This is a post that is not aimed at any one individual, but at an attitude that in my opinion reduces the overall enjoyment of the hobby and this and many other forums in general.
We are buying kits, RTR's, and parts from dozens of companies and it's only natural for someone to dislike one over another and for that matter for some companies to fail or prosper based on cost management, product pricing, marketing, reputation, manufacturing enough to meet demand, etc.
Lets not forget the everyday variations in the world's economy, and the ability to start trends or jump on them in time to keep up with competitors. The Axial coupon issue was shocking right when it happened, which is understandable because of the fact they are so important to this hobby and change makes people uncomfortable. Everyone's gotta do what they can to keep their head above water. If you don't like a company, though - I don't believe in making grand, sweeping generalizations that are hard to take in any way other than an insult to anyone's judgement that bought their products.
If you have owned a product and had a issue with it's quality or performance, by all means it should be a good idea to spread the knowledge - also if the mfg corrects the situation that should be noted as well. If you had a problem with one part it doesn't mean the mfg entire product line is crap. There aren't any companies that make more than a few RC products and have never made a misstep.
Lastly, the issues with the location of the manufacturing itself is a very grey area in this modern world. If you are concerned with American jobs, some thought should be given to the total number of employees that make a living from the parent company working in all the positions, not just manufacturing. A telling factor is that many (not all!) Americans would much rather work a white collar rather than a blue collar job. That's just one of many reasons why so much manufacturing happens overseas.
Being patriotic is one thing, putting out a vibe that anything from somewhere else (whether the entire company is "foreign" or just the manufacturing takes place in a non-American location) is shite or even less than of American quality is perilously close to nationalism. Nationalism leads to a general sense of superiority over other peoples for various reasons, be they cultural, racial, or religious. This eventually leads to conflict, general unpleasantness, and often war. Yeah, I went there.
We need to friggin' get along. This planet is rapidly turning into a toxic place in so many ways and following a general rule of doing to others as you would have them do to you is the best way for us to all make it. And if you are one of those lovely individuals that claims you don't care what other people think about you at all, and that makes you think you can run around being an ass - well, that's not the point. You may well need for someone someday to realize that you are worth helping or even saving in a situation that you never thought you'd be in.
This has been a rant, but a well-intended one. My new year's resolution is to try to only allow myself one big potentially embarrassing and flame-inducing post. This is a hobby forum, and hobbies exist to make life more pleasant. We all work hard to be able to take part in it at whatever level we've achieved. It's NOT a contest, although if you are entering them within the hobby that's great. But discussing the hobby itself certainly isn't a contest, and should be as drama-free as possible.
Many thanks to anyone who read this whole thing and those who have posted useful information on this forum, and everyone that takes part in this hobby - be they vendors, manufacturers, distributors, rock racers, comp crawlers, scalers, trail runners, bashers, builders, newbies, lurkers, or whatever!
Peace.......................
