My Mariu ( ha!) Tiger I arrived today, I was thinkin they were wrong and it would be a Heng Long and sure enough it is. http://www.raidentech.com/huma1getiirc.html
Big difference between the two in quality but for a little over $50 I wasn't to bent outta shape. What does bend me outta shape is that they don't know how to ship, my Pantiger came in with the BOW gun smashed and the top of the transmitter cracked. They put the OE boxes in a cardboard box with no packing material. So my Tiger has a smashed command cupola and a crack on the turret top extending from the cupola to about half way to the turret front. I'll be calling them this afternoon, they must get a ton of these kind of complaints, my friend also ordered a Tiger I from them and it came in damaged and the transmitter cracked like my Pantigers.

Hi Armchairgeneral
Sadly it is NOT an original Marui Tiger, read the text of the advertisement:
"- Authorized OEM Factory for Marui RC Tank"(Original Equipment Manufacturer)
This is a plain HL non smoke nor sound, 2 fw/rev speeds.....the old production model. If I were you I'll have my order cancelled [sm=drowning.gif]
Good luck
Jose

Didn't we tell ya who to order from???

Looks like a non-smoker to me. Send it back, get a refund, get a smoke and sound either from them or a "Super" from Mato. The top of the transmitter being smashed is very common occurance, about 1/4 of my deliveries from various companies were broken this way. Some CA and it'll be good as new.

Mato has had none in stock for weeks - I got ansy and blew it
I will take your advice and attempt an exchange, I will also try to get them to better pack it this time !

It would save you pain and suffering to get the S&S version from the get-go. Plus, it's cheaper in the long run. I just spent an extra $40+ USD on S&S boards, speaker, and smoke unit for my non S&S HL Panther.

I had noticed the "Marui 1/16 Tiger I" in your signature line long before but I didn't say anything. Apparently you had not even taken ownership of it yet! There is no such thing nor has there ever been a Tokyo-Marui 1/16 Tiger I. There is a 1/24 version however and this is probably the one of which you speak.

Sorry you fell for that well-known deception but almost every advertisement for Heng Long tanks (especially the 1/24 airsoft tanks)erroneously claim that they are "Marui OEM tanks." You will have a hard time finding vendors who will actually name Heng Long as the manufacturer. The Marui claim is an openly deceptive advertisement and for many of us to knowingly purchase tanks from these distributors doesn't exactly speak well about our character perhaps. The popular opinion is that we should be taking our business elsewhere.

When in doubt, please don't hesitate to ask the well-informed forum members here regardless if this matter has been hashed over ad infinitum.

Paying a few extra dinero for the S&S version it is definitely worth it. By casual research, it is often $7-$8 more than the older 2-speed tank...

I prefer raidentech because they use fedex and the delivery takes about 3 days, whereas mato took 3 weeks.

Like most stores that sell Hen longs though they are reluctant to advertise them as such.

Interesting discussion this has become since, as far as I know, HL has NEVER done ANY OEM for Marui or other offshore manufacturers. They are a family-owned & managed toy manufacturer, & the only product I've ever seen in the several visits I've been to their Shantou factory is of their own design.

Do we have any lawyers in the audience? This sounds like the making of a great class-action suit!*

Chuck


* Action regarding deceptive advertising against resellers.

It was a deception, designed to fool the gullible! Its a lesson learned - its being RMA'd back to them and a S&S is on the way

The HL tanks are plentiful online, just about every conceivable vendor has them. What's funny is they all look like clones as they use virtually the same photography borrowed from Mato Toys.

I initially did some comparison shopping which lead me to a site like [link=http://www.shopzilla.com/7S--Robotic_Radio_Control_Toys_-_cat_id--14011200__keyword--rc%20tank__search_box--1__start--40]this.[/link]

I got mine from Zhobby which like the rest appears to have some kind of corporate relationship with Raidentech.

GrandHobby.com
eGrandBuy.com
Zhobby.com
WonderHobby
IntelSpy.com
www.rctoyz.com
hobby-estore.com

"Marui OEM" I fell for that one too, but this was before HL tanks were known about. Around 4 years ago I bought a "marui 1/24" which came with a rechargeable battery pack, was sold as the newer version, replacing the "old " dry cell version. I paid an embarrasingly large amount for it, so think yourself lucky you are not too embarrased to tell us how much you paid. (cos i'm not saying)