Df-03 copy?

[budgio]

Just spotted this
http://goldstarstockists.net/live/catalog/images/fs-travel-king-buggy.jpg
Looks like a Tamiya df-03 clone to me anyone seen one upclose?

[budgio]

http://www.sriremotetoys.co.uk/racing-travel-king-electric-buggy-p-1437.html

Maybe a good starter package for someone new to it.

[stampede vxlboy]

are they any good ? china inports nitrotek sell them

[stebedford]

its not too cheap to be honest, considering a real df03 costs about 130 new

[Si Coe]

But thats RTR, whereas for £130 the real DF-03 is a kit with a 540 motor and no other electrics.


What remains to be seen is the quality of the plastics used. Some of the other clones (Baja's and Hypers mostly) have been made of extremely brittle plastics.

[stebedford]

true, i guess i was lucky to get 1 for £55 fully hopped up :)

[tom_chang79]

Yeah, someone linked it on the DF-03 thread on rctech a while ago.

Looking at the pics, and considering how hard some of the pieces are on the DF-03 to mold, I'm not really sure if we are seeing a "clone."

I'm wondering if this was some OEM jobby from this company, buying only parts that they want from Tamiya at OEM prices and packaging, and they simply providing the labor to assemble it and package it RTR with all the motor, electronics, servo, transmitter, and battery...

Considering that the DF-03 is about $110 from HK now, I'm guessing that you can probably get the basic parts from Tamiya directly, of course in large volumes, for a basic DF-03 at about $50 or less....

That's just a guess, it would be cool if someone from Tamiya can comment on this "FS" buggy...

[sosidge]

Yeah, someone linked it on the DF-03 thread on rctech a while ago.

Looking at the pics, and considering how hard some of the pieces are on the DF-03 to mold, I'm not really sure if we are seeing a "clone."

I'm wondering if this was some OEM jobby from this company, buying only parts that they want from Tamiya at OEM prices and packaging, and they simply providing the labor to assemble it and package it RTR with all the motor, electronics, servo, transmitter, and battery...

Considering that the DF-03 is about $110 from HK now, I'm guessing that you can probably get the basic parts from Tamiya directly, of course in large volumes, for a basic DF-03 at about $50 or less....

That's just a guess, it would be cool if someone from Tamiya can comment on this "FS" buggy...

There is no way Tamiya will supply a third party with their parts in this way.

It'll be a reverse engineered car, just like the TT-01 clones that were doing the rounds a few years ago. They look the same, so much so that you think they must be OEM, but the parts quality was way, way lower than Tamiya.

[Flex]

as ever, these clones provide a cheap way to rc, good for somone who does not want to splash out loads and just try rc. I have a rc18t clone, which now has a mix of AE and clone parts and it works nicely - i swear the spur gear is a lot tougher than the associated ones, though fits onto a differnt shaft...

[tom_chang79]

Well, I hate seeing intellectual properties getting ripped off, but what can you do? These companies usually operate outside the region where these things are enforced, so what can you do?

People who buy these clones probably would not have bought the real McCoy anyway.

But they do have their markets, especially in poor countries where these real kits might be someone's salary for the whole month...

But seriously though, I am very, very surprised they decided to clone the DF-03. The DF-03's shapes of each piece looks super difficult. But I suppose if they used the parts tree and made a mold out of it, it would be nearly identical...

I wonder how much worse is the material, granted that the plastics used on the DF-03 are ABS and not the exotic polymer that's found on higher end kits...

I'm just glad these companies aren't into forgery and forging Tamiya's logo and tarnishing Tamiya's reputation. Or are they?

I wish China would incorporate and enforce intellectual property laws found in 1st-world countries... They are probably the biggest offenders of fakes, clones, and counterfeits...

*sigh* *shrug*

[Piman]

China do have rules that covers this. I believe there has to be 5 differences. However these differences don't have to be very big so in essence it is a direct copy.

The moulding may look difficult but they are very good a reproducing these without difficulty. Also the plastic material cost will be quite small so it would not be difficult for them to produce the moulding to the same quality.

It is a shame to see someone’s hard work and design skill ripped off like that but the consumer often does not care.

James

[TRF_AK]

Thanks for posting this info. Tamiya Inc. has been informed.

[tom_chang79]

Thanks, I hope Tamiya Inc. knows about this.

The DF-03 is one of their most aggressive, most innovative designs, I would hate to see Tamiya lose market shares to cloners...

[B44&501xRacerEX]

I'm wondering if this was some OEM jobby from this company, buying only parts that they want from Tamiya at OEM prices and packaging, and they simply providing the labor to assemble it and package it RTR with all the motor, electronics, servo, transmitter, and battery...

Considering that the DF-03 is about $110 from HK now, I'm guessing that you can probably get the basic parts from Tamiya directly, of course in large volumes, for a basic DF-03 at about $50 or less....

That's just a guess, it would be cool if someone from Tamiya can comment on this "FS" buggy...
In my opinion a real DF03 chassis would be alot better, these small "No Name" companies are gaining nothing by doing something like this.

[Piman]

Apart from a lot of money!!! ;)

James