Guess for new rockets in the Estes 2024 Catalog

[Joel Shepherd]

If they printed prices in the catalog, with a disclaimer about “prices subject to change without notice”, and later had to change the prices, how many people would be grumbling that Estes needs to honor the price printed in the catalog, disclaimer be damned? It’s not viable to commit to pricing a year+ in advance, many people shop online anyway and that allows them to see the current price immediately. It gives Estes some breathing room to respond to supply chain issues, etc., and seems like a pretty minor inconvenience for their customers.

 

[mh9162013]

If they printed prices in the catalog, with a disclaimer about “prices subject to change without notice”, and later had to change the prices, how many people would be grumbling that Estes needs to honor the price printed in the catalog, disclaimer be damned?

Good point. I wonder why Estes doesn't do that, especially given how they know people collect their catalogs.

 

[Scott_650]

I liked Estes' most recent Christmas sale, but they had a sale that lined up well with what I wanted to buy, which I could stack on another discount code. The problem was that I bought a lot of scale kits (subject to the sale) and they didn't count the Red Nova or the Nike-X as scale kits (but they did count the Bull Pup and Patriot).

Seriously? I know the Red Nova is a fictional rocket, but Estes' Patriot is so far off from the real deal, calling it a scale model is a stretch that's equivalent to calling a Red Nova a scale model.

As for Nike-X, that's a true scale model that Estes should have included in the sale, but choose not (to out of greed or laziness, presumably).

Thread Drift Alert

The Estes Patriot is, dimensionally, pretty much spot on for the MIM-104A, fin span and paint scheme excepted - but their version isn’t very much different than the LOC version. The paint scheme is, apparently, derived from a trade show mock-up.

Estes doesn’t claim the Nike-X is a scale model - even the package blurb says “scale-like” and the description says it features “Nike-style” design so it’s not surprising they wouldn’t include with kits like the MR, LJ or SV.

 

[tfrielin]

Sorry if this has been asked (multiple times): Why no prices listed in the catalogue?

When I was a kid devouring and dreaming over a new Estes catalogue with my limited funds, actually knowing the pricesof everything was a requirement!

I imagine there may still be one or two kids out there who are in the same predicament...

(And, sure, you can tell me to go to the website, but then what's the point of holding a catalogue in your hands in the first place???)

 

[neil_w]

Sorry if this has been asked (multiple times): Why no prices listed in the catalogue?

When I was a kid devouring and dreaming over a new Estes catalogue with my limited funds, actually knowing the pricesof everything was a requirement!

I imagine there may still be one or two kids out there who are in the same predicament...

(And, sure, you can tell me to go to the website, but then what's the point of holding a catalogue in your hands in the first place???)

Starting here: https://www.rocketryforum.com/threa...in-the-estes-2024-catalog.182697/post-2553701

Enjoy.

[Aside: I wonder how many kids care about these catalogs anymore. I think the catalogs are targeted more to nostalgic old farts (I include myself in this category) such as those who frequent this forum]

 

[mh9162013]

(And, sure, you can tell me to go to the website, but then what's the point of holding a catalogue in your hands in the first place???)

Most people enjoy reading books by holding a physical object in their hands as opposed to reading it on a computer screen. I imagine catalogs are similar in this regard.

So even with no prices in the catalog, there's still some benefit to them. I think tradition also plays a role as Estes has a long history of releasing catalogs.

 

[RocketSquirrel]

Just curous what companies youve worked with or have heard are garbage?

I am dealing with this exact same issue...I may have already mentioned it here too....still waiting..It is amazing how they take a company known for it's amazing customer service and ruin it relatively quickly.....

 

[hcmbanjo]

I didn't lose any sleep when Estes didn't include prices in their 1982 catalog . . .

 

[mh9162013]

I didn't lose any sleep when Estes didn't include prices in their 1982 catalog . . .

The late 70s and early 80s are when inflation was super high in the United States. Curious as to whether other catalogs around that time included prices.

 

[BEC]

The late 70s and early 80s are when inflation was super high in the United States. Curious as to whether other catalogs around that time included prices.

I just did a very quick survey of some of the posted catalogs at https://estesrockets.com/pages/catalogs. So far I've found no prices on the product pages in 1987, 1988, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998. I'm there are others. Some of these have a price sheet bound into the middle rather than displayed on each page. This also happened in my early BAR days (at least 2012, 2013, 2014). I have physical copies of those catalogs....

Sure, I'd rather see the prices, and I'm a little disappointed to hear that those of you who've gotten 2024 books don't find a price sheet in the middle. But it's not the end of the world or even of the hobby.

 

[lhelseth]

They used to include a separate couple of pages stapled at the centerfold (e.g., https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0686/0220/0369/files/Estes_1998_Catalog.pdf) that were labeled, for example, "1998 Catalog Price List".

I like to take a catalog in my field box or to a local hobby store in case I have questions about specific engines, for example. I'm okay looking up the (current) prices on their web site, understanding they may roll through a script to increase all prices by X% and that's easier to maintain than having to go manually edit every web page.

 

[samb]

"It's the end of the world as we know it ... and I feel fine." Michael Stipe

"The future's uncertain and the end is always near ... let it roll Baby roll" Jim Morrison

 

[Cape Byron]

Lack of prices in the Cattledog don’t bother me none. I just use the eventual online rrp and convert it to Fahrenheit (double it and add thirty) to get an approximate AUD price.

 

[kelltym88]

Just curous what companies youve worked with or have heard are garbage?

Not sure I understand your question...I never said any company was garbage btw....

 

[RocketSquirrel]

Not sure I understand your question...I never said any company was garbage btw....

Idk what i was reading but i thought i read something here about "garbage" rocket vendors they see popping up. It may have not been you, or im just going crazy. I was just asking to see why they/it/the ghost thought that, because ive delt with many with all good experiences. I have no idea what happened