# RC Car Action Survey



## NHRCRACER (Oct 23, 2002)

http://www.rccaraction.com/2011readersurvey

Please take a minute and fill out this survey. You may win a free online membership and you'll help us make a better magazine.

Thanks!


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## RPM (Dec 20, 2004)

I'm all for the supporting fellow racers and clubs.

Its pretty bad when you have to solicit on a R/C form to sell magazines.

Better yet become a sponsor here on HobbyTalk and join in.
Then I will fill your mailer out....Gezz


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## NHRCRACER (Oct 23, 2002)

RPM said:


> I'm all for the supporting fellow racers and clubs.
> 
> Its pretty bad when you have to solicit on a R/C form to sell magazines.
> 
> ...


I'm just posting a link to a survey that we use to make the magazine better. I thought it was pretty harmless. Sorry if I offended you, RPM.

If the mods here thought I stepped over a line and deleted this post, I would understand have no hard feelings.

Just trying to get some feedback.


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## T Tom (Jun 5, 2009)

It took to long to get by the BUY BUY BUY.


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## NHRCRACER (Oct 23, 2002)

T Tom said:


> It took to long to get by the BUY BUY BUY.


Really? If you follow that link it takes you to a page that explains what you could win for free and has a link directly to the survey.

Maybe you're seeing something different than me.


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## lordraptor1 (Mar 10, 2002)

i quit subscribing to rc caraction when it became nothing more than a giant traxxas add and promoting rtr's. the mag no longer has any value to me anymore. also a side note, it is best to showcase vehicles from people who actually give the hobby a positive image not people like rob mikula of ramcrap rc. and to me it isnt even worth the time filling out another survey because instead of putting more kits back into it the mag just fills up with more advertisements and rts's whcih i for one of having shoved down my throat, just my opinions.


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## hotsallyhoffer (Jun 20, 2011)

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## racin17 (Sep 24, 2008)

lordraptor1 said:


> i quit subscribing to rc caraction when it became nothing more than a giant traxxas add and promoting rtr's. the mag no longer has any value to me anymore. also a side note, it is best to showcase vehicles from people who actually give the hobby a positive image not people like rob mikula of ramcrap rc. and to me it isnt even worth the time filling out another survey because instead of putting more kits back into it the mag just fills up with more advertisements and rts's whcih i for one of having shoved down my throat, just my opinions.


agreed!!! nothing but ads and nothing about the oval world!!!!


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## TOM MAR (Jul 24, 2008)

Yep, not a thing to do with oval racers. Quit buying it long ago.


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## NHRCRACER (Oct 23, 2002)

lordraptor1 said:


> i quit subscribing to rc caraction when it became nothing more than a giant traxxas add and promoting rtr's. the mag no longer has any value to me anymore. also a side note, it is best to showcase vehicles from people who actually give the hobby a positive image not people like rob mikula of ramcrap rc. and to me it isnt even worth the time filling out another survey because instead of putting more kits back into it the mag just fills up with more advertisements and rts's whcih i for one of having shoved down my throat, just my opinions.


Thanks for the feedback.

As editors, we have no control over how many ads any company places. We also have no control over whether companies make kits or RTRs. We try to review what's hot--kit or RTR. We reviewed the TLR 22 and Team Associated SC1 4x4--both only offered as kit--before anyone. My point is we do our best to offer at least a little of what everyone wants. Filling out the survey helps us know what it is people want.


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## NHRCRACER (Oct 23, 2002)

TOM MAR said:


> Yep, not a thing to do with oval racers. Quit buying it long ago.


Fill out the survey, Tom, and tell your friends. I love oval racing, but if we never receive any requests for oval content, well, we're unlikely to include it.


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## TOM MAR (Jul 24, 2008)

NHRCRACER said:


> Fill out the survey, Tom, and tell your friends. I love oval racing, but if we never receive any requests for oval content, well, we're unlikely to include it.


I have already filled out the form. I cannot speak for anyone else, but after buying your magazine when I raced touring, off-road & oval I noticed there was never any real info on oval, so when touring at our track stopped I no longer had a reason to buy it. I really have no interest in a mag with an oval article every 2 or 3 months.
Not knocking you guys. I never subscribed to your mag, but for many years I did not miss an issue.
If I ever return to touring or off road it will return as a must have. 
I will start taking a look when my LHS gets upcoming isses.:thumbsup:

Tom M.


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## lordraptor1 (Mar 10, 2002)

NHRCRACER said:


> Filling out the survey helps us know what it is people want.


 
i have been filling out surveys forever and the mag gets worse so i no longer subscribe to it and i dont even thumb through it on newstands either, sorry but rcca lost me already and i wont be going back to it its as simple as that, and in fact rcca is helping destroy the LHS, i go into a hobbyshop looking for somethign and the majority of stuff stocked is traxxas and they tell me they can order it well for what its worth if it has to be ordered anyway then i might as well order it have it shipped to my door unfortunatley the hobby shops then lose money because peopel are brainwashed by all the adds in the mag.

to many adds, not enough of the spektrum, rtr's covered more than anything, alot of race coverage filled with rtr traxxas stuff, sorry i'll pass.


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## NHRCRACER (Oct 23, 2002)

TOM MAR said:


> I have already filled out the form. I cannot speak for anyone else, but after buying your magazine when I raced touring, off-road & oval I noticed there was never any real info on oval, so when touring at our track stopped I no longer had a reason to buy it. I really have no interest in a mag with an oval article every 2 or 3 months.
> Not knocking you guys. I never subscribed to your mag, but for many years I did not miss an issue.
> If I ever return to touring or off road it will return as a must have.
> I will start taking a look when my LHS gets upcoming isses.:thumbsup:
> ...


I hear what you're saying, Tom. Thanks


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## NHRCRACER (Oct 23, 2002)

lordraptor1 said:


> sorry i'll pass.


Fair enough.


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## lordraptor1 (Mar 10, 2002)

you know it finally hit me today, i think the reason we have the ops post is people are saying they are not happy with rcca anymore and saying it in lost revinue :tongue:


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## 420 Tech R/C (Sep 15, 2006)

..Maybe there should be some reveiws on products that dont necesarrilly have advertising in there...Some of the more affordable electronics would be nice, say like the Xe-run line of speedos/motors, flysky radio gear, you know the ACTUAL products that "joe club racer " is buying...The cheaper brands of li-pos..Things that actually make the hobby more affordable when compared to the "big name-paying for ads" type of manufacturers...Maybe a section dedicated to "running on a budget" to showcase these more cost effective products in this lovely economic climate we are living in today..I mean most people would love to know that they can get a NICE digital 2.4ghz radio system for less than what 1 spektrum SR300 receiver costs...(Fly sky GT3B), and that replacement receivers for said radio are only 7.00 each...You know that is a Great idea for a good thread here on HT..I think i will start one soon...


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## snwchris (Dec 1, 2009)

Something that would be nice to see for the race event coverage would be more pics and not just pics soley of the pro's.

This past weekend I was at the SC Showdown in Wisconsin and it seemed like there were a ton of pics taken during qualifying rounds and the mains and pics for the raffles as well. But most of the racing pics look like they were of the pros only.

I think alot of the people that were entered in the race would love to see action pics of their own trucks at a main event like the SC Showdown, I know I would love to see some pics of my truck in action during the race. Maybe set-up a race gallery for pics of the other contestants to either download or purchase the proof for a couple of bucks.


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## newbie2 (Mar 31, 2006)

same ol same ol, just like politics, u scratch my back an I'll scratch urs....glad to see someone from rcca on here cause now maybe i can get some one to hear me.....3 yrs ago I was a regular subscribeer, then I started missing issues(5 in one year) I called, e-mailed and sent letters and ABSOULTLY NOT 1 response from anyone. nevr did get my lost mags. recently I thought I wud give it one more try, apr 4, 2011 I again subscribed for 1yr, 3 days ago after no mags yet I send e-mails out, again no response....yesterday I finally rec my first mag.....it was more like a flyer from wallyworld adds upon adds...business being that good they aut to make a larger mag, I to am a dirt oval racer an did not see anything that interested me....what a shame...anymore any mag u open is the same nothing but adds, I pay $170 a month for cable tv and a 1 hr show is 40min of advertising.....turn me over I'm done on this side


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## eri3f0g (Feb 12, 2004)

I'm going to leave my opinion open.. I'll take the survey and see what we'll see


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## RPM (Dec 20, 2004)

Today with all the free information out on the internet magazine companies are dying.

And in this economy, the bad magazines are the first to go...


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## lordraptor1 (Mar 10, 2002)

RPM said:


> Today with all the free information out on the internet magazine companies are dying.
> 
> And in this economy, the bad magazines are the first to go...


 
more like mags that are nothing more than sales adds. with the cash rcca is getting from vendors for advertising the magazine should be 100% free for everyone of course there are quite a few (like myself) that dont want the mag anymore as we are sick of it being a giant advertisement especially when traxxs is shoved down our throats.


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## OvalmanPA (Mar 21, 2000)

I'd agree with you mostly with the magazines being a lot of advertising but why keep bashing on Traxxas?  Maybe you haven't realized it but Traxxas probably does more for recognition of the R/C hobby industry than probably all the others combined. Who else sponsors a whole full sized off road series? Who else sponsors a NASCAR truck team? Who else is primary sponsor (not associate) of a couple full size off road teams? Who else brings a semi truck and trailer to a lot of events outside the R/C industry to introduce people to the hobby grade world of R/C? 

So Traxxas only offers RTR vehicles. Like it or not (which I don't) RTR is here to stay because people in this age are to into instant gratification. They don't want to actually enjoy the hobby from the building standpoint. They just want to open a box, charge a battery, and run it. Why do you think so many first time nitro users have so many problems? They don't want to know how to tune the motor, just run it! Traxxas in my opinion has become R/C marketing geniuses and is why they have the market share of new vehicle purchases.


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## 420 Tech R/C (Sep 15, 2006)

OvalmanPA said:


> So Traxxas only offers RTR vehicles. Like it or not (which I don't) RTR is here to stay because people in this age are to into instant gratification. They don't want to actually enjoy the hobby from the building standpoint. They just want to open a box, charge a battery, and run it. Why do you think so many first time nitro users have so many problems? They don't want to know how to tune the motor, just run it! Traxxas in my opinion has become R/C marketing geniuses and is why they have the market share of new vehicle purchases.


Much truth in that statement for sure...I will say that at the same time RTR nitro is just a bad idea for beginners.The very tuning problem you point out has turned alot of people off to hobby grade RC just for the fact that those of us who have ran nitro KNOW there is a degree of finesse involved in properly breaking in and tuning a nitro.Nitros are NOT first timer freindly for most.You have no idea how many 'barely used' nitro RTR's I have bought off newbs over the years that WERE barely used , but the mill needed a new piston/sleeve because they werent broke in properly..Even had a few that just needed to be tuned and they were just fine, but the seller had said the motor was "junk".But then again I have also bought quite a few RTR electrics that had been broken pretty badly and just needed a few parts, but the seller was "mechanically handicapped" to the point that they couldnt figure out how to bolt it back together...Point is this hobby takes a degree of skill regardless of the instant gratification that RTRs offer or not.It is simply not for just anybody..i mean we all know "that guy" that just shouldnt touch tools of any form because when he does he just dorks things up more than fixes them..:thumbsup:


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## lordraptor1 (Mar 10, 2002)

OvalmanPA said:


> I'd agree with you mostly with the magazines being a lot of advertising but why keep bashing on Traxxas?  Maybe you haven't realized it but Traxxas probably does more for recognition of the R/C hobby industry than probably all the others combined. Who else sponsors a whole full sized off road series? Who else sponsors a NASCAR truck team? Who else is primary sponsor (not associate) of a couple full size off road teams? Who else brings a semi truck and trailer to a lot of events outside the R/C industry to introduce people to the hobby grade world of R/C?
> 
> So Traxxas only offers RTR vehicles. Like it or not (which I don't) RTR is here to stay because people in this age are to into instant gratification. They don't want to actually enjoy the hobby from the building standpoint. They just want to open a box, charge a battery, and run it. Why do you think so many first time nitro users have so many problems? They don't want to know how to tune the motor, just run it! Traxxas in my opinion has become R/C marketing geniuses and is why they have the market share of new vehicle purchases.


 
traxxas may be marketing geniuses but they have ruined teh hobby for those that like to build, not only that but factor in what they do to the consumer that go looking for a part for their kits, i dont know about your lhs but mine doesnt have much in terms of parts for anything except traxxas (which i refuse to buy) and maybe 1 unassembled kit on the shelf. i was actually speaking to the store owner of my lhs about supporting him and i was honest with him when i told him i didnt support him as much as i would like to because his selection wasnt all that great, he argued his selection was the best and i had to inform him that i didnt consider 1 unassembled kit, no associated parts, no losi parts, no tamiya stuff at all, no inexpensive lipos, low baja part selection, an 8 foot wall of traxxas parts, and 20 traxxas ready to redos a great selection, he countered with everyone wants traxxas at which time i countered with "obviously not everybody". so now i rarely visit his shop so in effect traxxas not only is shoving their stuff down my throat via adds in rcca, they are causign people like me to not support our lhs's.

i dont buy traxxas stuff and havent really supported tehm since late 80's early 90's when the last unassembled kit disappeared from teh market, teh lat thing i bought was a velineon system whcih was to replace one that came in a brand new stampede that failed after only a couple of weeks which traxxas failed to give teh lifetime warranty on.

anyway, th epoint of this is the survey for rcca and after the number of surveys i have done only for nothing to change, i wont be taking this one nor will i purchase another copy of the mag. straight up the mag has already given me the bad taste of being a glorified add publication and nothing more its as simple as that, the last mag i looked at had about 6 pages of traxxas adds right in the middle and more traxxas adds scattered throughout it, and then there were the online e-tailer adds, associated adds, hpi adds, etc, etc, etc.


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## RPM (Dec 20, 2004)

lordraptor1 said:


> traxxas may be marketing geniuses but they have ruined teh hobby for those that like to build, not only that but factor in what they do to the consumer that go looking for a part for their kits, i dont know about your lhs but mine doesnt have much in terms of parts for anything except traxxas (which i refuse to buy) and maybe 1 unassembled kit on the shelf. i was actually speaking to the store owner of my lhs about supporting him and i was honest with him when i told him i didnt support him as much as i would like to because his selection wasnt all that great, he argued his selection was the best and i had to inform him that i didnt consider 1 unassembled kit, no associated parts, no losi parts, no tamiya stuff at all, no inexpensive lipos, low baja part selection, an 8 foot wall of traxxas parts, and 20 traxxas ready to redos a great selection, he countered with everyone wants traxxas at which time i countered with "obviously not everybody". so now i rarely visit his shop so in effect traxxas not only is shoving their stuff down my throat via adds in rcca, they are causing people like me to not support our lhs's.
> 
> i dont buy traxxas stuff and havent really supported tehm since late 80's early 90's when the last unassembled kit disappeared from teh market, teh lat thing i bought was a velineon system whcih was to replace one that came in a brand new stampede that failed after only a couple of weeks which traxxas failed to give teh lifetime warranty on.
> 
> *anyway, th epoint of this is the survey for rcca and after the number of surveys i have done only for nothing to change, i wont be taking this one nor will i purchase another copy of the mag. straight up the mag has already given me the bad taste of being a glorified add publication and nothing more its as simple as that, the last mag i looked at had about 6 pages of traxxas adds right in the middle and more traxxas adds scattered throughout it, and then there were the online e-tailer adds, associated adds, hpi adds, etc, etc, etc.*


Amen brother!:thumbsup:


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## OvalmanPA (Mar 21, 2000)

lordraptor1 said:


> traxxas may be marketing geniuses but they have ruined teh hobby for those that like to build, not only that but factor in what they do to the consumer that go looking for a part for their kits, i dont know about your lhs but mine doesnt have much in terms of parts for anything except traxxas (which i refuse to buy) and maybe 1 unassembled kit on the shelf. i was actually speaking to the store owner of my lhs about supporting him and i was honest with him when i told him i didnt support him as much as i would like to because his selection wasnt all that great, he argued his selection was the best and i had to inform him that i didnt consider 1 unassembled kit, no associated parts, no losi parts, no tamiya stuff at all, no inexpensive lipos, low baja part selection, an 8 foot wall of traxxas parts, and 20 traxxas ready to redos a great selection, he countered with everyone wants traxxas at which time i countered with "obviously not everybody". so now i rarely visit his shop so in effect traxxas not only is shoving their stuff down my throat via adds in rcca, they are causign people like me to not support our lhs's.


Welcome to the world of business Mr. Raptor!  As a former hobbyshop owner I stocked parts most used by my customers. Your lhs owner has 15 people come in every day looking for Traxxas parts and you show up one day a month looking for a part for your AE SC10. Who do you think he's going to stock parts for???? 

I understand RCCA and all the magazines are the same way. They cover what is popular at the time. However and why I let my sub. to Xtreme R/C run out. They had two, *TWO* pages devoted every month to oval racing and without warning let those pages go to make room for more coverage of whatever is popular this month and to "cut costs". Sorry but that pissed me off enough to let it go.

Besides, why your blaming Traxxas for manufacturers going away from "build-able" kits is beyond me? Like I said, blame it on today's society.........


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## lordraptor1 (Mar 10, 2002)

OvalmanPA said:


> Welcome to the world of business Mr. Raptor!  As a former hobbyshop owner I stocked parts most used by my customers. Your lhs owner has 15 people come in every day looking for Traxxas parts and you show up one day a month looking for a part for your AE SC10. Who do you think he's going to stock parts for????
> 
> I understand RCCA and all the magazines are the same way. They cover what is popular at the time. However and why I let my sub. to Xtreme R/C run out. They had two, *TWO* pages devoted every month to oval racing and without warning let those pages go to make room for more coverage of whatever is popular this month and to "cut costs". Sorry but that pissed me off enough to let it go.
> 
> Besides, why your blaming Traxxas for manufacturers going away from "build-able" kits is beyond me? Like I said, blame it on today's society.........


 
ok lets look at it from your perspective  who was it that started selling rtr's? traxxas, who started advertising rtr's constantly? again traxxas. and who has filled almost every page of every rc mag out there with adds so that anyone who pics up a mag is almost certainly guarunteed to see their product? traxxas. what company makes sure to get alot of coverage for thier products? again it is traxxas. so basically the trend went towards rtr's because when people thumbed through a mag that is what they got shoved in their face, traxxas. 

if you notice what coverage is lacking oval, drag, largescale, etc. you will see that traxxas does NOT make any of these types of vehicles but you can rest assured that if traxxas did make something (although it would be ready to redo) then you can bet that the mags would have coverage for it but most likely it would only cover traxxas stuff.

i avoid traxxas stuff like the plaugue because not only am i a builder, i find the traxxas products to toylike for my particular tastes. if you like traxxas more power to you but it is not my cup of tea and hasnt been for some time (like the days of the srt to be exact), i have had a couple stampedes which is a slap in the face seeing as they are the exact same now as when they were orignally released except for a change here and there to use a nitro slipper and handle the brushless systems other than that and a different color plastic they are the same old product as originally released.

in a nutshell i make most of my purchases online nowadays and the lhs's complain about people not supporting them well my case is a simple one of you dont support me while others (referring to people who like traxxas) support online for better pricing.


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## OvalmanPA (Mar 21, 2000)

The magazines cover mostly off road, touring car, and rock crawling. IMO Traxxas hasn't offered anything able to compete in any of these genres in YEARS so I don't see your argument there holding water. 

If RTRs weren't what people wanted, why does everybody offer a RTR package? Don't give me that crap about Traxxas advertising it so much in the magazines either. You can see AE, Losi, HPI, and others pushing their RTR vehicles too. True maybe Traxxas was the "originator" of the RTR (although way back in the day there were others like Tamiya and Futaba offering RTR packages before Traxxas) but if today's society didn't want that, it wouldn't have stuck around. That's what people want so that's what the manufacturers sell. I remember Pops Losi saying in an interview one time that Team Losi would NEVER sell a RTR vehicle. Yes they have since been sold to Horizon but before that occurred Losi built and sold kits in RTR form. They were forced to, that's what society wanted. If not out of pure laziness, because of cost to buy an entire package cheaper than you can buy individual parts. As a side note to this, the Made in The USA on packaging has mostly gone away. 

And no I am NOT a big supporter of Traxxas vehicles. I own an OLD Stampede that has been upgraded with Integy chassis, metal geartrain, and Losi shocks. I've owned a couple EMaxxes but I'm die hard Losi through and through when it comes down to it. It actually pains me and other true "builders" such as yourself to see less and less vehicles being sold as "kits". The last "kit" I put together was my Custom Works GBX..........


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## 440s-4ever (Feb 23, 2010)

Do any of you guys realize that RTRs can be taken apart? If you really want to disassemble before running go for it. 

I buy used RCs, assembled but broken. Usually stuff that came as a kit. Save a ton of money this way, but apparently the "real" RC guys only buy brand new kits with 8th grade level instructions.

At some point you have to dis-associate yourself with the entry level buyer. Yes, you were there once and don't ever forget how it feels, but ya gotta be real about the different levels of hobbyist. Once you spend a bunch of time learning for yourself....... the entry level guys are always gonna seem stupid. Doesn't matter if you're talking RC or full scale. It's the nature of hobbies centered around machines.


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## snwchris (Dec 1, 2009)

It's a general survey.... not a bash fest, just write a brief comment and take the survey....

Hmmm if I remember correctly it was Traxxas a few years back who was the first one to come out with the 2wd Corr trucks and give a big boost to the r/c hobby & industry and getting more people involved and interested in the hobby. Then Traxxas did it again with the birth of the 4x4 Corr, making it one of the biggest classes around. Most people are interested in the Corr trucks when they are novice since they can take the abuse and a little more forgiving if you wreck vs. the 2wd buggies which demand a little more attention.


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## Hangtime (Jan 2, 2007)

I too used to read the Mags but I just got to the point where its not helpful anymore. I always like the tech articles, the race coverage. I'm from a time when offroad was trucks & buggies & onroad mostly 1/12, so most of the mags covered that. Now there are so many options you should just dedicate a whole mags to just oval, or whatever class. I liked it when there were less choices as far as classes. Even now its more fun to have a big class like sct or something even though a few dude still run 2wd buggy. Most of the time your looking out for that next "big class" Anyway good luck to rcca. I think on line mags are thing now.


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## munchi (Sep 22, 2003)

*rcca*

i loved to read the older issues of rcca.. lots of good info in those older magazines. anybody got any older issues they will part with? only looking for the rcca mags from say 88 and older.. especially the action series of rcca.


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