colmo Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 (edited) [url=http://www.r2hobbies.com/products.php?cat=121&PHPSESSID=ccae842dfaab9e497a39dd428b9c06d6]Price: US$169.42 EUR Edited February 27, 2009 by colmo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hide Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 Don't get these copies. The C/F will be fake, alloy will be weaker. Not worth it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colmo Posted February 25, 2009 Author Share Posted February 25, 2009 (edited) My initial impression is that this isn't a fake, but simply an OEM version (i.e. made in the same factory) of the same car, minus the HPI branding. The site itself doesn't try to pass it off as a HPI Pro-D - that name only appears on the spares link. So, is it a fake or an OEM version? Edited February 25, 2009 by colmo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donny44 Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 fake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colmo Posted February 25, 2009 Author Share Posted February 25, 2009 (edited) fake And you know this as truth because...? Perhaps fake is the wrong word, as it doesn't have a HPI sticker on it - is it a copy? Edit: I've sent r2hobbies an email asking what's up with this car. My breath is baited.... Edited February 25, 2009 by colmo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*J4K3* Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 this looks a monster i would love one of these haha with the orange alloy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yanto Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 You'll probably find this is along the same lines as the baja-x.......made in the same factory, just not sanctioned by hpi. Therefore not a fake, but a clone. Iain Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colmo Posted February 26, 2009 Author Share Posted February 26, 2009 Edit: I've sent r2hobbies an email asking what's up with this car. My breath is baited.... And I got their response just now: Thank you for your e-mail. Actually, our "1:10 4WD Carbon Fiber Chassis On-Road Drift Car (Shaft-Drive) - Product ID: *rcve00050" is very similar with the "HPI Pro-D". But it is not the same factory. The spare parts is compatible. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us. Thank you very much. Yours Sincerely, R2hobbies So it is a copy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garry Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 Yup, pure rip-off of the HPI Pro-D. Its the same as knock-off designer fashion and pirated movies - its wrong to buy and wrong to use. I posted this on another forum about a copy of the Xray T2'007 (ironically, by the same knock-off company it seems), it applies here: Originally Posted by Born2Run on RCTech The problem is that this car -being a copy- bothers many people here.Come on guys.You didn't find anything positive on this car.Absolutely nothing?Be onest. There's NOTHING positive about ripping off a major company and their products, just to make a quick buck or two. I know its a long shot, but take this situation.... ''Well Known Company'' makes a high end car. Very fast, wins races around the globe. Lots and lots and lots of hours invested in the design, research and manufacture of the car. As a result, demand is high, and the company puts on extra shifts, and hires local people to fill the orders. To ensure that quality is kept to a maximum, they hire guys to check, check and triple check everything to make sure its all 100% before being packaged (by more employees). For all this financial investment and security offered by ''Well Known Company'', they ask $400 for the car. ''Random guy in another country'' wants to make some money. He sees ''Well Known Company'' charging $400 for a 'toy car', and manages to get hold of one. He thinks he can copy/rip off/steal all the sizes and dimensions of the car, change a couple of materials and sell it at a much lower price. A quick measurement with his verniers and.....hey presto, ''Random guy in another country'' is a car manufacturer. He charges $150 for his version of ''Well Known Company''s car. 'Where is this leading?', I hear you ask... ''Joe Public'' is feeling the pinch of the credit crunch. He wants a new car as his 'LosociatPImo' is a few years old and doesn't cut the mustard at the track anymore. He spots ''Well Known Company''s car, but can't afford (or doesn't want to spend) $400, so he goes for ''Random guy in another country''s car. All it takes is 4 or 5 people at every track to do the same as ''Joe Public'' and suddenly, ''Well Known Company''s sales are through the floor. They can't run those extra shifts as demand has plummeted. All the staff they took on have to be released as ''Well Known Company''s bank balance is now in the red, and the money isn't there to pay them. Eventually, the company folds. Is there anything postive about someone stealing the design (and I mean stealing it 100%, same sizes, hole locations etc, not taking design cues and ideas) from a company? Hell no. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midi-mania Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 i dont think theres anything wrong with buying them, you pays your money you takes your chances Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colmo Posted February 27, 2009 Author Share Posted February 27, 2009 (edited) ''Random guy in another country'' wants to make some money. He sees ''Well Known Company'' charging $400 for a 'toy car', and manages to get hold of one. He thinks he can copy/rip off/steal all the sizes and dimensions of the car, change a couple of materials and sell it at a much lower price. A quick measurement with his verniers and.....hey presto, ''Random guy in another country'' is a car manufacturer. He charges $150 for his version of ''Well Known Company''s car. And it isn't just 'toy' cars this is happening with: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chery_QQ The Chery QQ is such a perfect copy of the Daewoo Matiz that the doors are interchangeable! Essentially, while it isn't ethically sound, there's nothing legally stopping Chinese companies producing knock-offs, or for us to buy them. Some eventually go on to become 'brands' in their own right, with their own designs - I'm thinking of the Benro range of photographic tripods, which started off ripping off the premium-priced Gitzo brand, before evolving into a serious contender (and the biggest seller of tripods in China, iirc). In the case of this particular touring car, I'd have to say that it's fairly serious money already - you can get a pretty good branded (and used) TC for that kind of money. The other, cheaper chassis look more appealing, being quite cheap - again, they're competing with a good, used chassis of known origin. Spares could be a deal-breaker for them. Edited February 27, 2009 by colmo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garry Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 i dont think theres anything wrong with buying them, you pays your money you takes your chances Its wrong that someone can profit from someone else's investment and hard work. And it isn't just 'toy' cars this is happening with: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chery_QQ The Chery QQ is such a perfect copy of the Daewoo Matiz that the doors are interchangeable! Essentially, while it isn't ethically sound, there's nothing legally stopping Chinese companies producing knock-offs, or for us to buy them. Some eventually go on to become 'brands' in their own right, with their own designs - I'm thinking of the Benro range of photographic tripods, which started off ripping off the premium-priced Gitzo brand, before evolving into a serious contender (and the biggest seller of tripods in China, iirc). In this case, I'd have to say that it's fairly serious money already - you can get a pretty good branded (and used) TC for that kind of money. The other, cheaper chassis look more appealing, being quite cheap - again, they're competing with a good, used chassis of known origin. Spares could be a deal-breaker for them. Its a humungous can of worms really, but at the end of the day, copyright laws and patents still apply and if I were HPI, I'd go after the scammers, just like they did with Thunder Tiger and those Baja rip-offs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colmo Posted February 27, 2009 Author Share Posted February 27, 2009 (edited) Its a humungous can of worms really, but at the end of the day, copyright laws and patents still apply and if I were HPI, I'd go after the scammers, just like they did with Thunder Tiger and those Baja rip-offs. How did that end? If they've done it once, they'll maybe know how to do it again. I think the problem with chasing copyright in China is the enormous effort and expense required to do it. Using the Gitzo / Benro tripod example from earlier, Gitzo decided to cut their losses and pulled out of China (they had unwittingly trained the counterfeiters themselves while trying to set up a factory there). Perhaps HPI, being Japanese instead of Italian, are more familiar with how things work in the region. Edited February 27, 2009 by colmo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garry Posted February 28, 2009 Share Posted February 28, 2009 The HPI/Thunder Tiger thing was settled out of court (TT copied a load of HPI bodies). The Baja deal is still ongoing though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boze Posted February 28, 2009 Share Posted February 28, 2009 (edited) Ages ago I got a cheap new car on ebay, a "Seben racing" car, when i got it it was a perfect clone of the hpi rs4 evo. The difference was in the quality of materials used. The stock wheels and tyres cracked within 10 minutes of light use, turnbuckles were popping off left right and centre, the supplied shell was thin and didnt fit properly, the engine wouldnt hold a proper tune or rev up as high as it should, it wasnt anywhere near as well balanced as my mates HPI...the list goes on. If youre looking for a cheap car to play with in the rain or to rag around and not worry about then get a copy but if you want a decent car with good parts backup and build quality then go with the name D Edited February 28, 2009 by boze Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agogo Posted August 6, 2012 Share Posted August 6, 2012 hmmm...the imgage in this link looks not bad http://www.ultimaterc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=138932&highlight=r2hobbies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jordan_bench10 Posted August 6, 2012 Share Posted August 6, 2012 its a humangous wrong but its the way the world goes look at aldi tvs and stuff perfect compies off samsung i actually have one sound is actually better (surprising) but the screen is just as good i paid 400 samsungs version 1200-1500 it depends on what you want to pay you pay for a brand nowadays 400 quid car - losi 120 rip off no make i know what id choose espicially if parts are interchangable Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ta05 Posted August 6, 2012 Share Posted August 6, 2012 Cheap imitations are a direct road to karma. You get what you pay for..... If its cheap, it won't have the R&D the genuine version has, and very unlikely to perform as well as the genuine version. And, WHEN (not if) it does break, there's usually another invitation to karma, because the parts supply is lame. Not only are you helping the "knock off market of r/c" you are also helping big, well known r/c businesses slowly getting strangled by lack of income. I guess it all depends on how strong your moral views are on this hobby....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnthonyMcewen Posted August 6, 2012 Share Posted August 6, 2012 If I had the money I would love to buy genuine, As Im sure we all would if we could, but sometimes moral views are somewhat less of a element when picking a new car in the current environment. And in some cases its a good thing to buy "Clones" as although it hurts the big companys it helps the comsumer...I mean look at how much the price of tablet pcs have gone down since the market has been flooded by cheap chinese alterntives that are as good as the big brand ones...it forces the companys to lower there silly high prices...no names here...ccof apple.,,,and now look we can now get decent big brand product with a lower price tags.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agogo Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 found sth more clear http://www.rctech.net/forum/electric-road/505223-hpi-1-10-road-car-identification.html#post8991724 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agogo Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 oh i think i should show more links i ve seen about this car. hmmm...r2hobbies from Chinese... http://www.ultimaterc.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1207511&highlight=r2hobbies#post1207511 http://rc10.fi/index.php?topic=5213.msg553458#msg553458 http://www.rctech.net/forum/electric-road/95043-official-drift-thread-113.html#post9671215 http://forum.rcdesign.ru/groups/85/463/index7.html#gmessage10927 http://www.gerilladrift.hu/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=3&p=447&hilit=r2hobbies&sid=6445fe4ea084677ee06d5f03eba60f82#p447 just share Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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