There was no internet in the early 90's, so no one knew how bad the Regina Housekeeper was when it was relevent. Word of mouth was the only way to know how bad it was.
And such magazines as Consumer Reports. Those were pretty much all we had back then to see the ratings of some of our favorite vacuums, whether good or bad.
I have a 1993 copy of Consumer Reports. It's been awhile since I read it but I remember the Housekeeper was in there. I think it got something like 2 or 3 stars I believe. I remember they complained it was loud.