The original Invention Exchange?

Noting the passing of Ron Popeil, the enterprising inventor/huckster whose creations would not have been out of place on MST3K.

I don’t recall ever owning a Ronco product, but there were so many it’s entirely possible that I did. How about you?

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Sad to hear that. RIP

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I definitely owned a Mr. Microphone.
“Hey, good lookin! We’ll be back to pick you up later!”

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And did it work? I mean, both technologically and romantically? :laughing:

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Never used it romantically. You had to tune your AM radio to the right frequency, so they could be somewhat iffy. They definitely didn’t work as seamlessly as on the TV commercials.

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I figured they were pretty fiddly. Truth in advertising was still a gentleman’s agreement in those days.

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I had the rhinestone and stud setter! Not sure it was easier than doing it by hand, I never got my designs straight and even but it was fun. I put a crooked star on the back pocket of my jeans. This was long before big craft stores were common and you certainly couldn’t go online to find tools and tutorials.

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That one looked the most fun to me. Even from an early age I wanted to be fabulous. :star_struck:

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Are we taking about a Bedazzler here?

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Pretty much the same thing. Here’s the commercial for the original Ronco Rhinestone & Stud Setter. Make sure your 1970s antibodies are up to date, it’s a pretty intense dose of the decade.

This version is simpler, without colored gems, and pitched as more unisex.

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Same idea, yes but that is a more recent term and the machine was different.

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BASS-O-MATIC!

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I saw that this morning and immediately thought of MST3k

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One of Ron Popeil’s more head-scratchingly (no, not GLH-9) odd inventions, the inside-the-shell egg-scrambler:

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