I am returning these motors. I used them once and now they don't work anymore.

You realize, of course, that there is a 90% chance that will actually work.

Jerry

We haven't seen Estes kits or engines at Walmarts here for several years but to hear the engines were so high is surprising. Walmart is price matching Michaels & HL on the UP side!

Keep an eye on the store and let us know what happens.

Randy
www.vernarockets.com

Down here in South Florida that chance is about 99.5%, Walmart down here is like going to a third world nation.

I saw the new Hobbico end cap down here back in early spring time.
If I remember correctly the end cap had Monogram / Revell plastic cars and airplanes
Testors Paint and Glue, as well as the boxed RTF Estes rockets, the only Engines were
Mini Engines in flight packs that included recovery wadding.

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Neal Miller
Master Blaster NAR# 58296

I stopped at the SuperCenter in Poulsbo, Washington on the way to Pasture Blaster and sure enough - for the first time in a couple of years - Wal Mart in this area has rocket stuff. The good news is that there aren't any nonsense combinations of rockets and engines as there were the last go around. The bad news is the prices are definitely higher than before. It seems the RTFs - seven different types including SkyHawker, Athena, Sky Trax, Prospector, Code Red, Shooting Star and Sizzler (never saw this BT-60-based one before) are all considered an RTF assortment - so they're all the same price - $9.97. For the Sky Trax this is as good or better than they were last time they had these at W*M. For the Athena, not so much.

Engines are three packs for $9.97 in an A8-3/B6-4/C6-5 assortment. No 13mm (but no rockets that take 'em either).

There are also four different launch sets - the Rascal/HiJinks, Taser, Flash and Heli-Cat, plus the T-Bolt air rocket.

It will be interesting to see where this goes.

I bought a Sizzler just to see what it's like. Since I'm now at a weekend launch, I'll probably give it a test.

I just got it out of the box. It's kind of interesting since the fin unit is separate and appears to also serve as the motor retainer (push on and twist). I'll have to create a "build" thread for that separately.

__________________
Bernard Cawley
NAR 89040 L1 - Life Member
SAM 0061
AMA 42160
KG7AIE

Ah, yes...I had a Firing Line Vampire (not in the starter set--my father had a Tilt-A-Pad and an FS-5 launch controller) and an X-15...I always wanted a Banshee to complete the set.For many of us, that was our first experience in budgeting--what combinations of kits and motors could we get for a fixed (and often small) amount of money? That delayed gratification of having to wait for them to arrive in the mail made the building & flying experiences more enjoyable.

__________________
Black Shire--Draft horse in human form, model rocketeer, occasional mystic, and writer, see:
http://www.lulu.com/content/paperba...an-form/8075185
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6122050
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6126511
All of my book proceeds go to the Northcote Heavy Horse Centre www.northcotehorses.com.
NAR #54895 SR

I think that's because, in the past when Estes first appeared in WalMart, the pricing undercut all the other Estes retailers by a huge amount, effectively cannibalizing existing business. In other words, Estes probably didn't get a net gain in business, but only saw it shift from traditional hobby stores to WalMart.

So, this time around, I suspect, given that Hobbico is very in tune with its hobby-store roots, they are pricing the products in such a way to be less disruptive on existing business.

In short, they want to see a net increase in business by opening a channel via WalMart with minimal effect on their other channels. And pricing the motors at the higher price should prevent cannibalizing. It remains to be seen if they'll get new biz, but knowing it's WalMart, and Christmas season, I'm sure they'll sell a good number of starter sets

Doug

.

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YORF member #11

I haven't checked yet if the local Wal-Mart has anything, but last year I was walking through the store in March or so and came across a close out table with various engine flight packs going for around $3.

At first I was like, okay which engines could I use. When I walked away however, there were no more engines on the table.

__________________
Bernard J. Herman Ohio RLS

Starport Sagitta Rockets
email bherman@sagittarockets.com

NAR # 97971 SR

What's your idea on the best way to change Washington D.C.?
Let us know at the Cantina
Sagitta Cantina

We're looking for a few good Catos, please tell us about any you may have had. Survey of Anecdotal Malfunctioning Engines or S.A.M.E.

Here in the small town of Macclenny, Fla., our Wal Mart put its remaining kits and motors on clearance a few years ago. 3 pack motors were 3 dollars. I cornered
the market on motors. I will keep a close eye on the store. Here's hoping!

We used to sell Estes motors on-site at the rocket club events in 1974-8 for about a buck a piece. So that is 1970's pricing. We used to sell them in the 1968-72 time frame for around 50 cents a piece. There was pretty severe inflation in the 70's. Now regular price discounted at Wallyworld for about $3 a piece it gives you a pretty good idea what has happened to the dollar and why gas prices here in CA are about $4.25 a gallon at the cheaper stations.

Jerry