There is something that bothers me, [>:]

Does Tower Hobbies have an exclusive US distribution for FUTABA and OS?

Im a big fan of these two brand names since i was a kid, they were solid and reliable 25 years ago, thats why i choose to stay with them, however i prefer competition for my buck.

Thank you all

Alex.

Yes, pretty much.

Those two brands are part of the Great Planes "family", as is Tower Hobbies.

Now, if you shop around, you can sometimes beat Tower's prices, esp when you factor in the shipping costs.

world engines was the impoerter for os and supertigre and sold them to great planes in the late 80's i believe shortly before his death.he replaced those engine lines with the asp and brat lines.

No, Tower is not the exclusive distributor. There are a few other places where you can get those items. Many LHS can get both of them easily, sometimes for less then tower, especially if you know the management and they sell it at cost.

Also, Advantage Hobby (advantagehobby.com) sells both Futaba and OS and they have good prices. They also offer free shipping on almost everything (except oversized stuff). They are new to the scene and I have bought several things from them and their service and support is good. They even offer price matching, but I would recommend contacting them about specific items first since the WILL NOT price match if it puts them under their cost.

Hope that helps.

Actually, it's not Tower that is the distrubitor. It's Hobbico Inc. that is the distributor, and they are the exclusive use dealers for Futaba and OS. Hobbico also owns Tower Hobbies too.

Ken

Tower doesn't. Hobbico, which owns Tower, does. You'll find that most of the big brands are imported and distributed or controlled by either Hobbico or Horizon. There has been a great deal of consolidation in the hobby industry since you were last involved.

Sorry Ken, Tower is employee owned
http://www.towerhobbies.com/thistory.html
Hobbico owns Horizon and is the sole US distributor for JR.
Tower is the US distributor for OS and Futaba
There is a difference between distributors and retailers also as you well know.

Have we confused everyone yet? [sm=bananahead.gif]

[sm=drowning.gif] in information here!

Horizon is owned by Horizon not Hobbico. Hobbico is the parent company. Great Planes is the wholesale end and Tower is the retail side on the enternet. Greant Planes sell to LHS. Tower sells to you. Horizon sells to LHS and on the internet. Great Planes and Tower are separte companies with no ties to each other, but both have ties to Hobbico. Dennis

That is why you find something called Minimum Advertised Pricing where many shops that sell OS and Futaba say "call for best price" because of their agreement with Great Planes that they wont advertise prices lower than Tower and other retailers but if you call them the price is usually cheaper.

Sorrry, not correct. Horizon and Hobbico are two different companies with no business ties or relation to each other.

Hobbico is the parent company of Tower Hobbies and Great Planes Model Distributing company. Hobbico also owns a wide variety of hobby brands.

Great Planes Model Distributors is the exclusive distributor for North America for O.S. Engines and Futaba R/C hobby equipment. You can find all the brands handled at the website listed below.

http://www.bestrc.com

Oops, I stand corrected. Sorry Ken.[]

Thanks BAX

[sm=bananahead.gif]
Hey, I get on right every now and then!!! [8D]

Ken

Just to clarify, Horizon and Hobbico are competitors. They're the big boys in the US model airplane business. There's been a lot of lament amongst some that have been in the hobby a long time, about how so many of the smaller companies have been absorbed into those two. Hobbico in particular seems to buy, rather than build, brands.

Personally I dislike what they've done with the Irvine Engines brand. The engines being produced now don't have that great Jetstream carb--they might be red, but they're not Irvines. I don't know who's decision that was, or if the alternative was the cessation of the Irvine brand. In any case, it's unfortunate. I am glad, however, that Horizon and Hobbico both exist. If the one didn't balance out the other, who knows how much less choice we'd have and how much more we'd be paying?

The surprising thing is how close geographically the two companies are.

if you shop www.towerhobbies enough you most likely will belong to the member club which for orders over 150.00 shipping is free also when you are a club member you get a higher discount rate on your purchases(at least 5$more) than the web site offers.
so far after shopping several retail outlets I haven't seen a price lower than towers discount price other than the occasional EBAY deal/bone, there hard to beat for overall cost on new items + the occasional freebee thrown in for good measure.
so far for me the return and/or replacement policy has been outstanding something you don't always find on EBAY either

I have a LHS that I use that will beat Tower's or Horizon's price most every time on big ticket items. But you have to ASK them what they can sell it for, they aren't allowed to advertise prices that are lower than Tower or Horizon has on their own websites. Please don't quote me on this because I may be wrong, but I seem to recall that DadsToysBG (in his shop) will usually beat their prices too. Hopefully he'll see this post and chime in with his opinion.

I actually haven't ordered from Tower in over a year, and almost that for Horizon too, but I will spend as much as I can in a LHS. The closest LHS to me just closed their doors, so my next order will be going to DadsToysBG in his shop and he can UPS it to me. I'd rather see him put some money in his pocket than it going to Tower or Horizon.

Ken

It`s hard to beat Tower on price`s. I also try to support my local LHS as much as possible. Both are great to deal with, I just need more Hobby money.

Some of Tower's prices are hard to beat. When they've got an item on clearance it's tough to beat them. For most things, I find my LHS is very competitive on prices.

I try to support the LHS as much as I can too but sometimes it's not easy. If they don't have a GP, OS or other Hobbico item, they will order it but I've been told that they only order 1-2 times per week. Their items come from the same warehouse in Reno as Tower. I can order it myself and have it in 1-2 days rather than waiting for them to just place the order, let alone recieve it. If I don't need it right away, this is no big deal and I go with the LHS. If it's Wednesday though and I need something to fly on Saturday, I go to Tower myself.

don't get me wrong I am a LHS suporter myself was there this afternoon as a matter of fact, at least in the bay area its not cheap to pay the bills and they will honor the web price more often than not if its possable, but a perfect example is a Top flight kit goes for 150.$$ with the over 125$ get 25$ off and free shipping thats a gold edition kit for 125$ saving 38$ off and more if you include the local tax.
granted there is another 500$ of stuff to get, and working the discount program pears it down even more to complete the kit.
I have a hard time believing that a LHS, or a hobby town USA, or any other brick and morter store is going to offer those prices and or discounts to the public on a day to day basis, not the ones that I have been in, at least not locally unless its a once a year fire sale, mabee a out the back door deal wich is great if you can get it.
I have seen customers coming in asking for discounts and the owner giving the bottom line, I got to pay the rent, so the price you see is the price you pay. try going to a grocery store and aking the manager or owner " joe blow down the street sells this apple for less" most likely he's going to tell ya "go to joe's" this is what it costs here.

I guess I see an added value in the goods I get from the LHS. I like mail order. More than that, I like buying things from other modelers in the online swap shops. I hunt for bargains often--a little searching can really pay off. I do make sure that a good portion of what I spend goes to my LHS, though. I see it as an investment in the hobby. Even if I pay some small amount of premium, I know that Jeremy'll be there with the part or item I need on the day I realize I need it. That can salvage a day of flying. Good shops should be rewarded, and shops that are trying to be good shops should be encouraged.

I hear lots of complaints on RCU that someone's LHS doesn't stock the items that they need, so they turn to Tower instead. That can be a vicious cycle, where the shop stops stocking products that don't sell and people stop shopping because there's little inventory. I don't want to see that happen to my LHS--it's really great store. I don't get to fly as much as I'd like, so I really can't put a value on my time at the field. If supporting the LHS means I won't miss a day of flying, I've got no qualms about it.

On the larger level, I do like the idea of keeping some of the dollars in my community, too. I'm not very good about that when it comes to many things, but I try to make more of an effort when it comes to this hobby.

Actually, some of the major grocery chains here will honor the sale ads from the other local stores in this area. "Bring in the ad, we'll match it". Saves a lot of driving when food shopping for a bargain.

I wonder if my grocer stocks Futaba?

He might special order it for you.