Originally Posted by
Herrsavage
IMO the hyperactive culture of racing is to blame, at least partially. I only mess with 8th scale, but in 8th scale, you have to have something "new" every 6-8 months, regardless if the novelty is really an improvement. What matters is novelty for its own sake. It makes the hobby eat its own tail. I think AE probably just made some mistakes as well.
It is a shame about their 8th scale line-up. They used to have everything - buggy, truggy, and SC, kits and RTR's, nitro and electric. The obsession with racing though, and the obsessiveness of racing, seem to have changed the industry, forcing all bashing to the side, to feed the novelty monster.. AE got lost in the flux I think and couldn't keep up... I'm becoming an old man, but the good ole' days of basher MT's, in which the SC8 was a cool addition, are gone. Now all that seems to matter is some stupid 10th scale racing buggy - and a new version of it too probably every 8-10 months...
You do realize you're talking about a company who's first vehicle was targeted directly to the racer, right? It remained that way for over a decade before any "basher" vehicles came from them. I'd argue that they need to drop the non race vehicles and refocus on the race market (along with Losi) but they want that money.