Estes Snapshot - You can buy it if you won't fly it!

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markschnell

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The new Estes site is up. If this has been discussed before, I'm sorry. But the Snapshot, found in the collectors section includes the following info if you click the more info button, or the rocket:

ATTENTION: This product is a collectors item and as such is for sale for the sole purpose of adding it to a private collection and not for use by the general public. The purchaser agrees to keep the 1848 Snapshot Launch Set in his/her possesion as a collectible model rocket set, agrees to keep the product sealed, and will not separate the components for use or to fly this model rocket as originally intended.


ATTENTION: The purchaser agrees the Estes-Cox Corporation, its successors, heirs and assigns are not responsible or liable in any way for any and all bodily injury(s) and/or property damage that may occur from the use of or caused by in any way from the 1848 Snapshot Launch Set if purchased for use other than as a collectible.


ATTENTION: This product NOT available for shipping to California.

:confused2: Is this a new thing for Estes? Have they ever directly sold a rocket before that was only for keeping it sealed and not for flying? And is this just a wink, wink kind of thing, they know people will open it and fly it but they're just covering their butts? And finally, what's so dangerous about this rocket that requires it to remain sealed?
 
I bought an estes snapshot fairly recently- I opened it up and flew it the day I got it. Should I be worried? Is it because the camera infringes others privacy? :roll:


The new Estes site is up. If this has been discussed before, I'm sorry. But the Snapshot, found in the collectors section includes the following info if you click the more info button, or the rocket:

ATTENTION: This product is a collectors item and as such is for sale for the sole purpose of adding it to a private collection and not for use by the general public. The purchaser agrees to keep the 1848 Snapshot Launch Set in his/her possesion as a collectible model rocket set, agrees to keep the product sealed, and will not separate the components for use or to fly this model rocket as originally intended.


ATTENTION: The purchaser agrees the Estes-Cox Corporation, its successors, heirs and assigns are not responsible or liable in any way for any and all bodily injury(s) and/or property damage that may occur from the use of or caused by in any way from the 1848 Snapshot Launch Set if purchased for use other than as a collectible.


ATTENTION: This product NOT available for shipping to California.

:confused2: Is this a new thing for Estes? Have they ever directly sold a rocket before that was only for keeping it sealed and not for flying? And is this just a wink, wink kind of thing, they know people will open it and fly it but they're just covering their butts? And finally, what's so dangerous about this rocket that requires it to remain sealed?
 
:confused2: Is this a new thing for Estes? Have they ever directly sold a rocket before that was only for keeping it sealed and not for flying? And is this just a wink, wink kind of thing, they know people will open it and fly it but they're just covering their butts? And finally, what's so dangerous about this rocket that requires it to remain sealed?

The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act is the cause, and the danger is to Estes, not the user of the rocket.

Sam
 
Never thought about sticking the rocket in my mouth.:eyepop: But now that they mention it.....:jaw:
 
Dang. I was really planning on buying that rocket and doing something really stupid with it, and getting a photo of myself being an idiot in the process.

Now the world will just have to use its imagination.
===================
"ATTENTION: This product NOT available for shipping to California."

For a product you're not allowed to take out of the package? Whew, that's pretty extreme.
You Californians must be the safest people in the history of the planet.
 
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I bought an estes snapshot fairly recently- I opened it up and flew it the day I got it. Should I be worried? Is it because the camera infringes others privacy? :roll:

Well, the last time I flew one of these, (1996), trying to take a bunch of photos of my house, and area, some old guy with a shotgun came rolling up in a beat-up pick-up truck, accused me of spying and being with the BATF, or IRS, and taking illegal pictures without a warrant!: shock:
He then called me really stupid, waved the shotgun in a general direction of departure he wanted me to go, called me a stupid (unable to print rest)!:y:
Of course, I immediately left. Even though I lived just up the road. (No, I am not kidding!)
So, for what my opinion is worth, I would have to conclude that this product may have Detrimental health and welfare effects of the end user! :gavel:
 
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The text under the Estes Snapshot is boilerplate CYA legalese for them. It is so that they can show that the kit isn't being sold as a "toy," that it is intended to remain sealed, and therefore isn't covered by the CPSIA. There is no way that Estes can legally compel a purchaser to adhere to the restrictions outlined in the text. But if a purchaser were to open the kit and then try to file a complaint with the CPSC regarding the materials that its components are made from, then Estes can cite the notification on their website in its defense.

MarkII
 
The next paragraph after the legal nonsense says:
Snap fantastic aerial photos from 500 feet high when you launch the Estes SnapShot! This RTF (Ready to Fly) rocket and camera comes from the factory fully assembled and ready to launch.
If you buy the Snapshot on this basis, can you then sue Estes for false advertising because if you follow the instructions it can't be launched? :D

Better yet:
Technical Specifications
Length: 18 in. (45.7 cm), Diameter: 1.33 in. (34 mm), Weight: 3 oz. (86.2 g)
Molded Plastic Fins, Self-stick Decals, Parachute Recovery, Fantastic Photos
Recommended Engines: None, is a collectible only.
Max Altitude: 500 ft. (152 m)
How do you get the Snapshot to 500', take these "fantastic photos", then recover it by parachute without installing engines, or indeed without opening the packet? Maybe the "fantastic photos" aren't what you get from the Snapshot, they're included on the package. Maybe the maximum altitude is another restriction, you're not allowed to take the Snapshot over 500' e.g. on an aircraft or up a mountain. :D
 
The mistake here is expecting it all to make sense.

MarkII
 
When I look on the Estes site, everything says "OUT OF STOCK".

Andrew From Texas
 
Well, the last time I flew one of these, (1996), trying to take a bunch of photos of my house, and area, some old guy with a shotgun came rolling up in a beat-up pick-up truck, accused me of spying and being with the BATF, or IRS, and taking illegal pictures without a warrant!: shock:
He then called me really stupid, waved the shotgun in a general direction of departure he wanted me to go, called me a stupid (unable to print rest)!:y:
Of course, I immediately left. Even though I lived just up the road. (No, I am not kidding!)
So, for what my opinion is worth, I would have to conclude that this product may have Detrimental health and welfare effects of the end user! :gavel:


How did this old guy know you had a rocket that took pictures
and not just a standard rocket. I mean, just out of the blue he knew
you were taking pictures? How many people who are not in the
hobby know that an estes style rocket can even take pictures?
And why did you not call the police on someone who
threatened you with a gun? And if you justed lived up the
road whouldn't you posibly know this old guy?
If some old guy shows up in my neighborhood that I don't know
and starts waving a gun He is going down.

Anyway, Just curious!
 
If I want to take a look in someones backyard these
days I use Google Earth!!
 
Anyway, Just curious!

Curious, or "politely skeptical"?

PM/email me, and I'll tell you all about it.... Oh Boy will I tell you! lol :pop:
For forum conciseness , here are brief answers to your query's:

It started with the words; "HEY! What are you doing?"

NO, I didn't know the man.
Rural Central Florida is a long way, literally, and often figuratively, from New Jersey. The shadows of Ruby Ridge, Waco, and Oklahoma City, fell long and hard here at that time.
Assuredly, the gentleman, and incident, were timely, properly and legally dealt with.

You know, I never was able to take any decent picture with the Astro Cam.:mad:
Since It's inception, and availability, I use Google Earth now too. ;) Here ya go! Now everyone can look at my house and backyard, and front yard, and roof, deck...etc now too! Eh... Circa 2 years ago. :D

PS- A few years later that same gentleman (old guy) and I became friendly, and offered each other short greetings and chat when passing. :)
 
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"politely skeptical"?


This one ^
And that would be very politely.

I have friends in FT Myers and relatives in Bradenton.
 
I just found this exact same Rocket in my closet in the sealed package Its a Snapshot and it has the numbers 1848 on the bottom ...are they really collectors items?
I didn't even know I was collecting it .
My brother bought it for me Christmas 1997 I think it was. I put it in the closet & forgot all about it
If any one knows anything about it please let me know
Thanks LIFT OFF
Looks like some one ganked my film it had in it
this would explain the small access opening on the bottom left
then the thief tried to reseal it , All I can think of is an Ex G.F.
P6230447.jpg
 
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Does anyone know...
what kind of film does it require?
Perhaps I can get a new roll and drop it in the receptacle there!
 
I have a SnapShot -- in fact I think I have 2, because people bought them for me as gifts back in the 1990s.

I've taken maybe a dozen pictures with it, they came out OK, but in the new age of digital cams and onboard video, it's not that big a deal any more.

I also have an original Camroc, which I got about 4-5 pictures out of back in the early 1970s. The problem with THAT now would be getting film cut into custom circle sizes and then hand developed.
 
Well, the last time I flew one of these, (1996), trying to take a bunch of photos of my house, and area, some old guy with a shotgun came rolling up in a beat-up pick-up truck, accused me of spying and being with the BATF, or IRS, and taking illegal pictures without a warrant!: shock:
He then called me really stupid, waved the shotgun in a general direction of departure he wanted me to go, called me a stupid (unable to print rest)!:y:
Of course, I immediately left. Even though I lived just up the road. (No, I am not kidding!)
So, for what my opinion is worth, I would have to conclude that this product may have Detrimental health and welfare effects of the end user! :gavel:


Anybody who waves a shotgun at me gets my gun drawn instantly. And I'm not afraid to use it either. Since I wasn't on his property, he had no right to do that at all. If the barrel on the shotgun comes down, he gets one right between the eyes.

Sorry, but in that second, my life is worth a whole lot more than his.
 
It does take 110 film, and hasn't been made in years. Good luck finding it, any that is on the shelf, and not stored frozen is probably expired.Who knows what colors you'll get out of it.
 
Isn't this just an R2F redress of AstroCam? I had an AstroCam back in the day and a CamRoc before that. My dad had a co-worker who had a darkroom setup and could cut film for me. We only ever got one good shot off CamRoc - the field where the Va Beach Amphitheater is now...
 
Isn't this just an R2F redress of AstroCam? I had an AstroCam back in the day and a CamRoc before that. My dad had a co-worker who had a darkroom setup and could cut film for me. We only ever got one good shot off CamRoc - the field where the Va Beach Amphitheater is now...

I never got a good shot with either rocket. I lost my astrocam in a tree. Well, atlas ti stopped me from wasting money on more film.
 
It was hard to time the Camroc so you got a good shot of the ground.

Ejection delay too short, you get the sky.

Ejection delay too long, you get the ground, but possibly also a zipper and a ripped-off chute.

I launched the Camroc maybe a dozen times and I think got about 6 usable pictures. But usually it was the middle of a grass field with nothing else in it.

Plus it took about three months between launching the rocket and getting the picture back so it wasn't really a very gratifying experience.


At least with video cams where you can download the video and get still frame pics within 3 minutes of the launch, you don't have to wait until the seasons turn to see how they came out.
 
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Anybody who waves a shotgun at me gets my gun drawn instantly. .If the barrel on the shotgun comes down, he gets one right between the eyes.
That's a great way to defuse a tense situation.
(That was sarcasm, in case you didn't notice).S
Shooting someone to death for sounding off doesn't sound like a good idea, either. Nor going armed in public.
Just a thought. Just because you can doesn't mean you should.
 
That's a great way to defuse a tense situation.
(That was sarcasm, in case you didn't notice).S
Shooting someone to death for sounding off doesn't sound like a good idea, either. Nor going armed in public.
Just a thought. Just because you can doesn't mean you should.

Second.
 
That's a great way to defuse a tense situation.
(That was sarcasm, in case you didn't notice).S
Shooting someone to death for sounding off doesn't sound like a good idea, either. Nor going armed in public.
Just a thought. Just because you can doesn't mean you should.

I generally don't, if I'm with a group or my club.

But alone, or just my wife and the family, absolutely.

(Just FYI, I do have a licence for it. Not the easiest thing to get here in CT.)

Sorry gang, but the instant that shotgun came out, my life became infinitely more important than his.

I may be a pinko commie liberal, but I do believe in the 2nd Amendment.
 
That's a great way to defuse a tense situation.
(That was sarcasm, in case you didn't notice).S
Shooting someone to death for sounding off doesn't sound like a good idea, either. Nor going armed in public.
Just a thought. Just because you can doesn't mean you should.

Londoners.... LOL:)

You don't know if the guy is "sounding off" or means you harm... I for one, if I have a gun, it's because I mean to use it. Many States now allow their citiizens to legally carry firearms, either concealed or unconcealed but holstered (depending on the local laws). If someone has a gun OUT and pointed in my direction and is ranting in my direction, he should fully expect to be met with equal or superior force... IOW if the other guy escalates it to the point of bringing firearms into the situation, he should expect to be met by equal force capable of dropping him first.... that's just how it works...

Of course yall's cops don't even carry guns over there, so this all probably sounds terribly frightening to you... but if you're gonna carry a gun and wave it around, you better be prepared for someone else to be ready to fire on you if you get threatening...

Later! OL JR :)

PS... I've been threatened by folks with a gun before somewhat like this situation, and they nearly found themselves disarmed and their brains beat out with their own gun because of it (I don't carry guns myself).
 
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