rhm-zooom

Hello everyone I Dont know if they have been selling anywhere else in Canada but they just started here on vancouver island.Its an xrc - revolution, speeds of 40kmph and performs STUNT driving action.Did not have my glasses on so could not see very well, I think the engine said ICE or RCE on it, not sure.The car looked like it was all plastic (cheap plastic ) tires where hollow and just spring shocks ,The "dogbones" were the thickness of a large paper clip. Theres even a commercial showing it doing a back flip I think, just caught the tail end of it. I wonder how many of these will be recked and returned after only there first run with people trying to immitate the commercial.It sells for $250,(not much for your money in my opinion).There using Wildcat fuel $15 a qt , Oh ya the fuel was stored at eye level, for a 5 yr old in the toy section, I couldn't beleive it. I did inform someone about it. Does anyone know anything about this fuel? One more thing, check out Vancouver hobbies new web site, Looks Great.

RedcatRacing

What you saw was Hasbros XRC nitro rc car. I have seen these up close and will hold back my real comments as maybe one day Hasbro will want to buy Redcat.. hehe.

But, overall, my opinion is that these guys deserve some props for doing something that just a short time ago was unheard of. They have made a nitro vehicle that is being sold in some toy stores and auto parts stores such as Canadian Tire. I expect to see these in a lot more places soon mainly due to the fact that they are nitro powered and many people don't buy nitro / gas vehicles due to the unknown of how to run them, what gas to use etc.... What Hasbro has done or is trying to do is bring nitro cars to the mainstream. It is questionable if it will work and even more questionable what people will really think once they buy them. I say this because Hasbro is a toy company. The vehicles they made in my opinion are toys. They are very slow compared to what else it out there for same price and their components seem to be very weak. On the other hand I have seen them up close and even though the components and plastic parts seem to be lacking I did witness some hard hits, major jumps and outright bashes with no damage at all.

Overall, these vehicles are great for the hobby. The hobbyists will hate them, will call them names and will outright consider them to be toys but the big picture and fact is these will bring new people into the hobby and will use the Hasbro vehicle as their first foray into it. People will buy the Hasbro vehicles than upgrade later to a major brand. It simply brings new people into the great hobby of ours.

There are other things coming as well. I have seen the same exact trend before when I owned an ATV business. When I started that business ATV's were mainly sold to traditional powersports dealerships. Within a few years, you saw the major auto parts stores carrying them along with other types of businesses that would not have sold ATV's before.

I know that within the next 3-4 months you will see some major chain stores in the US carrying Nitro and Electric RC cars from some of the largest RC Car companies in the world. I am not talking about the Hasbro cars but instead the names we all know as the leaders within the hobby. This is coming and is coming fast. I foresee the traditional hobby shop getting pressured not only from more and more online shops competing against them but now chain stores that have not carried hobby level products before will start.

So why now? The high end electric and nitro vehicles have been around for years. Why now will we see these vehicles in chain stores? Well, simple economies of scale has occurred. Redcat would not be in this business if it werent for new factories coming online in China and offering lower prices than Taiwan and Japanese factories. With more and more manufacturers, the prices of components come down which allows the overall costs to product the vehicle to be reduced. This allows new factories to compete with the larger ones, which sparks new markets to materialize. 5 years ago there were not companies like Redcat. The major brand names had the market all wrapped up right? So, with new competition coming from all angles for the bigger companies, they must look at other avenues to attack other than the traditional hobby shop. The end user can now get a lot more for their money than they could a few short years back which brings in new buyers looking for these products and the chain stores know this. So overall the timing is right for this hobby to go more mainstream.

Just my thoughts. Feel free to comment.

Darin

rhm-zooom

Well I guess its a good thing then. I was not meaning to put the car down, was just reporting what I saw, realizing it was more of a toy. If the fuel is any good, I will have already gained from it as the fuel is cheaper.Anyone ever use it.(Wildcat)

chevyderek72

ive seen these run at the az state fair, personally i dont like them. they just look very cheap. they are only 2wd, not fast at all, and are still like 200-250. thats EXPENSIVE. you can get a ballin redcat for cheaper or as expensive as that. i mean ya its cool because more kids will see them (i saw it at walmart) and get into the hobby. but thats ridiculous for something that i see as a toy. but ya when i went to the fair the guy was like they were out here promoting them, they are pretty sweet. and i was like hey can i try driving, i got a couple that are actually hobby grade. and he was like naw i cant let you man, sorry. but i showed him some pics and he was like oh thats cool man. but ya i wasnt impressed by them. someone here on craigslist was trying to get rid of two of em for 100 bucks. perfectly good but they were up for like ever lol

ssrc30

HAHA I wont be surprised if they came begging to Redcat in the near future. I got a look at the XRC and I too will hold back my comments on the product LMFAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

firebird78

hobby grade rc's in walmart or the like??...this is just my opinion take it as you wish...if I was the owner of a rc company and wanted to be takin seriosly as a hobby grade rc company I would not sell to any large dept store chain...yeah you will sell alot of rc's but eventually your name in the hobby market wont be worth squat...and then the big dept chain will only pay so much for an rc which will make quality less due to the loss....prime example...look at mongoose bikes....at on point in time they were high end bikes with a good rep...now look since walmart has sold em..do they still contend in bike racing?...I dont think so....yeah if you want to be a toy grade rc and have no ambition to be a high end rc company sell to the large dept store...I think this is horrid for the hobby...with the internet it isnt hard to find more reasonable priced hobby grade rc...people will find companies such as redcat, exceed and himoto...
you also got to look at the support...are these dept. stores going to hire people that know what they are doing to help people??...would they carry spare parts?...offer repair??...I think not...you will have people with no idea about rc's selling them...whats that going to do to which ever companies that do this name?...like I said earlier...this would ruin what ever rep they do have...goin back to buying a bike...last time I bought a bike just to ride no abuse I told them I wanted it still in the box...they offered to put it together for free...well one friend bought a bike from the same store and let them assemble it...we had to adjust the brakes and totally redo the gear shifter so it would actually shift gears...do you really want to buy a $200+ rc from someone like this...I sure dont

ssrc30

I have to agree with you. Although I wouldn't mind going to Wal-Mart and picking up an HPI or Traxxas or what have you, I definitely would lose alot of respect for the major names in RC if they were to start backing away from their grass roots in the smaller LHS settings.

Companies like Redcat Racing, Himoto, and others, got their start by selling to smaller markets and their quality of service shows it. Whats gonna happen if we suddenly have to go to a major box store to get parts and service? Tell you this much, I don't wanna be in that waiting line just to pay out big bucks to some freckly faced teenager who doesn't have a clue what he/she is doing or talking about. Lets keep the hobby where it belongs, out of the corporate image (ie: box stores, major chains) and in our small towns and communities with people that take pride in the hobby and know what it's true values are. If RC goes corporate our smaller LHS's are gonna be the ones to feel the brunt and suffer the worst.

firebird78

heck it was just the other day I was at a major dept. store shopping ....I seen some guys checking out some electric rc cars for $60...I gave them some websites to check out...I told them that the rc's were way better then the rc's thay were looking at...told them they are not only faster but better built and spare parts and support was there for them...I told them how much and they said it was to much...then I told them if they buy the rc they were looking at and break it its most likely a totall loss or you would have to mail the entire vehicle to have it repaired....go figure but these are the types of people your dealing with...I still say bad move....horrid for not just the company selliing them rc's...but like previously stated horrid for the lhs....yeah sure I like a bargain and like to save money...heck in my sig it tells u what rc's I own, thats proof.....I like shopping the big dept stores...but some things shouldnt be available in them and this is one...

ssrc30

I totally agree. I am still a noob, but I like my low cost cars, and I plan to get some really high end ones as well. I say that as far as these companies are concerned, they should keep their crappy little $50 cars and give up the high end models to the LHS where people have the knowledge and the time to help us dedicated enthusiasts enjoy our hobby the way it was meant to be enjoyed. I don't believe, and never have, that quality RC of any kind has a place in a big box store. The only really good quality models I have ever had were from my LHS. We only have one LHS here, and if it was forced out of business, people would be really screwed. That would mean a 5 hour drive to the next closest shop, or ordering online which around here isn't very reliable.

Companies like Wal-Mart, Cosco etc would have some very BIG shoes to fill as they don't seem to realize that those of us who are dedicated to our sport, take it very seriously and expect quality products.

Kodiac400

However I sure would like to see a decent grad of fuel show up on walmart's shelves. The rc's however do scare me a bit.

Later

ssrc30

Ya it wouldnt be so bad to see them selling Traxxas or Nitrothane, but those are cheap enough as it is.

chevyderek72

But it will ruin the reputation though, for me at least. So i work at gnc, and we have protien thats cheap, just whey concentrate, nothing special, but not bad protien. then some guy asked if the protien at walmart was the same (its probably cheaper), and i told him it probably is gonna be the same as our bottom of the line protien (we have way better protiens, but they are more expensive), but i wouldnt do it. i dont know what it is, but im not gonna put that protien in my body, other people can do what they want but i refuse it, i would seriously rather take no protien, but whatever floats your boat. i just dont think that name brand in walmart will be good, it kills the reputation (in my opinion, for what its worth)

rcguy1411

the big question is will they have parts to replace, the guy who buys one for his kid runs it once a littke to lean or that hits the curb at least if they got one at their lhs it could be repaired . this could turn off just as many people to the sport as it could turn on to it

7M

A buddy of mine has one, I totally crapped on it with my Volcano in a race. Still a cool truck, needs a tuned pipe though.

RedcatRacing

Traxxas at Pep Boys.

Darin

chevyderek72

wow weird