available as used machines on ebay. The huge success of the 121 made vax want more, and they thought of bigger and better ideas. In 1988 the machine was completely redesigned and the vax 2000 was released, this was the first of the design that we still know and have today. The classic original 121 carried on alongside the new 2000 machine for two years, until 1990 when the original 121 was finally dropped. The 2000 was another huge success and made vax have another think about ways to improve. This happened in 1992, as this was the year that vax brought out the Powa 4000, vaxes first pumped machine, the older models relying on a gravity feed system. The 2000 wasnt discontinued though, it was sold alongside the Powa 4000 and the price was reduced significantly and it was sold as a budget machine next to the Powa 400. So basically if money was of no object to you you were supposed to buy the Powa 4000 and if you were on a budget you were supposed to get the cheaper gravity fed 2000. This went on until 1994 when the 2000 was dropped, the following year in 1995 the Powa 4000 was discontinued to and a new model was introduced. Pretty much from the 2000 onwards the machines were all the same, they just went through a series of colour changes and different names, but they were all the same machine. Vax brought out other models of uprights and cylinders as the company grew, but the 3 in 1 was what started it all and to me it will always be the best, most important and special VAX machine there is. Obviousley rival brands brought out there own 3 in 1 machines as a solution and win some customers back of vax, Hoover brought out the Aquamaster and Goblin brought out the Aquavac. None of the others were quite like or as popular as the vax though. I will post a few pictures of some of the most significant cleaners down below, but I am just saddened that another great model has been discontined. And if you read the reviews online, they were still selling in the thousands right up until the very end! I suppose all good things come to an end, it long outlived the Aquamaster and Aquavac. A 32 year run, WOW! They were obviousley doing something right wernt they! The 3 in 1 series from vax will be dearly missed by me and I am sure it will be dearly missed by a few other collectors too.
