Kirby Color Change before full makeover

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The time to have released a color change...

would ideally have been about 2.5 years ago, enough time for the color to get 'old' before the model change.
 
what did they do last time?

Seems we're in for an 'Ultimate Sentria', then 'Ultimate Sentria Diamond edition'...then the next gen model 'Avalier' or whatever. (Does a DTD vac Co. want 'lier' in the name of their product? hummm...)

Okay maybe not just that way. but more likely than not closer to, than further from, past model/version change-over schemes is my total guess. As a for profit concern it seems what enthusiasts like us want & what the 'suits' feel they need to do are more often than not two different things.

The owner of the company, Berkshire Hathaway is invest more & more in China i notice, don't know what that could mean if anything. also was the Consumers Report coverage a reach out by Kirby quietly saying they're ready for a more mainstream retail version of going-to-market? Especially now that Dyson & Miele have shown that high dollar Vacs can sell there in great volume? If so a new model may be designed to move further toward current mainstream design parameters, as mentioned above by others, light weight etc...hard tellin' not known says a buddy of mine.

Lastly, yes color please! amazing how drab such a pricey vac can be decked out & still sell, then again maybe there is something we don't know about why their customers buy this product in the first place.

Me? i acquired 3 Kirbys recently, a Heritage II, an Ultimate Diamond & a fairly recent Sentria (orange one) for on average a song ($100 total cost) off Craigslist. All await Spa treatment, consumables & manual reading before i go for my first test drive of these fine examples of vacuum muscle from middle America. Meaning no, i have never used any Kirby but couldn't pass up the deals i found! however to busy now & will have to wait until next winter for the pleasure.
 
The time to have released a color change...

would ideally have been about 2.5 years ago, enough time for the color to get 'old' before the model change.
 
Most know that I am not a great lover of the sentria, Funny as I have on in my collection, I prefer the legend11 shape. 


 


does anyone have any idea what the new kirby will look like. I have heard two rumours, one saying that they are going back to a less heavy more streamlined look like the legend II shape , the other saying that the machine will be more mainstream with built in attachments and much much more user friendly. 


 


Either way I think it will be a massive improvement over the current model ( my own opinion) and some thing to look forward to. despite the internad improvements , some weight saving and streamlining of the headlight unit not much has changed 19 years.


 


what do you guys know about the new model ? 
 
the G3 was intoduced in late 1989...

here in the US. The model posters show the date of introduction as 1990, which would have been late 1989.

There have been links posted to patent drawings which show a direct drive rug nozzle (minus belt lifter), with a port allowing direct connection of a hose, while still permitting complete removal of the nozzle for a hose connection, as well as an optional power nozzle kit. The bag is shown directly in the back, and it is removable, as is the handle, replaceable with a portable handle/bag/switch/cord assembly. Shampooer shows two brushes in the drawing. Air/dirt drawn through two ports below nozzle drive socket.

Looks nightmarish to me.
 
In 1990 there was alot of change going on in SA IE becoming  a democratic country so I am not surprised it took longer to come here, also our beau of safety standards in those days took a long time to approve products , nowadays it takes about 3 months of paperwork as long as the appliance has already been certified by one of the major safety standards organisations 
 
Generation 3 was...

actually produced concurrently with the Legend II because 1)self propelled was an experiment. It was called Generation 3 'by Kirby' not Kirby Generation 3.and 2) The Legend II was preferred by some dealers, who did not like the new model. It was the only time, other than the R, (retail) and C series that two Kirby models were produced concurrently. The Legend II was only in production through 1990, so it was produced concurrently with the Generation 3 by Kirby in 1990. The official launch of the model may have been 1991, but in the past Kirby was not so strict about holding models back until the official launch. My parents bought a model 517 in June of 1956, which was supposedly 'impossible' but it happened.
 
Trebor

I do remember seeing a Generation 3 brand new back in August of 1990, so you aren't far off... and yes, the Legend II had been produced concurrently as you say through the second half of the calendar year, and those last units even got out with the G3-styled attachments (same as in the export markets), but in maroon.

~Ben
 

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