Agreed. It's not a wise move from a customer service/loyalty perspective, but is from a pure dollars perspective - which is what most companies look at; the bottom line.

but if proline is coming out with a product as high-end and costly as the powerstrokes were, shouldn't they have done sufficient market research first, to ensure the market could support such a high priced set of parts? i think only a very small percentage of T/E-Maxx owners were willing to shell out an amount half as expensive as the entire stock truck...just for shocks.

Sometimes the best research is watching sales. If it takes off, great. If not, they just cut the losses and learn from the mistake not to repeat the error. It must be tough to find out exactly how much people are willing to spend on an item until it's for sale.

What they could have done is make quite a bit more to help keep the per-unit costs lower, sell what they can at their inflated prices, and then sell the remainder at their cost. Or, keep them as spares and sell as parts at even more inflated prices. After all, the people who did purchase them will have a broken part eventually and will probably pay to replace it as opposed to buying a whole new setup.

tee hee... i work in advertising. there are lots of pre-market research methods to find out how much a target audience would be willing to pay, before it goes on sale. =)

i know what you're saying, and i think they actually did what you suggested by selling as many as they could at an over-inflated price, then sell the remainder at their cost. i bought mine from someone who worked at proline, and this person had a constant supply of brand new sets on ebay for at least 6 months at a reduced price. of course, she didn't advertise that she worked there. i made her an offer, and her response was 'ok, but don't tell anyone i gave it to you at that price'. =) that was for $110, roughly half the new price.

Yeah, I'm not a marketing/advertising guy, so I don't know the market research methods. But some of that is just common sense really.

i got mine a year ago from stormer hobbies for $120. they are fantastic shocks and i haven't broken a single part. a good tip to keep the shafts completely clean is to cable tie the shock boot to the ball end (on the by-pass shocks) and run the boot between the spring retainer and ball end for the dual rate shocks.

you can't get the boots anymore, but i use duratrax warhead boots. they are $3 for a set of 4 and work very well. i use them on my hellfire and CRT as well (they just work on the CRT rear shocks...just)

get some spares though, since sticks love going through them.

also with your powerstrokes, change the shock oil very regulary, since parts are limited.

oh yeah, pro-line still makes the by-pass shocks which are the key part of the suspension system. then all you would need is a RC Raven dual rate spring on some standard shocks to get a similar ride.

Thats not that great of a price. About 2 years ago I guess, I got mine, and they were only $120 for a set of Lunsford Ti. turnbuckles, MIP CVD's f/r, and the shocks.

you're right - a lot of it is common sense.

one of the coolest methods of market research that our agency does (we're a multi-billion dollar a year agency - the largest independently held agency in the country) is focus groups. we bring in a sample of the target audience to a room with 2 way mirrors - the key is to bring in people that exemplify the full age range you're looking for, the spending range, the key target buyers, and anything else to represent a range in the criteria you need for your product. they answer questions about what they think about competitor's products, what they like/dislike about them (cost, how user-friendly it is, how beneficial, etc.) and the most important part is showing and explaining your potential product, and get their feedback on that - what they think of it by itself, and also what they think of it vs. the competitor's product(s). granted it's a very small segment of the total population of your target audience, but it's real-world feedback that can be key to have before launching your product/service etc. Of course, in most cases it means re-vamping your approach, but still. it's the same premise on pre-screening movies before it hits theaters and such.

i can just hear everyone in the room when looking at the powerstrokes: 'these things are cool, but they're too expensive for just SHOCKS!' lol.

sheesh - that's not just a good price, that's an absolute steal.

does proline still make parts for the powerstrokes, I got a set and they are the best shocks I have ever owned or seen.

I called last week and they have a few parts left. I was able to get a set of firm springs. Be right back.........

Here is Proline's email with the parts that are available:

Mark,
Thank you for supporting Pro-Line/PROTOform products. We
currently have a few miscellaneous parts in stock. Please see the part
number listing below.

6025-27
6025-33
6025-37
6025-22
6025-21

We generally do not sell directly to the public. However, when the items
are difficult to locate we are able to make an exception. Therefore, if
you would like to place an order for any of these items I will be happy
to help you in any way possible.

Thank you for the mail and have a great day!

Pro-Line Promotions & Customer Service
Ph # (951) 849-9781 ext 21
Fax # (951) 922-9311
www.prolineracing.com

The is a guy on here named RCShocker who may have some extra parts if you PM him.