Originally Posted by
Drew451
Good post. I'm with you on all of that, Tony but I do think Frank Dyke promoted and distributed Originals pretty well. I'm not sure when Dykes ceased the concession but I do think Leslie Hewitt /RWS/ Ruag didn't do Diana's justice. It was then that marketing and availability suffered. The HW boom definitely was an issue for all the other manufactures too.
The 45 arrived in 1978, before the 80 and well before the 77. It did well for a spell but faded. They ran til 1988 but personally, I have seen very few dated after about '82/'83.