Rant: RC Car Action Touring Cars Edition
08-07-2005, 10:42 AM
#1
Rant: RC Car Action Touring Cars Edition
<WARNING: BEGIN RANT>
Saturday afternoon I sneak out of the house to head to the LHS which to pick up a new 1/10 touring car (T1FK05) after months of debate and to watch the robot wars they are hosting.
After making my selections I notice on the magazine rack is the special Radio Control Touring Cars edition by Radio Control Car Action that I had been eagerly awaiting for. Scheduled to go on sale August 8th this was a pleasant surprise indeed. Without hesitation I make a b-line to the rack and pick it right up when I was immediately surprised by how thin it was. "Oh well" I thoughy, "quality over quantity". Boy was I wrong!
I get home and flip to the write up on the RDX (which was my 2nd choice) when I notice the write up is an exact repeat of what they just printed in their September 2005 Super Sedan segment. I flip to the write up on the T1FK05 and see the same thing. By now it becomes clear that RC Car Action simply threw together some previous articles in an effort to make some additional revenue on the hot touring car market.
Here are some other lowlights that frustrated me about the magazine:
- $5.99 for a whole 98 pages while their monthly magazine is $5.99 for over 220 pages
- If you have the September 2005 issue of RC Car Action you have half the content
- No direct comparison was made between any of the cars, they should take a page from XRC's 1/8 Buggy round up and grow a spine
- Over 10% of the magazine is a Small Block Engine guide when all the cars featured in the magazine were 1/10 ELECTRIC touring cars (space filler!)
Do yourself a favor and skip picking up this magazine. Take the $6 and buy your wife/significant other a flower or two so they will stay off your back when something worthwhile is available to read.
<END RANT>
Saturday afternoon I sneak out of the house to head to the LHS which to pick up a new 1/10 touring car (T1FK05) after months of debate and to watch the robot wars they are hosting.
After making my selections I notice on the magazine rack is the special Radio Control Touring Cars edition by Radio Control Car Action that I had been eagerly awaiting for. Scheduled to go on sale August 8th this was a pleasant surprise indeed. Without hesitation I make a b-line to the rack and pick it right up when I was immediately surprised by how thin it was. "Oh well" I thoughy, "quality over quantity". Boy was I wrong!
I get home and flip to the write up on the RDX (which was my 2nd choice) when I notice the write up is an exact repeat of what they just printed in their September 2005 Super Sedan segment. I flip to the write up on the T1FK05 and see the same thing. By now it becomes clear that RC Car Action simply threw together some previous articles in an effort to make some additional revenue on the hot touring car market.
Here are some other lowlights that frustrated me about the magazine:
- $5.99 for a whole 98 pages while their monthly magazine is $5.99 for over 220 pages
- If you have the September 2005 issue of RC Car Action you have half the content
- No direct comparison was made between any of the cars, they should take a page from XRC's 1/8 Buggy round up and grow a spine
- Over 10% of the magazine is a Small Block Engine guide when all the cars featured in the magazine were 1/10 ELECTRIC touring cars (space filler!)
Do yourself a favor and skip picking up this magazine. Take the $6 and buy your wife/significant other a flower or two so they will stay off your back when something worthwhile is available to read.
<END RANT>
08-08-2005, 02:09 PM
#2
Tech Addict
You're right. Selling reprinted articles is a ripoff. But you can also look at it as all the good articles in one place at the price of one issue. That is a pretty good deal. 
But stuff like this makes me sad. I don't believe those guys are proud of this issue.
But stuff like this makes me sad. I don't believe those guys are proud of this issue.
08-08-2005, 02:13 PM
#3
i thought it was worth it...with all the info i needed for a new car just packed in one.
08-08-2005, 02:21 PM
#4
i havent bought the magazine last year, but i think ill pass that particular edition based on ure info. Anyways, im tired of the RC Car action. Even their articles seem like advertisements. All cars are great. All gadgets are a "must buy". Thats easy to say when manufacturers send u things FOR FREE.
08-09-2005, 01:07 AM
#6
One thing I forgot to mention was how inaccurate some of the information was. For example in their Inside the Pros' Cars section they tell what aftermarket options the driver is using. On Ralph Burch's XRay T1FK05 they state that besides an extra 10 grams of weight his car is stock. Well not sure what they are smoking but here are just some of the aftermarket options I can see in the picture:
- Wide Upper Deck
- Graphite Battery Brace
- Aluminum C Hubs
That is over $100 in options/upgrades alone! Interesting how they caught the $20 JRX-S tray in Todd's featured ride but they missed the $40 battery brace in the X-Ray. Now I don't blame them for thinking that the battery brace would be included in a $390 kit (that is an Xray rant for another time) but the C hubs are a little hard to miss.
- Wide Upper Deck
- Graphite Battery Brace
- Aluminum C Hubs
That is over $100 in options/upgrades alone! Interesting how they caught the $20 JRX-S tray in Todd's featured ride but they missed the $40 battery brace in the X-Ray. Now I don't blame them for thinking that the battery brace would be included in a $390 kit (that is an Xray rant for another time) but the C hubs are a little hard to miss.
08-09-2005, 07:08 AM
#7
My guess is that they cut and paste words from a previous article on to a picture of a current car and publish. Fast and cheap.
08-09-2005, 07:14 AM
#9
All of you do yourself a Favor, and Purchase XRC Magazine, real articles, from real racers, plus not too much advertising(advertising pays the bills), but at least from a racing side and a bit of hobby side perspective, i was the same always spending the big bucks on the lastest from the other Magazines, but now i only need to buy one, and its enough to get my fix until the next issue comes out...
Just my 2 cents....
Just my 2 cents....
08-09-2005, 07:15 AM
#10
I beleive they are just putting out a cataloge that is aimed at people that do not already own a Touring Car and are condiplating making a purchase. Right Wrong or Indifferent. They are out to make money, it is a free country...they are free to sell there (product) and you are free to buy it.
If you feel you got ripped off then maybe you should write a note to the editor of the Mag.
No offence but it is better to take your complaint directly to the person/company than to post your frustration out on them here.
There is already enough quadruple duplicate threads about which batteries are best.
See now you guys got me venting.....SHEESH....lol
-Shookie <><
If you feel you got ripped off then maybe you should write a note to the editor of the Mag.
No offence but it is better to take your complaint directly to the person/company than to post your frustration out on them here.
There is already enough quadruple duplicate threads about which batteries are best.
See now you guys got me venting.....SHEESH....lol
-Shookie <><
08-09-2005, 07:31 AM
#11
If you have any knowledge of the hobby then you can scan through any issue in about 5 minutes, get what you want and save $5.99 ($7.99 Canada).
If your a newbie buying his first car then check out ALL the mags. and buy the one that has the car (or cars) your interested in.
As far as the touring car issue, it was a 4 min. scan for me.
If your a newbie buying his first car then check out ALL the mags. and buy the one that has the car (or cars) your interested in.
As far as the touring car issue, it was a 4 min. scan for me.
08-09-2005, 02:57 PM
#14
Buy being an loyalist to XRc, i think i still have every single Magazine they put out, even the first free one, if i havent given them back to them already and like i said before advertising pays bills, even when the mag was released it had a few Ads included, and printed in Black n White, and on crappy paper, but to be honest today i dont even look at another mag, and today you get alot for what you pay for...as far as XRC is concerned....but progress make a difference, and not just for magazines, but for the industry all together...
08-09-2005, 03:22 PM
#15
Tech Addict
Xtreme RC is good, ok. But have you seen how much Xtreme RC charges for international shipping? 60$ for each year. No friendly way does it cost them 5 dollars extra to ship each mag, I mean it's already bagged and marked for USA distribution and it's not free to ship within USA, this is on top of that cost. 3 year subscription goes from 60$ to 240$. How can they convince themselves it's fair price? They can keep the magazine at that price. Have you ever heard the term "Pricing yourself out of the market"? And you're complaining that RCCATCE is ripoff at 5.99$