Is it just me, or is axial overpriced?

[theTman]

With newer competitors with axial popping up I am starting to notice something. It seems like other manufacturers give you more for your money. I buy an axial bomber and find I have to upgrade many things out of the box so it won't break. With other companies you can pay less and get a lot more metal components (links for instance). Also, just browsing the traxxas site they have some pretty amazing stuff for the price of a bomber.

I am wondering if it's all the branding they use, or just that they had the market cornered for so long and people pay for the name like nike shoes.

[WHITE-TRASH]

Stop buying axial rtr rigs and you'll end up with better components over all. Traxxas owns the rtr market.

[Duuuuuuuude]

Big difference is that Traxxas doesn't make rigs for people that like to build things, they make rigs for people who like to drive things.

[TacoCrawler]

my bet is it's because of licensing to utilize the Jeep trademark name.

[JatoTheRipper]

You may have opened the flood gates on this one.

Yes, Axial is overpriced. Their plastics suck and their vehicles need lots of upgrades to make them durable. The RTRs are a joke and probably some of the worst on the market with the junk electronics and plastic links at too high of a price point. The kits are better and the Bomber is the most well-equipped Axial kit that I've experienced. You would have been better off getting the Bomber kit, but it's too late for that.

Previously, you could get Axial vehicles at reasonable prices with the coupons at Tower Hobbies. But Axial put a stop to coupons on their vehicles which I'm assuming is because they are having financial troubles.

[OldNTired]

Oh, they're over priced and overated for RTR. Kit's are marginally better. At least you get a few hop ups there. Think it's about time that Traxxas entered the scale world and hopefully Vaterra will continue to up their game along with MST, Tamiya and RC4WD. Axial needs to be brought down a few notches. Not saying I want them to disappear mind you... I like my Yeti (kit) and still have my EXO. Would just like to see more competition in the scaler market.

[ROWDY RACING]

Yes

[theTman]

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

You may have opened the flood gates on this one.

Yes, Axial is overpriced. Their plastics suck and their vehicles need lots of upgrades to make them durable. The RTRs are a joke and probably some of the worst on the market with the junk electronics and plastic links at too high of a price point. The kits are better and the Bomber is the most well-equipped Axial kit that I've experienced. You would have been better off getting the Bomber kit, but it's too late for that.

Previously, you could get Axial vehicles at reasonable prices with the coupons at Tower Hobbies. But Axial put a stop to coupons on their vehicles which I'm assuming is because they are having financial troubles.

I would have got the kit but it wasn't out and it was looking like they had no plans to make a kit version.

[badhoopty]

maybe if axial had focused a bit more on the hobbyist side (spare parts and such) and not just trying to bait people into buying rtrs they wouldnt have spread themselves too thin.

[Ty@Tekin]

No.

Molding that many plastic parts costs a lot. Their plastic is much better than the AX10 days, good enough that my loaner rig still has the RTR plastic links on it. Yeah sure they are bent up now, but none have ever broke and the truck has taken a flogging from inexperienced drivers getting wheel time. You're going to get mostly "YES" here because RCC is full of a lot of builders that never would buy an RTR and leave it that way, nor buy a kit and not upgrade it. I honestly don't think that $300 ($400 for the SCX10-II) for a RTR scaler that is pretty capable out of the box is overpriced at all. As everyone said above, when you license the wheels, lights, body and tires, that's going to drive the price up. Scale is meant to be realistic and if you want replica licensed products to add scale points, it's going to cost more. To a lot of people that adds important realism and ties into the 1:1 offroad world, which is exactly what scale RC should be doing.

[mikemcE]

I don't think they are overpriced vs the competition. Every RC I own from all mfgr (4) has needed lots of extras to MEET MY NEEDS......
That said I beat the crap out of them at speed on big batteries and all way overpowered....

Curious about the Traxxas new crawler....

Hang up and Drive

[mikemcE]

I should add, I bought the rtr, upgraded the stock parts, because....... I wanted to ? I really never broke anything, because I had already beefed it up. My slash buggy destroyed many stock parts multiple times, now it too is bulletproof on 3s.
I just upgraded my rear axle to a SSD, to eliminate torque twist, Sold the stocker that was upgraded but never broke


Hang up and Drive

[krazykrawler]

I feel they are in the correct pricepoint,considering the competition.That doesnt mean i buy their kits,though.Way back in the day,Axial AX-10 was my first ever crawler.It was the first and only rc that ive ever pre-ordered.
It was awesome to learn how to crawl and relearn how to drive an rc,as i was an 1/8 buggy racer.But as time progressed,so did my skills.Well,i progressed but Axial axle housings did not.They kept bringing out new kits but ,surprise,they were all Jeeps.Oh wait,they did throw in an ugly Dingo body.Kits were better with the metal links,but still had to replace c-hubs,knuckles,gears,lockers,etc.etc.
Fast forward to today.I now run Vaterra Ascender .They come out of the box with metal links,even RTR.I got mine used and was basically a "test" rig for other people to test out.So far,ive only replaced a few spur gears and a motor.The versatility of the frame just blew me away as it was adjustable wheelbase and just look at the size of the axle pumpkins.Genius
Ive gotton away from Axial as for now.It would take a giant leap from Axial R&D dept to get me to come back

[Robbob]

Originally Posted by Ty@Tekin

You're going to get mostly "YES" here because RCC is full of a lot of builders that never would buy an RTR and leave it that way, nor buy a kit and not upgrade it. I honestly don't think that $300 ($400 for the SCX10-II) for a RTR scaler that is pretty capable out of the box is overpriced at all. As everyone said above, when you license the wheels, lights, body and tires, that's going to drive the price up. Scale is meant to be realistic and if you want replica licensed products to add scale points, it's going to cost more. To a lot of people that adds important realism and ties into the 1:1 offroad world, which is exactly what scale RC should be doing.

Nail'd it!


They have come a long way on their plastics for sure but for what the general population puts the trucks through, even the old stuff was pretty damn tough.

Think of it this way .... you're paying 400$ for a rtr that has more in common with the actual offroad world then an Associated B44.(what ever they are up to now) has with any racing world. You buy a buggy kit for 300$ and you get nothing but the car. You're not paying for any licensing or scalism in those, you are paying for their team guys to fly track to track and race.

[Hardcoretam]

They're pretty overpriced here in the UK at least vs the likes of the Ascender.
Ascender is make in Europe so whilst we're still part of it, shops and the likes can import them very cheaply where as there are more costs involved with products outside of Europe such as Axial.

Despite the SCX10.1 being very closely priced to the Ascender here, the Ascender seems a much better truck when it's standard vs standards. Ascender is closer to the SCX10 II but the cost difference here between them is massive.

[K.O.M.]

I think they are about on par with what's on the market. Vaterra and Losi can get you a bit more value with the Spektrum electronics, if already own a Spektrum multi-model radio.

The earlier SCX10 RTRs were over priced IMHO, especially when the Ascender came out. Better links, better radio. But with the SCX10-2, Axial is about on par. I argue the Axial bodies are a bit more detailed and nicer.

But honestly, if Axial had not been on a roll with the SCX-10 or Yeti based platforms, the other players would not have entered to give us all the choice. And currently, they (Axial) have the aftermarket covered.

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by Ty@Tekin

No.

Molding that many plastic parts costs a lot. Their plastic is much better than the AX10 days, good enough that my loaner rig still has the RTR plastic links on it. Yeah sure they are bent up now, but none have ever broke and the truck has taken a flogging from inexperienced drivers getting wheel time. You're going to get mostly "YES" here because RCC is full of a lot of builders that never would buy an RTR and leave it that way, nor buy a kit and not upgrade it. I honestly don't think that $300 ($400 for the SCX10-II) for a RTR scaler that is pretty capable out of the box is overpriced at all. As everyone said above, when you license the wheels, lights, body and tires, that's going to drive the price up. Scale is meant to be realistic and if you want replica licensed products to add scale points, it's going to cost more. To a lot of people that adds important realism and ties into the 1:1 offroad world, which is exactly what scale RC should be doing.

Axial isn't just the SCX10 and SCX10 II. People often forget that.

Axial's plastic is still nothing to write home about. Has it improved? Some parts, yes. Some parts, no. The AR60 axles are still as fragile as ever. And the OG SCX10 axles have seemed to have gotten worse. The glass fibers, that you could feel while cutting into the old axle trees, are gone.

Compare the SCX10 II to its most direct competition, the Ascender. The SCX10 II kit is $30 more. They are equally equipped. The Ascender also has licensed bodies and tires. Licensing fees for the Icons shocks do not account for the extra $30 difference. The Icon shocks suck. If I'm paying $30 extra for the license of those garbage shocks I'd say Axial spent money on the wrong license. I'll take Vaterra's plastic shocks over Axial's aluminum bodied shocks any day. Aluminum does not always mean better and this is a great example. More proof that the SCX10 II kit is overpriced is the fact that it is only $10 less than the Bomber kit which is probably the best value that Axial offers. It's a larger scale and is very well equipped.

Now let's look at the RTR. The SCX10 II is $10 more than the Ascender. The SCX10 II includes the same old frame and old style transmission from the original SCX10 as well as steel links instead of aluminum found in the kit. The Ascender RTR is virtually the same as their kit and it has better electronics. Again, the SCX10 II RTR falls behind in value.

Now the best example that Axial is overpriced is the SMT10. It's $400 RTR. The body and scale chassis are great. The axles and transmission are the some old, weak parts that have been around for ages. The electronics sucks and the truck can barely get out of its own way. The transmission gears are plastic, the AR60 axles are weak, and the wheels strip easily because they are made from garbage plastic.

[OSRC]

Don't seem to have any trouble selling their trucks, so I'd say no.

Valuation is very subjective....

[Ditchrat]

Originally Posted by OSRC

Valuation is very subjective....

Yes it is, and time and money are often interchangeable, with time not being considered into the cost.

I sourced a ground up build, and after you consider the parts I was going to replace on the rtr, IE links, hd gears, sevo horn, servo, motor, wheels and tires, the ground up build came in at less of a cost, but a hell of a lot more time.

The value of a rtr drops considerably if you plan changing anything from rtr.

[Hardcoretam]

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

Compare the SCX10 II to its most direct competition, the Ascender. The SCX10 II kit is $30 more.

The price difference here in the UK is massive compared to that between the two. The Ascender is really picking up popularity quickly over here and at almost $100 price difference between it and the SCX10 II i can see more people going the Vatterra route in the long term unless there's a drastic price change when we finally leave the EU.

Prices to buy here when converted to US $

Ascender Blazer Kit: $292
Ascender Bronco RTR: $341

SCX10 II Kit: $389
SCX10 II RTR: $450

SCX10 Deadbolt RTR: $352

Even the original SCX10 RTR is more expensive than an Ascender. Same same with the rest of the lineup. Wraith, Bomber, Yeti etc.