JBRL and Hot Rod Hobbies

[cgandersen]

So I wrote Brian V. the person that I guess puts on RCX with this letter:

[FreeJack]

It was my first time ever going to one, so I found it fairly cool...but I found it very interesting what a gigantic influence and commercial presence Hobby People had there. I was also pretty disappointed in what they considered "show specials" which were, in most cases, more expensive than you could buy things for outside of the show. It felt like they were trying to take advantage of non-RC people who might feel inspired to get into the hobby, based on what they were seeing at the show (and they were...the Slash and Slash 4x4 seemed to be doing really well). Anyone with an internet-able cell phone could quickly go online and check prices, though...which is what I did, of course, and found virtually NO deals. The only one that almost snagged me was a mini Spycopter 3 that seemed to be far below the cost of buying it outside the show. It just seemed to be a smaller import manufacturer and I knew parts would be tough/expensive to buy, so I didn't get one.

The helicopter and flight demos were fun to watch, for sure. I also was sort of interested by the drifting track and watching those guys do their thing.

Personally, I think for the show to be more successful, the manufacturers need to put more focus on letting consumers get hands-on time with the products...especially new people. It's not enough to put a wall of parts up, show models on pedestals and let people look at the guts. That's not what R/C is about. This hobby is all about the experience and fun of driving/flying...so they need to put more focus on that. Of course, encouraging competition among various vendors selling their stuff would REALLY help the turnout among consumers, as well.
_________________
Kevin Deselms - Webmaster, Hot Rod Hobbies
Associated FT SC10 / Team Icon 13.5 - Intermediate Short Course
www.hotrodhobbies.com