No New Vaterra Products

[rkj__]

That’s it folks. They’re all done.

RIP Ascender




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[Itali83]

To end with a brown note like that is sad.

Ben

[andymac0035]

This is sad. Really makes me wish I had gotten around to getting mine earlier, but at least I got one.

[OCDRC]

"The current Vaterra line of vehicles will continue to be made and supported with spares etc as long as their is enough demand to meet production. They are not going away anytime soon."

Guess I'm SOL on my month old Ascender since in the typical Horizon fashion parts are going to be gone in 3 to 6 months.
That statement aged like milk IMO.

[smog]

Originally Posted by OCDRC

"The current Vaterra line of vehicles will continue to be made and supported with spares etc as long as their is enough demand to meet production. They are not going away anytime soon."

Guess I'm SOL on my month old Ascender since in the typical Horizon fashion parts are going to be gone in 3 to 6 months.
That statement aged like milk IMO.

The good news is that the Ascender is a pretty solid rig out of the box, but yeah what aftermarket there was has pulled out in a hurry. Between the Twin Hammers and the Ascender I have invested more than my share in Vaterra over the years. This is a kick in the nards to be sure. You can be sure Horizon will not support the platform. Any indications towards otherwise appears to have been a string of bullshit. Parts are already scarce. They have no intention of supporting it.

[OCDRC]

Yep, time to try and flip it and get an Axial, although I wonder how long the SCX10 II will be around with the III out. I honestly don't feel like I can trust anyone but Traxxas anymore.

[smog]

Originally Posted by OCDRC

Yep, time to try and flip it and get an Axial, although I wonder how long the SCX10 II will be around with the III out. I honestly don't feel like I can trust anyone but Traxxas anymore.

Horizon Hobbies is cycling through platforms pretty quickly these days. The SCX10ii is kind of junky anyway. It would be a mistake for you to buy it. Their builders kit was likely my worst RC purchase of the past couple of years. Traxxas is the better option. The Element crawler is a really nice kit as well.

[rkj__]

Originally Posted by OCDRC

I honestly don't feel like I can trust anyone but Traxxas anymore.

Interesting point. Traxxas has a demonstrated history of selling and supporting their vehicles for a long time.

Originally Posted by smog

Horizon Hobbies is cycling through platforms pretty quickly these days.

Originally Posted by smog

This is a kick in the nards to be sure. You can be sure Horizon will not support the platform. Any indications towards otherwise appears to have been a string of bullshit. Parts are already scarce. They have no intention of supporting it.

[$uicide $hift]

Originally Posted by OCDRC

Yep, time to try and flip it and get an Axial, although I wonder how long the SCX10 II will be around with the III out. I honestly don't feel like I can trust anyone but Traxxas anymore.

^^ Exactly ^^

I bought my son an SCX10 II for Xmas. It is a great truck. I also had picked up a TRX-4 for myself. I had an OG SCX10 that I still love and drive. I got the TRX - 4 as the SCX10 II did not have enough changes for me to justify buying it while I had an OG already. The TRX - 4 had the 2 speed and unlocking diffs. I bought one of these for myself and have been really impressed as I never thought I would own a Traxxas product.

After all of this Axial comes out with the III. I had to have one, the 2 speed with dig out of the box..... I still enjoy my TRX - 4 too and drive both. These however would show that the SCX10 II was a decent rig but not at the same level.

Yea I ended up buying him an SCX10 III a few weeks ago and he loves it. Still drives the II but that is now more of his project platform to play with while the III is his main rig.

So if you are looking to get another one, you cannot go wrong with the SCX10 III (when they are in stock) or the TRX - 4. Both are great durable platforms with tons of aftermarket support.

[andymac0035]

Originally Posted by smog

The good news is that the Ascender is a pretty solid rig out of the box, but yeah what aftermarket there was has pulled out in a hurry.

I hear that a lot and am hoping to find it to be true for mine. I thought about buying some spares while I still can, but all the feedback I have gotten (here and from people I crawl with) is that they really have not broken much of anything.

[Rich Trujillo]

Bummer to see the run come to an end sooner than expected. With so many at home and bored, R/C sales saw a bump and the Ascenders sold out quicker than expected. i have been assured the parts support will remain as long as demand is there and our MOQ's can be met. Little by little you will see parts start to run dry over the next 12 months.

Someone mentioned the SCX10-II, there is no plan to discontinue that product. We will thin the line down but it will be around for a while.

Thanks for the support all these years for my baby but all good things sadly eventually come to an end.

Rich

[meatmonkey]

I'm heavily biased toward my ascended, so I would have rather seen an ascended 2.0 with portals and beefier links rather than an scx10.3.

Seems like twin hammer parts are drying up already. Count myself lucky to have stocked on twin parts from rpphobby.

[DLRC]

Disappointing for sure. I'm a casual hobbyist in that I don't spend the time purists do driving, building, tinkering, etc.. but I love RC and do enjoy it when I have time. I went 20 years without and in 2016 I started buying 1 new model a year; in 2018 I went with the Ascender Bronco over Axial and the TRX-4. My other 3 models (not crawlers) are all Traxxas. I like them, but one of the the main reasons why is because I know 10, 20, maybe more years down the road, I'll still have support for each model. You can use them as intended knowing you can buy every part needed to build one from the ground up, individually. I went out on a limb so to speak with Vaterra based on the reports that "the acquisition of Axial wouldn't have an effect on Vaterra". That was mentioned many times multiple places. The reality is, what did happen was exactly what the people who asked the question originally, feared. I'm very happy with the Bronco, upgraded to a 20kg metal gear servo and everything else has been great, but the lack of future support makes me wonder if it won't be better replaced by a TRX-4 and left on the shelf as a memory. That's a bummer.

[meatmonkey]

Dont shelf your Ascender. Its very durable. Plus theres still plenty of the proprietary parts, such as cvd's and housings, floating around.

I have most of the popular 1.9 trucks, and I wouldn't say that the trx4 is much, if any, better performer than the ascender depending on the terrain. Plus while the 2 speed and diff locks are fun to play with, they take longer to service when the time comes and add weight.

[DLRC]

After thinking about it, I'll keep running my Bronco. I just went over it this past weekend to make sure everything was tightened up and ready to go. In hindsight I wish I'd have bought another body before they we're gone too, just in case I beat this one up too bad. I actually like the short wheelbase and closest replacement I can find is 285mm. Hopefully since it doesn't see high speeds it won't be an issue. I guess if something down the road does fail and I can't find a replacement part, I can beg for help on the forum.

[BJoe]

Man, this sucks! I never really got a chance to run mine and was going to get it going and see if it still runs.

[durok]

Went for a crawl with my bud Miatardo yesterday - he ran his TRX-4 Bronco, his son ran his Ascender F-100, I ran my Ascender K10... My Enduro Sendero came along just in case - but we never had an occasion to run it as all our other rigs just flat tore it up with no issues to report!

I have a NIB K10 body and cage to redo mine and make it all purty, and am thinking of trying to find a Suburban body on closeout somewhere so I can swap the grill to the new K10 and have lights.

We'll see how that goes!

[JRDV]

I would be interested in a suburban if anyone has one for sale. I kick myself for not buying one when they came out!

[HVACguru]

What a bummer.
My fully built Ascender has hit the trail maybe twice :(
Just leaves such a sour note in my mouth.

I will certainly think long and hard about another HH purchase moving forward. And will not be making it, period. Their track record stinks.
First RC I bought when I got back into the hobby 8 years ago was an HH product, discontinued.
My next purchase was a Traxxas product in 2013/2014, still fully supported today. Up to this date I have bought and sold roughly 20-25 radio controlled vehicles, 5 of which were HH brands/products. All discontinued now, some soon after I bought them. Heck, two from a brand that doesn't even exist anymore. If you research Vaterra on HH's website it's some odds and ends parts. I was warned on the forums when I got back in that HH has a history of doing that, but I was ignorant of it at the time. I am certainly not ignorant of it anymore. Being in business for myself I just couldn't imagine someone spending that kind of money with my company, to then turn around and expect them to do it all over again on a new platform. Sorry, not going to happen.

All this negative feeling towards a company while the Traxxas vehicles I have retained I can still support outside of my own parts wall. Hopefully they too don't go the way of the dodo.

[RMNixon]

Originally Posted by HVACguru

What a bummer.
My fully built Ascender has hit the trail maybe twice :(
Just leaves such a sour note in my mouth.

I couldn't have said it better myself. I've been in the hobby off and on since 1984 and after Vaterra shut down I decided to be a Traxxas-only guy for the all the reasons you mentioned. I've got a huge fleet of vehicles I can't really drive anymore because there are no parts - Ofnas, Thunder Tigers, Losis, Axials, a couple Vaterras, some Hobbyking crap, a couple Hobao 1/8 buggies. These are just the ones I can think of off-hand. The Ascender really broke my heart though, it was such a huge step up at the time from the SCX10 and the folks that used to hang out on this forum were a really great group. I love my short wheelbase Bronco, but I'll never be able to find another body for it...