The 2020 cassette recorder was one of several peripherals matched the 2068 in design. A variation was also sold by Radio Shack as the Minisette-9.
Origin: A Sampo OEM Design
The TS 2020 was a Sampo-built recorder sold under many brands. Variations of the same chassis went out as the Realistic Minisette-9 (Radio Shack), and similar units were sold by Sears Canada, GE, and others. Timex did not design or manufacture the recorder; they bought it from Sampo, rebadged as the Timex/Sinclair 2020.
George Grimm’s Discovery
Many users experiences poor load success rates with off-the-shelf tape recorders. According to George Grimm, the breakthrough came from a trip to the Radio Shack about a mile down the road from TCC headquarters in Torrington, Connecticut.
“I went into this young fellow behind the counter who was the manager. I said, ‘We need a cassette player.'”
Grimm bought one. Skyrme told him to go back and buy every unit in stock. “Billy had like ten. I came back with the other nine.”
A Single Radio Shack Becomes the Top Store in the Country
Once Timex began directing customers to the Realistic recorder, that single Radio Shack store outsold every other Radio Shack in the country. The manager won an internal sales award and a trip with his wife. Timex eventually ordered 20,000 units through Radio Shack.
Timex eventually published a list of approved recorders, but the Realistic — and the Timex-branded version of it — was the one that worked best.
