Plastic ball link replacements?

[puppydog_taz]

Originally Posted by jadewarrior

I sure wouldn't call Align "top shelf" or "pro", either. "Pro" isn't really a good descriptor anyway because every single heli company has "pros" who fly their stuff. Even "crappy ol' Blade" has had appearances at world wide events like Helimasters and other international events.

Great idea...if you can even do that... A great many people don't have a decent LHS, much less even a crappy LHS and certainly not one that has anything remotely heli over toys and micros. I don't have any LHS at all.

I think align and blade use the term pro to indicate the heli is their top of the line professional grade kit. The"pros" who fly the align pro series helis are most definitely flying at the professional level!

[jadewarrior]

Originally Posted by puppydog_taz

I think align and blade use the term pro to indicate the heli is their top of the line professional grade kit. The"pros" who fly the align pro series helis are most definitely flying at the professional level!

So are the Blade guys. They've been at the highest level of worldwide competitions, IRCHA, etc. Now, do they do well enough to actually place with podium type finishes? Umm...

[puppydog_taz]

Originally Posted by jadewarrior

So are the Blade guys. They've been at the highest level of worldwide competitions, IRCHA, etc. Now, do they do well enough to actually place with podium type finishes? Umm...

There are many really good pilots flying the 700x. When we see Tareq flying a 700x on Youtube, that's when we'll know they have made it to the big leagues! I just don't see them lasting though. The market for a 700 is just too limited.

[jadewarrior]

Originally Posted by puppydog_taz

I just don't see them lasting though. The market for a 700 is just too limited.

Agreed. The 550X and 600X have been discontinued for all intents and purposes. It's very easy to figure that out from the massive price drops and wide-spread unavailability of the kits or combos due to the old stock drying up. The 700X, while still available (for now), is in limbo and Blade absolutely refuses to provide any hint of what's coming for these helis...if there even is anything at all... Their handling of this has pretty much permanently turned me off from any and all future Blade helis (that includes quads) and I know I'm far from being the only one with that mindset. These were not inexpensive helis, especially in the beginning. Treating their current Pro Series customers/owners like dirt and keeping them in the dark is quite unprofessional as far as I'm concerned. I don't expect them to say what they have in development, just that they have SOMETHING in these sizes class and whether or not they will be at least somewhat compatible parts-wise with the old helis. Seems to me like it would be a smart move to at least keep people hanging on and interested in Blade's future offerings instead of people simply giving up and going with a completely different manufacturer as I did for my lastest 450 class heli. Blade was supposed to be coming out with some über carbon frame redesigned heli. They strongly hinted about it a long, long time ago and indicated it would follow the same progression as the 300X--->300CFX update with new 700X style servo geometry, carbon frame, etc. Sounds good, but in reality? Nada...crickets...and, that still remains the case to this very day. I've already decided that when my 550X finally goes away forever, the replacement will NOT be a Blade if there's actually even a replacement available. Their "mum's the word" stand strongly indicates there won't be replacements. If my 550X were to go away right now, its replacement would be a Gaui X5 based on the incredibly awesome experience I've had with the performance and reliability of my X3 on 6S with 360mm blades.

Come to think of it, I should actually thank Blade for stalling for so long on the 450 which resulted in introducing me to the Gaui line-up because I like what I've seen and experienced so far. I have a habit, good or bad, of sticking with what I know and have always had their helis from the micros to the large ones. Blade, through their ultimate inaction, non-information, etc has finally broken that paradigm, so thanks again!


But, all in all, shame. shame, same on Horizon and Blade for doing this because they were otherwise quite decent helis that flew and held up well. Sorry for the wall of text but, as I'm sure anyone can see, this really pisses me off with Blade.

[vebbyson]

Jade warrior..well said.

[gmiller0]

Ditto.....I just got my 550x and find it AMAZING for cost and quality for my skill level.... If they discontinue it all, I will be SOOOOOOO pissed

[dnj1985]

just an fyi , if you guys want to see what a high end ball link looks like, take a look at monstro ball links , now that's something to get your jollys off about

[Uriah]

Jadewarrior, I understand your frustration but I would advise you chill and see what happens. I bet you dimes to a doughnut that Blade is revising their entire Pro lineup with the new HV servos and the upcoming AR7300BX. I'm guessing that you'll start hearing talk of their Pro lineup once the AR7300BX hits the shelves. I could be wrong, but that's where I'm guessing all of this is going...

[jadewarrior]

Originally Posted by Uriah

Jadewarrior, I understand your frustration but I would advise you chill and see what happens. I bet you dimes to a doughnut that Blade is revising their entire Pro lineup with the new HV servos and the upcoming AR7300BX. I'm guessing that you'll start hearing talk of their pro lineup once the AR7300BX hits the shelves.

Time will tell... The weird thing is how they just let the 450X stagnate. I'm sure, at one point, that was their most popular heli and it could use a boost (i.e. re-design) these days. Heck, they even talked about it long ago on this very forum. I highly doubt the HV stuff is going to migrate into a new 450. What are they waiting for on that one?

[dnj1985]

Originally Posted by Uriah

Jadewarrior, I understand your frustration but I would advise you chill and see what happens. I bet you dimes to a doughnut that Blade is revising their entire Pro lineup with the new HV servos and the upcoming AR7300BX. I'm guessing that you'll start hearing talk of their Pro lineup once the AR7300BX hits the shelves. I could be wrong, but that's where I'm guessing all of this is going...

more hype but at the end of the day , just more rubbish , ,,, , , any long term blade owner knows what Im talking about

[Uriah]

I'm a long term blade owner.

[vebbyson]

I'll bet their selling lots more quads these days... Brian James where are you? No comments no teasers of things to come. C'mon Blade!
I don't think we can speculate what may be happening based on past history...let's not forget Horizon Hobby has new owners and probably new and different business plans.

[gmiller0]

Horizon has new owners?

[Uriah]

Originally Posted by gmiller0

Horizon has new owners?

Yea, about a year ago (maybe a little more) they were bought out by an investment group.

[dnj1985]

Originally Posted by Uriah

Yea, about a year ago (maybe a little more) they were bought out by an investment group.

at the end of the day , if it don't make dollars , it don't make cents . and imo , blade is more micro helis .. the pro line didn't sell well , and I think blade is gonna shy away from 550+ sized birds ,, I hope not as I have a 550 , but then again go ask a MA owner to crap in one hand and wish in another and tell me which one fills up first ,

[Uriah]

Originally Posted by dnj1985

at the end of the day , if it don't make dollars , it don't make cents . and imo , blade is more micro helis .. the pro line didn't sell well , and I think blade is gonna shy away from 550+ sized birds ,, I hope not as I have a 550 , but then again go ask a MA owner to crap in one hand and wish in another and tell me which one fills up first ,

They may shy away from the 550+ size birds, but I'm going to wait and see. Version two of the 450X, despite perhaps being a bit of a disappointment to some folks, got new servos. With the AR7300BX on the way and Spektrum's new HV servos hitting the shelves, it's very possible that Blade is simply trying to overhaul all of their electronics before releasing new/upgraded birds for their Pro Series lineup. Again, this is pure speculation and I may be totally off base. We'll see, I guess.

[jadewarrior]

Originally Posted by vebbyson

Brian James where are you? No comments no teasers of things to come. C'mon Blade!

Yeah, no kidding. That guy used to be all up in here about OMG!!! New awesome Blade stuff!!! He's been NORDO/lost comms for quite some time, now.

As for the new owners, a private investment group bought the company in Jan of this year. It was kind of a strange takeover from what I read and, if I remember right, the old CEO of Horizon is the president or some other big position of that new investment group. Weird.

[dnj1985]

ya know seeing how a 550x kit is only $279 , makes ya wonder how much markup there really is, heck that would mean a 130x would cost like $ 6 to make

[jadewarrior]

Originally Posted by dnj1985

ya know seeing how a 550x kit is only $279 , makes ya wonder how much markup there really is, heck that would mean a 130x would cost like $ 6 to make

A great many things cost next to nothing in actual materials to make. A Glock pistol is like $15 worth of metal and polymer yet they sell new for $500+. The real cost is in the product development overhead, which includes research, design, tooling, employee training, testing, licensing/permits (if applicable), advertising, taxes and a lot of other things above and beyond the normal overhead of running any company (labor, materials, utilities, floor space, etc). Those costs have to be embedded in the price of a product, especially when it's new. It's surprising sometimes how long something has to be sold before a company starts making a profit on it because the initial product startup costs are large and take a long time to be recovered. The ultra low prices of a product at the end of its life cycle (550X) are simply the company clearing out old stock. They don't want it around anymore and they're no longer trying to make large profits on each unit because they don't have to since the development and initial production costs (hopefully) have been recovered long ago.

[Nytro97]

So, Has anyone found where we can buy just the plastic ball links.