ORIGINAL: splais
Since the issue has been raised and this is my thread I guess I can change the discussion slightly.
I have no problem with a company selling a product under one name in one country and another name in another country. Without knowing any of particulars in this situation, it just seems that MVVS's US distributor is being screwed. If, and I said it, MVVS was/is unhappy with whatever deal they have with Morris Hobbies they should terminate it and find a new distributor like Horizon. But it just grates a little to see a manufacturer continue to sell his name brand engine in one place and then undercut the market by selling the same engine through someone else under a different name. In addition to this, it sounds like MVVS has installed some upgrades on their Evolution engines that they have not put on the MVVS engines. Since they both come down the same assembly line, go figure.
And I do recognize that part of this entire situation may have something to do with the way the US distributor does business or has advertized the brand because many people have turned to Canadian and European sources for the motor. I know that I am going to need one of these engines after the first of the year and I'm most likely getting it from an "out of usa" source because of all the "no strings attached" help I've received from this source.
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For the record, I am a big fan of Pe Reivers. My comment was not intended to denigrate him or to hurt his business venture.
With that said, I tried to buy an engine from Pe on several occasions. Through no fault of his, PayPal would not complete the transaction and Pe did not handle credit cards at that time. I ended up buying my MVVS engines from Morris Hobbies. While the folks at Morris Hobbies are nice enough, their service is less than stellar. I eventually stopped dealing with them because orders were not filled or the item was backordered and they did not tell me that the item was out of stock. That stuff ticks me off. As I said, they seemed nice enough, but they just didn't have their act together. Things may have changed (improved) since then, but I found the engine elsewhere.
Now, when I want an MVVS 1.6 (my favorite size) and I want it now, without payment difficulties or being told inaccurate information about the item being in stock (Morris), and then Horizon Hobby Distributors comes along and offers me said engine and actually ships it when promised, who can blame me for honking their horn? I don't see how this makes me a bad guy. I'm not saying that anyone called me a bad guy, either, by the way.
I am not aware of the legal situation between Morris and MVVS, nor do I want to be. I have my own life to live. I don't want or need to become involved in theirs. When someone offers me the product I want at a reasonable price and in a timely manner, you can bet that they are going to get my order. That's what happened.
Horizon Hobby has always been square with me, so I did not hesitate to buy from them when the opportunity arose. If I need warranty service, the engine has a much better chance of being returned to me in less time than if I bought it from outside our country. The latter justifies paying a slightly higher price.