Combo Offer: Cineroc (Cat. No. 701-RC-8) Questions...

[K'Tesh]

I've posted a thread on this over at YORF, but haven't heard back on it, so I'll post it here too.

Did anyone here actually buy the combo offer back in the days when Estes still sold the Cineroc?

I ask, as I haven't heard anything about how Estes packaged them. Were they only available from the catalog, or could you find them in your LHS?

I'm curious if the combo offer was the Cineroc (Cat. No. 701-CM-8) and the Omega (Cat. No. 701-K-52) sent in any kind of special package, or just the two together in a box mailed from them, or they'd send the Cineroc and an Omega with the payload section (Cat. No. 701-K-52P).

Were there any special instructions mailed with the combo offer, or were they the same as if you had bought them separately?

Most (if not all) Catalog photos of the Cineroc on the Omega had a decal that said CINEROC with Omega written below it located on the Omega. I've never heard of anybody getting that decal out of a K-52/K-52P, nor seen one in the photos of the Cineroc being unboxed. Was it sent with the combo offer exclusively, or not at all?

Now for a Cineroc question... I've seen footage taken with a Cineroc using a (clear plastic) a Red (or is it Orange?) and Black 18" parachutes from the 70's, and another with the (clear plastic) Red and White, and a catalog photo showing a (clear plastic) Red and Yellow one, but I've also seen a photo of one unboxed that showed it included a (white plastic) Red, White and Black and yet another with (white plastic) Orange, White, and Black parachutes I remember from the 80's.


Clear Plastic, Red (or Orange?) and Black parachute


Clear Plastic, Red and White parachutes


Clear Plastic, Red and Yellow parachute


White Plastic, Red, White, and Black parachute


White Plastic, Orange, White and Black parachutes (1st image is from ejh64's site, 2nd image is a screen grab from a YouTube video)

Can we date a Cineroc (or film) by the parachute?

Thanks!
Jim
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[DanFrank]

Hi,
Orange and black were the first ones (1970), then red and white (probably around 1972), then orange white, black center ('73-'74?). I'm assuming the "combo pack" was the two items sent together from Estes with the discounted price. I have Omegas that came from Estes with NO payload or nose cone in sealed package. This was most likely the Omega from the "combo" offering. On the face card, these Omegas have the Cineroc on top in the picture, but the card also says "Cineroc not included" in big letters.
As for the Cineroc/Omega decal; I've never seen one, so It's probably something Estes made special for the display rockets they photographed. Google RC Grab Bag Cineroc... He made some up several years back that looked just like Estes' version. Email him, he might have some left to sell to you.

 

[K'Tesh]

Hi,
Hi Dan,

Thanks for the info!

Orange and black were the first ones (1970), then red and white (probably around 1972), then orange white, black center ('73-'74?). I'm assuming the "combo pack" was the two items sent together from Estes with the discounted price. I have Omegas that came from Estes with NO payload or nose cone in sealed package. This was most likely the Omega from the "combo" offering. On the face card, these Omegas have the Cineroc on top in the picture, but the card also says "Cineroc not included" in big letters.
As for the Cineroc/Omega decal; I've never seen one, so It's probably something Estes made special for the display rockets they photographed. Google RC Grab Bag Cineroc... He made some up several years back that looked just like Estes' version. Email him, he might have some left to sell to you.

So the the face cards of the Cat. No. 701-K-52 (the one minus the payload section) had a Cineroc on the top of the rocket in the photograph... Interesting! This is the first time I've heard about that. You wouldn't happen to have any of those face cards (or the Omega's) still? I'd love to see a photo (or a scan) of it. I'd also like to know if the instructions were any different from the 701-K-52P (w the payload section).

Some time ago, I bought some decals (from Squirrel Works, and Excelsior). Gord now includes the Cineroc decals with his set.

Pointy Side Up!
Jim

 

[DanFrank]

Note the parachutes in the photo.

 

[DanFrank]

The other photo.
The Omega on top has a price of $4.25 if that helps with dating the kit.
The kit on top has the Cineroc "faded" out. Estes did this to the face card to show that this kit didn't include the cineroc. It also says in small letters, "Cineroc not included".

 

[K'Tesh]

Note the parachutes in the photo.


View attachment 159836 View attachment 159837

The other photo.
The Omega on top has a price of $4.25 if that helps with dating the kit.
The kit on top has the Cineroc "faded" out. Estes did this to the face card to show that this kit didn't include the cineroc. It also says in small letters, "Cineroc not included".

Thanks for sharing those photos!

That's the first time I've seen one of those, now I've seen two, and they're even more different than I had thought.

I'm presuming that the $3.50 Omega is the Orange and Black checkerboard parachute including one, and the faded version is the "Sunburst" equipped kit?

One thing that I also noticed is that the decals for each is partially visible, and they're the "Medium Blue" color, and not the "Purple" of some claims.

I also notice that the Sunburst one has the MG-604 (Tube Marking Guide), the RA-5060 (diecut fiberboard centering rings) and the fins are still in the balsa. Compared to the checkerboard has what looks to be wooden centering rings, and the fins look to be punched out (and bundled in a plastic bag), the remaining parts can't be made out from the photograph.

Based on those observations, I'm pretty sure that there is a difference in the instructions between the earlier and later versions of the Omega, now whether or not that continues on to the 701-K-52P (1970-1972) and the K-52P (1973-1980). In doing a little more research on the Omega, I noticed that the 1970 version of the 701-K-52P Omega doesn't have the silver painted payload section seen in all later models, making me wonder if there's a third set of instructions out there.

[EDIT] I have a K-52 in my possession right now, the white centering rings are white on one side only and natural cardboard on the other, so it is very likely that the original doesn't have wooden centering rings. The Kit's instructions have a photograph of the 1970 version of the 701-K-52P (no silver payload section).



Thanks!
JIm