01-12-2007, 11:54 PM
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BARCLONE Rocketry
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Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Mobile, Alabama
Posts: 5,357
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Originally Posted by snaquin
I have seen them. I wonder if these are geared towards someone that purchased his first RTF rocket or a starter set and possibly lost the rocket that came with the set? Instant gratification for the "non-builder" that needs to get back out into the field to launch again. Possibly lacks the time or design skills to build his own. Perhaps this is the market Estes is trying to reach?
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Maybe I'm a little jaded  , but I don't think it's meant as the "replacement" rocket so much as it is meant to be the second (or even third)rocket. I don't believe Estes is pushing their customer base in the "model" direction at all, but simply toward more RTF product. In fact, most of the "new" Estes products I've seen lately, even those meant for LHS's, have been RTF foamies. I have not seen an Alpha or a Big Bertha on a peg wall for some time; and when I hear of Hobby Lobby putting Outlanders on sale as "discontinued" or "closeouts", I think Estes may actually be encouraging the demise of kits altogether. Fits in with what my "Deep Throated Nozzle" contact at the the local shop told me earlier about companies "falling down" on the follow-up items. Estes may not be the only ones that have fallen down that hole, but they're certainly not making any visible effort to climb back up, either...
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One would think I was trying to memorize those first model rocket catalogs I had by the amount of time I spent staring into them! 
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Been there, done that...  Way too often; coulda floated a missile cruiser from the spittle...
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I still refer to my two copies. I agree. If there were one piece of literature I could put in the hands of the guy buying his first starter set, this would be my choice. When I first started in model rocketry that was the reference materials I needed to show me model rocketry and all it encompassed.
The Handbook as a premium is a very good idea.
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I'll start a new thread on "Items Needed in a Deluxe Starter Set", so we can focus on this discussion. Maybe we can develop some of the printed literature there ourselves... |