Realistic kit radio; Perdio-based.

[howard]

Hello,

Here's a pic of the Realistic PR25, I think its simply a Perdio PR25 with a Realistic badge on it. Not bad for 75p eh

The paint is dry now and Ron has done a brilliant job repairing this one and an original Perdio badged PR25 so the two will shortly be appearing in Success Stories.

I would be interested to know which shops sold radios with the Realistic brand name though. Tandy ?

Howard

[Paul_RK]

Originally Posted by howard

I would be interested to know which shops sold radios with the Realistic brand name though. Tandy ?

Howard

Hello Howard,

It's as Darren says. the Realistic Seven was a kit set sold by Lasky's of Tottenham Court Road and Edgware Road, mostly I expect by mail order. I'll scan in an advert from October '62's "Radio Constructor" when I next have the chance. The price was £6.19s.6d plus 4/6 post and packing, battery 3/9 or included free with the complete kit, data and instructions 2/6 if purchased separately

Paul

[howard]

Hello Paul,

That is interesting, and whoever built it, did a very good job. I did have to replace the loudspeaker, I suspect the builder was a little careless with it cos it had numerous patches and bits of glue all over it ! The case is identical to the Perdio PR25 just with different holes in the front for the Realistic badge.

Howard

[FrankB]

Tandy/ Realistic/Radio Shack are all the same here in the USA.

[paulsherwin]

Realistic is indeed a Tandy / Radio Shack brand in the US and they were also sold by the UK Tandy chain while it operated (I guess from around 1980 to 2000). The badge was applied to all sorts of Far East stuff, not all of it junk.

I guess Lasky's used the Realistic name while unaware of the American usage. I doubt if Radio Shack could be bothered to sue at the time, even if they'd known about it.

Paul

[Ghostuser]

Hi,
I built two of these Lasky's kits in the early 60s. I was so impressed with the performance of mine that I made one for my parents. They were a lot cheaper than the commercial sets of the time and an easy introduction to 'Trannies'
Nigel

[Paul_RK]

Here's the October '62 Lasky's ad. The price does seem very competitive (though of course a very substantial chunk of most people's weekly pay at the time) - another advertiser was offering the "Good Companion", a popular LW/MW kit of the day, at £9.19s.6d. in the same issue.

Paul

[Brian R Pateman]

Originally Posted by paulsherwin

Realistic is indeed a Tandy / Radio Shack brand in the US and they were also sold by the UK Tandy chain while it operated (I guess from around 1980 to 2000). The badge was applied to all sorts of Far East stuff, not all of it junk.

I guess Lasky's used the Realistic name while unaware of the American usage. I doubt if Radio Shack could be bothered to sue at the time, even if they'd known about it.

Paul

The Lasky's use of the Realistic name pre-dated the arrival of Radio Shack / Tandy in the UK by several years.

I've never known if I was wise NOT to take up a Tandy franchise for Cambridge when it was offered in the late '70s or not

Regards,

[paulsherwin]

Originally Posted by Brian R Pateman

The Lasky's use of the Realistic name pre-dated the arrival of Radio Shack / Tandy in the UK by several years.

I believe Tandy goes back to the 50s in the US - maybe Stephanie knows? They may not have bothered to register the Realistic trademark outside the US at that time though.

Paul

[Brian R Pateman]

Paul,

You are certainly right about Tandy in the 50s US market. I don't recall when Tandy first became active over here but I seem to think it was mid to late 1970s.

Lasky and many other UK suppliers were not particular about trade names and Tandy probably wouldn't have bothered to register in the UK before they were active over here.

Regards,

[Zulu95]

Tandy Corporation is the former name of RadioShack Corporation, a Fort Worth, Texas-based company best known for its RadioShack electronics stores. Tandy was founded in 1919 as a leather supply store, and acquired RadioShack in 1963. The Tandy name was dropped in May of 2000, when RadioShack Corporation was made the official name.
http://en.wikipedia.org/

[howard]

Hello,

Thanks all, especially Paul and Darren, who found the information about this Laskys Realistic Seven radio.

It is a kit radio, it has markings on the PCB to assist the builder but was put together so well that myself and Ron thought it was a factory made product.

The Realistic Seven needed three new caps to get it working again, the caps in the Perdio PR25 were fine but had troublesome transistors. The repairs are described in Success Stories.

https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...ad.php?t=11185

Howard