Traxxas sending cease and desist letters to aftermarket companies then backing off.

[sondeen]

My first experience with Traxxas was pretty good. I kid in our neighborhood got a new RC car from his father, a RTR Traxxas Cat. He considered it an upgrade to his hopped up but well beaten up Grasshopper. My brother and I at first were not impressed, not a kit? how good can it be?, and looks all like cheap plastic too. But that car was quick and proved to be indestructible. This kid drove the Cat hard and amazingly it never broke. I was starting to think a Traxxas car might be in my future.

A few months later the latest issue of RCCA arrived in my mail box. Inside was a full color glossy ad for the new Traxxas Bullet. A quick look over this advertisement and my 15 year old mind quickly saw what was going on....it's a complete rip-off of the RC10 I thought....how lame. I wondered how could they get away with that. Right then and there I decided I would never buy any Traxxas product ever.

In hindsight they are lucky Associated never went after them legally. Most likey Associated was too busy cranking out kits to bother, and knew they had a superior product and didn't think customers would be fooled by the Bullet's gold chassis and shocks.

[GoMachV]

I still can't believe people think the bullet bares any mechanical resemblance to an RC10. It was much more of a Ultima rip off. The gold color makes people think rc10 I guess. Not one aspect of the car is comparable or compatible with an RC10. Double deck chassis, bladder shocks, 3 step speed control, transmission with external idler, 540 motor, metal shock towers, roll cage body... if I called out those things everyone would have a picture of an Ultima in their head. Say gold and it's automatically an RC10

[mikea96]

I still can't believe people think the bullet bares any mechanical resemblance to an RC10. It was much more of a Ultima rip off. The gold color makes people think rc10 I guess. Not one aspect of the car is comparable or compatible with an RC10. Double deck chassis, bladder shocks, 3 step speed control, transmission with external idler, 540 motor, metal shock towers, roll cage body... if I called out those things everyone would have a picture of an Ultima in their head. Say gold and it's automatically an RC10

I've always thought the same thing and wondered if I was blind in not thinking it was an rc10 copy

[1911Colt]

I too am guilty of this. I wasn't very discerning of mechanical features at that point. I remember thinking the Bullet was like getting an RC10 with all of the latest hop ups already installed. Gold chassis = RC10, and all of the differences were improvements. I also believed the misleading race reports in which Traxxas would say the Bullet had won some major event when in reality they probably sent pro drivers to a club event. I realized over time that the Bullet wasn't showing up in the race reports in RCCA; RC10s were still winning everything. How can that be ?!?

Looking back it was pretty stupid to believe the ads, but I still had fun with the car. I didn't have anyone to race with, so the car was a beast for all I knew. Later on, the local flying club had a small race at one of their club events. It was undoubtedly the least talented field of racers ever assembled, and my Bullet won!

Oh well. Valuable lessons learned.

[sondeen]

The mechanical comparison to the Ultima is spot on. My first impressions were from the perspective of a 15 year old kid, one who did not yet own an RC10 or know all it's mechanical particulars. What jumped out at me looking at the RCCA ad was gold chassis, gold shocks, gold motor plate, white nylon molded parts. It looked very much RC10 like to 15 year old me.

I have to believe the color scheme of the parts was very much intentional by Traxxas. Imagine a rookie racer looking for a top notch buggy... you can get the RC10 for $$$, or you can get the Bullet for a bit less with the same look, similar features, and then throw in the misleading race results 1911colt mentions. It would be a convincing sales pitch to a novice RC consumer.

Looking at the Bullet more now, it does looks mechanically like an Ultima, cosmetically like an RC10, and has the slider drive shafts of a CAT. Traxxas did some homework and shamelessly copied what they perceived were all the best parts of these successful contemporary cars. My understanding is that they repeated that approach with follow on kits of theirs. That has to be a big part of why their aggressive legal posture aimed at competitor companies over "Intellectually Property" sits so poorly with many hobbyists.

[Russ Winn]

Last year, my wife talked me into buying a modern vehicle so there would be parts availability. I decided on a Slash kit, since it was versatile and everyone carried parts. Since then, I have replaced most of it with aftermarket parts, because the stock components are flimsy. Eventually, I converted it into a drag car, and it's been HIGHLY disappointing. I went to Traxxas' forums to see what people were running, and saw their "community rules". Reading #8 says all I need to know about Traxxas:

8. No Traxxas Bashing. This is the Traxxas online community for Traxxas enthusiasts. It will naturally have a pro-Traxxas bias. It’s simple. If you don’t like Traxxas and wish to discredit us with your misinformed rants and opinions, then don’t be a member of our community. Your posts will not be tolerated. You will not be allowed to wage your personal crusade against Traxxas in our online community. Go someplace else.

This is why most of their questions are nothing more than "How fast is it?" .....I'll never own another one.

[juicedcoupe]

Let's be honest. You aren't coming into my yard and talking smack about me either.

Just saying.

[mikea96]

Let's be honest. You aren't coming into my yard and talking smack about me either.

Just saying.

I think this is a little bit different then someone coming to your yard and talking smack.

[GoMachV]

It's more like coming to a small town and trying that

Ok not really but I know I wasn't the only one thinking that

[juicedcoupe]

I'm reading it as being on Traxxas's forum, not a private forum that has a Traxxas bias (I think that one shut down).

"If" it is the actual Traxxas forum, that is their "yard". It is paid for and managed by them. Anyone who doesn't like their rules is free to leave.


If you are talking about a non-official forum with a Traxxas bias, that's a little different. Still their house (whoever is paying for it), their rules.

[Russ Winn]

It's not so much about bashing Traxxas, but looking for improvement suggestions for their products. Of course, it will be a biased site when they shut down anything less than glowing about their product... I understand there are people out there who just want to start trouble, especially in this day and age, but how can it be a "misinformed rant and opinion" when it comes from someone who owns one of their vehicles?
Bottom line is, their community rules must've been written by someone with little to no communications/social skills, and only backs up the original topic of this thread (and the mindset of the company.)

[juicedcoupe]

How a question or comment is worded will change how it is perceived.

If you start with "I've broken this POS three times and this is junk", it'll be perceived as a rant. Unfortunately, the internet is full of whiney bitches.

If you clearly state your problem or ask about what can or can't be done, the chance of a positive reception is higher. If you still get shot down, you probably weren't going get much help there anyways.

[juicedcoupe]

As for you guys that keep breaking Traxxas stuff, what the hell are you hitting.

The most I've damaged was a shock shaft or bent a kingpin. And my son and neighbors did some pretty stupid stuff with them.




When I hear about how someone used to break their Traxxas a lot but doesn't have that problem with whatever, I just assume that they learned how to drive with the Traxxas. If they had started off with whatever higher end product, they would likely have broken it as well.

[Russ Winn]

How a question or comment is worded will change how it is perceived.

If you start with "I've broken this POS three times and this is junk", it'll be perceived as a rant. Unfortunately, the internet is full of whiney bitches.

If you clearly state your problem or ask about what can or can't be done, the chance of a positive reception is higher. If you still get shot down, you probably weren't going get much help there anyways.

I couldn't agree with you more. You get what you pay for.

[RogueIV]

As far as the Slash based cars I think the only things I've broken is rear hub carriers, popping shock caps, a slipper on the Rally and a rear bumper that someone else broke by not paying attention on the starting grid. This is since when the Slash was first released. The cars are durable.

The Revo I've broken plenty but that's in part that's it's a 1st gen, been converted to electric (I was likely one of the first to do so) and it's over powered. It also was made into an E-Slayer for some time as well before returning to e-revo form.

Their ethics are reprehensible though, to the point where I'd have a very hard time buying another one from them.