First off, don't buy a Nexus. They no longer make them and parts are getting harder to come by anymore.

Secondly, you have a 50 sized machine (Caliber 5) and two 30's in the Raptor and Hawk. Most veterans would tell you to buy a 50 size heli (Caliber 5, Tiger 50, Raptor 50) as you won't outgrow it anytime soon.

I will tell you that I bought a Caliber 5 and have not regretted it one bit. It's $299 plus another $150 or so for the engine. To put that in perspective, you will spend about the same on a Raptor 30 (not 50) with engine yet buying the Caliber 5 gets you into a 50 size machine for the same costs. The downside to that equation is that Raptor parts are everywhere and I mean everywhere. Since the Caliber 5 is a new model (released this month), parts are still scarce at this point although, should be avaliable very soon.

The Hawk is a great machine too, but you come back to the same point I was making above in that it's a 30 size vs. a 50 size in the Caliber. Parts support is very good on the Hawk just like the Raptor.

IMO, the Caliber 5 can't be beat for the price but you will probably get 10 more different opinions than mine. Good luck and all of the above are really great choices (except for the Nexus).

Derek