Mrowka

For those keeping score at home. Ah boy. I noticed that Optima Mids are starting to appear on US Ebay for reasonable money. They must be coming from somewhere, right? So I contacted AMain to ask whether they had heard anything. They had not and had no idea when they would get stock. So I decided to order a buggy off Ebay, as it was from a reputable highly rated seller and cost only a few dollars more. That said, I didn't get an order confirmation notice, so I looked for the seller's website to see if I could get hold of the seller. The seller's website also had the Optima Mid re re in stock, and cheaper than Ebay. So I tried to cancel the Ebay order and ordered direct from the seller. Then (here is where things get odd) the seller tells me that the Ebay Optima can be shipped right away but I would have to wait a week for an Optima Mid shipped direct. Why this would be, frankly makes no sense. Normally, I'd wait a week and save a few bucks, but I don't trust Kyosho not to delay things again, so I cancel the direct order and let the Ebay buggy stay. Seller assured me that there is a buggy in stock and ready to ship. No sooner than I do this than Amain emails me to tell me that they have the Optima Mid in stock and are shipping. (I hadn't canceled because I wanted confirmation that I was getting my buggy from somewhere before I gave up my place in line). So this morning, I could not get an Optima Mid for love or money. Now I have two on the way. DOES ANYBODY WANT TO BUY A BUGGY? If worst comes to worst, I can send one back. TL:DR Pigs get fat. Hogs get slaughtered.

He contacted me as well. To his credit, he emailed photos of the sought-after product that weren't obvious stock images and didn't show up in a Google image search. BUT his name was a typically anglosaxon name, yet his posts contained lexical mistakes that no semi-competent English speaker (much less a native speaker) would make. Confusing first and last name, for instance. When he insisted that he could *only* take PP friends and family, the scam was even more obvious. He did assure me that he wasn't going to run off with my payment, LOL

Probably depends on the hobby. If you are in the US and your passion is firearms or hunting or feeding the homeless, then, for better or worse, it's probably hard to disengage politics from that passion. Not only that, but most of your fellow participants will probably have a specific political background or slant. Birdwatching? Maybe not so much.

I imagine that the question turns on what kind of servo is it? If it's an expensive servo that lunched a gear, then it may be worth fixing and parts may be available. If it's an Banggood Special, parts probably aren't readily obtainable and it probably wasn't intended to be fixed but chucked.

That's around $545 USD at today's exchange. Thanks! edit: I am actually going to find out if they will ship to the US and what it will cost. edit 2: spoke to PBM. Helpful people, but shipping would be another $100 USD or so.

Built a couple of Kyosho ball diffs that I had lying around. Rebuilt the transmission on my Fox. Again. Redid some of the decals on my spare Fox body. The temperature was 103 degrees and I don't believe in a/c, so the basement was nice and cool.

There was no BITD for me, but I apparently am too aggressive with Tamiya right now. Just rebuilt the transaxle on my Fox. Again.

I foolishly contacted AMain (US retailer) again today. They don't know if and when the Optima Mid or anything else from Kyosho will ship. This is getting old.

For those keeping score at home, I noticed that the thread screws into plastic. Threadlock and plastic do not mix. (You can use CA or white glue, but not threadlocker).

Been home sick and bored, so made a Kyosho ball that I had lying around. Question: the directions don't call for this, but why would I not take it apart and put threadlock on the screw threads before re-assembling? In the helicopter world, anything metal screwed to metal gets threadlocked.

Here I go again

Any idea whether Canadian kits are subject to the same warehouse constraints as USA?

Meow?

Does anyone know whether UK retailers have any Optima Mid re re kits in stock and ready to ship at the moment? Or was the first shipment all spoken for and everything backorder. I am getting tired of waiting for Kyosho USA to get its warehousing act together.

Any suggestions?

Keep on dancin'

Spoke with Amain today. No word on when the Optima Mid re re will arrive. The story is that the delay is the result of Kyosho "changing warehouses". Seems odd, but I was told the same thing a month ago, so at least someone has their story straight.

Even my seven year old has yet to break a Kyosho re re gearbox, and that thrashing a full house 10.5 race motor and esc.

It's been available for pre-order on Amain since Mid February. Still no word. #wetblanket

IIRC, the re re transaxle bolts up. Someone correct me if I am wrong.

Hope springs eternal...

Not arguing with you there, just that according to one poster, Kyosho USA showed the Optima Mid as "in stock" a few days ago.

The Kyosho USA site shows out of stock.

If we're gonna dream, I hope that shipping container also has a bunch pf Kyosho parts that are otherwise out of stock.

The servo saver is two piece. They make a metal replacement, but it is $$.