Did Traxxas miss the boat?

[skellyo]

After seeing folks that have the Savage Flux in hand and driving/bashing it already, I have to wonder if Traxxas didn't lose a good bit of sales by continually pushing out the BL E-Revo. Sure, problems happen, but we all know the 2200kv combo has been shipping for a good while now and aside from the 2.4GHz radio, it's not much more than an E-Revo with a couple of bolt-on upgrades (17mm hubs, Summit axles, MMM hold down). Setting the expectation to the public that it was originally going to be shipping 2 months ago really put them in a bad position IMO.

What do you guys think? Did Traxxas drop the ball? Should they have publicized a reason for the hold up? Should they have owned up to putting out a bad original ship date?

Just curious to see what some of you guys think. I personally won't be buying one and never had any intention of it, but I can't help but think that Traxxas is now in the less than optimal position of being the 2nd company to come out with a RTR brushless MT.

[JThiessen]

Yes, to some degree they probably lost a few sales. But in the larger scope of things, I doubt if it will amount to much for the bottom line - they make thier real money on replacement parts.

[magman]

When Traxxas came out w/the original Revo, they had a real good product on their hands. Since a lot of new mans. are coming out w/hopped-up mt.'s, they should have done more to the e-revo...such as offering it up just like the Plat. revo but electric. Not to mention..UPGRADE the radio sys.! There are so many better systems than traxxas offeres it is incredible....even w/their 2.4 system

If traxxas misses a release date...it is no big deal IMO, they have the mtk. cornered on entry level trucks which they count on breaking and people upgrading.

did they lose sales? yes

do they care? no

but really....they need to learn how to release things on time...they have NEVER done that to my recollection.....

[Finnster]

Overall I think it was a major coup for HPI to get a BL savage out, and also to get it out before TRX did. More than anything tho it will be at least a strong alternative to have vs the Revo.

What will decide things in the long run I think will be the price and reports of durability. My LHS still sold more E/T maxxes than Revos as they were that much cheaper and the diffs are not that easy to explain. He could barely give the Platnum Ed Revo away as it was so expensive.

The Flux is pricey no doubt, but I imagine the Revo won't be cheap either. It has to come in under the Sav by $50 or so or I can't see it will have strong appeal considering the Sav has all HD steel drivelines, big shocks, and a steel tranny. Both have good parts support. Otherwise its trx fanbois vs Sav fanbois.

[Arct1k]

Remember hpi had a pre-standing business agreement with castle.

Competition is good and can only drive lower prices and a better product.

[suicideneil]

I agree about that- there will always be traxxas and HPI fanboys, but now its emaxx and BL erevo vs Flux. Ofcourse, the flux is the more durable platform compared to the maxx so it wins that fight hands down, but the erevo is a different kinda truck, so I see many noobs scratching their heads as to which one to get.

I've never been a savage fan as I think they look to boxy and tall compared to my pancake gmaxx, but, I dunno, whatever floats yer boat.

As side note, traxxas NEVER admits its mistakes or failings, ever. You cant critise them on the evx2 fiasco when that was first released, or comment on crappy titans failing due to their trucks being overgeared rtr. Woe betide you if you comment on the lovely am radios they love to foist on people too- hopefully their new 2.4 system (love to know what that is a rebadged version of) wont be a let down.

On another side note (you'll like this, but please let not turn this into a traxxas bashing thread), after they ran out energy from repeatedly banning me over there, they have now blocked the btinternet.com email adress (thats a paid address btw) to prevent me from making new accounts (dynamic ip address enabled me to just make a new email sub-account and sign up each time); in short, they have prevent probably 1/3, maybe close to half the UK from signing upto the traxxas forum since the majority of people in the UK have a BT phone/internet account and email address...

[bruce750i]

On another side note (you'll like this, but please let not turn this into a traxxas bashing thread), after they ran out energy from repeatedly banning me over there, they have now blocked the btinternet.com email adress (thats a paid address btw) to prevent me from making new accounts (dynamic ip address enabled me to just make a new email sub-account and sign up each time); in short, they have prevent probably 1/3, maybe close to half the UK from signing upto the traxxas forum since the majority of people in the UK have a BT phone/internet account and email address...

And thats 3/4 of the noobs over at TRX.

[BrianG]

yeah, they might have lost some sales, but as Neil said, they are different trucks. The Revo is more suited for racing and the HPI is more suited to bashing. Sure, each can be tuned for either use, but I'm talking out of the box. And most LHS I've been to always have a larger assortment of replacment parts than any other brand, so that will probably appeal to some. Nothing worse than ending a good race/bash day waiting a few days for a simple part.

Neil: lol. So trx banned the UK? That's funny.

[suicideneil]

I had a feeling they might do it, but I wasnt sure if they'd be that stupid or not; they are (that stupid).

Anyway, Im just curious why traxxassholes didnt make a BL Edition Emaxx 3905? Seems like that would compete more directly with the Flux in the 'big MT' stakes

Their marketing guys aint all that great (aside from the occasional flash animation or timer on the homepage), nor are their tech-monkies who cant design a decent functional/reliable esc to save their lives, then deny any issues until they're blue in the face. Doesnt impress me much or make me have much trust- they could stand to learn alot from the likes of Castle..

[JThiessen]

Originally Posted by suicideneil

Anyway, Im just curious why traxxassholes didnt make a BL Edition Emaxx 3905? Seems like that would compete more directly with the Flux in the 'big MT' stakes :

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the BL-Revo was announced several months prior to the Flux. Therefore, they had no competition at that time.

[skellyo]

Originally Posted by JThiessen

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the BL-Revo was announced several months prior to the Flux. Therefore, they had no competition at that time.

Based on the news threads on radiocontrolzone.com, the E-Revo info was released on 10/16/08 and the Savage Flux info was released on 12/1/08. I believe that the Savage Flux started shipping ~3-4 weeks ago and the BL E-Revo just started shipping in small quantities yesterday.

[JThiessen]

Thats what I was thinking. Time to market is critical in any industry.

[rabosi]

I don't know if they missed the boat because as mentioned before, application-wise these are two different vehicles. The traxxas diehards and racers will probably wait it out. They definitely lost (will lose) some sales though. I may have bought the revo if it was out before the flux (maybe lucky for me cuz i don't think I'd enjoy the erevo as much). If not CC caused delay, I wonder if they had driveline issues that had to be ironed out.

I have a 1515 1y emaxx and the Flux just blows it away imo. For someone like me who's just a backyard/park basher the Flux is the way to go.

I wished they`d release the mamba monster hold down/mount.