My thoughts on something about this industry....

[hakmazter]

It would be fair to say that I am new to this industry and that in many ways is a good thing and also a bad thing. After reading the OCM thread and some other threads over in RCTech, I feel as though I was doing the right thing as a fellow manufacturer in the industry and just following along with what everyone else does, however, I disagree with the concept and I am officially considering changing our procedures.

Here is what I am talking about. We, just like anyone else would, announced a couple of months back that we were going to come out with big bores and electric buggies. We are right there in regards to time and such, but I think that we are going to do this differently from now on. I know that we are not, but I feel like we are letting you guys down in a way with the whole "it will be here soon" concept. The hype is nice, but I personally do not like how we have handled it. Both products will be here very soon and like I said, compared to every other manufacturer, we are just following suit, but I think we are better than that. According to what I have heard, it normally takes 6 months to actually produce a new product. I know that Mikey is bending over backwards to almost halve that time frame, so congratulations to him and the team over there!

From now on, there might be a rumor, etc... of a new product or whatever, but we are not going to make an official announcement until we have them in hand. I was watching our webpage hits and they were literally incredible when we announced that we were coming out with the first electric. Worldwide, we had over 200,000 hits within that week and everyone was talking about it. We had over 200 people in our site at all times of the day for 3 days. Now it has dropped back down to 5-20. I cannot know if it would have played out differently, but imagine you guys having no idea and picking up rcdriver or xtreme rc cars and there is a new Caster on the cover with a full blown test, etc....and actually just ordering something that day instead of waiting. Maybe waiting for something is half of the fun? I think on the electric, since it is such a big industry changing event, we had to do it the way we did because if any other manufacturer would have made an announcement first, once again we would have just been accused of copying someone else even though it is the furthest from the truth.

I am not worried about anything and I am sure that the electric will put us on the map as a legitimate player, but I just don't like the concept of delays and empty promises and even though it isn't warranted, I would like to apologize for this only because a lot of my friends are "I want it yesterday" types.

Stupid things like Mikey doesn't make the boxes and the box maker had a big project come up a few days before.....now we are delayed a week...things that are out of our control drive me crazy.

What is your opinion on this? Do you as customers and team drivers like the "I heard about it, now we wait" attitude of this industry and have to wait weeks on end, or would you like it to be a week or 2 wait or no wait at all?

Just something that has been weighing heavily on my mind.

Mike

[razzor]

Hak that is a very good and valid point you making !!
The interest when a product is announced could be turned into positive sales if the product was available immediately rather than after a stated time period of its release.
I would think there is a small percentage of the guys out there that would be patient to wait for a product compared to the majority who would like to buy it as soon as possible.

[vnmsgt]

I think a week or so in advance would be ok. For example like if Mikey told you guys they were ready, don't say anything yet. Now when he says they have been shipped out and confirmed they are shipped then you know you can say for sure we got them and can say a date when they will be available.

[hakmazter]

So far it looks like I was spot on. That is what I needed to know. Thank you for your opinions. Anyone else is certainly welcome to agree or sway my opinion the other way....lol.

[skeller]

I personally don't mind hearing about a new product then waiting a month or two to see it avaliable....I understand tht delays and problems happen. However, I do feel that most other people are just the opposite...they don't understand how probs. and delays come up....and they shouldn't have to worry about that anyway. So...I agree...when it hit US soil make the announcement. People will grow to trust you alot more in the end.

[3pointX]

I can honestly say from a business standpoint that I know what you're saying. I'm new to RC, but I've been in paintball for going on twenty years now (I'm only 28!) and I, like Mikey and Cam and all of you guys at Caster, decided to try my hand at producing products for the very hobby I love. So a few years back I started building a custom line of paintball markers. I had a game plan, I had a distributor to order all my parts from, I had all the necessary tools to produce what I couldn't buy in-house, I had a timeframe. I made it well known to anyone who would be interested in my product that I was going to be rolling them out. Spec sheets, pricing, all of it was out there. I had teams e-mailing me with pre-orders. I had prototypes built for my own team. It was all falling into place. Then one thing led to another when my parts supplier went under. It was a complete nightmare and I looked and felt like a complete ass when I was unable to fill the orders. I did the best I could, took care of everyone in the end, but in reality, it was a train wreck.

So I know where you're coming from. It's great from a customer's perspective, to know that you guys are moving forward and expanding the product line, and also to know that you, as a company, actually care what we, as customers, think about how you do business. As a businessman, I can also understand why yo might want to keep things under wraps until everything is etched in stone, so to speak. To be completely honest, who cares what other companies really think? Somebody is bound to do something innovative, and it's guaranteed that other companies will follow suit. It's not about doing things first, really. It's about doing things better than the other guy, and that's where this company needs to leave their mark. Caster as a whole is off to an incredible start and I see nothing but success if yo guys keep doing what you've been doing.

I'm all done now.

[30percent]

I think this industry is supported mostly from impulse buyers that normally don’t want to wait for the product to be released. Some people are catching onto the idea that the first release doesn’t always mean the best release, some bugs may need to be worked out of a new line(all manufacturers). Like the Hyper 8. It had a few design flaws they fixed with the 8.5 (Shock tower design, brake pads, chassis length). Those of us that picked up the first release of the Hyper 8 had to upgrade, where as the people who waited picked up the 8.5 with all the fixes included.

I think a tested product release should be the industry standard, but only a few manufactures can support that kind of cost. Usually the development cost push to have the product on the shelf’s as fast as possible. All testing is going to do is introduce things that need to be changed, prolonging release, driving development cost threw the roof.

I think for some team drivers, inside information will still be ok. Word travels fast. Then when the product is 2weeks from the shelf, make a big deal about the official news release.

If you look at Bungie, the developers of the Halo series on PC and Xbox. They put rumors in the wind about the next release date. Let that circulate to stir up interest, and right at the peak of the interest, officially release the date. They are a good company to look at for product hype and release dates, Halo 3 made more money in 24hr period then any type of media ever (more than any music or movie). That’s a little off topic, but they obviously have a strategy for product release that works.

[cold_reboot]

I understand what your saying Hak. You can tell me really early on, and keep all the rest of these people in the dark. Actually it's beneficial to some degree, if I hadn't known Caster was going to make big bores then I'd probably already have Ofna's or GS's on it. Since I knew they were coming, I waited. Same with the 150cc tank. Kind of a Catch 22....6 one way, half a dozen the other. And now i'm out of anecdotes.