romnempire
New member
When I was growing up, we bought a refurbished BB870 "Oreck XL" branded compact canister. I thought it was very handy and kept it around! I was cleaning out a closet, and I found the original packaging and accessories as well, so I decided to look into it. I was surprised to find there is a healthy resale market for this device on E-bay, and a cosmetically similar device is still sold and marketed as the Oreck XL PRO 5. Even though it is now "commercial," it still advertises itself as a 5lb device, so I suppose the motor could not have changed a lot.
However, I could find little about the model history of the device! There are a couple E-bay listings of Oreck Buster B. (BB-180) devices, in red and blue, that are being sold as "original." Eventually, potentially corresponding to the XL "extended life" branding, they began selling them in black and white instead. I believe this would have happened in the mid-80s?
My understanding is that these vacuums were sold as accessories to floor vacuums originally, which may account for their weak history.
Aftermarket vacuum bags for this design advertise compatibility with about 20 different models. It seems like a cosmetic update corresponds to the BB-1000 model that takes off some of the device's hard edges. Based on the look of it, they may have attempted to use a cheaper plastic. It seems ugly now, but maybe it will become vintage in time. The XL PRO 5 seems to have returned to the stylings of the BB870 device that I own.
I was wondering if there was a magazine or catalog collector that could verify some dates for the timeline of this design. When was it introduced to the market? What floor vacuums was it sold with? When did they abandon the red and blue stylings?
There are plenty of general questions to be answered as well! Are there enhancements to the design that weren't cosmetic over the years? Have I missed any significant iterations to the model?
In an era where robots can take care of floor work, I have found that battery powered hand-vacs leave suction to be desired. I think this once "accessory" device still can play an important role in home care, and look forward to using some of the accessories I thought were lost!
However, I could find little about the model history of the device! There are a couple E-bay listings of Oreck Buster B. (BB-180) devices, in red and blue, that are being sold as "original." Eventually, potentially corresponding to the XL "extended life" branding, they began selling them in black and white instead. I believe this would have happened in the mid-80s?
My understanding is that these vacuums were sold as accessories to floor vacuums originally, which may account for their weak history.
Aftermarket vacuum bags for this design advertise compatibility with about 20 different models. It seems like a cosmetic update corresponds to the BB-1000 model that takes off some of the device's hard edges. Based on the look of it, they may have attempted to use a cheaper plastic. It seems ugly now, but maybe it will become vintage in time. The XL PRO 5 seems to have returned to the stylings of the BB870 device that I own.
I was wondering if there was a magazine or catalog collector that could verify some dates for the timeline of this design. When was it introduced to the market? What floor vacuums was it sold with? When did they abandon the red and blue stylings?
There are plenty of general questions to be answered as well! Are there enhancements to the design that weren't cosmetic over the years? Have I missed any significant iterations to the model?
In an era where robots can take care of floor work, I have found that battery powered hand-vacs leave suction to be desired. I think this once "accessory" device still can play an important role in home care, and look forward to using some of the accessories I thought were lost!
