I'm starting this thread for requests/ideas other than motors or kits.

Something that would be nice to see is a parts assortment pack like they had in the good old days. The assortment pack from Estes nowadays is a joke with leftover parts in it. There are companies like Red Arrow, BMS, Apogee and Flis offering partial parts assortments, but nothing like the complete assortments that Centuri and Estes use to offer in the late 60's.

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Scott D. Hansen
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WOOSH NAR Section #558

Oh, thank you, Scott!

I've been going back to the old catalogs and just drooling longingly for some of those parts packages offered back then. What we need is a good "supply replenisher" box of usable tubes and balsa and rings and, well, STUFF that we really need...

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Craig McGraw

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SAM 0044
AMA 352635

I'm talking a complete set. Take a look at page 53 of the '69 Centuri catalog. The Experimenters Special had EVERYTHING you needed to make up to 8 rockets. Now that's an assortment!

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Scott D. Hansen
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WOOSH NAR Section #558

Agreed!

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Craig McGraw

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SAM 0044
AMA 352635

OK. Which one first?

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Carl McLawhorn
NAR#4717 L2
semroc.com

If you mean "Which style -- Centuri or Estes?", then I'd have to say Centuri style, since there's a better cross-section of sizes.

If you mean "Which quantity of material in the package?", then I'd have to agree again with Scott; we need a comprehensive selection of components to make it interesting. I don't know which would be the better way to package tubes -- make them all 18", or a selection of long and short. Nose cones and other turned items, enough to build 8-10 basic models. Same with the other components like rings, launch lugs, motor hooks, parachutes, etc...

And we can't forget the printed materials, like fin patterns and shrouds, maybe even a complete plan of some simple design to get builders started.

It might be possible to feature two or three different "price range" kits, just like Estes and Centuri did in the late 60s. One set might have enough for 2-3 models, one might be able to do 3-5 models, the third as many as 8. I think folks would pay a premium for good quality components, but what they want is consistency.

Price points? How about $25, $40, and $75? What could these boxes be filled with for those prices? Close to what I described above? Better? Spot-on?

Maybe even put together at some point a $100 Super Box, equal to 2 or 3 times the $75-size box, considering that there would be a reduction in some of the printed material as a cost savings...

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Craig McGraw

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SAM 0044
AMA 352635

My personal preference on those is to have larger packs of single items, rather than packs of varied items. I always end up with stuff that I just use up on something just to use it up. I also prefer the larger 34" tubes, rather than 18" tubes. Getting rid of the spirals is a good thing, too! Who likes filling spirals. Can't we just get rid of them? I got a couple of boxes of 34" tubes (BT-5 thru BT-60, 12 of each per box) from a guy on eBay and the spirals are almost non-existent. That's my idea of a parts pack! Having a variety of bulk packs like that would be great. A variety pack for cones would be cool, though, especially one that included futuristic cones like the Estes Futuristic Parts Assortment.
My 2 cents.
James

Good idea Scott. There are some parts I don't mind making from scratch, tubes and cones are what is most important to me, the rest I can usually fabricate myself in a pinch. Only problem with including cones, is your stuck using what you have rather than what you really want. Tube assortments are a good place to start.

Keep in mind, this package is aimed at individuals who don't have a lathe to cut their own parts. It really is just "a starting point"; it's a way to get a few quality parts into their hands and allow them to get going on some simple projects. Once they have the package, they will be directed to the SEMROC website for additional components. Think of this package as an appetizer before dinner; it's just enough to whet the appetite, and not enough to spoil it.

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Craig McGraw

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SAM 0044
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Craig,

Your post helped crystalize my take on these "designer's special" type boxes. I started out as a BAR by building three kits and resurrecting three others from the attic. The Estes Designer's Special was helpful both in rehabbing the attic birds as well as letting me explore my own scratch and cloning ideas. No doubt this box was truly helpful. And I gladly paid the outrageous price at the B&M hobby store.

But once I got going, I pretty much moved beyond the Designer's Special. I could get plenty of balsa sheets from lots of stores. I picked up a stash of tubes and rings from TT and a stash of cones and rings from BMS. Cutting my own parachutes from many plastic bags was easy enough. (Glide floss makes great MR suspension lines

The point was that, once I got going, my bulk purchases tended to be more specialized. So I agree with you that these type things are mainly starting points. After that, it's hard for me to see much market for a "super duper gigantic deluxe designer's special". I don't see one as a starting point - it's too big - and I think most builders will be more specialized when they begin supplementing their stash beyond their first designer's special. (Plus, it's obvious that getting agreement on what goes into the super-duper box is about impossible

I'd say, after the basic designer's special type package with a sampling of everything, that the next best things would be ring packs, nosecone packs, body tube packs, etc. I think builders will see these as less wasteful and hehce more desirable.

Doug