i agree that it would be great for kyosho to release a pro car from day one, but in reality no manufacturer does this. even the mtx4 came witrh dogbones and plastic wheel hexes.
so did the nt1.
the serpent was released spec'd out (in my opinion) because it was serpent's last chance to remain in the tourer market. With a series of low selling cars in the past and the emergence of kyosho mugen as the true kings of tourer (and recently xray) as the three dominant brands of tourer serpent NEEDED a bang for buck car that performed otherwise they would have been toast in the tourer market.
what the new kyosho needs is good quality long lasting parts from the get go. i've owned a V1R before and what has always held me of the later edition v1's are the low wear life of it's parts. the car is great but the pins on the cvd/or dog bones wear out quickly, the plastic got excessive wear very quickly, and it required a lot of upgrades (if you bought a standard early edition kit).
mugen's mtx4 had similar low spec'd options but the standar parts were always strong and you were able to perform in high competition with it knowing that it would not wear out quickly. Mugen's plastic is also one of the best wearing and slop free plastic in the market (xray is up there with it also).
Kyosho should use the WC/shimo spec plastic in the r4, have a good quality brake disc and pads and SERIOUSLY up the quality of it's steel parts that's all it needs. the rest is bling that can be upgraded later at users discretion.