ORIGINAL: Tired Old Man

Jim,

I'm going to risk breaking from topic for a moment regarding some of the less prominent distributors and those shopping them. This is not directed at Nitro Models in particular, but at tiered market pricing in general.

There are quite a few people that have yet to own a G.S. gasser. They spend a lot of time perusing threads like this one while shopping price to find their way into this side of the hobby. The entry cost for many can be viewed as quite high, especially if they are opening the door with little previous experience or are limited in the amount of equipment they already own. Since they haven't owned or flown a gas giant they don't yet understand the nuances that are associated with model cost. For them the listed sizes, weights, and prices carry the day. Later, after they've owned one of the super budget planes, and have flown a better model belonging to a friend or field associate, they learn that the difference between the two planes was far more than just a higher price. Unfortunately, many times their requests for quality assurance about a product comes from people that may only have experience limited to that particular item, or from the same source. That severly limits the objectivity of the person providing answers.

Nitro makes some pretty good stuff, as do some of the other lessor known distributors, but you have to know what you are looking for going in. It's not all about price. Sometimes it's understanding that one distributor may be marketing the seconds from another manufacturer/distributor. Sometimes a distributor is handling products from a new start up company without a track record or assurance of company continuation. Perhaps there will be no after purchase support with another company. So those looking at the lowest priced item should take a little time in research to obtain the most information possible to make a well informed purchase decision.

Nitro is one that has strong potential, but they don't yet quite measure up to some of the other companies in several ways. However, that difference is reflected in the lower pricing. Good deals are nice to find, but be sure it's a real ''deal'' before making the purchase decisions. That applies to all the equipment used in our hobby.