Initially only a home audio equipment brand, its product line expanded to include CB radios, walkie-talkies, and video camcorders by the 1980s.

The brand began in 1954 after Radio Shack management were approached by stereo newcomer Harman Kardon, who offered to help create a line of private label audio equipment for the company.

These would be the only Realist-branded products, as the brand’s name was challenged by the David White Company, manufacturer of the Stereo Realist camera[1] in 1955.

The company's most notable products under the Realistic brand included the extensive line of TRC series Citizens Band radio transceivers, which dominated the CB Radio market during the 1970s, and included the Navaho series of CB base station units.

A 1977 motion picture entitled Handle with Care was sponsored at the time by Tandy Corporation, in part to showcase the line.

In 1993, Tandy Corporation sold off the bulk of its manufacturing facilities in a bid to not only cut costs but offer more brand-name electronics in lieu of their own.