Killing, and good looks..Oh My!!
I wont disagree at all that they are cool looking. In fact that helped sell them. To me, it kinda resembles what would happen if you crossed your eyes and other things, you mated Air-Way DirtMasteR from the 30's; with it's sister an Air-Way Twin motor of the same vintage ( hey this happens in ArrrKansas).... Then that offspring later on mated with a Royal Dirt Devil, and had a lovechild which ended up being he Powercast.
There were three models that I clearly remember. The Blue trim was the base model, IIRC didn't come with tools (but had a cheap set like the next one as an option); the Rose/Reddish color was the middle of the road, had a few more features, and IIRC came with a cheap plastic tool-set. And finally the Grey one, that had all the bells, and whistles, and a deluxe tool-set that had metal wands etc... It's been a LONG time since I thought about them, but that seems to be what was offered. Good/Better/Best...
So, to many at that point in time, the weight was actually an asset. To many a heavy machine feels solid, and therefore a good buy. Ask anyone who buys a Kirby, a Miele U1 upright range, or a dual motor anything from Tacony. It shocked me, being that this was nearly 30 lbs; as to how many felt that way (that it was solid and therefore worthy of purchase). These same persons were also still buying competitor vacuums that weighed about or near the same. Or had an equally heavy machine prior too...
And how quickly the enthusiasm failed, the production lines fell silent, replacements with regular models mounted, or a rebate of sorts. Kinda how Ford Motor felt in 1959 when the discontinued the Edsel. Hence why many that I knew from our area, called it Royal's Edsel. It probably had alot to do with why Royal became less itself, and more a corporate conglomerate. I'ms sure that they lost money on the whole fiasco. Certainly someone was taken to the factory courtyard, and strapped prostrate, and spanked before the crowd. Or just got fired. Or maybe im a pervert. Hmmn.
Ahh memories. Another that was similar in my mind was the Hoover Z for (Zilch sales). As heavy, looked like someone gutted Johnny5 and put in vacuum motors and called it the evolution of Hoover. Nope that was another nail in the coffin of the big H itself..
And more anon...
Chad