ESTES Clone OOP STAR RIDER Rocket Model Kit Vintage #2010
At first glance it looks like a OOP bagged Estes kit.
Turns out it's a clone. The seller has copied the face card and hang tag.
How can you list it as vintage when it's a clone?
Take a good look at the nose cone -
The canopy and small side wings are hand carved!
That's not an Estes parachute.
Home print decals, clear coated.
Fins are pre-cut but not laser cut.
Interesting . . .
Since he's selling for profit, I see a cease and desist order coming soon. So wrong, on so many fronts. And brazen enough to use the Estes logo on the face card.
ReplyDeleteHi BAR,
DeleteI wonder if Estes even goes after these guys. There are a few other small clone vendors that copy and use the Estes or Centuri instructions in "their" kits.
If the day comes when somebody copies and sells and Odd'l Rockets rocket design, they will get a letter from my lawyer.
The only production kit I have sold (it is somewhat close to the Estes kit and uses the name) is the Birdie. I did go through Estes to get their permission.
The F-16 and F-104 kits are very different from the Centuri models.
At least the seller admitted that it's a clone in his description. He's also not charging vintage pricing for it.
ReplyDeleteI'm now wondering if the seller is recycling the original face card and header card in his new packaging.
Hi Lester,
DeleteI would think he scanned the originals and printed new ones.
I'm astounded by that nose cone. How in the world can the seller be making a profit at that price with all the labor involved in those parts?
ReplyDeleteHi Lonnie,
DeleteHe's not making any money by carving his own nose cone canopies. I would think this is a "one-off".