"Mall" helicopters a problem

[blackmagic08]

I was at the mall this evening with my better half. I saw the kiosk with all of the overpriced xheli product selling for 4x what it does online. I really think these helis are bad for our hobby, even though a mall $100 "Steel Blaze" heli got me started. I just hate it when people flock when the guy demos the "big model" and then people begin to ask about it and think they are getting the best of the best when in reality there are much better helis to be had for less. Even the huge "Alloy Shark" you paid $140 at the mall can be had for $60 online.

It is hard to put into words what the issues are but I am sure you all share my frustration to a degree. Just last week I was flying my Trex 450 Pro V2 3GX in my driveway when 2 guys walking down the street said to me "Hey, thats the $150 from the mall, right?" I said "no" He said "Sure it is, that is the same one I saw at the mall the other day. That is the nice one." I told them it wasn't then demo'd the pitch change on the main and tail blades. Then they were convinced and also shocked with how much it really was. You get what you pay for. I am sure that the mall helis get some people into the hobby, like me. Unfortunately, others get discouraged by crashing and lack of parts availability. Those crap coax birds with the horizontal tail rotor for pitch are such junk. I wish I could tell them all to shop elsewhere but it would be a lost cause. So many dads and sons are receiving overpriced crap this year. It is too bad.

[newbheliusr]

Yeah, I know what you mean. I got one of those 3 channel suckers for a friend of mine. He really enjoyed it until it just broke. Then I sold him my old MCX2 and he really liked that. Took him some time to get use to as the first one was 3 channel and he had to get use to the 4. But he really likes the MCX2 now.

[ronm3313]

It's amazing what they charge for a helicopter at a mall Kiosk. Makes you wonder what we're buying retail that is junk and we don't know it!

[blairlockout]

Those are garbage. $3 worth of parts and a cheesy salesman at the mall. LOL

[rovpilot26]

Whether we like it or not... that little mall heli is like a gateway drug into the RC heli world.. It starts out as a novelty then becomes something much much much worse... an addiction

[kevinbattista]

ever find ANYTHING at a mall that wasn't overpriced ? if a toy pos from the mall can turn someone away from the hobby then they didn't have the "want" to get into it in the first place.. i started with an "Air Hogs" .. the BIGGEST heli rip off there is.. but yet it sparked it enuff for me to get a Syma and do some research... let the mall guys deal with the "flash in the pan " and the hobby stores deal with the Hobbyist...

just my opinion

[AcidDrink]

Well, I don't know. I can't imagine shopping centre guy demoing a Trex 700e and then selling it RTF 1k £ a pop.
They could do E-Flite coaxial helis though.
I bough my first coaxial in a toy shop, lasted for a day. A week later I bought msr and dx6i.

[Volcano]

No offense but im offended. I dont go to the mall (I almost got shot up at the mall when I lived in San Diego (bumped into a gangbanger at the bottom of escalator) so I just avoid them for the last 20 years. I havent seen the heli kiosk but I want to own 20 of them.
I can sell crap product as well as mcpx. And I could carry replacement parts for helis nearby to local fields. Heli kiosks cannot be a bad thing even if the things they sell dont fly. Thats like saying that fishing doesnt attract newbies unles they catch a big one. Its the mall helis, and bluegills that get people addicted.

examples- years ago bought ugly stick to go fishing, now I have g loomis. 2 years ago I had a ufo thingy for christmas, now im lawn mowing with real helis.

[XXL SkyKing51]

Not all hobby grade RC helicopters are in hobby stores, most of them you have to order on line, I had to order my Walkera online from X-heli because the local hobby shop here don't carry them there 1 to 10 they don't carry the spare parts.

Don't be surprised that most of hobby shop will be gone
and you have to order on line

as for hateing co-axials helis
well tell that walkera and Esky that make Lamas , and the people that make blade helicopters.
don't forget that russia has real co-axial helicopters like the blackshark.

as for junk copters
my nieghbor son inlaw is in to RC very seriously but he customized rc things
he can turn mall copter into a real hobby grade 4 channel helicopter.
he knows his rc stuff.

[Creaky Cactus]

I dream of getting up the nerve to fly my mCP-X in inverted tail first circuits over the mall kiosk.

[littlechop550]

Originally Posted by blackmagic08

I was at the mall this evening with my better half. I saw the kiosk with all of the overpriced xheli product selling for 4x what it does online. I really think these helis are bad for our hobby, even though a mall $100 "Steel Blaze" heli got me started. I just hate it when people flock when the guy demos the "big model" and then people begin to ask about it and think they are getting the best of the best when in reality there are much better helis to be had for less. Even the huge "Alloy Shark" you paid $140 at the mall can be had for $60 online.

It is hard to put into words what the issues are but I am sure you all share my frustration to a degree. Just last week I was flying my Trex 450 Pro V2 3GX in my driveway when 2 guys walking down the street said to me "Hey, thats the $150 from the mall, right?" I said "no" He said "Sure it is, that is the same one I saw at the mall the other day. That is the nice one." I told them it wasn't then demo'd the pitch change on the main and tail blades. Then they were convinced and also shocked with how much it really was. You get what you pay for. I am sure that the mall helis get some people into the hobby, like me. Unfortunately, others get discouraged by crashing and lack of parts availability. Those crap coax birds with the horizontal tail rotor for pitch are such junk. I wish I could tell them all to shop elsewhere but it would be a lost cause. So many dads and sons are receiving overpriced crap this year. It is too bad.

I agree buddy..i actally got into the hobby that way..it was a 9053 syma heli..since i get everything off line i enquried about the helli while at the mall.the guy wanted almost 3 hundred for it i got it oiff ebay brand new for about 60,, it was the violoation to be excact yes i understand your frustration..but at a certain point,,you can tell the qulaity difference it goes from cheap toy to machine

[Rotormaster.]

Originally Posted by Creaky Cactus

I dream of getting up the nerve to fly my mCP-X in inverted tail first circuits over the mall kiosk.

What's holding you back? Seriously...

[XXL SkyKing51]

GOOD LORD Man
If you must know the this country money issues is not good.
People loosing thier jobs and try to make ends meet.
and here you belly aching about 3 channel toy helicopters.
Not everyone has loads of money like you that can afford hobby grade helis.
they think a 3 channel heli is better than no heli at all.

like I said Not all hobby grade RC copters are not in hobbyshops most are sold from rc helicopter company in warehouses, mind you you be ordering your hobby grade rc helicopter online.

if you keep on belly aching about 3 channel heli you chase off future heli freaks.
incourage not discourage.

[Rotormaster.]

It is unfair that unwitting people are being charged such exaggerated prices for "mall-class" helis. But on the other hand, it's what gets people into the hobby.
Out of every so many people that buy these, a portion will end up liking them enough they they will want a better one, until their hunger leads them to search on the internet and they eventually stumble upon the "real" hobby grade "big boy" stuff. Once they see some video of a real bird spooling up then doing some pitch pumps.... Then they see their first 3D flight, forget it.... They are blown out of their tiny minds. I know I was.

For me, I was picking up some parts for my savage, and ended up walking out of the store with a $50 3Ch coax in my hands. Soon enough I went online and started reading. Soon after I was creating an account.

At the end of the day, a percentage of mall heli victims will go searching online. Then it's only a matter of time before they're on HeliFreak.

[Rotormaster.]

Originally Posted by XXL SkyKing51

[B]as for hateing co-axials helis
well tell that walkera and Esky that make Lamas , and the people that make blade helicopters.
don't forget that russia has real co-axial helicopters like the blackshark.

I don't think that anybody is hateing coaxial helis, only the fact that they are sold at malls for 2 to 3 times the online retail price.

[XXL SkyKing51]

My first RC copter was my skyking big , but it flew and worked i still have it it my trainer copter, than I got my single rotor Walkera 180 d dragonfly.
and what ever you do DON'T CALL ME FIRST HELI A TOY.
you want to see a toy heli?

Here is your Toy helicopter
some time i get a rc copter fixed pitched helicopter the same size as my skyking.

NOTE> Soon you won't be able to get your hobby grade rc heli in the hobby stores
you be ordering them online

and older women will you guys flying your hobby grade rc copters
and they to you ( GROWN MEN PLAYING WITH TOYS)

[Rotormaster.]

Originally Posted by XXL SkyKing51

My first RC copter was my skyking big , but it flew and worked i still have it it my trainer copter, than I got my single rotor Walkera 180 d dragonfly.
and what ever you do DON'T CALL ME FIRST HELI A TOY.
you want to see a toy heli?

Here is your Toy helicopter
some time i get a rc copter fixed pitched helicopter the same size as my skyking.

NOTE> Soon you won't be able to get your hobby grade rc heli in the hobby stores
you be ordering them online

and older women will you guys flying your hobby grade rc copters
and they to you ( GROWN MEN PLAYING WITH TOYS)

Do you use your "SkyKing big" for personal transport or commercial purposes?

[XXL SkyKing51]

lol I fly my large skyking rc helicopter as a trainer.
nothing wrong with it at all.

it's just the guy who started this thread is a bigget of 3 channel rc helicopters
RC is RC 3 ch or 4 ch or 6 ch or 10000 channels.

[WillJames]

Originally Posted by rovpilot26

Whether we like it or not... that little mall heli is like a gateway drug into the RC heli world.. It starts out as a novelty then becomes something much much much worse... an addiction

EXACTLY. X-Heli does not set the Kiosk's pricing. Mall stuff is ALWAYS overpriced.

I would not buy at a mall unless there was no other place on earth to get what I wanted.

[blackmagic08]

My issue is mainly with the inflated prices that are being charged. I understand everyone needs to make a buck but charging people double or triple for something is being unfair and can actually turn people away from the hobby because they think it is too expensive.

Originally Posted by XXL SkyKing51

GOOD LORD Man
If you must know the this country money issues is not good.
People loosing thier jobs and try to make ends meet.
and here you belly aching about 3 channel toy helicopters.
Not everyone has loads of money like you that can afford hobby grade helis.
they think a 3 channel heli is better than no heli at all.

like I said Not all hobby grade RC copters are not in hobbyshops most are sold from rc helicopter company in warehouses, mind you you be ordering your hobby grade rc helicopter online.

if you keep on belly aching about 3 channel heli you chase off future heli freaks.
incourage not discourage.