HobbiCo / Great Planes / Tower Hobbies

[Natedog]

Hope Tower survives, in the past when they list as discontinued, it just means Tower stopped selling it...should just say no longer carried.

[Robbob]

Originally Posted by soze

Waterproof receiver box.

Guess they're taking pages from Apples play book.

[Robbob]

Originally Posted by Natedog

Hope Tower survives, in the past when they list as discontinued, it just means Tower stopped selling it...should just say no longer carried.

Im wondering how sales will do for Traxxas they start pulling out of these big distributors or suing more people. They could sell it all through themselves but its gonna take a toll on their business after some time.

Towers still has boats and planes plus some remaining car companies, at least till they piss them off or cant pay the bill.

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by Robbob

Guess they're taking pages from Apples play book.

They have to protect their new inventions. I can't hate Traxxas for that.

Originally Posted by Robbob

Im wondering how sales will do for Traxxas they start pulling out of these big distributors or suing more people. They could sell it all through themselves but its gonna take a toll on their business after some time.

I do agree with this though. I think Traxxas is eventually going to start alienating distributors, dealers, resellers and, most importantly, customers. They are trying to make themselves into an entire ecosphere like Apple. You can use any product as long as it's Apple. I hate things like this and it's one of the reasons I hate Apple.

This seems to have started with their battery plugs. Traxxas will no longer sell them to other companies and as an individual I believe you can only buy them in packs of 2.

[skinnyj]

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

They have to protect their new inventions. I can't hate Traxxas for that.



I do agree with this though. I think Traxxas is eventually going to start alienating distributors, dealers, resellers and, most importantly, customers. They are trying to make themselves into an entire ecosphere like Apple. You can use any product as long as it's Apple. I hate things like this and it's one of the reasons I hate Apple.

This seems to have started with their battery plugs. Traxxas will no longer sell them to other companies and as an individual I believe you can only buy them in packs of 2.

Does this mean there is a "Traxxas Store" coming to my local mall?

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by skinnyj

Does this mean there is a "Traxxas Store" coming to my local mall?

At this point it's called Pep Boys.

[Robbob]

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

At this point it's called Pep Boys.

My Pep Boys dropped them years ago.

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by Robbob

My Pep Boys dropped them years ago.

Really? I haven't been into a Pep Boys in years so maybe Traxxas killed that deal too.

[soze]

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

Really? I haven't been into a Pep Boys in years so maybe Traxxas killed that deal too.

Yeah they were dropped. There was something about Pep Boys carrying 1:1 scale parts that were infringing on some of Traxxas' Patents.

[THUNDER PRO]

The problem with pep boys was there were sales but no support to the customer at the point of purchase. Would you buy from a hobby shop that knew nothing at all about whats in the box? You would not be satisfied with a rake that you bought from the grocery store or a steak frome home depot. The hassle it created for most pep boys store managers was not worth the small overall income from the slow sales.

[EddieO]

Pep boys stopped carrying them because they were constantly dealing with fraud and theft on them. Theft was bad enough, but people were buying them, taking parts out....and returning them....and the guy behind the counter had no clue what should or should not be in the box. There were cases of people putting RCs from Walmart back in the box and returning them...it was that bad. Pep boys decided it was not worth the losses to make the crappy margins on most kits...

Later EddieO

[JatoTheRipper]

Tower is completely out of Redcat stuff and now BigSquid is reporting Horizon is distributing Redcat. Coincidence? Or another nail in the coffin?

Redcat Racing Teams Up With Horizon Hobby « Big Squid RC – News, Reviews, Videos, and More!

[cmbscx10]

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

Tower is completely out of Redcat stuff and now BigSquid is reporting Horizon is distributing Redcat. Coincidence? Or another nail in the coffin?

Redcat Racing Teams Up With Horizon Hobby « Big Squid RC – News, Reviews, Videos, and More!

Saw that and not just a nail but an old timy square nail that you still see in wood from 200 years ago.

[Inspector86]

I just found out that Summit Racing is now a Traxxas dealer and everything Traxxas sells is or will be available from Summit's web site. For those that may not know who Summit Racing is they are one of the big three online 1:1 performance and racing parts suppliers ahead of Jeg's and Speedway Motors. I hate to think how many tens of thousands of dollars I have spent with Summit Racing over the past ten years.

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by cmbscx10

Saw that and not just a nail but an old timy square nail that you still see in wood from 200 years ago.

Those are freaking cool! As a kid I called them mini railroad tie spikes. These days it would be scale railroad tie spikes.

[c0bra]

Originally Posted by Robbob

Im wondering how sales will do for Traxxas they start pulling out of these big distributors or suing more people. They could sell it all through themselves but its gonna take a toll on their business after some time.

I’m wondering the same thing, just hoping that Tower/Hobbico will be able to survive to see traxxas come running back to them.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Robbob]

Originally Posted by Inspector86

I just found out that Summit Racing is now a Traxxas dealer and everything Traxxas sells is or will be available from Summit's web site. For those that may not know who Summit Racing is they are one of the big three online 1:1 performance and racing parts suppliers ahead of Jeg's and Speedway Motors. I hate to think how many tens of thousands of dollars I have spent with Summit Racing over the past ten years.

Warranty phone calls are gonna drive Summit customer support crazy. Short term good for both, long term bad for traxxas bottom line numbers.

I joined the Traxxas FB page a while ago and I cant believe majority of the questions or problems they post over there.

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by Robbob

Warranty phone calls are gonna drive Summit customer support crazy. Short term good for both, long term bad for traxxas bottom line numbers.

I joined the Traxxas FB page a while ago and I cant believe majority of the questions or problems they post over there.

I would think Summit will direct them right to Traxxas.

A lot of Facebook groups are full of the dumbest and laziest people on Earth. You see posts like "Wut battry shood I uze?"

Traxxas doesn't have many real threats at this time IMHO. Arrma is one that some people keep talking up. But let's see if Arrma survives long term especially if their parent company, HobbiCo, is having issues.

[Robbob]

Originally Posted by c0bra

I’m wondering the same thing, just hoping that Tower/Hobbico will be able to survive to see traxxas come running back to them.


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I think Hobbico screwed up long before this its just that the effect finally kicked in. That whole employee owned company just read like a giant ponzi scheme that was legal. I feel bad for the employees and wished there was something legal they could do to protect themselves more.

Tower .... nothing against them, hope they do survive. My opinion of them is they are the Sears of the RC Hobby.

Traxxas - Well I hope this just increases their bottom line expenses. I cant knock their smart business thinking of patenting a groove and a gasket around a plastic box or how shocks are connected to a vehicle or a battery is placed in a vehicle. It was smart of them. It was also smart of Apple to patent the 'swipe to unlock' for electronic devices but Traxxas isnt Apple.


Just read a post today on fBook traxxas page that was a slash, the owner apparently must have put the body posts on backwards so the body was shifted back. They had to post on Facebook asking how to fix it. Now imagine 1000 of those drivers calling these non rc customer support numbers and asking this question. Yup short term good long term (not that the bean counters care) its just screwing it up for a lot of good people.

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by Robbob

I think Hobbico screwed up long before this its just that the effect finally kicked in. That whole employee owned company just read like a giant ponzi scheme that was legal. I feel bad for the employees and wished there was something legal they could do to protect themselves more.

Tower .... nothing against them, hope they do survive. My opinion of them is they are the Sears of the RC Hobby.

Traxxas - Well I hope this just increases their bottom line expenses. I cant knock their smart business thinking of patenting a groove and a gasket around a plastic box or how shocks are connected to a vehicle or a battery is placed in a vehicle. It was smart of them. It was also smart of Apple to patent the 'swipe to unlock' for electronic devices but Traxxas isnt Apple.


Just read a post today on fBook traxxas page that was a slash, the owner apparently must have put the body posts on backwards so the body was shifted back. They had to post on Facebook asking how to fix it. Now imagine 1000 of those drivers calling these non rc customer support numbers and asking this question. Yup short term good long term (not that the bean counters care) its just screwing it up for a lot of good people.

I would agree. Financial crashes typically don't come from one mistake nor do they happen overnight.

What do you mean by Sears of the RC world?

I don't hate companies for protecting their intellectual property. Patent scopes are so narrow that there are often easy and legal ways around them.