The earliest SLR rebranding...?
Sept 16, 2021 20:04:23 GMT
on Sept 16, 2021 20:04:23 GMT
Last Edit: Sept 17, 2021 0:53:26 GMT by lumiworx
This BIN listing showed up while searching for something else, but it did bring a question to mind about when the first rebranding deal might have taken place for anything in the SLR line. It's actually the Penta J-P with no substantial changes that I can see, other than the logo, but with a slightly different twist on the usual Yashinon 5cm f/2. The camera is marked as the Wards SLR 500, but the lens is branded for it's maker, as a Tominon, and in quite a different appearance from the norm that we're used to seeing. This one is distinctive in its satin chrome finish, but it does have some issues.
If you're not familiar with the "Wards" brand name, it was a 'brick-n-mortar' national department store chain in the US - a.k.a., Montgomery Wards - and was a direct competitor to Sears and to some extent, JC Penny or KMart at the limited or budget end of the spectrum. It went out of business in 2004, from a bleeding balance sheet, and the name was acquired later and relaunched as an online-only shopping site. (Think in terms of a marketplace for 3rd party sellers - there's no real Wards warehouses.)
In my much younger days when I actually shopped there, I often browsed the camera gear, but once you realize your paying a premium for the same wolf in sheep's clothing , the inflated price sends you elsewhere if you wanted to buy anything. Maybe for those that had a Wards credit card and no other (regular) bank credit cards, it might have been a more palatable possibility.
EDIT: Corrected the body model from "J" to "J-P"
If you're not familiar with the "Wards" brand name, it was a 'brick-n-mortar' national department store chain in the US - a.k.a., Montgomery Wards - and was a direct competitor to Sears and to some extent, JC Penny or KMart at the limited or budget end of the spectrum. It went out of business in 2004, from a bleeding balance sheet, and the name was acquired later and relaunched as an online-only shopping site. (Think in terms of a marketplace for 3rd party sellers - there's no real Wards warehouses.)
In my much younger days when I actually shopped there, I often browsed the camera gear, but once you realize your paying a premium for the same wolf in sheep's clothing , the inflated price sends you elsewhere if you wanted to buy anything. Maybe for those that had a Wards credit card and no other (regular) bank credit cards, it might have been a more palatable possibility.
EDIT: Corrected the body model from "J" to "J-P"
