Quote:
Originally Posted by Ry @ JE Spares
Like most things, you get what you pay for. I'm pretty confident in saying that Tamiya and Kyosho kits are both amongst the most reliable and durable. Both kits being more expensive than the common buggies on the market.
In buying a Lazer, you're buying a kit that's gonna stay together longer, stay in one piece longer, and last longer. Simples  |
I'm not doubting that, not one bit, but you have to appreciate that I am a hobbyist, not a pro racer and my son is just learning the art of reversing the steering in his mind when the car is coming towards him.... No car can withstand some of the accidents he has and will continue to have. Just as I did, even though i didnt start until i was 12
They have a good products in the Lazer RTR through to the FS2, good setups on here from the team drivers, good support from long time Kyosho fans such as RogerM who can answer all your questions, but if the company itself seems to lack commitment, where does that leave them in terms of generating new business?
From a business model point of view, Associated can capture kids with their 1st car (b4.1 rtr) and go right through to World Champ winning cars and anything in between. Most shops worth their salt stock spares and if you broke something trackside, you probably dont need to worry either.
Schumacher clearly have a lot of brand loyalty, home grown company, cheap spares, lots of availability, local team drivers, lots of setup info. Cars 'appear' fragile though from reading their forum, and lots of updates here and there. Just from perception you understand.
Durango, clearly quality, but user friendly? Again, perception is that they are high end, dremel this little bit, fettle that, little room under the shell etc etc, all designed for the pro racer only, which is fine of course.
I think the Kyosho products are great, they are solid, they are quality and look awesome, just as my Turbo Scorpion did 30 years ago - it was way better than anything Tamiya could muster and as for Optima vs Hotshot, oh do me a favour. These are not the issues. If i were a single bloke, racing every weekend with a decent wedge to spend, it would be Kyosho all the way. When time and money are at a premium, you have to sacrifice some of your ideals and maybe Kyosho are happy with that, only appealling to the proper racers and not the hobbyist, but the hobbyists of today are the racers of tomorrow....
It seems to me Kyosho have the quality of Durango without the agg, the curve factor of the Schumacher cars without the fragility and an entry level package in the Brushless Orion RTR that looks decent enough compared to the b4.1 rtr....
They have the products but appear to lack commitment to our market...
I'll shut up now and apologise for the thread hijack, but I am a Kyosho fan and it saddens me to see them go from a company who were stocked and supported everywhere to a fringe/specialist outfit