Saturday, January 17, 2015

Observations on the New Estes Catalog

On the Forums there are negative opinions about the new 2015 Estes catalog.

I don't mind the RTF and ARTF models if those are what pay the bills at Estes. Estes still makes the best BP engines out there. We all use Estes engines whether they are in a RTF or scratch built rocket.
It's simple, if Estes sold more Skill Level 4 and 5 kits, they would produce more Level 4 and 5 kits.
I know, "How many different color E2X crayons can you buy?"
First timer kids have a favorite color and Estes is delivering all choices.

I'm looking forward to building the Odyssey, Lynx and Mercury Redstone.
There are still plenty of vendors (including me!) that produce kits where you still cut, measure, glue, tie and paint.

Before complaining about what is available, design your own kit, market, distribute and try to sell it. After a year you'll figure out what sells and why Estes produces so many ARTF and RTF rockets.

John Boren of Estes made this follow up post on TRF:

"Estes Catalogs only show new stuff that didn't make it into the previous years catalog or new stuff that will be available early the following year. This leaves a whole lot of time during the rest of the year for other new stuff to come out. Of course most of you will find this other new stuff boring and of little interest, it wont grab your attention, has boring Deco's and with some being disposable toys. All I can say is, thank goodness we sell a lot of boring looking disposable toys to the masses out there so the other stuff of little interest that doesn't grab your attention can still be produced." 

John Boren

"Maybe someone can start a positive thread on what people believe Estes should produce, and no, the B14 motor isn't going to happen. Lets see if you can get 20 people to agree on the exact same thing, and I'm not talking about 20 people wanting the same discontinued kit being brought back. Think new and exciting stuff that more than .1 percent of the fliers out there might be interested in. I'll read the thread and maybe I'll "Learn Something" as stated on the NCIS New Orleans TV show."

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