If Olympia's machines are the Mercedes-Benz of typewriters (and many have called them so), the portable typewriters of Brother Industries might be the Toyotas or Hondas: competitively priced, intelligently engineered, a pleasure to use. This 1976 Sears Achiever is a terrific example of the JP-7 design from Brother Industries, which entered the market in 1960 with a design now known as the JP-1 and succeeded wildly until the word processor ended the era of manual typewriters in the early 1980s.

In terms of the user experience this machine offers, and the quality of its printed type, I'm tempted to call this the Sears Overachiever. Here's a quick look at this wide-carriage portable typewriter at work:

1976 Sears Achiever (Brother JP-7) typewriter at work

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Brother's four generations of manual portable typewriters are known to collectors as the JP-1, JP-3, JP-5 and JP-7. (Even numbers were reserved for the company's electrics, which are also wonderful machines.) The Achiever, built for sale by Sears Roebuck, incorporates everything that Brother had learned about the design and manufacture of portable typewriters over the previous two decades. It's a pleasure for the typist -- fast, easy, precise in its response to the user's keyboard inputs -- everything falls to hand so naturally, and the quality of its printed impression compares with the best and priciest manual typewriters of the era.

The Achiever is a full-featured machine as lightweight portable typewriters go: It has adjustable touch control, a full keyboard with the numeral 1 and exclamation point, keyboard tabulation controls, pull-up paper support, even a repeat-spacer function that's handy for filling out forms. This machine comes with a fitted, double-walled carrying case that protects it well. As you can see, the cosmetic condition of this typewriter is excellent. The biggest repair this machine needed was to its cracked ribbon cover, which has been epoxied and reinforced from the inside.

I began my work with this machine by extracting its mechanism from the body shell for cleaning with compressed air, brushes and solvents. Before thorough testing, I fitted this typewriter with a fresh bichrome ink ribbon -- and again, I urge you to study the specimen typed page, because the quality and precision of this machine's impression are remarkably good.

I'm a veteran typewriter hobbyist, having collected and repaired these amazing machines for more than 40 years. I've sold more than 700 typewriters here on eBay and I encourage you to review my seller feedback. I ship promptly, pack with care and am quick to respond to new owners with questions about their machines.

Thanks for reading.