ASK Cubby – More Of Your Questions, Less Of My Answers
“Fallout
Cubby,
What kind of fallout have you been seeing in the industry since Hobbico was sold to Horizon? Things don’t look much different from where I am sitting, what are you seeing?
Robert H.”
Cubby- Yo Roberto, thanks for writing in, you know the drill about getting a sticker pack. Robert is from Florida and writes me from time to time, so we do have a history.
What am I seeing? Well, a lot. As a consumer you may not see much of a change at your local hobby shop, and that is a good thing. But… here is some not-so-industry info, or maybe it is, either way…
There were some manufacturers that didn’t get paid for product shipped to Hobbico. That hurt those companies. However, it probably hurts them more that Hobbico/GP is no longer around to keep placing large monthly orders. First hand, here at BigSquid, Hobbico was either our first or second advertiser, and was probably our largest single advertiser all those years. Yes, we did lose some money during Hobbico’s bankruptcy, not a lot, but some (and mad props to those Hobbico employees that took care of us during the final 6 months, you WILL NOT be forgotten), but the bigger problem is the fact that we may not be able to replace that Hobbico ad money, ever. So, the biggest thing I am seeing behind the scenes right now is a whole lot of companies are recovering from a hit, during an already down market, plus they are sorting out how to go forward without a big Great Planes order every month.
Yes, you may (or hopefully not) see more companies close their doors simply because they can’t survive without selling to Hobbico/Great Planes. Now, of course the former demand from Hobbico consumers will transfer to other places like Horizon Hobby, Amazon, eBay, large hobby shop websites, etc, but it is now harder for a smaller manufacturer to reach end consumers.
It’s just gonna take some time to see how things shake out. Hopefully we’ve hit rock bottom and everything from here is positive and upwards, and from what I’ve seen, there are numbers to support that, but, as I love to say so much, we’ll see.
“$127
Hey Cubby what do you think is the best way to spend $127 in rc? I have birthday money buring a hole in my pocket and decided that I will buy whatever you recommend.
Chester B.”
Cubby- So…. hello there Chester? So… you have $127, and you are gonna spend it ANY way that I tell you to in rc? LOL, hey, I love you guys/readers, I really do, but some of you make me worry, like a LOT.
OK, let me attempt to get serious here. So, me, your almighty leader Cubby, commands you to buy a new Hitec servo, plus a new set of Pro-Line tires. When I think of the two mods that I can pull off for under a hundy-fiffty, that will make the greatest amount of improvement, new kicks and servo sit at the very top of the list.
While most RTR servos have decent speed or torque, they never have both, and they typically don’t live very long. If you drive 1/10 or 1/8th, chances are you can get a servo from Hitec that blows your RTR unit out of the water, for not that much money. Likewise, the stock tires on your RTR probably aren’t terrible, but they aren’t Pro-Line. A set of Pro-Line tires WILL make the biggest improvement per dollar spent, I can’t recommend them highly enough. They can turn your truck from sliding all over the place, to dialed, in less than 10 minutes.
Have a question? Need an answer? Have a rant that you just have to get off your chest? Email me- thecubreportrc at gmail dot com.
YOUR Cub Reporter
