Rob:
Wow, an MIB TriStar! Sounds like you might have a CXL, a DXL, or an EX-20. $1150 was a lot for a vacuum back then, but as with everything, they've gotten even more expensive. The suggested selling price (frequently, and often heavily, discounted) for a TriStar Mg2 is $2600.
I also made sure to get a rug tool for my CXL. Not cheap! But it was worth it. My floor tool came with something called a "rug shoe", which is a clip-on adapter that converts the floor tool to a rug tool, but it was not easy to use, and I didn't like the fact that it flattened the floor tool's brush strips when it was clipped onto the floor tool. So, I shelled out something like $65 to get the "real" rug tool. Makes all the difference, because I have some rugs that shouldn't get vacuumed with the power nozzle. I knew about the rug tool because I grew up with a Compact C2; the late TriStar metal tools (rug tool and floor tool) are nearly identical to the C2 tools I was so familiar with.
I also got two extra wands for my CXL, since we have a stairwell with a high ceiling, and the spiders just loooooove it up there. Very nifty vacuum cleaner, and you're right, the clear/glitter tools are cool, at least when they're freshly washed. Their drawback is that they get dirty-looking inside, and it shows up very quickly. The plastic tools (upholstery tool, crevice tool and dusting brush) on the C2 we had when I was a kid were grey. The grille for the upholstery tool was electric blue; it's beige today. For those who aren't familiar with Compact/TriStar machines, the upholstery tool has a little snap-in grille to use when vacuuming curtains, so they don't get sucked into the tool. You take it out for upholstery cleaning, to get maximum suction.
