Reply to thread

VacuumLand – Vintage & Modern Vacuum Enthusiasts

Help Support VacuumLand:

Fantom...that brought back memories...


I was only 4 years old, but vividly remember when the IONA Fantom came out (before it was even called the Thunder, and had 11 amps). I wanted one in the worst way, of course, and I asked my mom to request one of the demonstration videos, which I watched NONSTOP! I still remember on the video, the owner of a restaurant called "Billy's Chowder House" using the Fantom as the restaurant vacuum and loving it, funny huh? As any happy vacuum-obsessed kid would, I eagerly played with the Kenmore Destiny at Sears.


Now when I was 7 and the 10-amp Fury came out, BOY did I lust over that thing! I thought it was the most badass vacuum EVER (especially that styling), so much cooler than our boring Oreck which we ordered *right* before the Fury hit the stores, go figure. I wanted one so bad that I even had a couple of dreams where we actually had one that I was using! Of course I got the demonstration video for that one as well, and I was pretty much sold, but as for the machine, well, let's just say all I got for Christmas that year was a Singer stick vac, LOL. Same with the Lightning canister, another one I remember drooling over, even though the price was $329 at Target! I finally saw one of those in person at Service Merchandise (that's a name you don't see anymore) and tried it out. When we moved from Houston to Bellville in 1998 and decided the Oreck was going to a new home, I tried hard to convince the parents to get a Fury or Lightning as a replacement, since by then the Fury had been upgraded to 12 amps. No such luck...but at least we ended up with a Kenmore Progressive, which I was also excited about using at the time.


Interesting that you mention the NovaDry and Eureka Whirlwind. I saw the NovaDry machine in several early-90's Sears catalogs my grandmother had. Didn't Capture use that exact design for their dry carpet cleaning machine as well? I also remember seeing the first Whirlwind in some obscure mail-order catalog; didn't it have sort of a "rounded" nozzle? It looked much different than the later Victory-design models. Then there was also the short-lived "Whirlwind Mighty Mite" of the early-2000s, with that funky dirt cup assembly attached to the wands...we had one for a little while. What a joke, but still, it's probably another future collector's item, in my opinion.


CR tested the Wildcat in the February 2002 report, and it quite possibly carries the lowest overall rating (Poor overall) of any machine they have ever tested. Right at the front of the issue, there's a picture of the machine being tested, spewing out dust. They also mentioned Fantom declaring bankruptcy and ceasing to ship any more machines. One question I have to ask, though. I noticed the Cyclone XT was tested alongside the Wildcat. So does that mean Fantom made both the dual-cyclone and the crappy "royalty-free" design at the same time, before going bankrupt?


--Austin


Back
Top