Old Maplin catalogs

ahhh. Fond memories. I had a bit out of date catalog, but things changed slower those days when the post office was faster at delivering parcels than these days.

We also posted a pack of floppy disks to get software to someone else.

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OK, off-topic land again… sorry… :slight_smile:

I kept the 1993 catalog for years. The catalog included the odd application circuit. In 1995 they came out with a colour catalog. It had more stuff in it, but no application circuits. Then around 2002 the South African guys dropped the Maplin name and became Yebo electronics. They are still around. I have no idea how they came up with the domain name for their website.

I had to walk around 7km to the nearest branch of my bank, then I did a transfer for the amount to their bank account, and mailed the deposit slip along with the order. In those days the post office was so fast, my order would arrive at their office before the (international) bank transfer showed up on their bank statements. When the little envelope arrived in our postbag, it was like Christmas…

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From their about:
"A question that’s frequently asked is why we chose the ‘fort777’ web address…

When the company decided to part company with Maplin in the UK, it originally teamed up with Doug Simmons, one of the founding members of Maplin. Having sold his share of the business, and being located permanently in the Far East, Doug decided to launch a new electronics-supply company via a web-based venture in the Philippines. His web site was called ‘fort777.com’. The word ‘fort’ used to refer to a delivery post for goods, whilst the ‘777’ was the PO Box number originally designated to Maplin’s Southend offices in the UK. It was thought appropriate for the South African company to adopt the ‘fort777.co.za’ web address.

Sadly, Doug’s business no longer exists, but we decided to retain the ‘fort777’, which is now familiar to so many here in South Africa!"

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Yebo Electronics isn’t the same like they where 20 years ago. It use to be the go to shop in Bellville when they where still in Prime Park. They moved later around the corner of Brights. From there they just went backwards.

Talk about old catalogs, I have a small collection of magazines, Elector, VW Trends and other Aircooled VW mags and Landrover mags :open_mouth:

Groetnis

The website is definitely in dire need of a redesign.

Yes, that too. But the shop needs attention too. They stock barely anything. I was there one day looking for a male to female rs232 for my inverter and even that they didn’t have stock of. I had to solder something. One of their top guys also left and is working at Mantech now.

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Thanks @plonkster :+1:

No problem… us Afrikaans people must maar help each other, nê? :slight_smile:

Jip, Dit is einste so :slight_smile:

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