757jonp

My Feedback: (48)

I wouldn't be a bit surprised but if someone was to really dig into it you'd find that the big box stores are actually ordering much of their stock from good old Hobby KIng on the distributor level. For example, order a few pallets of lipo batteries and we'll be more than happy to put YOUR name on them.

You may well be buying from HK and never knew it!

TomCrump

You don't need HK to do that. It can be done directly from the supplier.

GerKonig

OR, they are buying the product from the company that supplies HK, but with another name trough another distributor, and pay a lot more. I guess the "utility" HK has for modellers is not the same for all of us. I do not buy models from them, but for over 8 years buy all the big lipos from them, lifos also. And cables, one charger, and the Y connectors, and cable, and controllers (had a lot o luck with those). I had 2 problems (one 6 cell battery arrived dead, and one battery (also 6 cell) sent short. Both issues were solved to my satisfaction in a brief period of time.

Judging by the guys at my club (almost all buys their batteries from them) they sure sell a lot of lipos.

Funny to see people that are really in denial and say I buy American, you do not know but the chicken you are eating in a big percentage comes from abroad. Even pudding mix! Many things are not manufactured here anymore, show me a TV factory in the US, that makes a US produced TV, or a computer monitor, or a mouse, or... Got a headache? Go get Tylenol form India, like most over the counter medications... And yes, they will have an American bran on the pack...

Gerry

topspin

I don't doubt for a second that there are a great many companies around the world buying products from the same manufacturers who supply Hobby King. I do doubt that they pay more since manufacturers tend to have a set price for their products. I'm sure there may be some room for negotiation on large orders but big companies placing big orders would all pay the same price depending on the quantity and quality of the product.

Now if we are talking about Thunder Power or Hyperion batteries, they are in a different class than anything that Hobby King sells so of course they cost more. I have used both of these brands for years in applications where I need batteries that can really source some power without getting soft.

A good example of this is where I used a 45C Turnigy Nano-Tec 1800 3S in an application where the motor draw was 60 amps. This should have been well within the batteries capability with 21 amps to spare but the pack puffed and was so hot it could not be touched for 15 minutes.

So I used a 45C Hyperion 1600 3S in the same plane with no problems at all, it flew longer, was only slightly warm to the touch, and it had a smaller margin of reserve current than the Turnigy pack yet it deliverd the goods. This caused me to wonder if the Turnigy packs are really 45C or something less with a lable slapped on it. Hyperion batteries are made in China by the way but only Hyperion sells them.

So there are applications where quality counts then there is just puttering around the sky drawing 1/3 of the batteries stated current. In those cases cheap packs are fine, I use Gens Ace packs for general run of the mill stuff and they do the job and last a long time if you don't abuse them.

And as I recall, Tunder Power batteries are made in the United States so no denial there. And there are plenty of other high quality RC products made here in America. I am curious though why someone who lives here in the USA would be so defensive of forign companies. I would like to think that we all would like to see our money go to support American manufacturers and destributors whenever possible.

keyman

My Feedback: (22)

I own a couple of the HK T6 transmitters and there is no way the DX6I has a better gimbal, yes if you prefer the DX6I bushed gimbal to the T6 ball bearing gimbal and yes if you enjoy trim tabs that easliy break or the lack of a back lit display or the lack of battery options then the DX6I at 2-3 times the price is the tx for you.

I'm pretty sure that TP lipo's used to be assembled here and some may still be but the cells were never made in the USA.

Also there maybe a chance with any vendor you will have a problem but if you do not have the sense to contact paypal/cc if needed maybe RC is not the right hobby for you.

topspin

That's all well and good but I don't see how anything you said relates to my previous post.

flyinwalenda

My Feedback: (5)

and it's completely of-topic from the op's question as well. Coming here boasting how great HK's stuff is to you is not debating the thread topic either way.......................just more cheer leading from the HK sheeple

foodstick

Our local Hobby store is a VERY good one.. I think most people across the USA would be thrilled to have them. They buy A LOT from Hobbyking. I think if Hobbyking is able to sell far below other producers long enough, and inflation and Chinese wages don't drive their price up ... I think its POSSIBLE Hobby king could get themselves into a position to buy Tower/etc ... If they get them on the ropes and hurting bad they could probably buy one of the big players in the American market...

If you buy smallish items and components from Hobbyking after researching them its hard to go wrong. Bad reviews.. DON'T BUY ! I have had pretty good results reading the reviews right on their own site for info..I would never recommend anyone that is impatient to order from the International warehouse. I wouldn't buy any airframes, big heavy items personally... because the shipping kills the deal to me. I always consider the next order could be the one that goes bad. However after many orders I have made with my buyers strategy, I have only once had an issue, I received a puffed 23 dollar lipo, after 3 weeks I was given credit for another. I will add that onetime I actually ordered at just the right time that I got a 6 cell 2350 battery free.

Oregon Craig

Ya, it's funny how a field/club will take on a sorta personality. Mine is very heavy on Horizon stuff. I rarely see a non Spektrum radio. At our weekly indoor, it looks like a Horizon/Blade festival. I would not want to belong to a turnigy club. Not exactly on topic, but I have always found I enjoy the company of people like myself that are in make a buck mode, not pinch a penny mode. Good life advice maybe. IMHO obviously. Duh.

OliverJacob

My Feedback: (12)

Our next hobby shop is about 1 hour away. And the shelves are full of small electric stuff and parts for these. They still have some SIG kits and even gas engines, so this is one of the better stores.
But then a poor selection of props, wheels, or other things you need to complete a kit. And paying $8 for a 6" servo extension drives the customers away.
So online shopping is the way to go. Tower has the best service, fast shipping and best selection, but there are others and HK has the best prices on electric motors, controllers and batteries.
I probably would not buy any expensive item there, but from 25+ orders I have had very few broken items, one package got lost when I moved and it took about 1 month to get my money back, but it worked out in the end.

But there are other great dealers like Value Hobbies, I found Amazon to be very helpful with rare plane parts.

I don't think the big traditional companies here like to admit, but they did loose a lot of business to HK and others. They did make a lot of money on the small items.
And I agree, we all should buy 'made in the USA', but there isn't too much made here anymore.

2walla

My Feedback: (10)

Most of the new planes that show up at my field are from hobbyking. They have to be having a huge impact on the established distributors. The only planes from tower hobbies are the ones on super blowout sale because hobbyking was selling the same thing for half price. The bnf horizon planes have a good following but the hobbykings with a $6 orange receivers are making a big dent...

[email protected]

My Feedback: (1)

if i cant get my local hobby shop to get for me i dont need it ill try another way has obama bought anything from hobby king

lopflyers

My Feedback: (12)

Same impact Wallie world has over the US consumers. The cheaper the products the more people they will attract.
For example two exactly equal TVs, one GE the other Walmart brand, the Walmart one is a lot cheaper, which one would you get?
Best buy will suffer

Luchnia

My Feedback: (21)

I think companies like HK have different effects. One has been keeping our US hobby shops honest by competition which is good and another is impacting their sales which can be bad for locals. We have so much greed in the US it is horrendous. For me it hasn't been a big deal since what I buy from HK, I don't buy here anyway. Most everything I buy is online purchases as it suits my style and saves on gas and time driving to the local hobby shop who doesn't have what I need anyway. I have bought some small screws and things locally but that is about it. There is probably an economic impact that we would have to do some analysis to determine the actuals.

The type of online vendors I use are Value Hobby, Tower Hobbies, Taildragger RC, SWB, Central Hobbies, Espirit, RedWing, HobbyKing, and many others. Whoever has what I need at a fair price and fair shipping and I try to spread my purchases out among vendors. I will not pay bloating shipping prices from anyone. I loathe the practice of inflating shipping prices to profit on, it is as bad as ripping you off on regular pricing.

hairy46

My Feedback: (1)

Have never bought anything from hobby king, just the very poor service I have read about has kept me far away!

topspin

Same here Craig, most of the stuff at our field is also Horizon. I am one of a few who like Sig models and I have two both using Hacker motors, Castle ESC's and TP batteries. I can't justify building an expensive model and then using cheap components in it.

LSP972

My Feedback: (13)

Exactly so, sir.

Exactly so.

.

Hinckley Bill

My Feedback: (569)

+1 to infinity and beyond!

Andy_S

Our field sees the biggest HK impact in the form of blue foam racers and combat planes. The interesting thing is most of the flying junk from HK is bought by the more experienced guys at the field looking for a stress free instant adrenaline kick from a homemade plane and some dirt cheap electronics. That is, they far outnumber the first time flyers' HK products by a large margin. The average new guy is much more likely to show up with a Sensei, Parkzone T-28, or Eflite Apprentice.
This goes without saying that plenty of on-going R&D is done on the cheap with HK motors, experimenting and changing until the perfect combination is found, all the while flying full throttle inches off the ground with little to worry about.
In addition to maintaining there own disposable air force, they keep me flying combat by basically giving me parts so cheap I can hardly refuse.

kb8ife

All
I think Hobby King has made a impact because Horizon and Tower Hobbies are changing
Why was Horizon sold ?
I get 10% off,,,15% off 5% off from Tower everyday I get some deal by email.
I think both are in trouble as is most of the business's in the USA, Job loss I'm sure is in there also. I will keep flying.
Just my thought, Jim

rgburrill

Why does it have to be about you?

rgburrill

Has Kia had an impact on the US car industry? Of course it has. And a good one too. There will always be those few who say buy American blindly having no idea where things actually come from. And there will always be those blue collar workers who think they should make as much as white collar managers and engineers. So when China, Korea, Mexico or Japan (many years ago) comes around and slaps the American consumer in the face with lower price products those same workers have to complain about quality in order to justify higher cost. The simple fact is that if two companies, HK and Hobbico, bought their products from exactly the same company at the same cost the Hobbico product would necessarily be more expensive due to much higher overhead and management costs.
BTW, my experience has been that Hangar 9 has the poorest quality of all. And extremely cheap wood. I am extemely dissapointed with my P-51 PTS - it is built with 1/16th lite ply (or smaller) and no doublers. Plus it has so many lightening holes you can punch right through the covering without even thinking.

carlnoki

I an only speak for myself here, as I use a few places and that does include the LHS which is about 24 miles from the house.

The HK stuff is both good and bad. You have to check up on the things you want to buy from them
and especially read the reviews for that item. ( I think I made sense).

Radio items I use to use nothing but JR as I used to fly F3A. Now a days, I use Walkera DEVO, Flysky and Orange equipment. I only fly
for fun now and really enjoy it much more than when I was competing. The Radio equipment has come along way (since the early to mid 90's)
and the prices for the Chinese stuff makes it that more afordable to myself. The reliability of the Orange and Flysky equipment is to me
on par with the big 4 from Japan. But that is just my opinion. They do have some teething problems in their firm ware and are learning at a great rate
to correct it for a better product.

If those of you remember (that are at least age 60ish like myself) when Toyota, Datsun and Subaru first hit our shores, what did we think and say about them?

To me, yes, HK and other Chinese hobby places I can think of do have a certain amount of impact on the Tower, Hobbico, Hobby Shack places here in the U.S.

Just my 2 cents worth folks is all.

Desertlakesflying

My Feedback: (28)

Still waiting for a Flightpower, Electifly, or other "name brand" Lipo to outlast any of my HK Turnigy or Zippy lipos.....

Flame away.....

Heck my oldest Zippy is still going strong in a buddy's planes light system, and that thing is 6 years old.

Luchnia

My Feedback: (21)

You bring up something very interesting. At one of the fields I fly at a fellow flyers flies some electrics. He bought two LiFe batteries from Tower and two from HK. This is were it gets wild! Neither TH battery works as good as the HK batteries. He has flown both for almost two years now. The other weekend I asked him how the batteries were doing. He said that one TH battery went bad and the other is just so-so. Both the HK batteries are still going strong and at a fraction of the cost.

I am not advocating one over the other, this is just factual information that I have first hand account of. We fly together and I watch him install and charge his batteries at every outing. They are all treated the same. He said he would not hesitate to go back to HK and purchase more batteries. This same type of sentiment occurs at another field I fly at. Many of them buy HK batteries and say the others are no better, if even as good as HK batteries.

We all know that Tower, nor other suppliers,build batteries, but their suppliers may be cutting corners. At any rate, HK batteries seem to be proving themselves over time now and this is substantial to those of us spending our hard earned dollars.