{{Infobox company | name=Dynasty Computer Corporation | logo= | type=Private | industry={{ubl|Computer|Multi-level marketing}} | founder=Larry Hagerty | founded={{Start date and age|1980|04}} in Dallas, Texas, United States | defunct={{End date and age|1983|11}} | fate=Dissolved }} '''Dynasty Computer Corporation''' was a short-lived American multi-level marketing company active from 1980 to 1983 and based in Dallas, Texas. The company exclusively sold home computer systems through door-to-door demonstrations (a la Avon) and was the first company to sell computers via direct selling.<ref name=burrough /> Dynasty's line-up of computers comprised only two systems: the Smart-Alec II, a rebadged Exidy Sorcerer; and the Smart-Alec Jr., a rebadged VTech Laser 200. Dynasty went defunct in November 1983 amid mounting competition from IBM and their upcoming PCjr.
==History== Dynasty Computer Corporation was founded in April 1980 by Larry Hagerty in Dallas, Texas.<ref name=burrough>{{cite magazine | last=Burrough | first=Bryan | date=July 29, 1982 | url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/134745044/ | title=Selling Home Computers Door-to-Door | work=The Wall Street Journal | publisher=Dow Jones & Company | page=21 | via=ProQuest}}</ref> Hagerty previously worked as an attorney in Texas before working for Ideal, Inc., a multi-level marketing (MLM) company also based in Dallas that did direct sales of cosmetics, for six years.<ref name=push>{{cite news | last=((''Dallas Morning News'' staff writer)) | date=May 26, 1983 | url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-central-new-jersey-home-news-2-firms/181367893/ | title=2 firms push home sales of computers | work=The Central New Jersey Home News | page=40 | via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref name=programming>{{cite magazine | last=Benoit | first=Ellen | date=May 23, 1983 | url=https://archive.org/details/forbes131aprforb/page/n877/ | title=Programming a personal future | work=Forbes | volume=131 | issue=11 | pages=76–82 | via=the Internet Archive}}</ref>{{rp|76}} The increasing popularity of home computer systems during the turn of the 1980s inspired Hagerty to found Dynasty to perform direct sales of computers to households.<ref name=programming /> On its foundation in April 1980, Dynasty was the first MLM dedicated to computers.<ref name=push /> After recruiting several hundred resellers by 1981, Dynasty began operating in July 1981, with its resellers selling computer hardware and software door-to-door in the Dallas–Fort Worth area.<ref name=push /> The company made $1 million in sales in its first year.<ref name=programming />{{rp|76–78}}
{{Multiple image|direction=horizontal|total_width=440|image1=Exidy Sorcerer (retouch).jpg|caption1=An Exidy Sorcerer, which Dynasty resold as the Smart-Alec II|image2=Disk smith vz200 front.jpg|caption2=A Laser 200 (in this instance rebranded by Dick Smith as the VZ 200), which Dynasty resold as the Smart-Alec Jr}} Dynasty's first complete computer system was the Smart-Alec II, a rebadged version of the Sorcerer, a CP/M-based home computer originally marketed by Exidy Systems.<ref name=dingdong>{{cite magazine | last=Needle | first=David | date=September 6, 1982 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CDAEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA30 | title='Dingdong, Micro calling' | work=InfoWorld | publisher=IDG Publications | volume=4 | issue=35 | page=3 | via=Google Books}}</ref><ref name=starfire>{{cite news | last=Starfire | first=Brian | date=September 29, 1982 | url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/san-francisco-chronicle-multi-level-mark/181367964/ | title=Multi-Level Marketing for Home Units | work=San Francisco Chronicle | page=FF4 | via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Exidy stopped marketing the Sorcerer in 1981 after selling the rights to the Biotech Corporation, a venture capital company based in Richardson, Texas.<ref>{{cite magazine | last=Markoff | first=John | date=February 22, 1982 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ez4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA1 | title=Exidy splits from Silicon Valley | work=InfoWorld | publisher=IDG Publications | volume=4 | issue=7 | pages=1, 5 | via=Google Books}}</ref>{{rp|1}} The computer's sub-assemblies continued to be manufactured in California, where Exidy was based, with final assembly performed in Dallas close to Biotech and Dynasty.<ref name=push /> After selling the rights to the Sorcerer to Dynasty, the latter extended its hardware to support 64 KB of RAM and an 80-column text mode.<ref name=collectible>{{cite book | last=Nadeau | first=Michael | date=2002 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WXZNAAAACAAJ | title=Collectible Microcomputers | edition=Illustrated | series=Schiffer Book for Collectors | page=156 | publisher=Schiffer Publishing | isbn=9780764316005 | via=Google Books}}</ref>
By mid-1983, Dynasty had sold 3,000 units of the Smart-Alec II to its resellers, who operated in 28 states across the U.S.<ref name=programming />{{rp|76}}<ref>{{cite magazine | last=Carlson | first=S. | date=November 28, 1983 | url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A535579/GPS?u=wikipedia&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=30b19279 | title=Door-to-Door Computer Sales Still a Hard Knock | work=Micro Marketworld | publisher=IDG Communications | volume=6 | issue=21 | pages=57–58 | via=Gale}}</ref> Its resellers sold the computer via door-to-door sales and party plans, a la Amway and Avon.<ref name=burrough /><ref name=starfire /><ref name=dingdong /> Resellers who wanted to join Dynasty had to pay the company a $25 license fee.<ref name=profits>{{cite book | last= Schmidt | first=Allan H. | date=1984 | url=https://archive.org/details/computingforprof0000schm/page/41/ | title=Computing for Profits | publisher=Collier Books | pages=40–41 | isbn=9780020087601 | via=the Internet Archive}}</ref>{{rp|41}} Hagerty described the average reseller as "a [45-year-old] man with two children and a $45,000 income".<ref name=profits />{{rp|40}} The company's MLM approach was met with skepticism from traditional computer marketers, who predicted an early collapse due to the lack of comparison shopping inherent in MLM and the resellers' inability to tailor the computer's hardware to the specific needs of individuals.<ref name=push /><ref name=dingdong />
In early 1983, the company their second and final computer system, the Smart-Alec Jr., which was a rebadged version of the Laser 200 from VTech.<ref name=collectible /> Intended as a "starter" computer, it featured a Zilog Z80 microprocessor and an chiclet keyboard (as opposed to the mechanical keyboard of the Smart-Alec II, née Sorcerer).<ref name=programming />{{rp|76}}<ref name=buy25>{{cite magazine | last=Staff writer | date=November 7, 1983 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0C8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA36 | title=Buy 25, get one computer free | work=InfoWorld | publisher=IDG Publications | volume=5 | issue=45 | page=36 | via=Google Books}}</ref> Resellers could have bought just the computer itself or a bundle with 25 pieces of software for the same price.<ref name=buy25 />
Amid mounting competition from IBM and their upcoming PCjr, Dynasty stopped accepting new resellers in November 1983 and collapsed shortly thereafter.<ref name=collectible />
==References== {{reflist|colwidth=30em}}
==Further reading== * {{cite book | last=Churchill | first=Gilbert A. | author2=Neil M. Ford | author3=Orville C. Walker | date=1985 | orig-date=1981 | edition=2nd | url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Sales_Force_Management/GJBXkZWhO3UC | title=Sales Force Management: Planning, Implementation, and Control | publisher=R. D. Irwin | pages=239–246 | isbn=9780256031843 | via=Google Books}}
Category:1980 establishments in Texas Category:1983 disestablishments in Texas Category:American companies established in 1980 Category:American companies disestablished in 1983 Category:Computer companies established in 1980 Category:Computer companies disestablished in 1983 Category:Defunct computer companies of the United States Category:Defunct computer hardware companies Category:Defunct computer systems companies Category:Defunct multi-level marketing companies Category:Defunct computer companies based in Texas