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Another losi 5ive clone?


bunnie

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Ok, So I'm sitting here watching Box, And I had a thought, (Every now and then it happens), For years the cloners like KM and Rovan have been slagged off by some, And championed by others, But no one still know the real deal behind them.

So my thought was a simple one, If KM and Rovan are knockoff merchants, Why so long, We'er talking about knockoff company's based in the industrial knockoff heartland, China, A country with companies so efficient at producing them that you could buy a knockoff iPhone 6 before you could get the real thing, So why 3 years.

How come we have two companies, Two companies that know a thing or too about producing and manufacturing models, Two companies that supposedly know a thing or to about copying, How come it's taking these Two companies 3 years, Give or take, To copy the 5ive, Also, How come it has taken them both about the same time to copy the 5ive, There has been nothing for all this time, Then the Rovan version popped up a small while ago, And now we have the KM.

It was much the same with the Baja, This all smells more to do with licensing than it does plain old knockoff, Also, I may be wrong, But why no direct clarification from Hpi, The question about the legality of the clones has been kicking about the internet for years, With speculation going one way and the other, Yet there is nothing I can find when it comes to a direct comment from Hpi, Let's see if we hear anything from Losi on the subject.

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Babylon...that is an interesting point.

 

Especially as KM have an 'official importer' so have been able to write up legally binding contracts for distribution. Most illegal products have far less controlled distribution networks!

 

Modelsport actually sold a clone Baja for a short time. The ShenQi was dropped pretty sharpish, but not because HPIs legal eagles swooped....nope....more because the car was rubbish and that means the retailer ends up with lots of returns and unhappy customers to deal with.

 

The cloners have also got better at making products worth buying...which helps.

 

Owning and running a KM and an HPi allows me to compare both closely, and while I can see where corners have been cut on the clone, there isn't much that causes issues. I did sling out the KM engine though.

 

If I were to be a little cynical...I would also suspect the cloners waited until Losi had ironed out hte bugs in the design before they copied it.

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I do believe that the DBX is licensed, So we know that there are companies(Chinese) outside of the so called big boys that are more than capable of designing and producing these things, So until it's clarified either way, Who are we to say that the Baja or 5ive never originated from the same stable, And is being produced under the same conditions, Other than the Losi name, The DBX with it's 2 bolt Chinese engine is no better than KM or Rovan.

 

 I think it's more than fair to say that apart from the engine, The Hpi Baja is no more mechanically sound than the KM, The only argument at the moment as to what way you go seems to be this so called moral one, Which to me, Becomes weaker and weaker everyday, And it's my money that I work flaming hard for, The moral one doesn't even enter my mind, Especially if it's a moral argument based on assumptions.    

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Yet there is nothing I can find when it comes to a direct comment from Hpi

I remember HPI issued a statement a few years back. I can't find the original on their website, but here it is from another forum: http://www.rcnitrotalk.com/forum/threads/hpis-response-to-the-baja-5b-clones.70178/

This was a while back but they haven't released anything since. Read into that what you will....

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