Currys Christmas Advert - ZX Spectrum

[ketrinweb]

The Sinclair ZX Spectrum +2 was simply amazing!

[classiccelebs]

knob head..... things are cheaper now yes, but also the quality is worse. most chinese made products are of poor quality. plus, moving british jobs abroad has created a trade deficit.... which is BAD for the uk.

[mrsqonk]

@classiccelebs Your the knob head..You twat...

[tomharding]

Everyone beats their prices nowadays....

[peterdoa1]

can it run crysis

[motherflange]

Currys laughing at every bad mong parting with 65 notes for a blender.

[Parknest]

@EgoShredder - It might've been the Fuller FDS. That looked similar to the DKtronics one. I still have my +2 somewhere. I used to buy CRASH back in the day.

[THER3ALSTUFF]

Currys - PC World FTW!!

[TheEditingShop]

Thank Christ I live in the 2000's

[trailersic]

Inflation calculator says that Spectrum with a few crappy games was £363 in today's money

[iainhead]

yeah but you could buy a house for £169.99 back in the 80's

[BeetySwollox]

1984 that was..

[MegaDoraibu]

@BeetySwollox The Spectrum +2 was released in 1986.

[EgoShredder]

@BeetySwollox

Sinclair ZX Spectrum +2 means this advert probably dates to 1987.

[SuperModwolf]

Just can't believe the prices back  then

[ogicabp4u]

You could actually use the mixer to intergrate the technology of the 80's

just put the zx speectrum, electric razor and walkman in it ...then press 'BLEND'

[11lsh10]

@ogicabp4u

But "Will it Blend?" "That is the question"

[NeonGamer1000]

i have the same spectrum computer!

[Jarren202]

65 quid for a food processor?

Think i'll stick with my washing machine with knives in it.

[sinistersounddotnet]

They dont do Indian food in Curry's.

[llagin1234]

i want a personal stereo ! bargain

[bealerDSB]

OMG , skip and hold to 0:24 , that game IS PUNCHY ! Used to have it for my Amstrad. KWWWLL

[aluk41]

I bought the original spectrum 16k version in 1983, cost £99 couldn't afford the extra £20 for the 48k. The keyboard cover kept coming loose (not enough glue i assume i frustation and not loading games properly i hit it with my fist, told the lady in W.H Smiths "It just stopped working"...... hoped they'd upgrade me to the 48k for free but no had another shitty 16k.

[EgoShredder]

@aluk41

My rubber key Spectrum 48K went faulty under guarantee a few times, and eventually they could only give me a 48K + model and that never went faulty. The previous faulty rubber key models for me started from Series 2 to 4 I think; not sure what series my + model was though. I later put that motherboard into a 3rd party expensive proper keyboard, similar to the d'k troniks black with red keys model. Cannot recall which brand mine was but I saw it in CRASH! magazine.

[ogicabp4u]

These days computers can do so many things. Technology has merged and is much cheaper.

Now where is that ZX spectrum with cassette deck earphones and integrated blender and electric razor?

[suvodipmitra]

@ogicabp4u haha.

[11ready22]

Managed to find a fully packaged Spectrum +2 in a charity shop, light gun and 007 ACtion Pack with it as well. Been having lots of fun trying to play games since.

Gonna see if my Uncle will let me have one of the old Commodore 64's he's got as well.

[ogicabp4u]

@11ready22 return it to currys under the 'satifaction guarantee' clause. Say your disatified because it is too out of date and you can't play GTA5 on it.See what they say...

[11ready22]

@ogicabp4u That's probably the greatest idea I've ever seen. Definitely gonna do it. 

[conradojavier]

What's a ZX Spectrum? or a Commodore?

[janmansde3dede]

@conradojavier Those are the two most populair \ leading personal computers of Europe from 1982 to 87, mostly used as games machines and most ZX & C64 owners even program their own games on it !

you may think the NES as a Commodore 64 without keyboard really.

[GODS1976]

I had 128k spectrum for christmas from dixons came with a free Cheetah joystick and a game called Daley" Thompson Olympic games, after moving the joystick left to right very fast with in a week it was bust peice of shit

[indiana1977]

I remember getting my +2 for Christmas in 1987. First game I loaded up was Ian Botham's Test Match Cricket. Thankfully it could only get better :). I also remember a game called StarQuake that a mate had copied for me. It would only load about 10% of the time. When it did load, it was like grabbing the Holy Grail. Memories.

[GenocideKommando1]

@indiana1977 STARQUAKE???? Amazing game for those times

[lewisner]

The Spectrum+2 was £200 new in 1986. I picked one up complete with all peripherals in it's Dixons box at a car boot sale for £7.

[SlappingDon]

long live copying games and takin em back ... i love FREE SHIT

[SlappingDon]

@margowan i used to copy the games and take em back for a new 1 or a refund for sweets

[Otouto72K]

Long live the ZX Spectrum!

[mistofoles]

Yup, I've still got that Philipselectric shaver as well! I's bobbins, though, might as well shave my arse with it...

[UncleFeedle]

That Sinclair joystick was probably the worst game controller ever devised.

[richardjdbone]

Blimey, I knew my family's food processor was old, but only in seeing this do I find that it must be a shade older than I am! Well, we still use it, so even though food processors may be cheaper these days, I think we've had our 65 quid's worth; built when these things were meant to last!

[RobertCorbett]

I believe that remains the most powerful computer ever made, if only my parents had bought me one, I'd have transferred millions of punds into my bank account and launched a nuclear assault on the USA posing as the Russians by now.

[ogicabp4u]

@RobertCorbett actually the zx spectrum is about x100 more advanced that the computing technology which contained the telemetrics to take man to the moon in 1969. That's technology for you.

[mistofoles]

WTF?? A food processor for £64.99?? That was cheap in the 80s?? They're only half that price now, aren't they?!

[ogicabp4u]

@mistofoles most were double that price...but china changed all that.

[bazfanv2]

and thats garanteed

[carbootgamerUK]

I have checked online , all these items are out of stock. Sorry folks.

[TheGameroomBlitz]

Curry's? Shouldn't they be selling the BBC Micro instead?

[gwelsh123]

look on the currys.co.uk website and you can buy a blender today, at around 25 quid, 40 quid cheaper than the one that was being sold then

yay for slave chinese labour!

[thomasvanner]

Cracking!! That personal stereo is as big as a ghetto blaster ha ha.

[TheMrBenjamin]

The currys store i work in still looks like the products being advertised here

[ContractorHei]

You can get a 360 for that price now LMAO

[hotelmario510]

0:11

I watched that, then thought about my MP3 player, which is one and a half inches up, one inch across...

[maxlogica]

Electronic items seem to have amazing come 'down' in price...who on earth would pay 60 quid for a food blender now? in the 80's that must have been more like 150 quid..mental

[mindofmorrison]

i would have freely given my left nut up for that walkman in 1983

[Urko2005]

@mindofmorrison Only the left?

[phillitupp]

I owned (Or my dad owned) a Amstrad, spectrum, Amiga 500, and a commador 64. I was so lucky. That is why I love nostalgic thing like this advert. Thank you uploading this. =D

[v5dan]

If you had bothered to read my comment properly it says quite clearly in the Queens English "retro iPod" it's a play on words, or don't you understand humour? Wanker.

[lndac02]

@margowan LOL your posting brought back memories of the Amstrad that we used to have where you loaded a compact cassette tape with a game on it into the machine and let it run in real time. This could sometimes take up to 30 minutes to load and bleep and blurted in the process. I used to go off and do other things and come back to find many a time that the game had not loaded and all I had was a blank screen with the cursor flashing next to the words "SYNTAX ERROR"

[lndac02]

Anyone remember the Matsui brand? it was a brand made in the UK for Currys only. Normally it was low quality, but the depressing thing about the brand was that Currys felt British made stuff had such a bad reputation, that Currys had to give it a fake Japanese sounding name to flog the stuff. I think Dixons or Comet pulled the same stunt with their Saisho range

[ogicabp4u]

@lndac02 Yup...they shud have called it 'Mankkio' or 'Shitiko' or something more 'appropriate'.

[UncleFeedle]

Looks like Xmas 1986. I'm so glad the late 80's are long gone. I hated everything about that time period - the music, the fashion and the crappy technology that didn't work. Every Xmas was filled with disappointment. You would get some piece of tat gadget, it would either break that day or fail to work, and you'd spend the whole of Xmas miserable, waiting for the shops to reopen so you could exchange it. High street chains like Currys were notorious for this.

[webbhead92]

1986 wasnt the late eighties you thick tool.

[robuk1981]

@UncleFeedle how come my zx spectrum lasted over twenty years and i still have my 80s portable tv in working order its crappy modern stuff that breaks ive been through 4 360s in 3 years

[v5dan]

Superb! Just love the retro ipod! and that phillishave razor! LOL! design was shite in those days!

[richardmaudsley77]

@v5dan

Did you just call a walkman an iPod? Wow what a wanker.

[rokknroll]

@richardmaudsley77 You have no sense of humour, irony or nostalgia do you?

[flinchy77]

@richardmaudsley77

incidentally, Walkman is a Sony brand. That was Matsui. Get your facts right before attempting to rudely correct other people. Tit.

[richardmaudsley77]

@flinchy77 Genericized trademark, moron. When is a hoover not a Hoover, hmm?

[flinchy77]

@richardmaudsley77

So, you get to be picky, and when someone else throws it back at you, names are suddenly not so important. Say what you want mate, it isnt a Walkman.

[richardmaudsley77]

@flinchy77 iPod could arguably be a genericized trademark for "mp3 player" or, it sure as shit doesn't fit a handheld compact cassette player. Get over it.

[adamwba1979]

mom dad! I wanna ZX Spectrum for Christmas. ah those were the days. :D

[David315842]

Very retro!

[PressPlay2Go]

I want a ZX Spectrum.  Great video.

[xITechMediaIx]

I've still got one XD

[mig189189189]

Awesome video. Keep on with that good work!

[bigcountrygeorge]

lol

[myrtlexxx]

Oh I miss my speccy! I also used to love going to town, buying my 2.99 games from the local corner shop, there were so many to coose from, and the tears and joy when finally a game loaded! its why we had more patience years ago lol.

[TheMrBenjamin]

Currys, does not look after its staff or customers to a satisfactory level. Upper mamangement fail to realsie the importance of training staff on customer service and product knowledge. NO wonder why so many unhappy people working for them.

[miggymiggins]

Currys sold me a 'new' Hard Drive recorder, except when I turned it on it started playing the ads they have on the display TVs in store. They took it back and reluctantly refunded me with no apology for inconvenience, last time I go there. Tesco are way better.

[danhuby]

This is from around 1987.

[TheRusskinruss]

@danhuby I don't think they cost that much? lol

[danhuby]

Thi

[chatham43]

....a bunch of rip off merchants....all on commission.....with zero after sales service......last place I'd shop...a tip.......stay well clear.....

[tommyturner2008]

Actually were not on commission... and we have a after sales service, and tons of tech guys services.. Where is it you think you will get better service? Tesco? lol

[geordieboydave]

technology was at its best back then when you got electrical stuff like tvs vcrs etc and they was built to last they put more money into making things

[Jeet27]

even in the 80's we were being ripped off !!

[cosine303]

i bought an atari 800xl from the shepards bush branch in the mid 80's I guess.. and it stopped working IN warrenty.. the ****s took a month to send it back to me =( , so no games for 1 month.. since than I give them NOTHING =)

[gothic1hobbit]

I'll take a spectrum over an 360 any day !

[bealerDSB]

hell yea ! i remember when the VERY FEW computer ads came on the telly !! I MAD MY FUKIN DAY :))

[jonshark1]

OH YES Exellent advert

[miniroll32]

£9.99 for a Walkman! They'd cost more now, even if their wasn't a credit crunch lol

[gomemdesoto]

it wasn't exactly an expensive 'walkman', it was a cheapo own brand Matsui personal cassette player. Real Walkman's been made by Sony of course, and these did cost much more at the time.

Currys and Dixons sold a lot of electronics under various house brands at the time, Matsui, Saisho, Harrier, Prinz, to name a few.

[sicjeb]

Don't forget in 1988 £9.99 was a weeks wage for most people :D :)

[miniroll32]

Oh yeah I forgot about that :) In that case, that food blender was stupidly expensive! Must have been new.

[docdelete]

I hope this is a lame joke. It was only 2 decades ago, a week's wages was around £100 on average. Now, thirty years /before/ that...

[furQ]

err what are you talking about

[docdelete]

I was replying to sicjeb. A week's wages wasn't £9.99, it was nearer £100. You'd have to go back another 30 years to get only a tenner a week.

[robuk1981]

@docdelete yeah exactly it cost my dad a almost a fortnights wages to get me my speccy

[qezza22]

those were the days i had a zx spectrum+2 in about 88, 89 what a computer cassettes classic

[Chipsturs]

I remember getting the spetrum zx + 2 for christmas, oh joy of waiting for the tapes to load, bulls eye and paperboy were great games

[anicetune]

I got my laser eye surgery at Currys.

[anicetune]

That personal stereo's pretty groovy.

[jodiehaydn]

Youre the best for putting this on!!!!!!!!

[wisteela]

A great blast from the past from 1987. From the time when you could first get a cheap personal stereo. £9.99 was a bargain then.

[dahhred]

old advert...

[fragster2008]

fuckin hell is that how much they were back then, i had a commodore 64.

Those were the days, its £159.99 just for a night out in some places nowadays...

Fuck i really am getting old...

I think i bought mi' dad that same shaver???

[natandsam1]

does anyone know where i can find the first currys advert?

[helen7793]

Dont make em like this anymore lol

[sandeept]

F***ing hell just shows you how cheap electrical stuff is these days, £64 for a crap blender!!

[sincewhen1990]

Fantastic! I'm off to Currys now to buy that new Spectrum computer!

[mistofoles]

@sincewhen1990 I've still got a Spectrum model like that one that works!

[mrsjamac]

@mistofoles me too!

[span89]

That was back in the day when they cared about the customer.

[b6gm6n]

Father time beats your prices....guaranteed! 64 quid for that sodding blender...oh christ how corporate fascism was so sweet back them, I-wonder...

[bazariah]

i'd say it was 1986

[frankwh99]

My guess is 1987.

[Razieluk]

Frank, you're right. Checking out other websites, the +2 with a "datacorder" was bought out in 1987.

[thesilvermachine]

ZX Spectrum +2 was launched in 1986, the same year AMSTRAD bought Sinclair. I got a +2 for my birthday that year.

[stevieistheman]

Yeah! Shoot up that Christmas tree with some lasers! Nothing says festive like a flaming xmas tree!

[mcflyrockmancheSTAR]

That really funny. =D

[geordieboydave]

£9.99 seems a lot of money for a walkman these days

[geordieboydave]

was it 80s or 90s

[nintyking64]

Loving the lasers!!!

[HisFurious]

150 quid for a Spectrum!!

[ArnoldSwarzeneggar75]

That game displayed on the screen was called Punchy. Those were the days. I just bought a 48k speccy on e bay lol

[nintyking64]

I like the lasers!

[uggla03]

wow someone still had this on video awesome

[bazfanv2]

a walkman, jeez i used to love mine used to to take 4xpencil batteries and i used to tune into the top 40 with bruno brookes 1988 to tape the latest chart tunes. good ole days man, good ole days.

[microsoftiscrap]

I HAVE THAT TV! its a PYE SV00169 its a awesome telly!

[TheNumber4q]

LoL Matui, shit as ever. Is it me or was everything in this advert shit? Everything apart from the Spectrum of course ^^

[fanboy112]

Everything was crap

...apart from the Spectrum (get your curser off the thumbs down, I saw you!)

[TESCOFANgogo]

When was this?

[capricious71]

Prices haven't changed that much. :)

[labratmusic]

randomly hilarious;}

[ARUK1]

I liked the Walkman best... That's right "Walkman", lets face it you couldn't run with it!

[mack89464]

This is a fantastic bit of nostalgia - thanks for uploading.

I'm thinking its 1986 as the 128+2 was the big seller for stores that Christmas

[putthetellyon]

That's the Spectrum I had!

[meggatonman]

WOW, the new Sinclair spectrum!!!

[jonnycoolman]

I used to work for Currys back in the 80's. The amount of shoddy ex display crap we had to sell to people was unbelievable. When the junk inevitably broke down, it would take three months to come back from repair, after which it would usually break again.

[DaviDeXtA]

I worked for them a year and a bit ago....they are still doing it.

[Jeet27]

dixons and currys were always thieves, all their items were overpriced.

[someguywatch]

omg the technology made so much progress

[krazykizza]

thats cheap for a compy

[BHX]

Crappy personal stereo!

Crappy Spectrum +2 - My they were crap.

Crappy Shaver!

Crappy Food Processor!

Great times the 80s!!

[TheNumber4q]

yeah was thinking the same thing. The Amstrad spectrum really stuffed it down the poop tube. Now I feel sick.

[sarnieken]

Classic!!

I remember my trusty +2. it rocked!

I had the James Bond, Living Daylights pack with the light gun. Did it work? Did it hell!

[chestertouristcom]

i want one

[Kagy777]

Matsui Personal Stereo! Matsui brand products were exclusive to Currys and Dixons. They sold TV's, Videos, Stereos, etc, all with that brand name on. They were cheap, and often broke quite soon after buying them!

[cannibalklown]

I want that personal stereo!!!! It's COOOOL! I can listen to my Metallica and watch saved by the bell!

[heavensdead00]

i love playing with my joystick

[thecheese1970]

Only play for 4 sec, is that right.

[gamer2468]

LOL! the personal stereo was funny

[Lebowsk1]

lol Gold.

[minijimi]

Wasnt 86, more like 1988.

[roger44]

LOL!

[redmistpete]

rofl - did you see that old-style mp3 player at the beginning?

[TheNumber4q]

lol old style mp3 player. The youth of today.

[sebloveX]

things were expensive in 1986 then!!!

[cheRRymanJ]

Ok little funny story:

I wanted a ZX Spectrum +2 for Xmas from Curry's, so on Xmas eve me and my brothers opened the box to find nothing - only the joystick and a couple of games. We took the box back after a few days and got another one, but with around 100 games on 10 tapes. It was a kind gesture from Curry's. The problem with +2's is that the play button kept snapping off - resulting in using a pen to press play.

[sarnieken]

OMG. I'm sooo old. :)

[groovyray]

those were the days init lads aye.

[TheNumber4q]

aye, that was an ugly spectrum, I prefered the original designs.

[berry996]

aha