Are Elites Valuable Now?

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bagintheback

bagintheback

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Sometimes people get desperate and will pay the prices. That's one of the first tools on board models and looks to be early complete and in good shape, so it could be a little more desirable to the right person.

Personally I wouldn't pay over $20 for any Elite.

Ebay has gotten really high with the prices the last few years. Best to stick with thrift stores.
 
Hoover Elites belong in the TRASH where they should have gone off the assembly line. I threw away thousands of those horrible, dust belching monsters.
 
Agreed. The price of early Elites may be climbing a bit because most of them were put at the curb 15 or 20 years ago with broken fan housings. They were never Hoover's best work, and compared to the venerable Convertible were pretty sad in terms of build quality. They were loud, and I think the only thing worse in the way of an Oreck clone was the Eureka Bravo.
And yes, in regards to getting a vintage vac on eBay at a "fair" price well yes that ship has sailed a long time ago. You need to have DEEP pockets and be willing to bid the sky's the limit if it's something you truly want.
 
I do still see some machines going for cheap prices. There was a Hoover Slimline and Convertible from one seller just recently with really low starting bids. They needed a little TLC, but they were definitely affordable, and no one even bid on them for some reason.

Generally, people like what was around when they were a kid. If you were young in the 90s or early 2000s, you might have a soft spot for Elites and Bravos. I kind of do, but not enough to want to collect them, as I prefer other machines. And yes, there will probably be those in the future that want to collect Bissells from Walmart and Dyson stick vacs, even if we don't want any.
 
Investing


For my retirement. Ten to fifteen years from now....

If I buy a pallet NEW today..... Then: $250 each, or Bitcoin, or whatever

Of course it will include free shipping, or drone delivery....

gregvacs28-2018092209390004317_1.png
 
Im sorry but

A Elite is NOT a vintage vacuum or will it ever be a collectable vacuum, Its a plastivac, it and a Eureka Bravo were some of the cheapest junk ever built....When I joined the VCCC in 1994 , we had a guideline for vintage....it had to be made before 1960, as for me I still hold to that..I realize we have younger guys now who do collect these things, and that's ok, but they are not vintage..
 
I have a bunch

Of those newer uprights I got from Mike Hays, I AM going to get rid of them, Elites, Innovations, etc
 
actually....


What constitutes "vintage"? It has to be a floating year-based definition.
In automobile history, for example, a "classic car" is something that's 25 years old.
While we personally may not like a type of vac., we can't be inconsiderate of a generation.
Believe it or not, an Elite is Vintage.

My first new car, a 1989 Ford Escort, is vintage and nearly 30 years old. Wow, haven't seen one of those on the road any time recently.

An Electrolux Model G is an "antique". I guess I am too. lol
 
kenkart


You might want to hold onto them. In five years you may realize they've turned into a treasure chest.

If future generations get used to the idea that robotic vacuums are the norm, and no reason to believe they won't; than any type of hand operated vacuum will be looked at as rare or classic.
 
I think it's up to the individual what is considered collectable. I was seven years old when that model was introduced and to me it's collectable. So let's us younger folks collect what we want! 😆
 
Some think it is absurd to collect Hoover Elites. Me...I think it’s absurd to collect vacuums, period. But, I do it anyways. 😝

Sarcasm aside, I have never understood why some will belittle others on this site for what they like. What’s that going to accomplish? Alienating yourself from younger collectors?

Personally, I like Hoover Elites.
 
Well, they came out in 1988

According to Mr. Dick Pike, they "couldn't make them fast enough". They were never intended to 'replace' our beloved Convertible. My aunt bought one 21 years ago. It is STILL working, only needing a few belts, bulbs, genuine paper bags.
It proves that if you take care of your stuff, it SHOULD last. I have NIB in addition to about 6-7 others, one coming from the vault.
As far as "vintage", I think Sonny and Cher put it best when they sang, "History has turned a page, uhuh".
 
Well

I never intended to be offensive,but I am blunt most of the time, let me say it like this, I do OWN a bunch of post 1970 vacuums, but to me they are just good machines to use, the post 1980 stuff is , to ME, not much, the quality was gone by this time.If anyone likes them, have at it, I will be having a mini meet next year and I hope everyone who likes that kind of stuff will come because I hope to thin out many of the uprights and some of the canisters,Most of the newer stuff was inherited from Mike Hays.
 
I think in the next 5 to 10 years Hoover Elites will be collectible.
Because they are bad.

A great example of this is lewyt vacuums are horrible, but now are highly collectible!
We are also now seening fhantom vacuums going for absurd prices even though they're complete junk.
THE YOUNGER GENERATION DOESN'T KNOW HOW BAD SOME OF THE 1990'S VACUUMS REALLY ARE!
 
junk



When one thinks about it, most people don't collect anything because they NEED a quality ________. The value is in the memories that possessing a certain something represents. Oh, we can talk up how "good" something was and blather on about inane technical specs, but really....

Such is the human psyche. We constantly refer to the past by default and only begrudgingly accept something new, but only if it makes connecting with the past easier.

Seriously, a Fantom vacuum going for $$$ ?
About 8 years ago I could barely give away one of those.
 
If an Elite is collectable, then we might as well take me to the nursing home and feed me mashed peas...

Elites were never anything more than a cheaply made noisebox. I've probably thrown away hundreds that were trade ins...

Some people really have more money than brains...
 
"People tend to like the vacuums they grew up with"
Dry out that line and you can fertilize the garden with it! Myself, and many collectors my age wont have anything to do with these dust belchers! I would rather collect something I can actually use, like an Elextrolux G or a Hoover 150.
 
re lewyts are bad

Not hardly, Lewyts were some of the best designed vacuums ever made, their power nozzle models had a bad track record but the straight suction machines were as good if not better than anything on the market, especially the big wheel models.
 
Young or Old

I don't see us having vacuum equality in the forseeable future. Age is not a determining factor and I never should've implied it is one. It really has to do with person's personality and posting online seems to manifest the worst in people at least in the vacuum collecting community. For example I don't think the Hoover uprights from the 40s were all that attractive in all brown. But then again that was the time period. But I don't go out of my way to tell people that. I don't understand all the negativity!

Yes. The Hoover Elite series was probably designed to be a throwaway vacuum. They are not as durable as a 150 or even the 1076. I get that! I have only two Elites in my collection and treasure them as I do with most of the vacuums in my collection. I will sell a few on eBay when my collection becomes too large. But generally my core collection stays the same. There are vacuums in my collection that I would never get rid of. Although some have all ready summed me up and think I would. 😒. I wish that we could put ourselves in the shoes of other collectors before judging![this post was last edited: 9/24/2018-09:10]
 
I've seen people go nuts for Lewyts

Especially if they are in good condition..
That wiring flaw was a horrible instance, but...................
Trust me, (or don't): I certainly agree that Elites are plastic, loud, etc. however.......................... they clean well, have fewer parts than a lot of other machines, the onboard tools, ..................
But, give me a Convertible any day.
And, yes, the Hoover 150 was/is a superlative machine, thought to be 'over engineered' . But, they. like most metal vacs, stand the test of time.
 
I think we all

Have our opinions, sometimes I can be more forceful than I ought..Usually if I like something I love it and if I don't I hate it, Elites and Bravos, Regina Housekeepers and Dirt Devils were machines I remember new, I worked on many of them,that is why I hate them, just as I hate most 1980s cars, the quality simply was not there, that being said,I really don't like MOST products made in the 80s, to my mind, the best upright made in the 80s was a Panasonic, I remember working in a vac shop in Boone NC in 82 and 83 and selling Panasonic Jet Flo uprights new, yes they were made of the dreaded plastic, but the fit and finish was wonderful, they ran quietly and gave virtually no trouble..their IS a reason I hate Elites and Bravos, Its kind of like comparing a Miele to a Regina Housekeeper..But IF anyone likes them, I certainly wont give you a hard time over it, I probably have a lot of stuff you would think is worthless, and if you said so I wouldn't get mad over it...
 
The cool thing


about everyone liking different things is there isn't as much competition.
If we respect each others right to collect whatever we want, all is good.
 
OK I have a medical need to be snarky sometimes so here it goes:
"... their power nozzle models had a bad track record but ...."

This is a nice way of saying "sure certain models may have killed some people, but what's the big deal? It happens." lol  
smiley-wink.gif
 
I get it though. In the future some may think the current bagless Bissells at Walmart are collectable. I just remember seeing the Elites, Powermax and Singer twin fans when I was younger in WalMart.
 
Vacuums become collectable for different reasons. It can be nostalgia, limited production, rarity, word of mouth, or someone just likes the styling.

In the 1990's, a 1960's vacuum was only 30 years old. Now a 1960's vacuum is well over 50 years old nearing 60. Same thing for 1990's vacuums. A vacuum from 1990 is 28 years old now, the same amount of time that considered a 1960's vacuum in 1990 vintage. Time moves on, things get older, and they get moved into the vintage category as the years tick over.

For me, anything older than 20 years is vintage. Anything less than 10 years old is modern. That's pretty much how things are classified now.
 
Of course...I was born in 65!

So I can barely remember my Aunt getting a new tan G in 68, I was 3 but I remember it, She had a Sunbeam before that...LOL I remember Swivel top GEs NEW in the stores, Regina Brush and Beats NEW,,,granted, I WAS very young but I remember them...The big downtown Belks store in Charlotte had EVERYTHING Hoover made! I saw it all in the 70s!So 80s stuff is new to me.
 
plastic stuff is always new


yeah, I don't know why but in my mind plastic stuff is always "new". I've seen weather beaten, large, faded, cracked, plastic storage bins over flowing with brown water and moss sitting at the curb and my automatic thought is- Oh, that doesn't look too old. clean it up and.....

Metal stuff can be shiny and fresh but it will still never be new. Give me an Electrolux model G in top condition- it's nice but it's not new. If it has a few dents and a few smudges on that chrome- well, it's only a few steps from the recycle bin. yeah.

Don't know what that is.
 

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