HobbiCo / Great Planes / Tower Hobbies

[Ditchrat]

Why do you hate Traxxas? I may have asked you that before. If so, please forgive me. I have a horrible memory. I bet a TRX-4 would change your mind though. They have the quality that Axial has never had and still doesn't have.

R.

I hate just about any company who has a fan boy following where you can never get a honest critique of their products, particularly when they start believing the over inflated hype. Which traxxas did. rehashing old products just dressed up, telling the consumer what they want, and not listening to the market.


I am surprised however that Traxxas is listening to the crawling community in their updates/new releases.


I have said it before the TRX4 with the exception on the locking diffs and two speed was done right. With the option of the sport. There is no doubt that traxxas just became the king of creating and marketing a rig that is right, straight out of the box for most people.



Only thing left is a kit without electronics, wheels and tires(doubt we will see that), and a super scale version with forward mounted motor for the hard body builds.


The only thing that might save axial is stop the deadbolt/honcho BS. Put in a forward mount motor, get a portal option(people really like them), and do something different.


I think a stock 2.2, wroncho style rig would be a hit.

 

[StomperCrawler]

That's not the case now with the release of the TRX-4 Sport. It's $30 cheaper than the Cherokee RTR.

The Deadbolt is $40 less than the Sport.

 

[JatoTheRipper]

I hate just about any company who has a fan boy following where you can never get a honest critique of their products, particularly when they start believing the over inflated hype. Which traxxas did. rehashing old products just dressed up, telling the consumer what they want, and not listening to the market.


I am surprised however that Traxxas is listening to the crawling community in their updates/new releases.


I have said it before the TRX4 with the exception on the locking diffs and two speed was done right. With the option of the sport. There is no doubt that traxxas just became the king of creating and marketing a rig that is right, straight out of the box for most people.



Only thing left is a kit without electronics, wheels and tires(doubt we will see that), and a super scale version with forward mounted motor for the hard body builds.


The only thing that might save axial is stop the deadbolt/honcho BS. Put in a forward mount motor, get a portal option(people really like them), and do something different.


I think a stock 2.2, wroncho style rig would be a hit.

I get that because I hate fanboys of any group. That's why I hate Harley riders (but own a Buell). That's what I hate the VP Army (even though I have VP parts). The list goes on. No company is perfect. Admit that. Don't be a closed-minded fanboy.

Hate Traxxas for their business model of selling the same stuff, but it's worked. They'll stop doing it when people stop buying them.

Get a TRX-4 Sport for your son and then you can get a taste, but blame it on him! "thumbsup"

Axial has never listened to customers. We've been begging for a scale, front motor rig since shortly after the OG SCX10 was released. Instead we got, what, the ****ing Yeti?

The Deadbolt is $40 less than the Sport.

The Deadbolt isn't comparable to the TRX-4 Sport. The Deadbolt and Honcho don't have the upgrades like the TRX-4 Sport. Steel links is just one thing. That's why I compared the RTR Cherokee and the TRX-4 Sport. That's a close comparison. The plastic mess that is the Deadbolt and Honcho are lesser vehicles.

 

[Ditchrat]

I don't think portal rigs are cheaters. You gain ground clearance, but also lose out with a higher center of gravity.
.

Im going to disagree with you. Portals are no different then a 2.2 tire rig when it comes to being a cheater rig.

As to higher center of gravity. In the real world this is the reason portals are not wide spread. In the scale world that disadvantage does not translate.

Im not going to BS you and say there isnt some, but it really isnt noticeable, once they brass out the axles.


And really by cheater I am just associating them with 2.2 rigs. I.E. taking the easy route. Frankly I can care less if people do that, but I am a little tired of people thinking they are crawling Gods because of the portals.


It is just a matter of time until people learn to set up gates, and obstacles to shake out their weaknesses. Until then yeah cheater rigs;-)

 

[JatoTheRipper]

Im going to disagree with you. Portals are no different then a 2.2 tire rig when it comes to being a cheater rig.

As to higher center of gravity. In the real world this is the reason portals are not wide spread. In the scale world that disadvantage does not translate.

Im not going to BS you and say there isnt some, but it really isnt noticeable, once they brass out the axles.


And really by cheater I am just associating them with 2.2 rigs. I.E. taking the easy route. Frankly I can care less if people do that, but I am a little tired of people thinking they are crawling Gods because of the portals.


It is just a matter of time until people learn to set up gates, and obstacles to shake out their weaknesses. Until then yeah cheater rigs;-)

I see what you're saying. Yes, 2.2s are cheaters and I'd say they have the same drawbacks as portals with the higher center of gravity. I'd disagree that this isn't noticeable in RC. Driving my TRX-4 next to one of my other trucks proves it to me.

Are portals legal in competition?

 

[Ditchrat]

Are portals legal in competition?

Yes, but really It is the portal fan boys that annoy me. I do comp but honestly couldn't care less about any advantages. A person who takes comping seriously would be stupid not to take any advantage, what ever that might be they could get. Im not one of those people that get pissy when others take the advantages I choose not to take. For example I like a scaled hard body, not a cut up comp style hardbody. Ill never win a class 1 with a full d90 body, with a heavy metal roof rack filled with stupid shyte. I will however enjoy myself.



Im just unwilling to get that involved. Comps are a way for me to force my son to run a defined course and work on skills. Anyone can go free crawl and make themselves think they are a crawling hero, its when you are forced to run someone elses lines you can judge whether or not you have any skills.

 

[JatoTheRipper]

Yes, but really It is the portal fan boys that annoy me. I do comp but honestly couldn't care less about any advantages. A person who takes comping seriously would be stupid not to take any advantage, what ever that might be they could get. Im not one of those people that get pissy when others take the advantages I choose not to take. For example I like a scaled hard body, not a cut up comp style hardbody. Ill never win a class 1 with a full d90 body, with a heavy metal roof rack filled with stupid shyte. I will however enjoy myself.



Im just unwilling to get that involved. Comps are a way for me to force my son to run a defined course and work on skills. Anyone can go free crawl and make themselves think they are a crawling hero, its when you are forced to run someone elses lines you can judge whether or not you have any skills.

Just a few years ago everybody hated portals. I'm not sure when the fanboys changed their mind, but it's a lot of the same people. :lmao:

I have no issues with portals. I love them on my TRX-4, but I wouldn't want them on every rig.

I don't agree that portals should be allowed in all classes, but I don't agree with a lot of comp rules and it's one of the big reasons I have little interest in competing.

I mean you can't run a stock Ascender, but you can put portals on an SCX10 and go run? F that.

 

[Col_Sanders]

Portals are legal. The deal with the Ascender battery tray is that they are trying to keep people from mounting their batteries on the axle. I think its easier for them just to ban batteries on the axle all together than to try to write in a rule that allows it to be done like the Ascender's battery tray.

Im going to disagree with you. Portals are no different then a 2.2 tire rig when it comes to being a cheater rig.

As to higher center of gravity. In the real world this is the reason portals are not wide spread. In the scale world that disadvantage does not translate.

Im not going to BS you and say there isnt some, but it really isnt noticeable, once they brass out the axles.


And really by cheater I am just associating them with 2.2 rigs. I.E. taking the easy route. Frankly I can care less if people do that, but I am a little tired of people thinking they are crawling Gods because of the portals.


It is just a matter of time until people learn to set up gates, and obstacles to shake out their weaknesses. Until then yeah cheater rigs;-)

The higher center of gravity on the TRX-4 is noticeable. People offset it by adding 5lbs of brass down low, but then you have a 10lb truck. Gates that find their weakness? Steep climbs. Even with all that brass and forward mounted battery, they seem to really struggle with steep climbs.


As for the Honcho vs TRX-4 Sport...There is no way that you can have those trucks sitting side by side and say that they should cost the same price. Plastic links, plastic shocks, plastic transmission gears, dogbones up front...Thats almost in off brand knockoff territory.

 

[JatoTheRipper]

Portals are legal. The deal with the Ascender battery tray is that they are trying to keep people from mounting their batteries on the axle. I think its easier for them just to ban batteries on the axle all together than to try to write in a rule that allows it to be done like the Ascender's battery tray.

Saying somebody can't run a stock truck, because of the battery tray location, is ridiculous IMO. It alienated newbies. That's holding back competitions IMO and the reason a lot of places don't follow SORCCA rules.
I've seen it argued that it's not realistic. A lot of things aren't realistic.

As for the Honcho vs TRX-4 Sport...There is no way that you can have those trucks sitting side by side and say that they should cost the same price. Plastic links, plastic shocks, plastic transmission gears, dogbones up front...Thats almost in off brand knockoff territory.

Amen!

 

[Col_Sanders]

SORRCA is a whole other conversation. I do not envy those guys having to write rules...People are always going to skirt them and push them to their limit to gain an edge. Yes, it is unfortunate that the stock Ascender can not legally compete due to the battery location, but if they allowed it to compete with the battery that way, it just opens it up to allowing guys to mount their batteries on the axle sporty style.

If I was running the local comp series, I'd let newbies compete with it...USUALLY newbies dont make all the comps anyway, so they are not going to place or disrupt the rankings of the top 10 anyway.

 

[JatoTheRipper]

SORRCA is a whole other conversation. I do not envy those guys having to write rules...People are always going to skirt them and push them to their limit to gain an edge. Yes, it is unfortunate that the stock Ascender can not legally compete due to the battery location, but if they allowed it to compete with the battery that way, it just opens it up to allowing guys to mount their batteries on the axle sporty style.

If I was running the local comp series, I'd let newbies compete with it...USUALLY newbies dont make all the comps anyway, so they are not going to place or disrupt the rankings of the top 10 anyway.

I disagree. You set a rule that batteries must be run in the stock location or something like that. There's always a way. Picking and choosing alienates brands/people/etc. But you're right, it is a tough job...impossible job to please everybody.

 

[Rekreant]

Seems just downright silly to hate a product because people are fans of it. By that logic you wouldnt be using the internet, because it has so many fanboys...Yet here we all are.

On Traxxas though, that company does a lot of shady bullshit that is / has stopped me from buying anymore of their products. The obviously known issues with the 2075 servos that they deny over the phone and social media, paired with most of their platforms not being updated in 10 years, and when they do update things like the revo 2.0 they have horrible flaws they lie about. The revo discharges the cells of the second battery improperly resulting in dozens of people losing batteries. I bought a 2wd Slash as my first foray in to the RC hobby, and I wish I had picked a Team Associated truck instead. Also the fact they sued over a shock setup in an industry that constantly rips each others' designs and real car designs every day is just underhanded corporatist bullshit.

People act like traxxas support is great, but my personal experience has been they rarely provide good support and look for anyway that they can blame their crappy product performance on user error when you can see the forums littered with people having the same issue(2075).

 

[Rekreant]

SORRCA is a whole other conversation. I do not envy those guys having to write rules...People are always going to skirt them and push them to their limit to gain an edge. Yes, it is unfortunate that the stock Ascender can not legally compete due to the battery location, but if they allowed it to compete with the battery that way, it just opens it up to allowing guys to mount their batteries on the axle sporty style.

If I was running the local comp series, I'd let newbies compete with it...USUALLY newbies dont make all the comps anyway, so they are not going to place or disrupt the rankings of the top 10 anyway.

Its the nature of competition for people to find an edge. in MMA fighters are constantly trying to find a way to use steroids / performance enhancing drugs that wont show up on drug tests so they can have an edge. If the crawling competitions wanted to have fair and balanced comps they should just have a single stock truck for each class. Look at how Hobbytown does its traxxas slash stock circuits. Only one truck allowed, all stock, and from what I can tell and have seen it has the most entries by far of the other specs.

 

[Ditchrat]

Seems just downright silly to hate a product because people are fans of it. By that logic you wouldnt be using the internet, because it has so many fanboys...Yet here we all are.
.

I don't think you know what a fanboy is.


Are you familiar with Apple products, and how they cultivate their fanboy culture?



As to being silly, like it or not we are judged by the products we use, and how they are perceived by others.

 

[Rekreant]

I don't think you know what a fanboy is.


Are you familiar with Apple products, and how they cultivate their fanboy culture?



As to being silly, like it or not we are judged by the products we use, and how they are perceived by others.

I have had iphones, I have had android phones. Im an adult, I can use a product without worrying what the mass majority of idiots is doing.

 

[JatoTheRipper]

Here's an interesting story. I received a package from China yesterday. I ordered TF2 interiror parts from AliExpress. When I opened the package the inner foam was wrapped in official looking Axial tape that you find on their shipping boxes. Things that make you go hmm...

 

[JatoTheRipper]

Did Tower Hobbies kill their Super Saver Club coupons? I let my membership expire because I wasn't sure Tower would even be around. But despite that they would still have pretty good coupons on the front page. Those coupons are missing as far as I can tell. I still get emails from Tower and occasionally they have lame excuses for things called coupons in there, but certainly nothing even close to as good as they were in the past.

 

[soze]

Did Tower Hobbies kill their Super Saver Club coupons? I let my membership expire because I wasn't sure Tower would even be around. But despite that they would still have pretty good coupons on the front page. Those coupons are missing as far as I can tell. I still get emails from Tower and occasionally they have lame excuses for things called coupons in there, but certainly nothing even close to as good as they were in the past.

I see coupons when I log into my account (I'm a club member until January).

I no longer see the link to coupons for general customers on the home page though.

Problem is.... I haven't bought anything from Tower in the past half year or so.

 

[JatoTheRipper]

I see coupons when I log into my account (I'm a club member until January).

I no longer see the link to coupons for general customers on the home page though.

Problem is.... I haven't bought anything from Tower in the past half year or so.

Are they good coupons or lame? What kind of coupon options do you see? $5 off of $50, etc?

 

[soze]

SAVE $17 on a 99.99 order 30-Dec-2018
SAVE $30 on a 199.99 order 30-Dec-2018
SAVE $50 on a 299.99 order 30-Dec-2018
SAVE $65 on a 399.99 order 30-Dec-2018
SAVE $85 on a 499.99 order 30-Dec-2018
SAVE $100 on a 599.99 order 30-Dec-2018

Basically 15%