Signs that Estes is discontinuing some of its RTF rockets

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mrichhcirm

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A number of these are now on clearance at Michaels and Hobby Lobby. I got a couple at Michaels for 4 bucks each...I may fly them a few times, strip them for parts, or maybe I'll donate them to the club raffle.

Anyway I thought it was interesting. It didn't make sense to me to stock so many of the RTFs at craft stores when you essentially take the craft out of it...maybe they'll restock with more builder's kits?

I think there's still a market for rockets that require minimal skill and effort, but I think the E2X models fill that need nicely. I think if there was one improvement they could make with those, it would be to add a small tube of glue to the kit to make it as easy as possible for the builder. That would make those kits a great gateway to the hobby.
 
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I've always thought it would make sense for Estes to pair a RTF with a E2X in the same package. Perhaps they do and I just haven't noticed? The marketing scheme being obvious, right.......give a child this as a gift....they get to have immediate gratification with the RTF....but then they have the E2X to build later to get a sense of the hobby.
 
Good idea with the paring. They're already doing it with some starter kits, so a RTF/E2X combo isn't a stretch.
 
Those are'nt signs that anything is going to be discontinued, it's just the way you interpreted it.
 
Those are'nt signs that anything is going to be discontinued, it's just the way you interpreted it.

True enough, but seeing two major chain stores clearance those out at the same time has to be more than a coincidence. Either way, either the chains or Estes itself seems to be reconsidering their inventory mix.

In any case, mostly I was sharing the news in case anyone else wants to scrounge up some rockets cheap :).
 
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A number of these are now on clearance at Michaels and Hobby Lobby. I got a couple at Michaels for 4 bucks each...I may fly them a few times, strip them for parts, or maybe I'll donate them to the club raffle.

Anyway I thought it was interesting. It didn't make sense to me to stock so many of the RTFs at craft stores when you essentially take the craft out of it...maybe they'll restock with more builder's kits?

I think there's still a market for rockets that require minimal skill and effort, but I think the E2X models fill that need nicely. I think if there was one improvement they could make with those, it would be to add a small tube of glue to the kit to make it as easy as possible for the builder. That would make those kits a great gateway to the hobby.

Some kits used to come with glues... problem is, you don't know how long or where those kits are going to sit before ending up with their final owner... they can sit for months or years in hot or cold storage, or on shelves who knows where...

People open the package and find the glue has clabbered, dried out, etc. and then they're ticked and want a refund or to make ugly noises. The kit instructions have the glue recommendations right on them-- if someone can't come up with a bottle of white or wood glue on their own they really are bad off and shouldn't be flying rockets anyway...

Later! OL JR :)
 
Of course, depending what type of glue you're putting in the kit, you could have a whole 'nother layer of restrictions.

I remember getting a model tank for Xmas when I was a youngster. I wanted to assemble it, but needed to go to the 5 & Dime to buy some "airplane glue". I found the tube of Testors model glue in the same section as their various models in the toy section... and I walked to the counter to buy it.
To make a long story short, the man refused to sell it to me, since I didn't have a note from my parents. I was stunned and didn't understand. I asked why I needed a permission slip, since they had sent me ON FOOT -7 blocks- in the winter, the day after X-mas... to buy the one thing I needed to assemble my tank.

He refused to explain, but steadfastly required a signed note from a parent...saying that he could not sell it without it.

I walked home, told my parents, who shook their heads. My mom signed a note explaining what i wanted it for, and I walked down to buy it again. This time, there was no problem at all. The clerk didn't even ask me for the signed note, but I had provided it and the sale happened in record time. I walked it home, tore into the kit and my Dad showed me how to used the glue to seal the plastic seams together.

My point is that if we're aiming at too young a crowd, the type of glue might be restricted. That could keep us from getting those kits into the kids' hands.
 
The pattern seems to be a "Bi-annul" reset of stock. Out with what they have, and in with something different.
 
True enough, but seeing two major chain stores clearance those out at the same time has to be more than a coincidence. Either way, either the chains or Estes itself seems to be reconsidering their inventory mix.

Not that uncommon... everything is constantly jockeying for shelf space nowdays... if stuff sits around awhile, the stores get antsy and start clearancing them to move them out. Order buyers for the big chains and stuff are constantly looking for "something new" and when they find it, they have to find shelf space for it, and thus look to clear stuff out to make room...

Sometimes it's the distributors or the company making the kits, but about as much of it if not more is the stores or the corporate HQ's issuing new orders from "on high" as to what to stock and what to clearance at what level...

later! OL JR :)
 
Not that uncommon... everything is constantly jockeying for shelf space nowdays... if stuff sits around awhile, the stores get antsy and start clearancing them to move them out. Order buyers for the big chains and stuff are constantly looking for "something new" and when they find it, they have to find shelf space for it, and thus look to clear stuff out to make room...

Sometimes it's the distributors or the company making the kits, but about as much of it if not more is the stores or the corporate HQ's issuing new orders from "on high" as to what to stock and what to clearance at what level...

later! OL JR :)

What I hear you all saying is that I shouldn't expect to send the kids to college on the collector value of the rockets I just bought :) Oh well, my intentions were to fly them to destruction and cannibalize them for parts :dark:
 
I picked up an RTF Patriarch kit at Meijer last week. Just B6-4 Field fodder, nothing more. The kind of bird I just might fly on a C6-5 if I get a calm launch window.
 
could be the stores are clearing out some summer items to make room for colder weather items. Around here if you want to buy a kite, buy it by march. If you want to buy a winter coat but it before January.
Mr. Bob
Countyline Hobbies
 
could be the stores are clearing out some summer items to make room for colder weather items. Around here if you want to buy a kite, buy it by march. If you want to buy a winter coat but it before January.
Mr. Bob
Countyline Hobbies

Quite true... stupid stores will be stocking Christmas stuff before long...

Pretty soon if you want a winter coat you'll have to buy it in July... and pick up a new swimsuit in January...

Idiots...

Later! OL JR :)
 
At Michaels they are mostly RTFs: Scrappy, Athena, Code Red, Fuse, Summit, SkyTrax, Prospector, Patriarch, a couple of launch sets, a few others I can't recall. I saw some of these clearanced at Hobby Lobby too.
 
I would say it's just cycling the stock. Very few items stay year after year after year. Alpha, Big Bertha, Wizard... Everything else gets cycled. Replaced by something similar, yet new to the current customers.
 
You can't use Michael's or Hobby Lobby "Craft Stores" as an indicator for anything. They very regularly blow out current items to make room for their next season.

Very misleading thread title.....


Jerome
 
Seems in the last year or so there have been a lot of Estes kits sold at prices that seem to be below or near cost both direct and retail. Don't see the fire sales on the most popular ones like Der Red Max series though, so there is some kind of business strategy in play. Are these sales loss leaders to sell more motors? Trying to drive smaller vendors out of business?
 
You can't use Michael's or Hobby Lobby "Craft Stores" as an indicator for anything. They very regularly blow out current items to make room for their next season.
Very misleading thread title.....
Jerome

I concede that I jumped to a conclusion based upon a small set of observations. But then Estesrockets.com has been liquidating a lot of stuff thru their frequent holiday specials, so I was wondering if something bigger was afoot.
 
When Estes (or Quest, for that matter) produces a kit, they have to guess at a fairly large number of kits they think can sell in a fairly large period of time. Say, like sixty thousand copies they think they can sell in 18 months. They order them from China, and all 60000 are produced at one time and sent over in a shipping container. Big chunks of that 60000 are sent to the distributors and large customers like HL and Michael's (I'm not talking about the WalMart orders, as they are treated separately). After a short time, they check the sell-through, and if they've under-estimated, they may order another production run from China, and if they've over-estimated, they start marking down the kits to get rid of them, and make room for something that does sell. They obviously over-estimated on some kits, and we have been the beneficiaries.

HL and Michael's do the same thing with the chunks they order from Estes. Sometimes they make a deal to return slow sellers to Estes, sometimes they get a rebate or some concession from Estes that makes it easier for them to cut the prices at retail.

But yea, when you see Estes selling kits for two dimes on the dollar, you can probably assume they aren't going to order another boatload of them from China!

By the way, those numbers I threw out there may have no basis in reality at all!
 
Swung by Michael's on the way home from work last night, and sure enough, lots of models on clearance.

Picked up an Alpha III Launch Set for $11.99. Couldn't pass it up.

1. My daughter built an Alpha III about 10 yrs ago when she was nine. It was destroyed sometime during the intervening years. So, I thought she might get a nostalgic kick out of building another one (if you can be nostalgic when you're 19).

2. Also got an extra/backup launch pad and controller to add to the family kit.

Nice deal in my book.
 
Quite true... stupid stores will be stocking Christmas stuff before long...

Pretty soon if you want a winter coat you'll have to buy it in July... and pick up a new swimsuit in January...

Idiots...

Later! OL JR :)

Pretty soon? How about *now*! The local HL didn't have any really cheap d/c'd rocket kits, but they have lots of Christmas stuff out today.
 
Pretty soon? How about *now*! The local HL didn't have any really cheap d/c'd rocket kits, but they have lots of Christmas stuff out today.

Well, Duh... It's JULY... HL is first out of the gate in the Christmas rush... gotta give time for all those crafters to get stuff made for the fall festivals, fund raisers, and fairs where they can sell Christmas-y junk...

I was referring more to your standard Walmart-y type store that will soon be shuffling all their "summer stock" into storage containers and pulling out the "Christmas junk", despite the fact that folks might actually still need a garden hose or swimsuit or something in the next 2-3 months (at least down here in the south...)

Same thing when the coats and jackets and gloves go into the storage containers in late December to make room for all the garden and bbq stuff and swimwear to come out... despite the fact that someone (like ME) might happen to have their gloves crap out while there's still another month to six weeks of wintry weather around and might NEED to buy a new pair...

I get it-- they want to get a leg up on the competition and have the stuff out to sell to "early birds" (also known as 'idiots' who think it's cool to shop for a swimsuit a week or two after Christmas, and who'll probably forget they ever bought one by the time it's actually warm enough to bother going swimming and end up buying another one, but STILL... is it SO friggin' hard to keep at least ONE small display rack of gloves, hats, jackets, etc. on the shelf until the cold weather is past??? Same thing with the summer goods in wintertime?? After all, sometimes we DO need to replace a garden hose in the wintertime, if the old one breaks or springs a leak or something...

Like I said... "IDIOTS!"...

Later! OL JR :)
 
Yeah Hobby Lobby does that...the really obsessive Christmas crafter's need lots of lead time for their projects. You probably know someone like this. Or would be if rocketry was more of a winter - season thing :p
 
Went to my local Hobby Lobby after work this evening. Four different RTFs on clearance (Athenas at $5.99, SkyTrax, Code Red and one other I forget - SkyHawker maybe - at $7.99). That gets Athenas and SkyTraxes down to what they were when first introduced by WalMart a few years ago. Nothing else was marked down and F15-0s are still priced at $5 over retail (or at least over F15-6s and F15-8s). So I used the 40% off to get a pack of F15-6s.

I like the Athena and the SkyTrax but I have plenty of examples of each on hand.

I'd love to see such a deal on launch sets as Cosermann reports but few Michaels stores in this area carry rocket stuff and none that do are particularly convenient for me to just drop in on.
 
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