Fantoms
Here's the Fantom story.
(I own all the vacuums I'm writing about, and will post pics to this thread later.)
Back in 1984, James Dyson asked a manufacturer named Zanusi in Italy to make 500 vacuums that he designed. James held the patent on dual cyclonic bagless vacuums. He contracted with a company called "KleenEze" to sell the machines door to door. The cleaner was called the "Cyclon". Mine is almost unused.
The Amway Corporation's VP's were made aware of the existence of the machine, and contracted with James to license the technology. They went to England and he let them have the patents and blueprints to the machine. Amway went to Bissell in Michigan and asked them if they could make the machine. They said YES and the result was the Amway CMS 1000 (CMS stands for Carpet Maint. System).
Amway (or should I say "scamway") went BACK to England and told James they would NOT be making the cleaner, and gave him back his industrial drawings and patents. Yet, the DID come out with the machine in the U.S.
James found out about this machine AFTER he designed a new carpet shampooer for Sears, called the DryTech. This was also known as the NovaDry, which used Capture dry carpet shampoo, the machine would dispense, brush, and then vacuum with dual cyclonic suction (which never clogged). The buyers at Sears at first were delighted with the NovaDry, but soon told James that they had seen the same thing before, as an AMWAY. James was horrified. Then James sued Amway.
The settlement in the Amway case (together with a healthy bank loan) gave James the funds to begin his own manufacturing business, making cleaners under his own name.
Everywhere in the world, except North America.
In the United States and Canada, a Company called IONA made a cleaner for S C Johnson Wax, called the Vectron, which was sold as a commercial upright vacuum. James designed it, and it was a very sturdy, well built machine.
When Johnson Wax decided to abandon the commercial vacuum cleaner market two years later (1991), IONA decided to make the machine and sell it themselves through Infomercials and throush Sears stores (for which they were making James' NovaDry carpet shampooer machine). The IONA machine was called the Fantom (Thunder) and the Sears version was called the Destiny.
IONA decided to make a smaller version, lighter in weight than the Thunder, and with a built-in Hepa filter (which the Thunder, until 1995, did NOT have). It was called the Fantom Fury, and was sold through a brilliant series of Infomercials. IONA sold more than a quarter million Fury's in one month of Informericals. Eureka noticed.
Eureka came out, six months later, with the first "whirlwind" bagless upright. Sears would get them also, as the Kenmore Bagless. Horrible, klunky, bulky design, with a clogging filter behind the 'dirt cup' that acted like a diaper, catching the dust the single cyclone failed to. But the only other choices in Bagless uprights were the Fantom Thunder and Fury, and the Amway ClearTrak (which the CMS 1000 became after a few minor cosmetic changes).
Dyson came out with his canister cleaner, Called DC02, and Fantom came out with the Lightning canister a year later. The Lightning proved another huge seller for IONA as well as the Kenmore Destiny III (which the Lightning was called at Sears).
IONA changed its name to Fantom Technologies, but GREED started to get the better of them. James had designed lifetime MEMA filters (Maximum Efficiency, Maximum Airflow), but Fantom did NOT want them, prefering to charge $75 for a new Hepa filter (change once a year). Fantom refused to use lifetime, washable filters, and this made James furious. James designed the clutch, which not only turned the brush bar OFF for bare floor cleaning, but protected the belt so it would never break. Fantom wanted NO part of a lifetime belt either.
In 2001, Fantom Technologies made a HUGE blunder. They decided that paying James a royalty for the dual cyclonic technology he designed and patented was for the birds. They said "let's make the machine for less money, and not pay James". They took out the double cyclone system, opting for a series of depth filters instead, which WERE washable. However, they clogged just like a bag. This model was called the Wildcat, and it was HORRIBLE. People returned them in droves, right up until the company went BANKRUPT.
In October 2001, Fantom Technologies filed bankruptcy and ceased operations, meaning ALL Fantoms were now orphans and the warranty was no longer in force. Also, there were NO repair parts, as the source for the spare parts dried up instantly when Fantom went out of business.
Fantom Technologies sold the name "Fantom" to Euro-Pro, who contracted with Sanyo to make the DirtHunter bagless vacuum under a private label called Fantom, and sold on HSN. You could get the same machine as a Sanyo DirtHunter or a Fantom (and later as a Shark and Euro-Pro brand). BUT they had a clogging filter in the middle of the dirt bucket and do not work PROPERLY (as James would so famously say).
In 2002, James brought the Dyson to America. In just a few short years, it has become the best selling cleaner over $300 in the United States, knocking off Hoover's Windtunnel and Kenmore's Progressive from their top sales slots, and forcing Hoover into virtual bankruptcy. Ironically, Hoover was offered the Dyson technology back in 1982, and they said "this technology is dead from the neck up". Ha. Words come back to bite you in the rear, don't they Hoover?
Today, if you see a Fantom, it's a Euro-Pro machine, made by any number of manufacturers.
In my collection, I have a Cyclon, two Vectrons, a Thunder, a Fury, a Lightning, and a Cyclone XT (the last, best upright). I have a Wildcat, and also the Westinghouse version of the Wildcat, both as a "plugged" (corded) and "unplugged" (cordless) upright. I have Hoover's copy of the Dyson, called the Triple Vortex (for which Hoover had to pay over 9 million dollars to Dyson in a lawsuit settlement). I have Amway's CMS 1000 and the ClearTrak. I have one of every Dyson model, including some that were EXTREMELY rare like the ReCyclone (a completely recycled Dyson), the prototype for the American DC07 (serial number 5), and some that have not been launched yet (like the upcoming canister with electric power nozzle). I have the COMPLETELY CLEAR DC02 and DC03 (canister and upright) Dysons, made for a very short time in honor of the transluescent I-Mac's. You can see the motor, switch, see-thru cord (you can see the wires inside), handle, everything is clear.
I also have a NovaDry, which was the first bagless cyclonic cleaner I ever saw. It was the reason I wrote to James all those years ago, and the reason I have so many one of a kind Dyson models.
All these machines have their place in history, and since Fantom is out of business, the machines are instant collector's items. In 30 years, some little vacuum collector who is not yet 16 will say "oh my God, you have a FANTOM. Wow, I've never seen one of those before..."
