AquaCraft Sport 18 is changing

[Russ Williamson]

Hi all,

The AquaCraft .18 hydro will no longer be called the "Miss Elam". The Ellstrom's gave some sort of deal with Horizon (I'm guessing it has to do with money) to use their name on a their miss bud hull AFTER they gave us permission to use their U-16 Miss Elam trim scheme.

When we started this project, we received a signed letter from the Ellstrom's to use their name on our model boat. This was back in 2004. From that time till end of 05', we developed the hull, new O.S. engine, flex/strut drive, rudder assembly, fuel tank and easy access radio box that seals up well and everything else that goes along with an RTR.

From that time till Jan. 2006, we called and sent them letters with updates, sent them copies of our box art, (Oct. 2005) and graphics sheet and instruction manual. They not once informed us they were working on a deal with Horizon which had to be taking place in the fall/winter 05'.

They claim our "agreement" is no longer valid because we did not come out with ours in 2004, even though there is no "expiration" date or "valid till" date on the letter. In light of this, you will see "Officially License" Miss Elam advertised heavily from Horizon in the near future. I'll give you 2 guesses who is heading that up, but you will only need 1......

Long story short; It is not worth a fight, even though we could and would win it, to pursue and advertise their name on our hydro. They lost out in receiving free advertising from us for a long time; besides, they already got some of it by waiting until AFTER we announced it to the market.

So, what we are doing is creating a new name, new and better trim scheme, new box art and going to offer our hydro in four (4) different colors~!

We will have;

Orange/white hull (will be available first)

Yellow hull with white wing

ALL "RED" hull

and of course a white hull......

Each model will have a very cool looking graphics sheet, one of the best trim schemes we have created. You will see it in a few weeks on www.aquacraftmodels.com

So, instead of just one hull, now we will have a great combination of 4 to pick from, if you know what I mean

Things always happen for a reason and now we have even a better hydro. What till you see the option parts

You all are great on here and thought you deserved to know before anybody else for what is going on.

Thanks for your patience, have fun~!

Russ

 

[John Knight]

Russ,

Grim brought the prototype boat with him to the CMB Tunnel Championships 2 weeks ago I can attest that it is a winner. Well built, very sturdy, unique radio box and fuel cell designs. Very clean lines for the hull. I was quite impressed and it is a winner for sure. This is a well conceived boat with a ggod engine and pipe package and should sell very well. Will give a very good A hydro entry boat class that requires no building at all. It is a RTR boat for sure.

Well done!

John

 

[Ron Olson]

Like I need another reason to hate that company! I hit enough boating forum sites and all I see are complaints about them, now they pull this stunt. They give R/C boating a bad name.

 

[wingnut]

alot of newbies to the hobby have never even seen the real miss elam so i don't think they'll miss the paint scheme . having different colors i would think would appeal more, especially if they want to get more than one.

 

[Roger Hooks Jr.]

Well... I would have to say I could see it coming. Horizon Hobby is good for making deals that give them exclusivity. If the Unlimited organization was more organized I am sure they would have got exclusivity on the whole fleet. It was a gutsy move on their part... to bust your deal... but as we know... all to often money talks... even if you know your right and they were wrong for doing so. I got a hint when Jerry Dunlap commented to me about an encounter he had with Dave Villwock. It kind of gave me a clue that something else was in the works or finished behind the scenes.

I can't bad mouth Horizon Hobby though... as they have been a big sponsor of our Grand Prix Classic event providing thousands of dollars of "in-kind" sponsorship over the years... but I will say that Elam could have been more ethical.

When Jerry told me about the project in 2004 I thought it would have been better to offer an entire fleet with several decal schemes... Going back to the idea that the more variety you have in a product the more sales you are likely to generate. That was the only way I saw a way to compete with the tremendous Pull-Through that the Budweiser brand name gave the Horizon Hobby product.

I understand all the changes that you made in the hull as far as ease of use and maintenance but I didn't understand why it was less scale looking than the ProBoat series. Especially when you were going to build a boat to compete with two very scale looking products. However, with the color variety and decal schemes I no longer see that as an issue.

I do wonder why no one has approached O' Boy Oberto... Or maybe you have. They already have a History of supporting R/C boating and as far as "Brand Pull-Through" it is the closest thing to the Budweiser name brand. You see the name in at least every convenience store you walk into, usually at or near the cash register. They may have been less pursuaded by Horizon Hobbies offer being that they are owned by Frito-Lay. I doubt Horizon Hobby could have offered a company of that size any amount that would raise an eye-brow. It would have caught their eye though as a novelty merchandising item that could have been utilized for promotion of the O' Boy Oberto brand. This would have been especially effective in the regions where the O' Boy Oberto boat was racing if promoted properly.

The nats would be a good place to introduce your new line. Maybe even donate a fleet of hulls to a few districts to start a Rookie Class... Hold a contest... send out to all the racing associations to advertise it... and require interested districts or clubs to write why they deserve a fleet of boats and how they would use them to build their district/club and promote the product. The organization that submits the best write-up wins the boats. You would gain a lot of free advertising, strong word of mouth, and an on going demonstration of the product that would be too costly for you to do alone... Then post race winners on your site with links to near by places to buy one... increasing the odds of purchase.

Well...that's my two cents on the whole thing. If you could ever use somebody with experience in branding, sales, marketing, and R/C boating I know a guy... : )

 

[Russ Williamson]

alot of newbies to the hobby have never even seen the real miss elam so i don't think they'll miss the paint scheme . having different colors i would think would appeal more, especially if they want to get more than one.

Agree......that's another reason why not to waste time with it......however, the paint scheme on the "orange/white" hull is not changing, just the graphics sheet that is included, which is what I think you meant.

Rw

 

[Russ Williamson]

Well...that's my two cents on the whole thing. If you could ever use somebody with experience in branding, sales, marketing, and R/C boating I know a guy... : )

We always except applications for good, experienced marketing people

Rw

 

[Roger Hooks Jr.]

Well...that's my two cents on the whole thing. If you could ever use somebody with experience in branding, sales, marketing, and R/C boating I know a guy... : )

We always except applications for good, experienced marketing people

Rw

Accepting them is good... Actually looking at them would be excellent... Interveiwing superb... and hiring them would be money in the bank for everybody. I know someone who sent a resume in last year. <_<

 

[Russ Williamson]

Well...that's my two cents on the whole thing. If you could ever use somebody with experience in branding, sales, marketing, and R/C boating I know a guy... : )

We always except applications for good, experienced marketing people

Rw

Accepting them is good... Actually looking at them would be excellent... Interveiwing superb... and hiring them would be money in the bank for everybody. I know someone who sent a resume in last year. <_<

It's like the old saying goes, you gotta know somebody for them it to be seriously looked at.....there are 200 - 300 applications sent in a week, either by mail, web or being dropped off......then there must be an opening for position applied for......

Rw

 

[Grimracer]

Roger,

You never seem to be short of words or not being herd...

Make more nose dude.

Grimracer

 

[330T]

As I have posted on another forum, I like the new marketing idea, offer the 3 color of other boats, and the blank (all white) one.

Its not hard for someone to make decal sheets with the internet and color printers. I’ve even though of producing them and selling them for a few dollars each.

It sounds like horizon did cross a line. Chalk it up to a learning experience and shoot to make completive boats at completive prices, and people will come your way if you offer a better product, and better support.

I know my Miss Llumar will be on ebay once i see the new Yellow White Sport 18 hit the shelf!

 

[Roger Hooks Jr.]

Well...that's my two cents on the whole thing. If you could ever use somebody with experience in branding, sales, marketing, and R/C boating I know a guy... : )

We always except applications for good, experienced marketing people

Rw

Accepting them is good... Actually looking at them would be excellent... Interveiwing superb... and hiring them would be money in the bank for everybody. I know someone who sent a resume in last year. <_<

It's like the old saying goes, you gotta know somebody for them it to be seriously looked at.....there are 200 - 300 applications sent in a week, either by mail, web or being dropped off......then there must be an opening for position applied for......

Rw

You are so right... after running my own marcomm firm for 8 years now in silicon valley... the dot.com crash caused me to have to go out looking for employment... and everybody I knew were out of business or out of money... and if they were doing well I didn't know anybody... I thought I did send my res in via Jerry Dunlap... but I could be wrong. Anyway... landed a job as a graphic designer Century Helicopter... after making ends meet as a major appliance delivery driver for a while.

But anyway... this post is supposed to be about your product. I don't want it to get off the subject. I think it is a good step in the right direction. The closer we can bring retail RTR products closer to the racing scene the better. Everyone wants something ready-to-run (ready-to-race) these days so your product is great in offering that option. Good Job. What will the product be called by the way.

 

[Roger Hooks Jr.]

Roger,

You never seem to be short of words or not being herd...

Make more nose dude.

Grimracer

More Noise!!! Hahaha! Well people who really know me know that I am more the quiet type... I prefer that my actions speak louder and more often than my words...

...so when you say "more noise"... I think my promotion of the Grand Prix Classic through my post on RCBoat.com stayed up in the number one/two spot for about a year and a half. And did anyone hear about the $3000 boat post? People tuned into that like a soap opera. Hahahaha! That was the most viewed, most replied post ever (at least at that time)... and... Anyone... racing a Eagle SGX is using, wants to use or at least inquired about getting my signature decal set, I think everyone has seen my work on Andy's site... and I know everyone saw my work on the NAMBA website and print ads in boat modeler which was part of the strategy to grow NAMBA. I try to make sure that most if not all my work generates huge results. I may not make noise very often but when I do I try to make sure it more closely resembles a sonic boom...

...I guess it's quality not quantity that I prefer.

...but once again... let's get back to the purpose of this post.

Russ what do you think about helping struggling districts by providing them a fleet of boats that they can use for a rookie class? You could put together a promotional kit for clubs/hobby shops including brochures, posters and race schedule. That way potential new boaters can get their feet wet as they say... for a minimal fee... let's say $10 plus Single Event Entry Fee ($25 for NAMBA I believe). Hobby Shops and clubs can promote it giving incentive for Hobby customers to go out to boat races.

I sat in on the NAMBA Board Meeting at the Nats in 2004 and club/district membership in smaller districts is a major concern. A strong partnership with a Manufacturer as yourself could be really helpful on both sides. I beleive NAMBA's District 1 would really appreciate an effort such as this.

I am a big advocate of promoting the sport of R/C Boating and I am interested in doing whatever it takes to do so... even if it means giving away marcomm and promo strategies for free. I have such a strong interest in this post because I think that their is finally a mass producer of an entry-level boat product with enough "interest" and marketing budget to possibly take on the task to help improve and promote the sport.

 

[Dennis Whitt]

Not the first time Horizon hobby has stepped on some toes.Make big orders from ma and pop buss to get the discount and accept less than half in the end.

You know alot of newbies trip over these websights looking for there first boat.we can always steer them twards the square deal on the right boat.