Skycarven,
I'm no Chris, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

I am very new to the hobby and received both an Axe CP and A Blade CP for Christmas. My impressions are that the Blade is definitely an enthusiast's model capable of intense aerobatics but maybe a little too responsive for the raw beginner like me. I was just spinning mine up to check blade tracking when a gust of wind gave me about an inch of lift and 3 feet of lateral movement into a flower pot. Two blades and a feathering spindle later it is back in the air but with a distinct out of balance situation. The Axe is a solid machine that appears to be much more rugged but may or may not be as good of a 3d performer. I have flown the Axe a couple of times and can vouch that it is a good beginner model. I actually crashed it into a metal building today and did almost zero damage. There were only two little marks where the blade grips cut into the rotor blade coverings and it did not effect the blade tracking at all. I put it on the ground and finished the battery with no noticable difference in flight characteristics. The Blade comes with and extra set of blades, tail rotor, and 8 batteries. The Axe comes with Heat sinks and training wheels, but no extra parts or batteries. The Axe tail seems to track better than the Blade. The Axe has very nice gold plated connectors and a thicker main shaft. The blade is a masterpiece of minimalist design. Both models use the exact same tail rotor blade and I think they main rotors are interchangeable as well. The Axe charger has indicator lights and charges in a little over an hour. The Blade Charger does not have indicators and charges in 2-2.5 hours according to the manual. I will grow in to the Blade eventually, but for right now I am most comfortable with the Axe. JMO