With the lead-times for new designs coming in from China, it may be that the Goldberg Ultimate was well into the pipeline before the sale to Hobbico. As for the price, Goldberg's have been seriously overpriced since Lanier bought them. Maybe that price was set some time ago also. Or it could be that they are overstocked on Great Planes Ultimates and want to make them look more attractive by comparison. I'd expect one or the other of them to be discontinued when the current stock runs out.

As for buying the other brands, they do that to eliminate competition. Goldberg has a well established name and product line. It would be much cheaper for someone to get into the industry by buying Goldberg than it would be by starting from scratch. If Hobbico owns them, nobody can do that.

Jim

Another thought: Hobbico likes to offer airplanes that fit the engines they sell. The new Ultimate will probably be a much better match with the OS 160 2-stroke and the OS 200 4-stroke than the Great Planes is.

J