Specialzed

My Feedback: (2)

I heard some of the employees at my lhs talking today, I didnt really care but when I heard the words "Traxxas" and "Walmart" I had to go over and eavesdrop. Apperently one of the guys knew an employee at Traxxas or sumthing like that an apparently he told him that Traxxas it getting a deal with walmart and they are going to start selling special car packages at walmart. There going to be branding a crappy DC charger and including a branded traxxas battery(s) with the XL5 Ruster, Slash and the new E-Maxx. Dont yell at me im saying now that I DONT KNOW FOR SURE but I heard some middle aged men talking about this, I dont really think they would be jokin around. Personally I think that if this happens it would be really good for Traxxas and the hobby. Traxxas would start making money they never could have dreamed of and the hobby will get a nice boost as alot more people will be aware of it. Image, a Rustler or E-maxx commercial, that would be somthing new. I hope traxxas does this as they have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Specialzed

My Feedback: (2)

Oh and I forgot to mention, its pretty much all the XL5's out. The Rustler, Stampede, Bandit and Slash.

Chris_RC

Try to contact traxxas on this one. they have great customer support.

hands without shadows

It wouldn't surprise me. Sam's club carries an Academy buggy.

If it happens I motion to create a Traxxas forum, so that I can easily avoid countless "how du i mke me rc car go fster?" threads.

Access

Actually wall-mart can be a curse as much as a blessing, sure the short-term growth can be boosted but the long-term viability of traxxas and the industry as a whole can just as well be put into question by such a move.

Here is an article on that:
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/77/walmart.html

Look at his example of the pickle manufacturer who went from a small, profitable seller of gourmet pickles to a large mass-market pickle company that barely makes a profit in a good year. Same thing could happen to any company that does business with them.

"But what did it do for Vlasic? The pickle maker had spent decades convincing customers that they should pay a premium for its brand. Now Wal-Mart was practically giving them away. And the fevered buying spree that resulted distorted every aspect of Vlasic's operations, from farm field to factory to financial statement.

Indeed, as Vlasic discovered, the real story of Wal-Mart, the story that never gets told, is the story of the pressure the biggest retailer relentlessly applies to its suppliers in the name of bringing us "every day low prices." ..."

Not be an alarmist, I am just making the counterpoint here. Do you want Traxxas to be around 5 years from now? 10 years from now? Instead of their excellent customer service, would you rather be talking to a guy with a thick foreign accent who cannot understand (or be understood) by you and gives form answers like "Make sure battery fully charged before run car!" Let's face it, whether you like or hate the brand as a whole, they provide value to the industry they were the first to offer RTR hobby-grade vehicles, they were the first to offer RTRs with high-end brushless systems at a reasonable price, some of their vehicles set the standard for durability and all that.

drevil

My Feedback: (5)

If anything I think this move will really kill any respect that Traxxas gets in the hobby market today. Look at the sports clothing company Starter. I remember when I was a kid the coolest thing you could have was a Yankees Starter jacket. Back then you had to shop at the more expensive places just to find their products. Today they're in Kmart and Walmart. I can't say anything about whether it has helped or hindered them financially, but respect wise it has killed them. They're no longer looked at as a high quality clothing manufacturer, instead they're just ordinary clothes.

My point is that I can see a possibility of Traxxas lowering their standards trying to keep supply up with Walmart demand. Even if their quality doesn't go down every time something breaks people will point the finger as if it did.

LMAO at the Traxxas forum. Good idea. We get enough people asking silly questions as is. I can only imagine what it'll be like when grandma starts buying these things for her grandchildren in Walmart.

BTW This has been a rumor for a pretty long time now and I have yet to see any truth. No offense to the TS, but I've lost count of how many times I've heard people say they heard this rumor at the LHS. It may be true, maybe not. Guess we'll find out sooner or later.

Specialzed

My Feedback: (2)

Businesses tend to care about money more than respect, starter makes ALOT more money than they previously did.

cheech4

me personally would not do business with walmart.. sure they can make you cuz there the biggest retail store. but they can break you just as fast.. when reading the fine print if anyone knows walmart can pull the plug out of any order placed within 1 week of shipment. so if walmart just so happens to place a huge order and the company is relying on that order, they can easily cancel a week before shipping totally crumbling the smaller company.. not cool... traxxas go ahead do business with walmart, imo i see no good from it.

hollylx88

I think it will give traxxas even more of a "toy quality" label. and i think alot of people are not going to be happy when they buy their "toy", and when it starts breaking down. they're not going to be happy they spent the money on something like this, and find out that there's maintenance to keep the vehicles running, when they're going to expect a toy. traxxas is in business to make money, but i think dealing with walmart is going to hurt their name. i know i'd be disappointed to see something that's supposed to be "hobby grade" in the toy section at walmart. I just really think this would attract alot of the wrong people that are just out to play.

cheech4

i agree, do to higher demand from walmart traxxas will loose quality in there products.

mx757

In all reality i think it would help the hobby as a whole. Back when i raced BMX there were a bunch of kids that i saw starting on $149 walmart schwinn bikes. as those kids got better and more into the sport they started upgrading, and moving on to bikes from the local bike shops. Now right now thats what happens a lot with Traxxas trucks anyways because they are pointed mainly to those just starting up. After a while they either A) drop out of the hobby, or B) Upgrade. That upgrade will come in when they go to the LHS and pick up a new buggy or truggy.

drevil

My Feedback: (5)

The real problem is with competition and quality. For example the first thing that comes to mind is that this can only be good for the hobby because it'll bring costs down and hopefully bring new people into the hobby. However the problem lies in the possibility that to keep costs down Traxxas will skimp on quality. Then since Traxxas is now selling stuff at insanely low prices the competition will do the same as well. In the end we wind up with a number of companies making very low cost, low quality products.

This can be a good thing, as long as Traxxas doesn't take the low road.

VVRC

All I got to say is...[:'(][:'(][:'(][:'(][:'(][:'(][:'(]

If Traxxas does that they IMO are stupid!

Why not Duratrax?......j/k

iamnot

normally, i'd agree with the competition
and lowering quality to keep
costs in check thing

but

face it
rc's are overpriced now

really, what in any rc
makes the vehicle worth $600+?

why do 4 tires
less than 6" in dia
cost $60
when my 1:1 tires
with lots more rubber and steel belts too
sell for $38 each?

why does a piston and sleeve
cost $60
when, say
a brake cylinder for a 1:1 car
is $35

why does a dss radio
cost $200 - $400
when i can buy a complete set
of 3 or 4 cordless phones (same technology)
with an answering machine
for $100 - $150?


i think costs can come down
without
hurting quality

what may suffer is their ability
to send out free parts
for obvious user error

The Mad Modder

I agree with many of you here. Walmart is certainly not known for their quality, it's there low prices. It would totally ruin Traxxas reputation if the started selling their products at wal-mart. I know that I for one, wouldn't even consider buying a Traxxas if they did that. Also if they sold at walmart their quality would undoubtedly go down.

Let's say that a kid buys a Traxxas vehicle from walmart, plays with it for a while and breaks a piece. Instead of ordering replacement parts, he just tosses the whole thing mistaking it for just another "walmart rc". So that kid got into hobby grade rc and he didn't even know it. Therefore the rc industry is not helped.

The Hedgehog

Look at it this way, now when kids come up to you and ask you if your car is form walmart or something, you can say yes!

Longhair

The reason for the higher prices is because of the manufacturing costs built in.

There is a greater demand for all those things over RC parts so that is why the prices are lower on car tires for example.

MT

I agree with some of th posts above, a move like this would drive down quality and service.
Myself and others around here, have warned people who post "where can I get XYZ the cheapest?!". Now, there are some shops that offer a low price and good serivce, but the 'Too good to be true' deals have burned many.
Sometimes we get caught up in searching for the absolute cheapest price, like it is a game. Often if you look at what you have to put with to save those few pennies/dollars, it is not worth it.

J.D.T

That exact situation has allready occured with walmart selling tamiya chassis under the tyco and hotwheel names, thousands of them are in trash piles when they could have been fixed for $5-10 in most cases, if Traxxas goes in they will have to put together a real manual with part numbers and such so people can call for spair parts, Walmart allready classifies toys as their largest loss ratio from theft and damage so its unlikely they would want the parts mess and cost, they would have to have cabinets or cvds, big bore shocks and all the other high dollar items would be walking out the door faster than traxxas could make them, not only to kids who wanted them to loosers who would turn around and sell them all day long on ebay. I have heard this rumor before and it always fell through, if they do just the trucks it will be great for the LHS, if they have parts its a different story, nearly 1/3 if the parts on the wall at the LHS is traxxas stuff and I would hate to see the shop close as I like to be able to run out and grab some ball studs and other normal items.

nitrosportsandrunner

i think it would be funny to see traxxas for sale at $150 next to truely crappy $50 toys. its hard to say how many people will think that the traxxas rc is worth $100 more than the rc next to it. id like it if they sold basic replacement parts, as it would save me a 25 minute car ride!

if traxxas ends up loosing quality, or ruining its rep, big deal? there are plenty of other companies that make rc's as good. i say this even though most of my rc's are traxxas and i like them. if they ruin the company, others will step in and fill the void. the only thing that could stink is if it gets harder to find replacement parts. if the plan works out, they will boost the number of people who get started in rc. that cant be a bad thing.

MAIN PIONT, many people's view of rc is poor because they have only owned some crappy walmart rc that had poor performance and once it broke couldnt be fixed. if they had a hobby grade option at their local walmart, maybe peoples 1st impression of rc would be better. nearly every one that sees my vxl is blown away, cause they compare it to a tyco they had when younger. most people i talk to about my rc's dont even know where the lhs is. if they dont know where to shop for rc, how can they buy a good one? i do wonder how it could effect the lhs's, the ones near me sell traxxas for their offroad selection.

s7jstep1

id have to agree with you 100% on thins one. i have been saying that since i got into the hobby

jumpanddrop

It wouldent surprise me if it happened. canadian tire (for the canadians on here) are starting to carry cheep nitro r/c's.

sloppyG

I can't believe anyone would actually put $38 tires on their real car..........

DARKWAV

Would a person shopping at Walmart really be looking for a $150 on a toy for their kid? I'm not saying anything bad about Walmart shoppers here, just pointing out that is not the kind of thing you purchase at Walmart. Price point doesn't seem quite low enough to me. We are pretty much a throw-away society. Things engineered for the mainstream market are disposable...but they still need to be robust enough to for consumers to feel as though they got their money's worth. I really don't see hobby grade R/Cs being sold at Walmart unless they really detune the performance and make it difficult to make faster. Maybe I could see it happening if they throw in a slow motor thats capable of lasting a long time, and seal up the drivetrain. Make it so it isn't easily compatible with higher performance motors found at an LHS. But I think it would still have to be quite a bit less expensive.

thedr

face it
rc's are cheap as dirt now compared to 15 or 20 years ago

what are rc's supposed to cost?
Would you trust something that had the potential to do 50mph that cost less to last any longer than christmas toys do with the kids?

tires cost what they do due to the fact that passenger car tires are sold in millions, while rc car tires only sell in the hundreds

again, put out as many nitro motors as Honda does passenger car motors and I think the price will come down

again, they sell millions of cordless phones (that don't have multi-directional control) while the sell hundreds of DSM radios

if you think you personally can bring down costs go for it, but I think you need to address some simple math and economics