Hobbico files for Bankrupcy

[Jerry-rigged]

For as long as I have been in the hobby (30+ years) every hobby shop I have been to that did not have a track, was mostly a flyer shop. My local shop just went OOB, they were 50/50. My next closest local shop is about 80/20, flyer/ground.

So this weekend I went by the shop above - the converted about 1/4 of the shop to a gun shop. I like guns, but com'on, there are gun shops on every corner here in Texas. The car section of the store went from 2 rows to one row.

 

[slick2500]

Watch the entire video he makes a lot of good points.

 

[Browneye]

On the vid ^^^...
Got through 8 minutes of this drivel. He should have just smoked another joint and run his cars instead. The term 'imbecile' comes to mind.
The guy has zero understanding of how business works, research and development and patents for things created, and how a corporation works, nor how the legal system works. But anyone can get a go-pro now and post their crap for their 5 minutes of fame.

In those first 8 minutes these comments stood out:
"Traxxas is trying to kill it for all of us." I see. So a company with a patent has no right to defend their patent?
"Not a Traxxas hate video." Sure seems like an ill-informed effort to do just that.
"Forcing everyone else out." A lawsuit for defending patents is not an 'effort to force everyone else out'.
Management is "fairy tale stuff". He clearly has zero understanding of how a corporation works. Yes, it's all about the money, otherwise why would you do it? The people that work for that corporation depend on its profits so that they can collect a paycheck to support their families.
"They're going out of business, they shut their distribution warehouse in Reno." Regarding Hobbico I guess - but none of that has anything to do with 'going out of business'. It's called corporate structuring. They have to run profitably or they cannnot survive. That does not mean you're 'going out of business'.
Tries to make a point about something but has no understanding of the details, in pretty much everything he said.
"I'm not a fan of Traxxas at all by any means." Regarding shocks. Sure, it's not a 'hate Traxxas video'. LOL
Doesn't understand how they can win a case for patent infringement. So why is he commenting? He's surely not a lawyer, zero understanding of the legal system, nor the patent process.
Keeps saying he doesn't understand anything - so why is he even commenting? Just STFU.

I have no dog in this race and no special love for Traxxas, but this kind of bloviating is above and beyond the ridiculous.

 

[Maraach]

The thing I notice is there is a lot of stuff from all brands out of stock.

I continue to order from them and really wish them the best

Yeah.im having the same experience. Everything i go to grab off tower is out of stock. It doesn't n
Bode well

 

[slick2500]

Yeah.im having the same experience. Everything i go to grab off tower is out of stock. It doesn't n
Bode well

I was looking for MIP Thorp drivers and can only find them in a set with the Standard drivers for like $70ish.

 

[Steve]

On the vid ^^^...
Got through 8 minutes of this drivel. He should have just smoked another joint and run his cars instead. The term 'imbecile' comes to mind.
The guy has zero understanding of how business works, research and development and patents for things created, and how a corporation works, nor how the legal system works. But anyone can get a go-pro now and post their crap for their 5 minutes of fame.

In those first 8 minutes these comments stood out:
"Traxxas is trying to kill it for all of us." I see. So a company with a patent has no right to defend their patent?
"Not a Traxxas hate video." Sure seems like an ill-informed effort to do just that.
"Forcing everyone else out." A lawsuit for defending patents is not an 'effort to force everyone else out'.
Management is "fairy tale stuff". He clearly has zero understanding of how a corporation works. Yes, it's all about the money, otherwise why would you do it? The people that work for that corporation depend on its profits so that they can collect a paycheck to support their families.
"They're going out of business, they shut their distribution warehouse in Reno." Regarding Hobbico I guess - but none of that has anything to do with 'going out of business'. It's called corporate structuring. They have to run profitably or they cannnot survive. That does not mean you're 'going out of business'.
Tries to make a point about something but has no understanding of the details, in pretty much everything he said.
"I'm not a fan of Traxxas at all by any means." Regarding shocks. Sure, it's not a 'hate Traxxas video'. LOL
Doesn't understand how they can win a case for patent infringement. So why is he commenting? He's surely not a lawyer, zero understanding of the legal system, nor the patent process.
Keeps saying he doesn't understand anything - so why is he even commenting? Just STFU.

I have no dog in this race and no special love for Traxxas, but this kind of bloviating is above and beyond the ridiculous.

Thanks @Browneye for taking one for the team by both watching and reviewing.
You confirmed my suspicions that after watching I would be wishing for X amount of minutes back in my life.
If you find yourself in Phx, I owe you a beer or whatever you drink.

 

[nulli]

The face, appearance and the silly graphics is all you need to steer away from tah vid in an instant.

 

[Schuey]

The Hobbico/Traxxas lawsuit has taken an interesting turn with Hobbico filing for Chapter 11.. as well as all the companies Hobbico has taken with it to Delawares Bankruptcy court.

 

[robinsonmickey58]

Hi, Not only Hobbico but various manufacturers have been struggling of late. This list includes big name like GoPro which has shuttered its drone business. One of the startups in this business, Lily Robotics had also filed for Bankruptcy. Not good times. Nevertheless, get complete story here, quite a sorrowful read. https://americaclosed.com/hobbico-b...-chapter-11-300-job-cuts-follow-champaign-il/

 

[Mongoose]

300 employees losing their jobs.....that's the WORST part of this whole thing. I wish them all the best of luck and hope they are able to transition to a new job without a hiccup.

 

[Steve]

Hi, Not only Hobbico but various manufacturers have been struggling of late. This list includes big name like GoPro which has shuttered its drone business. One of the startups in this business, Lily Robotics had also filed for Bankruptcy. Not good times. Nevertheless, get complete story here, quite a sorrowful read. https://americaclosed.com/hobbico-b...-chapter-11-300-job-cuts-follow-champaign-il/

GoPro was a bit different. Woodman, the CEO, was taking his faithful customers to the cleaners. When the development costs were amortized, he had the opportunity to drop his price and did not. His thick profits lured many into the market, undercutting him, plus as you mentioned, his lame attempt to dethrone DJI which fizzled big time. GoPro was simply "mismanagement".

Versus Hobbico, who has a variety of issues; lawsuit, china-competition, "drone porn" and more.

 

[Steve]

300 employees losing their jobs.....that's the WORST part of this whole thing. I wish them all the best of luck and hope they are able to transition to a new job without a hiccup.

I'm glad you mentioned that point because that's the most important to me.

 

[Schuey]

While i do agree 300 jobs lost is always a bad thing..Hobbico's CEO and upper management all mishandled the market and their business. They all assumed the market would never drop an rather than change with the market .. they kept racking up bills with their suppliers.. We all know those amounts.. and now Hobbico takes all of its great companies under its umbrella to Chap.11 to either get sold off.. or bought.. my sources tell me they are more interested in being sold .. Some suppliers are working with them but not sending them tons of product like before .If you look at the latest stock on Tower.. they received in for example Kyosho products.. on last tuesday.. its now out of stock .. either so many back orders or not sending . I cant imagine tons of ppl would prepay for backorders with the state of the company. At least they got some Arrma product in.. but sadly i am holding off buying anymore Arrma until i know how they get thru Chap.11.. if they become unscathed.. then ill buy another.. but i don't want to get stuck with another rc truck like i did with Duratrax.

 

[Mongoose]

I hear ya, I really want to buy a V3 Talion but don't know if I should. Whatever happens, let's say Arrma is bought which it probably will be since it's successful, I just hope they keep the same people running Arrma. They seem to listen to their customers and care about quality. I may just buy a Tekno ET48.3 in the meantime....really want one anyway.

 

[slick2500]

300 employees losing their jobs.....that's the WORST part of this whole thing. I wish them all the best of luck and hope they are able to transition to a new job without a hiccup.

No one has been fired officially yet. So keep your fingers crossed that they don't.

While i do agree 300 jobs lost is always a bad thing..Hobbico's CEO and upper management all mishandled the market and their business. They all assumed the market would never drop an rather than change with the market .. they kept racking up bills with their suppliers.. We all know those amounts.. and now Hobbico takes all of its great companies under its umbrella to Chap.11 to either get sold off.. or bought.. my sources tell me they are more interested in being sold .. Some suppliers are working with them but not sending them tons of product like before .If you look at the latest stock on Tower.. they received in for example Kyosho products.. on last tuesday.. its now out of stock .. either so many back orders or not sending . I cant imagine tons of ppl would prepay for backorders with the state of the company. At least they got some Arrma product in.. but sadly i am holding off buying anymore Arrma until i know how they get thru Chap.11.. if they become unscathed.. then ill buy another.. but i don't want to get stuck with another rc truck like i did with Duratrax.

It's not just Kyosho, have you seen their Tamiya stock lately? Almost everything is backordered.

 

[jaybe312]

I’ve noticed that the official ARRMA website is down. I wonder how it’s going to look once it’s back up, I think they needed to take down information regarding the Big Rock, Fazon and Nero. Even Tower Hobbies took down the information.

https://www.arrma-rc.com/

 

[slick2500]

I’ve noticed that the official ARRMA website is down. I wonder how it’s going to look once it’s back up, I think they needed to take down information regarding the Big Rock, Fazon and Nero. Even Tower Hobbies took down the information.

https://www.arrma-rc.com/

It's back up now and you appear to be correct, the Big Rock, Nero and Fazon are now gone.

 

[Aflan]

It's back up now and you appear to be correct, the Big Rock, Nero and Fazon are now gone.

Not over here...They are still visible...
And sold by the way.......

Groetjes from the Netherlands...A free Arrma-country...

 

[slick2500]

Not over here...They are still visible...
And sold by the way.......

Groetjes from the Netherlands...A free Arrma-country...

Yeah as far as I am aware the lawsuit only affects countries that follow US copyright laws. As the Traxxas patent is only valid in the US.

 

[WoodiE]

RIP Nero.