Quote:
>In Ed's defense, Apogee is NOT dead. It's refocused to just distributing
>motors...quite frankly, Ed wasn't making any money given the prices he was
>able to charge and the limited market for competition-only parts and kits.
>Plus, he was getting squeezed by a times-four wholesale price increase on his
>Blackshaft tubing.
>Apogee will be introducing a line of 10.5 mm black powder 1/4A, 1/2A, A, and B
>motors in the next few months. The 1/2A's were demonstrated at NARAM in July
>1995. Prices will be admittedly higher than Estes motors of comparable total
>impulse but will be significantly lower than comparable composite motors.
I talked to Ed (via email) a couple of days ago. He's going to try and keep
the BG and egglofter kits going. Doesn't yet know if he can, though.
Quote:
>Also...here's my understanding of North Coast. Although the effect is almost
>the same, North Coast itself was NOT sold to Estes Industries. North Coast is
>operating out of facilities at Penrose provided by Estes, maintains a distinct
>catalog and product line, and has a distribution and marketing agreement with
>Estes. North Coast president Matt Steele is also a full time employee of Estes
>Industries at the present.
Look for Estes/NCR announcements at the RCHTA show this weekend. NCR is not gone.
It's just being manufactured by Estes and sold as 'NCR by Estes'.
Quote:
>I don't have any information on the others right now. That LOC is for sale is
>public information; I am also aware of the names of a few of the
>prospective buyers, which is NOT public information, in my opinion, so don't
>ask. Sorry.
From what I've been able to figure out (all second and third hand and free
and worth every penny of that :-) is that LOC wasn't really for sale,
in its entirety. Rather, Ron has been soliciting for investors so that
he can grow the company.
Also, MRED is not out of business. I have verified that. It IS in litigation
at present, which means that it won't be producing much product for a while.
My understanding is that the intent is for the company to (eventually) come
out of litigation and resume active marketing and sales.
Also, Quest is not dead, either. It has gotten out of the only distributor
arrangement that it had. It seems to be having difficulty being picked up
by other distributors. It is still selling mail order, direct to hobby
distributors, and to educational outlets. I refer you to Countdown's
posted notice of a new shipment from Quest.
And by all accounts, FSI has truly shut down. Still not known if this is
'permanent' or not.
Buzz McDermott
Dallas, Texas