Anyone seen this? Best Buy selling Traxxas

[Stinger9D9]

So I'm looking around on the Canadian version of the Best Buy website today and I see that they are taking pre-orders for Traxxas' just lovely line of...ahem, products. Including the Titan(ic)/Spartan "muscleboat" (hee hee).

http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/category/pc/Traxxas-RC-cars-vehicles.aspx

Anyway, they also claim that accessories (I'd assume chargers and batteries) are "coming soon".

This begs the question. Is it really a good idea for people to be buying things like lipo batteries and chargers from the zit faced flunkies at Best Buy? Not a real big knowledge base to draw on there.

It'll only be a (short) matter of time now before lipo fires/houses burning down go "mainstream", and people/kids/pets getting injured by RC products that really aren't toys, but which get used as such start happening.

I guess I'm old fashioned, but it used to be that you had to go out of your way and (maybe) do some research before getting your hands on this stuff. Once the unwashed masses with more money (or more likely - more credit) than brains get their hands on less than stellar RC products...well, let's just say, it could get interesting.

Or is this a case of "the more people into the hobby the better"?

I just don't know.

[Brushless55]

they are doing whatever it takes to pay for all the marketing they spend on...

[dana]

Firstly, do you know wheather or not they will carry them in store? I've bought many things on best buy website that aren't carried in stores.
Is it any better than buying from the zit faced flunky that worked at my lhs that recently closed down? Not really....

[keithbradley]

I think what Traxxas is doing is awesome. They have put 10x the money back into the hobby compared to their competetors, and it's revolutionizing the hobby. When other companies try to just make the highest profit they can and run, Traxxas is investing in the future. I don't think they are publicly traded, but if they were it would be a good company to buy stocks in.
I'm not a traxxas "fanboy" either. I never really cared much until I noticed what they were doing with the mass marketing. I love a company that's willing to do what no one else will.

[Brushless55]

give it time and we will see Associated take on Traxxas when it comes to marketing!

[BHChieftain]

I think what Traxxas is doing is awesome. They have put 10x the money back into the hobby compared to their competetors, and it's revolutionizing the hobby. When other companies try to just make the highest profit they can and run, Traxxas is investing in the future. I don't think they are publicly traded, but if they were it would be a good company to buy stocks in.
I'm not a traxxas "fanboy" either. I never really cared much until I noticed what they were doing with the mass marketing. I love a company that's willing to do what no one else will.

I have to say their customer service is great. My very first boat was a traxxas blast, and when I burned up the motor (it did not have a water cooler on it), they fixed it for free and shipped me a cooler at no charge. They have a "repair for life" policy-- last I checked, $15 for any repair... a few months later my ESC failed and they replaced that...

It has been my reliable rescue boat for the past 2 years.

Chief

[keithbradley]

give it time and we will see Associated take on Traxxas when it comes to marketing!

I don't see that happening. They don't seem interested, and Traxxas is going to own the market before they step up.

[tlandauer]

I agree as far as marketing is concerned, Traxxas is brilliant and daring. My local PepBoys are selling Traxxas Short Course trucks for over two years now, but i see few people buying them. Those in the know will never buy at PepBoys ( more expensive, for starters) those who don't know enough will just grab the truck and the least expensive charger abd batteries.
So for Bestbuy to be a real player in the hobby field, they have to advertise and educate the mass, and if the people at the top is aware of the caution that is needed to deal with lipo batteries, hopefully they will take it seriously enough to train the staff, last thing they want is a class-action law suit against them. That doesn't mean the sales people will be knowledgeable in FE, but they will be reading the obligatory cautionary notes to customers.
just my opinion.
BTW, Sears had Venom's KOS P1 in their catalog, they no longer carry them, I called Sears and they say not enogh people were buying them. ( I was desperate to find a replacement motor, ok, I admit I stooped low on that one)

[JrValente]

Yep the rise and fall of the hobby IMO. Traxxas has brought great exposure but on the other hand we are loosing the higher tier market of kits available. We have brought many "leisurely" RCers to the hobby but holding them to the hobby is the hard part. Look everywhere and you will find tons of Traxxas rc's for sale. Nobody wants to fix/work on them they just want to drive them. Traxxas RTR has softened the market and brought down the kit manufacturers to offer similar products which we as the hobbists dont want to be cornered into buying. Hell even Mugen is selling a prebuilt kit for the US market, and Kyosho offering lots of RTR's now too, Ugh....... How many cheap TX's do you really want to own when you by an RC?

[Rumdog]

best buy carries tons of products that use lipo.

[tlandauer]

best buy carries tons of products that use lipo.

Totally true and right, how many lipo battery powered cameras do they sell a day? hopefully because of that, when it comes to hobby grade lipo and lipo charging , they will be doing it in a responsible way.

[Foamaholic]

Our local Ace Hardware sells them too.

[iridebikes247]

I really don't see a problem with Traxxas carrying lipo powered models, also the spartan comes stock with NIMH cells and its up to the consumer to purchase lipos and also a charger that accommodates lipo batteries. I really don't understand why people bash Traxxas and the spartan model in particular. I have been buying rcs since the....T maxx was first introduced back in 2000. In hindsight I don't think I had much of a choice given how often I was bombarded by Traxxas ads for the new monster and also the buzz in the hobby industry. Fast forward to 8 months ago during which time I was lured back into the hobby by videos of...the spartan in HD ripping across a calm lake at 50mph. Traxxas by way of marketing has become involved with multiple businesses whether related or not people become interested. Whether or not they become involved is up to them but even by buying a magazine conversation can be spurred with better informed people and educated (or more educated), decisions can be made. My interest was piqued by the spartan, which made me read up on lipos, kv ratings, all things brushless. I have since spent a lot of money making orders through hobbyking, OSE, fightercat, and a few other places. The spartan and other Traxxas products are hard to ignore and if they bring people into the hobby the better for us all. Hobby shops today hate hobbyking and other like places that offer stuff at 1/4 the cost of other products but in a competitive market they also benefit from people who rely on them for small parts/labor who otherwise would have never entered the hobby because of the high entrance costs. I am glad that Best Buy offers stuff, but I'm not looking forward to some clown kid who tells customers this boat goes 50 mph stock!, in the store when really they have no idea what they're talking about and how untrue that really is.

[dana]

Again, this may be only available online, like many best buy items. They sell many things that they don't carry instore.

[tlandauer]

I really don't see a problem with Traxxas carrying lipo powered models, also the spartan comes stock with NIMH cells and its up to the consumer to purchase lipos and also a charger that accommodates lipo batteries. I really don't understand why people bash Traxxas and the spartan model in particular. I have been buying rcs since the....T maxx was first introduced back in 2000. In hindsight I don't think I had much of a choice given how often I was bombarded by Traxxas ads for the new monster and also the buzz in the hobby industry. Fast forward to 8 months ago during which time I was lured back into the hobby by videos of...the spartan in HD ripping across a calm lake at 50mph. Traxxas by way of marketing has become involved with multiple businesses whether related or not people become interested. Whether or not they become involved is up to them but even by buying a magazine conversation can be spurred with better informed people and educated (or more educated), decisions can be made. My interest was piqued by the spartan, which made me read up on lipos, kv ratings, all things brushless. I have since spent a lot of money making orders through hobbyking, OSE, fightercat, and a few other places. The spartan and other Traxxas products are hard to ignore and if they bring people into the hobby the better for us all. Hobby shops today hate hobbyking and other like places that offer stuff at 1/4 the cost of other products but in a competitive market they also benefit from people who rely on them for small parts/labor who otherwise would have never entered the hobby because of the high entrance costs. I am glad that Best Buy offers stuff, but I'm not looking forward to some clown kid who tells customers this boat goes 50 mph stock!, in the store when really they have no idea what they're talking about and how untrue that really is.

Nobody here is bashing Traxxas for carrying lipo powered models. The discussion is on whether it is practical for a large chain store such as Bestbuy to carry HOBBY GRADE LIPO AND ITEMS RELATED TO SAFE CHARGING THESE BATTERIES. The zit faced flunkies doesn't have to know how to set trim tabs and stingers, but should at the very least be able to give potential customers some basic safety knowledge of such endeavor.
Then again, Like Dana said, if this is only available online, another post under a new title would save us some typing here.