I have seen these machines listed on ebay several times and at such a low price! Are they still being made? Do they clean well and are they built well like the "kirby style" royals?
-Steven

is no longer made. According to the local Royal dealer, "Royal lost their ass on the Powercast." Gee! That rhymes!! haha

There were three models - all the same basic model except that the low-tier, the RY9000, was chrome and blue with crummy plastic attachments; a middle-tier model, the RY9100, in maroon and chrome with deluxe attachments (steel wands and long flexy hose); and the upper tier, the RY9200, in charcoal gray and chrome with deluxe attachments and a more powerful two-stage fan.

I have the middle-tier model (RY9200) in maroon. I fell in love with the design aesthetics of the machine the minute I lay eyes on one in a photo. It was so retro! I thought to myself, if someone in 1935 sat down and designed what they thought a vacuum cleaner would look like in 2000, they probably would have come up with something like the Powercast.

The BIG problem with them is that they are EXTREEEEEMLY heavy and rather hard to maneuver around, and they were fairly expensive -- SRP for high medium and low was around $850 - $800 - $750. Now they're being unloaded for as low as $150 for the RY9000!! See link below. I googled around and apparently only the RY9000 and RY9100 are still readily available at blowout prices; I only found one link to the RY9200 and it was listed at $849.00. Don't suppose they'll be flying off the shelf at those prices!!

I got mine for around $300 because my friend the Royal dealer sold it to me at cost. I used it 2-3 times and it was a wonderful machine in many ways but just too darn big and heavy to lug around my fairly small apartment. So back in the box it went and has stayed ever since. Too bad, because it sure is a beautiful machine.

I have photos of mine but they are on my still-dead old Mac; I think someone has posted some photos on their collections here. Look around for them.

I have the first two models-the machines perform VERY WELL-but some problems-yes the extremely heavy weight-you practically have to hitch the vacuum to your tractor to use it-and the poor bag system.Really for this machine Royal should have designed a better bag system for it-why not use the "B" bags-give you more room for dirt and larger filter area.Instead they use crummy "Dirt Devil" bags in it.This is one of the few "Clean Air" uprights that really work.However--The Royal "Everlast","Classic" machines are lighter,easier to push-and more efficient-does a BETTER job with less power drawn.The Powercasts I have sometimes trip a 15A breaker when I use them.I do admire the GFI Breaker built into the cord plug.This and its 3 wire cord will make the machine OSHA,ANSI compliant for commercial use.One cleaning service here uses them-but these visit the Vacuum Cleaner Hospital here for mainly broken handles.The plastic--not metal handle can break under the machines weight if its dropped.Bill at the Vacuum Hospital says parts for these are getting scarce.A word of caution-if you use yours-treat it carefully.I do feel as Charlie does-its a beautiful and striking machine--but too heavy and OVERPRICED.I bought my two examples from Bill out here at Vacuum Cleaner Hosiptal when he was a Royal dealer.He sold more "Everlasts" than the Powercasts.He sold mine at cost too.He mentioned-"I cannot in good conscience sell these for their list prices"You can buy a Kirby for the Powercast list price.The Kirby is better.Another Royal dealer in the area in Kinston had these machines-he kept marking the prices down-don't know if they finally sold.I also have the attachments for both of mine.The cheap plastic tool kit the and deluxe metal tool kit.On one of mine-the upper cord hook is broken-it broke when I bumpted into it.And it was closed no less.The "fold out" cord hooks are cool but fragile.

here's mine and i Love it and do use it althought it is heavy but I find if You have the height ajustment just right it's fairly easy to push around. I got mine off ebay I think my total cost was 200.00

Skip...

I clicked on the link for thr Ry9100 but I'm not sure there are an authorized Royal dealer. Mine came from an authorized dealer from ebay. Mine is in total warrenty and in fact My friend Gerald who owns Cajun Vac has mine on record thru Royal as if I need any repairs Gerald can do the repairs as he is an authorized Royal dealer and service center. Mine came with the plastic sets of attachments but I did luck out and got the deluxe metal attachments from Bargin center off ebay for a mere 12.50 which is a total bargin as the royal dealers wanted 50.00 and that was at cost.

Skip...

Someone brought one of these to one of the conventions in the past. It is a cool machine, but it is heavy, and for whatever reason I don't remember it being something I'd be eager to run out and buy. There's nothing to me like a good old fashioned original design soft bag Royal upright. Wonderful machine, I use mine all the time.

Hey Skip, I couldn't help but notice that you too have a Kirby Golden Trophy. Mine is a 1981 Tradition model with a serial number of 38. I've owned it for the past eight years. The only time it was ever turned on is at the Kirby dealership just to test it before I bought it. I consider it the crown jewel of my collection. Can you tell me more about yours?

Yes mine is number 63 and mine was never turned on until I got it 2 years ago from ebay from a Kirby distributor. but mine does have some pitted meaning the gold is flaking off and I would like to get it redone but don't know where to get it done at.

Here is the back side of mine. Karl by the way mine is also the 1981 Kirby tradition.

Thanks for the info. Funny you should say that, as mine too has the problem where the plating is flaking off. I have it covered now to prevent further deterioration. I have thought about bringing it to a trophy manufacturer, but somehow I don't think it was gold they used in the plating process. It would seem as if it also has some sort of a laquer to protect the plating. I tried contacting Kirby about this, but they had no interest. I've also seen a Golden Trophy G5 once on eBay. Yours appears to be in beautiful condition.

If these "Gold" machines are laquered I strongly suspest they are not Gold Plated.

Reasonably heavy gold plate does not require any protective finishing or polishing in daily use.

If it is polished brass be very careful to keep the protective coating free from dust. Especially in coastal areas, dust attracts moisture which erodes the protective finish and attacks the brass.

My PowerCast is one of my favorite vacs in the collection of 442 machines.

I got mine in St. Louis at the last Convention. Charlie Watrous brought it (brand new) to use as a door prize at the Cocktail party to annouce Morgan's candidacy for President of the Club. My good friend Don won it. Don and Hans have only bare floors in their home, with area rugs. Hans HATES uprights. So, I traded them a brand new Metropolitan with power nozzle, in the box, for the PowerCast. The Chrome model, with the extra wands for the bare floor tool. It fit the bill in their home perfectly.

I keep my PowerCast upstairs, next to my 75th Anniversary Electrolux 3500 SR upright that I talked Derreck into giving me. While I love the 3500 just a little bit more, I do really love using the PowerCast. It's so classy, and cleans very well. HATE the bag. Leaks dust really bad, and I use the Micro Filtration Dirt Devil U bags in it. Wish there were Filtrete bags for it. Hose suction leaves a lot to be desired.
Rug cleaning is superb. Push it SLOW and adjust the height correctly, and it's not such a bear to clean with.

I wouldn't part with it for any amount of money, as I think of Don and Hans each time I get it out. Just like I think of Dererck when I use my Electrolux. That I got both machines from dear friends makes the machines even more valuable to me personally.