Sweetpea's visit at the AMA Convention

[sweetpea]

All right let's start from the beginning.

First we arrive and there is no parking upfront........you say, why not just park across the street. Well we brought a person with a valid handicap and had to park across the street. There should have been far more handicap reserved parking right up front.

Next, man was it cold, and the line to get in the building was huge!!! They only had 2 teller booths open. I was not aware that a 2007 AMA card would save you a whooping $2 on your entry fee, but you should have seen the stink of those that didn't bring a card or who only had 2006 cards trying to save a couple bucks. Geez the entry fee was only $15 to start with.

So finally made it inside after forever in line. The place looked like it had potential. We headed left to the display tables, by the way you couldn't really get very close to these displays. Many of them had intriqute paint and detail that I would like to have seen up close. First booth I visit........FLYING GIANTS! With Tuna flying inverted up high. They had the webcast going, T-shirts, hats, stickers and the super badass foamie their. But none for sale. (I'll touch more on this later). Chatted with Max and Momo a bit then proceded to look around.


Most of your major folks were there.
-Aeroworks
-DA
-Abell RC
-Smart Fly
-Nitro Planes
-Horizon
-Great Planes
-Air Wild
-Hacker (good prices here)

Folks I didn't see......

-Aerotech
-Any 3W manufacturers
-Deitrich
-Wild hare (though Hempell was there with the 50% Edge)
-Carden
-Dalton Aviation
-SD Models
-QQ


So I walked around, talked with all my friends from different companies and saw some fellow R/C folks tooling around. I managed to buy a few tool trinkets and some smart-fly stuff. That was really it. I came prepared to buy! So what happened?

90% of the vendors had signs or displays of things that weren't being sold. And something that really irked me was when I talked with Horizon......I quote "We are not selling any items so that our dealers can" Now in theory that would be fine, but I couldn't find one vendor selling any JR Rx's or radios, you couldn't even buy Spectrum. I also found that 90% of the Eflite stuff wasn't for sale from other vendors. None of the Spectrum Eflite items were being sold. So that comment rubbed me the wrong way.

Ok, now back to the foamie at the giants....I hate to pick on you guys but I have too. It was displayed but not for sale. Not only that but other than Charger R/C there were no other foamies for sale at the show or booths. How many foamie companies are out there? Tons, and we all know the hobby and impulse buyers pick up on these.

Now things I did see, lots of Chinese companies. You know the .40-.60 size stuff and lots and lots of Helicopters (though they seemed over priced, but I'm not a Heli guy). Of course the food was also overpriced but I expected that from a convention center.


I did manage to talk with both Spectrum and XxtremeLink about their systems. Spectrum sounds like a module is possilble in the near future along with telemtry etc...but no dates or even a spring /winter time frame given. I spoke with Jim from XtremeLink and found out he used to be with Pro-match batteries (my old R/C car battery company that I ran on all my electric cars). Very small world. I asked about the big news......

I got the view of the module you velcro to the back of any transmitter and plug in the trainer cord so that any cheapo radio can be XtremeLink. Very cool idea. I looked at the prototype modules for the JR (cuz that's what I own) and also looked at the parts outside of the module. They had one radio setup with a caseless module. Saw and felt the size rx's for both 8 and 10 ch....very light and thin (similar to spectrum sizes)......Then he showed me the park flyer RX (6 ch). Very sleek. I hadn't heard of these yet but I'm sure others had. He also mentioned he hoped to be shipping units out by the end of Feb but wouldn't promise....fine with me, at least I know its in the works so I don't go wasting money on a radio with less features before then. Also car radio modules are going to be done. So even better news for me


So my overall impression???? Not good. If you spend any time online I think you can find better deals and more products than at the show. I really didn't see any "new" items that havn't already been released by companies that they just didn't have in stock at the show. I did enjoy going to an R/C show with my flying buddies and hanging out at the Giants table though which made the 3 hr trip worth it. Had the weather been a nice flying day, I think I would have been jated at spending all day at the show. I am glad the Giants were there to help promote themselves and the hobby though. And of course there was more stuff there than what I posted......but I thought I'd keep it to what we typically see here at the giants.......Giant Scale, foamies, IMAC/Pattern and 3-D

-Boats
-Cars
-Soaring
-models
-rockets
-control line
-Giant scale racing etc....

Let me know what you guys thought on your visits

[wizard]

Thanks for your thought and feelings on the show. I wish that I could have made the trip but is wasn't in the cards. I am looking forward to the Weak Signals show in Ohio. I am also planning on the E-fest in IL next month. It's time for the fun to begin.

[JeeUm]

Dude, have you ever been to any other conventions? Its pretty much par for the course. It sucks, I know. Been there, done that,LOL.

[SleepyC]

Well it depends...

I mean if you go to a convention expecting JR/Futaba/Eflite to be selling, they never do.. if your looking to score cheap spinners, servo extensions, batteries, and such.. then thats the place to be.. also.. all the bootleg electric planes show up for a weekend of glory as well.

But you are correct.. if you go to an expo expecting to get the new plane that was just reviewed in Fly RC for 50% off... it ain't happening.

Basically RC expos tend to be Magazines come to life.. you get to read about and "SEE" new stuff.

Now if you want deals... see if they have an auction going on... in Toledo at night they have an auction where some SICK deals can be had....

[sweetpea]

This was the first R/C convention I've been too, but not the first Convention I had.

As for deals, I expected small discounts on items nothing outrageous like 50%. Most vendors were giving them....like 5-10% off. There was tons of stuff at the show, but not a whole lot of Giant Scale/IMAC/Pattern stuff or foamies. Just a little dissappointed there.

As for props........unless you wanted a Xoar,vess or Mej they pretty much didn't have any props. No apc or foamie size props.

I really didn't see any "new" items either. Would have been nice to see something that isn't released yet that also hasn't been announced.

[Flatlandman]

Where were the auctions in toledo and who put them on. I didnt hear any thing about them when i was there. I sure would have been there if i wasnt at the etoc.

[sweetpea]

Oh, I also forgot to post (have since edited) that XtremeLink is going to the car radios also. That is good news

[Xipp]

Hey Sam the waa waa post you made seems like you thought you were going to get killer deals and people were going to make paths for you to get around to get those killer deals...Hey Bubba welcome to the real world of conventions...It dont work that way the main reason for the convention is to expose companys products and new products...Have you ever been to one before?...Dont take this to heart but in your post you almost make it sound like you should have been catered to...Sam i go to these things to check out the new products,Hang with good friends and pick up a couple of items...but never with the thought i was going to get deals...So in closing dont bash the AMA convention this is the way it has always been run.....

[sweetpea]

This wasn't a bash......this was an honest experience at the convention. In no way did I mention the AMA (other than the card issue and that was the convention). And again I didn't expect killer deals and never did I say in my post that I expected them. I only stated that you could find better deals on the Net than at this show, which shows that most vendors were selling at Retail, but I did expect more items to be for sale.....hence the word "Vendor". I was just dissappointed that not more items were for sale, only on display

I simply did a review of what I saw so that others can make up their minds and go or not go (for the last day at least). Remember not everyone out there has been to a show and would like to know what to expect before taking the trip there.

So in final don't bash me for posting a review of what I saw and my experience.....if you wanted me to lie about what I saw then I'd be writing reviews for airplane mags where everything reviewed is a gotta have

Here on the Giants I would expect that my review would be welcomed.......If you had a different experience than great. For me the show was secondary to the meeting of friends...I was hoping for the show to equal or exceed that and it didn't

[kolarshooter]

Hey guys,

I think Sam's observations were accurate, but his expectations were a little high, that's all. The convention was what I expected it to be, I guess. I picked-up a few trinkets, met some new people, and had a good time. I'll likely go again next year.

Mark (Xipp) kinda has the same attitude I have about this kind of event.

Too bad I missed both of you (we went on Friday)

Best regards,

Robert.

ps: looking forward to my next IMAC in Vegas...hope see both of you guys again.

[patternflyer]

Sam,
I found that it's best not to share your experiences online about stuff. I did this about a certain 2m pattern arf and took a beating for it. People consider you to be whiny when you are only talking about what you see.
I have never found the convention to be of much use. The best part for me would be to go to the Nsrca judging seminar. But I do enjoy walking around and being in the environment.
I was supposed to be there but I pinched a nerve in my neck.
Oh, well, maybe next year!!

I know you meant no harm by this thread, but there are many that don't want to hear everything isn't "peachy"...

[sweetpea]

Kinda why I haven't released my review of the ETOC video of the Giants.....Max asked me to do it and so don't hold any punches. There are good and bad with it as well.....You can never make everyone happy and being honest just makes it worst