OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums General Discussion Forum Off Topics TV Ads - Various Videos

Well at least I got rid of a number of Masport catchers and a few others today, every bit helps and less I have to cut up.

The "hot" steam iron in the Gadget Man clip looks like a General Electric F101. I finished fixing a G.E. FS17 yesterday, which is basically similar. They don't make them easy to take apart! There's a bit of soft aluminium trim around the filler hole that bends and breaks when you remove it, and you're forced to remove it because it holds the front of the handle to the water tank. I suspect "tamper-evident" design at work here.

Hi suebutcher,
do you have any idea why he got a shock and was it a common occurrence with that iron? Doesn't reflect well on appliances from that era.

All the exposed metal with the exception of the centre trim plate is earthed on the Australian version of that iron, and that part is separated from the rest of the metal by the Bakelite of the handle. He shouldn't have got a belt unless there was a fault in the extension lead, or there was enough condensation or spilt water inside the iron to conduct current from the live terminal inside the handle to the trim plate. Maybe it was filled sloppily. I've not heard that these irons were dangerous. My Mum used an FS17 for years without trouble. The type was still in production as the Black & Decker Classic well into the 21st Century.

Funny to see it happen that way on film then. Not funny for him!

No mowers here, but a great excerpt of a time gone by with Andy's Nock & Kirby handyman show from 1978, demonstrating a new welder of theirs when people still made their own stuff.

Good stuff there Mowerfreak, sort of takes me back to other shows that were on when I was younger, I think there was a science type show in the 80's called "The Curiosity Show". There is probably a few others also.

Here's a video of the same mower dealer that was showing the Victa 2 stroke's you posted a while ago. What I noticed is because now I am looking at the last ever Victa 2 stroke lawnmowers that are on sale. I think I found a little weird thing that Victa (Briggs And Stratton) have missed on this last model (Or don't care, forgot, who knows?). The actual model this guy is talking about is the "CMS 462", take notice of the top cowl, wheels, handles etc on this mower. This is also the exact same mower pictured on Victa's website showing this mower is available now at dealers.

Now here's the thing I noticed. The one that the Victa Gold Dealers are selling now as the last model is the exact same model number as the one featured in this video "CMS 462". But if you look at the top cowl, wheels, handles etc on the one available now at Victa dealers, it's a different looking mower, but has the exact same model number?



Here's a picture of the current last available Victa Commando 2 stroke lawnmower model number "CMS 462" that's available from my local Victa dealer which I have seen in person and also from another dealer on ebay.

A few more Vids.

Great ads there Maxwestern, I could probably use that mower in first ad to pick up the grass clippings sometimes left behind from the Victa..lol

Now here's a clip of Briggs And Stratton (Victa) celebrating their 8 millionth mower assembled here in Australia, it was added back in 2011 to youtube so I suppose that's when they were celebrating this milestone? Yeah thanks Briggs And Stratton Australia, where's the Victa 2 stroke mower???

You captured the 8 millionth mower on video with a B&S 4 stroker, but nothing can be captured at all from the factory featuring the legendary aussie Victa 2 stroke engine, not during all those years of production and not even the last one ever made was captured on video. What a great company, yes they really care about it's Australian background and heritage!

Now I am not sure but I think I read in the paper about mid 2017 in an article about the end of the line where they were saying that production of the 2 stroke was ceasing and that there was only 3 people still employed in the warehouse, I could be wrong but that is stuck in the back of my mind. I think I threw the cutting out of the paper out

Yeah it's obvious Briggs only care about promoting Briggs and using the local Victa brand awareness to further that.
It's an American company after all and they are not interested in anything outside of the U.S unless there is a nickel to be generated.
That video makes me want to unbolt their widget and take to it with a sledgehammer or perhaps pour aluminIum oxide in the oil and run it full blast until polishes itself to death internally.

Now now MF I think you should have a Bex and go and have a lie down for a while

Is your real surname Gunston ?

There are a lot of great ads ODK members have posted here,not sure how many more we can find.

Love the Viking ad, it reminds me of of I'd like to go, but instead put a Model 45 in it's place.

Cheers,
BB.

G'day everyone,

Hey Maxwestern, a while ago you posted a picture of a certain VHS tape mate, I sure do hope you have that tape. That would be one rare collection of ads. It would be great if we could possibly see a couple of unseen lawnmower ads one day.

Well here's a bit of Bunnings comedy, I actually did test out their "If you find a cheaper price, we'll beat it by 10%" policy some years ago...lol

When Masters Home Improvement opened up down the road from Bunnings here I was getting some spares for my Victa. Anyway I noticed that both Bunnings and Masters stocked the exact same Champion CJ8 spark plug..lol. Guess what Masters had it at a cheaper price! Yep you guessed it, I went to Bunnings grabbed a Champion CJ8 from their shelf. Went to the information counter and explained that I have found this item cheaper at Masters down the road. They asked me to show a photo of evidence I said I have no photo but it's this price at their store (can't remember the exact price now, but I think it was probably around $2 cheaper at Masters, so the lady just put it in their computer and I got the CJ8 even cheaper than the Masters price...lol

Anyway years later I found out that you can get the Champion CJ8 at most automotive stores like Repco, and it's cheaper than Bunnings, only difference is the Repco Champion CJ8 plug is in a little cardboard box instead of a carded pack like Bunnings. It's exactly the same plug though.

Cheers!

Hi Converse and all ,
That image of the Victa video ads was from the power house museum ,unfortunately I don't have a copy.





Cheers
Max.

G'day Max

Many thanks for this.
For me, the first video (above) is of historical interest in linking it to
an edition of News Cuttings from late 1964.

We're talking about the 'dog' commercials...

https://www.outdoorking-forum.com.au/forum/u...ews-cuttings-october-1964.html#Post97003

Cheers
----------------------
Jack

G'day everyone,

Thanks for great classic Victa ads there Maxwestern, I've never seen those ones before. I wish you had that tape mate, I wonder if a copy could be made from the one at that museum..lol

About 10 years ago I purchased a couple of VHS tapes from a guy in Adelaide of various old tv ads for Chrysler and Ford cars. But I noticed most of them are all now on youtube anyway. Back many years ago I did upload a bit of old stuff on youtube until something was removed then I just removed all the videos and closed the channel.

Hi CyberJack, just wondering mate if you might have any advertising material or catalogues for Victa lawnmowers from 1976 to 1979?

I have searched the forums but it seems there is nothing for the years 1976 to 1979. I picked up an old Victa Corvette the other day I think it might be a 1980 model as there is one that looks the same in the 1980 Victa book. But I would like to see if the previous years models also looked similar.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Cheers!

Here's a naive mower ad where features are all that seem to matter, forget durability.

Gidday Jack,Converse.MF and all.


Yes there are a lot of 'dog' commercials .More entertaining I guess.

Must be a lot of Victa ads on that VHS tape we have not seen.

Converse ,the engine number will give you the build date and cylinder head number.

Cheers
Max.

G'day Max, converse, MF and all,
Yeah, I guess that's sort of it.
The general adage that a dog is 'man's best friend' seems to hold true -
in advertising. The ad trick was to link pets with inanimate objects ...
like lawnmowers

Animal, bird, and insect names are often used in naming lawnmowers ...
Cougar, Panther, Lion, Tiger, Cheetah, Cub, Emu, Falcon, Grasshopper,
hornet, wasp, platypus, ... the list goes on ...

Hi Converse,
This is a problem - I have no brochures from this period,
but reasonable advert records of Victa models of that time.

The Lightweight was introduced (1977), the three millionth
mower (1978), the Victa Prof 550 and the Tilt-a-Cut edger (1979).

Cheers
----------------------
Jack

Hi Converse,
This is a problem - I have no brochures from this period,
but reasonable advert records of Victa models of that time.

The Lightweight was introduced (1977), the three millionth
mower (1978), the Victa Prof 550 and the Tilt-a-Cut edger (1979).

Cheers
----------------------
Jack[/quote]

G'day CyberJack, thanks for that mate with the help of various advertisements and the great assistance of forum member Maxwestern, I have tracked down the year of release of my mower. It's from 1978.

G'day everyone,

Here's a video from the show "20 to 1" featuring the Victa lawnmower. It looks like they used some original Victa tv ads for this clip. There is some footage from what looks like a Victa tv ad from the seventies which I haven't seen before.

Cheers!

Poor old Victa...

What a shame it didn't go pear shaped and body parts were damaged or lost. IQ near warm water.

What a dead set idiot. I'd love to see a video called "Revenge of the Victa's" and as wce suggested see some body parts fly and then everyone instead of helping him stand back and laugh at him.

This why I hate Youtube as it gives oxygen to these twats that are seeking 15 seconds of fame.

I can't see how anybody can get any pleasure by attempting to destroy a perfectly good piece of working equipment, just can't get my head around it.

G'day everyone,

I like that last Honda ad you posted there Maxwestern..lol.

Some good news I have just found an old Victa lawnmower TV commercial on one of those hard rubbish find VHS tapes. It's from 1996 and features the Victa 2 stroke "mulch or catch" lawnmower with that sleek looking top cowl. When I convert and upload it I will post the link back to here.

It was broadcast during the 1996 AFL grand final between North Melbourne and Sydney.

Cheers!

Hi Converse,

Thanks for reminding me about that game.