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Effigy3

LRP is gone too

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Sad but not unexpected, LRP too has been under bankruptcy protection for some time.

i miss Novak too :( 

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Sad business indeed. Although, LRP are to start up again in the near future, Jürgen says. Fingers crossed.

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I don't see why associated didn't pick this up...they were associated with them...right?

I miss novak also :(

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1 minute ago, Wooders28 said:

It's a shame to see another rc company in trouble. 

you mean gone?? They shuttered their doors.

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5 minutes ago, iluvmud said:

you mean gone?? They shuttered their doors.

I'm a glass half full kind a guy (well , more reciprocal over specified for liquid quantity! 🙄) 

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7 hours ago, skinned said:

I don't see why associated didn't pick this up...they were associated with them...right?

I miss novak also :(

LRP distributed AE in Europe I thought, probably in return for AE doing LRP in U.S.

But think that was before AE got bought by ThunderTigre, I'd say parentCo TT probably already has better/cheaper sources of electronics than what LRP makes, so no point paying anything for LRP name.

Would you still buy "(neo)LRP" if it's just a blue ESC made in China?

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2 hours ago, WillyChang said:

Would you still buy "(neo)LRP" if it's just a blue ESC made in China?

It does make you wonder if the other big names like Tekin, Castle and Hacker etc. will suffer from the same fate... Unfortunately for Novak and LRP, it seems that they have failed to keep up with the current RC market.. Lets hope the others do a better job..

From my perspective, LRP has always catered for the competition end of the market, with their main focus being Modified class racing..  Their Competition range of electronics is good quality, but it is also expensive... Even though LRP has a range of lower end of Kits and Electronics (eg Batteries, ESC's, etc.) they seem to be lacking quality, or are somewhat overpriced for the intended market..

Now, I don't want this to sound like I'm bashing LRP, but this is what turned me away from buying LRP ESC's ......  My LHS used to stock a lot of LRP products, so I used LRP ESC's (Sphere Competition ESC's) for a short time in my off-road race cars and I had a Tekin RS ESC in my TC.. When the racing rules changed to "Blinky" spec for the stock classes I raced in,  Tekin very quickly released a software update for my Tekin RS ESC's, and it cost nothing (other than needing a Hotwire and a PC, which I had) to update my Tekin RS ESC over to the current specs for the class...LRP's answer to the problem was to release another new expensive "Blinky" ESC, with no update option for the older ESC's, thus rendering them obsolete for competition, for the classes I ran.. It was at this point that I realized some of the shortcomings with the "features" in the LRP ESC's and LRP's marketing structure..  (Anyone want to guess what brand the ESC was that I bought to replace the LRP Sphere's??) At the time, putting a $250 AUD Sphere ESC's in a basher didn't seem like a wise option, so they sat unused in my pit box for many years (like a constant reminder of the mistake I made in buying them.. LOL) until I finally put one in my Short course truck and the other into my vintage RC10 race car, and this is where they have lived ever since.. (and they still work fine)..

As for Willy's Question... If LRP (or any of the other big names) were to release a range of RC electronics that could compete with the "Made in China" products in cost and quality, then YES I would buy them.. But I doubt that it would happen...................

Initially, a lot of the "Made in China" RC electronics were lacking in quality and the "quality control" areas, and this made them a bit hit and miss.. But over the years, they have improved the quality control whilst still maintaining a similar cost price, and now many of these "Made in China" RC electronics are biting heavily into the market that was once only catered for by the big names (LRP, Novak, Futaba, Sanwa etc..) and it has to be hurting the bottom line of these big name brands, and now it has got to the point that some of the "Made in China' companies have become big names themselves (Speed Passion, HobbyWing, Flysky, Turnigy (HobbyKing) etc)..  Maybe in years to come, it will be these companies that we see sponsoring our major racing events.........? 

 

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nah by neoLRP I meant Made in China goods with decent top quality but keep current "German" level of prices :( when you can buy others got half that price. 

Yeah, I wouldn't either... it ain't an iPhone :P 

 

i thought Novak closed on their own volition... founder Bob wanted to retire, passed the reins to his daughters and in 5yrs they didn't release anything new... meanwhile rest of market caught up & overtook them etc etc

They had good factory in Cali, everything made inhouse in USA.

 

oh is SPEEDPASSION still around? :blink: I remember they went all silent like 3yrs ago, their website disappeared etc etc... then seemed to be selling off a pike of old stock cheap...

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2 hours ago, WillyChang said:

nah by neoLRP I meant Made in China goods with decent top quality but keep current "German" level of prices :( when you can buy others got half that price. 

Yeah, I wouldn't either... it ain't an iPhone :P 

 

i thought Novak closed on their own volition... founder Bob wanted to retire, passed the reins to his daughters and in 5yrs they didn't release anything new... meanwhile rest of market caught up & overtook them etc etc

They had good factory in Cali, everything made inhouse in USA.

 

oh is SPEEDPASSION still around? :blink: I remember they went all silent like 3yrs ago, their website disappeared etc etc... then seemed to be selling off a pike of old stock cheap...


Arr, OK, now I understand... That would be a NO then...

Novak seemed to be quite dead in the development department for a quite a few years, so yes that could be true.. It makes you wonder why the business wasn't sold as a running concern, rather that just driving it into the ground though..

I have no idea about speed passion either..

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1 hour ago, Backlash said:

Novak seemed to be quite dead in the development department for a quite a few years, so yes that could be true.. It makes you wonder why the business wasn't sold as a running concern, rather that just driving it into the ground though..

y'know, I've been asking that Q a lot lately :( & it wasn't even about RC coys 

I don't know the family personally, only as a customer. Big awe of their products like Millennium Pro (best charger ever! if I still used NiMH) and the Cyclone (best ESC ever! for brushed) but they sure commanded a premium; I didn't race serious enough to justify buying them brandnew.

Bob founded it and was the innovative engineer behind everything. Guess that's a big trouble if you need to retire, gotta have someone fill that mentor seat. Bob left in 2012, leaving stewardship to his 2 kids & the "Engineering Director"... presence of which might suggest the 2 sisters weren't technical geeks like dad.

Come 2016 it was lights out entirely :mellow:

Could they have sold as going concern? Would need a buyer with the cash AND the vision (what to do going forwards?)... given Novak was the "last surviving All American ESC designer & maker" perhaps no such other bod existed. 

At one stage I think they did have talks with a US conglomerate that were buying out many US hobby concerns... yeah, you guessed it - Hobbico/GreatPlanes. :blink:

Ah well.

Orange is gone & blue is dead.

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