Have you been to the mall lately? I was in there a couple of months ago getting my haircut at Regis Salon. Outside of the salon is a kiosk called Kopter Krazy. I saw it, and as a man with a little boy inside I was immediately drawn to it. They had all sorts of RC helicopters on display. From little ones for $44 to the bigger for about $400. I was intrigued after watching him demonstrate the littlest one and listening to his excitement about them. I just had to have one.
I bought the Syma S-006 Alloy Shark for about $85. I rushed home immediately and opened up the package. This was actually kind of exciting. I put the ‘copter on the charger and let it charge for about 30 minutes. You should let it charge longer, but I was impatient. Soon, I was in the backyard flying my new toy helicopter. I didn’t get the hang of it right away. I never really got the hang of it. I actually crashed it pretty good. I had crashed it several times with no problems, but this time was bad. I retrieved it and put it back together. Just the body flew off but that went back on just fine. I flew it a few more times before I noticed it wasn’t flying quite right. Turns out I broke some part on the rotor shaft. I couldn’t fix it. Total flight time… about 30 minutes.
A couple days later I went back to the mall. I wanted to find out about parts. He told me to just google for RC helicopter parts or something close. While I was there I thought maybe I’ll get another one to play with until I can get the parts for my Alloy Shark. So I got the Double Horse 9087 for about $65. It is a little smaller but I figured I could fly it inside out of the wind. I’m sure the small breeze that was blowing had something to do with my first ‘copters crash.
I got home. Got her out of the box and charged up. I’m in my family room. It has carpet so I shouldn’t worry about crashing it too much. Within 10 minutes of lift off I had broken the rotor blade when it crashed from a height of 3 feet onto the CARPET. I was pissed. So, I got out the super glue and glued it back together. I waited roughly 10 minutes and reassembled it. 5 minutes later I had broken both rotor blades and there was no gluing this back together. So, there I sit with $150 dollars in RC helicopters and I can’t fly them.
I jump on the computer and start searching for parts. I am pretty good at finding what I want on the internet so believe me when I tell you the parts aren’t to be found for either helicopter. I spent about an hour total looking.
On Christmas day I’m talking to my brother and I found out that he got his son the same helicopter at Kopter Krazy. He got the Double Horse 9087 and was able to play with it for about 10 minutes before the inevitable happened. He also looked for parts and couldn’t find them.
I did discover something very interesting while I was searching. You can order these wholesale by the crate and pay about half the cost you did at Kopter Krazy. Go to lightinthebox.com and you will be able to purchase the double horse for $49.99 and the Alloy Shark for $39.99. these are wholesale so you might have to buy more than one.
Now. To the moral of the story. I went to Hobbytown to see if they had the parts I needed. I mentioned what I purchased and the clerk simply said “I’m sorry”. Yes, so was I. They didn’t have the parts I needed. He also said that alot of people have come in looking for parts for these helicopters purchased at the mall. While at Hobbytown I saw that they had some small RC Helicopters. The clerk said they had all the parts they needed right there in the store should it break. This was great, I thought. Yesterday I went down and purchased the Blade MCX. This is a great little helicopter. I’ve got about 4 hours of flight time in, crashed it numerous times and it is still flying. So… if you really want to enjoy the money you spend, spend it on quality.
EDIT TO ADD: I was notified in the below comment that parts are now available for the S-006 Alloy Shark. They can be found on this page: Spare Parts for Ally Shark
Hello Steve, After reading your article it is kind of ironic that you list a link to the Alloy shark and right below the listing is a link for spare parts. Also a little more research would also yield that the company Syma that makes this helicopter also makes several other models and most of the parts are interchangeable. Also Ebay is a great source for parts. I did a quick search and you can almost rebuild the entire helicopter with what I found today. As far as the 9087, the blades don’t break any easier than any other blades when crashed into objects. In this hobby you sometimes have to think outside the box when repairing a remote controlled helicopter. As far as the blades as you notice all the blades on 90% of all the helicopters out there attach the exact same way with a single screw. As long as you replace all (4) blades with replacement blades that are as long or slightly longer and as wide or slightly wider any blade will work. I have had several customers visit “Hobbytown” and by a set of replacement blades that were not made for the 9087 and they were infact slightly larger and the helicopter actually flies a bit better with the larger blades. As far as price for “wholesale” items that is the way the world works if you want a get a business license then order your items in bulk, yes you will get a discount. Obviously the mark up from wholesale covers Freight, and overhead for operating a business and the ease of buying and flying within the hour. If you want to wait a week and pay shipping you will always pay less. I am glad that you found a helicopter that suits your needs and you spent more money for it as well. Also by your own admission you have been on a learning curve with your helicopters. It is only commen sense that after 3 helicopters you would have more experience than your first experiences “in the wind” than you were when you purchased the Blade. I am sure you wouldn’t have the same opinion if you knew what the wholesale cost on this product is as well.
Thanks for the information, Dave. I have to say that you are correct about the blades being on the same page as the link I provided. I will say, however, that the blades were not there when I did my search a couple of months ago. I also found that on some of the RC forums out there, this was a question others had. They were searching for the blades themselves.
I was unaware that different blades could be used. I did a search based on the part numbers on the parts sheet the manufacturer provided. I was unsuccessful. I also did a search of ebay and came up short with the provided part numbers. If the manufacturer has now made them available, then it would seem likely others would make them available as well on ebay. I also see that the link to the 9087 doesn’t work anymore so it appears things have changed with that copter also.
As far as the blades not breaking any easier on the 9087, both I and my brother experienced the same thing. The blades broke very easily. One blade didn’t just break. It shattered on carpet. That to me means the blade was brittle.
The latest helicopter I bought has flexible blades so they withstand the crashes much better. The plastic is flexible enough that you can bend it without breaking it. It is also a 5 channel helicopter so the controls are different from the first two I purchased. I had to relearn how to fly this one.
I have been looking since December for replacement parts for the 9087. Thank you for the above information. We will have to try what has been suggested. I asked the guy at Krazy Kopter before I bought it if replacement parts were easy to obtain – he said yes, just look on the internet. But as everyone is finding out, it is not that easy. This December if I am at the mall & the booth is back, I will make it known to any potential customers that parts are not easy to get & to consider buying a different copter locally. Thanks again! My husband will be very happy!
Be very cautious of this dealer. check out his website, notice there is no phone number listed for any mall where he sells. No phone number on his business card and none in the “contact” section of his website. I broke the balance bar on my helicopter when it landed on the rug. I tried to order the part but the site won’t allow the part to be displayed. The sales guy at the mall said they have all the parts available, but it turns out it’s just a sales pitch. Now I’m stuck with a $45 copter I cannot use.
Agreed on the lower quality of the helis you find at the mall. If the seller doesnt have parts right there with the heli’s that’s a sign to beware of. Do yourself a favor and if you are looking to get into a hobby like Remote Control helicopters, do some research and then seek out the advice of your local hobby shop. Boise has a couple of them. Remote Control Hobbies on Overland and Maple Grove and Hobbytown as the other poster mentioned above.
Dave
I purchased two of the Eagle II helicopters from Kopter Krazy and have crashed them many times with no detrimental damage. I have flown them for at least 10 hours so far without a problem. They do take quite a bit of practice to handle the controls efficiently. Also, if you are looking for parts, try this website:
http://www.kopterkrazy.com/0locations.html
It lists all stores within the Treasure Valley.
Just purchased a V-Max for our teenage son this Christmas. The balance bar broke within 12 hours and the website states all parts are sold out. To say we are disappointed is the nicest things I could say. I will let as many people know not to purchase anything from these guys EVER!!!
Marie:
My son found a website that has parts, cheaper than what Kopter Krazy sells for.
http://www.ehirobo.com
Just look on the left column for v-max copter parts.
Dave. Its nice to see that your promoting your website after all of us break your cheap RCs that we paid 45 dollars for. I will never buy anything from you again. let alone your website..
I purchased a V-max a week ago this saturday from the Boise town sqaure location. I was so jazzed to finally have an R.C. copter. I live in oregon so you can imagine my disappointment after ten minutes of flight I bumped the wall and my copter went nuts and dropped to the floor. Know big deal the salesman let the display model drop from about ten feet to the hard floor, picked it up and started flying it again. Mine on the other hand has a electrical problem. the tail rotor motor doesn’t work. So now my wonderful flying machine can only go up and down. I plan on returning the v-max this weekend in hopes for an exchange, they clearly state NO REFUNDS! on their receipts. I certainly hope I don’t have to make a public display of my disappointment on the busiest day of the week in that place. but it has never stopped me before.
i have purchased a few helicopters from copter krazy and have had no problems whatsoever. i have broken my copters a few times because i am not a perfect pilot but all i had to do was go to the mall and john the guy that works there helped me out every time and got my copter working. i dont see why n e of you guys are complaining john is willing to help n e one out that has problems. last time i checked yesterday they had a three tool cases full of parts for all the helicopters. so i dont know where you guys are getting the idea they dont have parts. as far as paying for parts after you break the helicopter i dont see the problem. would you expect the ford dealership you bought your car from to fix it for free after you wrecked……hmmmm no. you would have to pay for it to get it fixed wouldn’t you. i think you guys are giving a local business a bad name without doing enough research shame on you.
btw thanks for all your help john
Well for all you you bloggers This is Dave, the owner of Kopter Krazy. I want to say to all of you previous posters that I appreciate all of your posts postive (Thanks Dave, and that was not me Jason) and negative. I and my business cannot grow without constructive comments like yours. I am a local guy who was born and raised in Boise and my famiy has been in Idaho for 150 years, so I am not some fly by night retailer that rolls in during the holidays and then disapears. That is why this year I built and am still building a website so that customers could contact me. I don’t have a phone number but do offer my email and I respond to every email. We are hear to sell a quality product at a fair price and offer the ability to repair your product. I will however take the time to apologize to the posters from last year (our first season in business) when I did not offer spare parts. This year we do carry every part for every helicopter we sell. My website is new and still under contruction and clearly states that if you need parts please contact me directly via email and I can get you any parts you need. As for prices being less online? My prices are very competative and infact the site referenced above is exactly the same price that I sell my parts for. Now since this is the “Boise Blogger” any of you can visit the kiosk and pick up your parts directly without a wait time or shipping expense so I guess in this example I am less expensive. As for durability (Tom) the product that is purposely crashed to the ground is the Skylark and it (CAN) do that over and over again without damage do to its light weight construction, your V-Max on the other hand is made of metal and hits the ground much harder due to it weighing 3x as much. Here’s the next question? Does anyone believe that they can crash these or any remote control helicopter (hobby store brand or mine) and expect them to come through undamaged time and time again? Well the answer is NO! Ask any “True” R/C hobbyist and crashing is part of the game. I offer a product that is fun, flies great and unlike my competition which for most of your information is not a hobby store. I promote “Hobby Town” all the time since they are the logical step once folks get the basics out of the way and want to experience 4channel and 6 channel models. My direct competition is Toys R US, Walmart, Target, ETC… The products that they sell are in some cases less expensive but, don’t fly very well, and when these brands break you are completely out of luck on repairing them. So, if you are a customer and have broken your helicopter and you choose not to purchase the parts to repair it then that is your choice. It wouldn’t make any difference in this case if you had bought it from me or a hobby store it would get fixed in either case. So in closing it amazes me how most of posts are completely misleading in reality trying to prevent customers from doing business with my business when every issue detailed in these posts we take care of on a daily basis to very happy return customers. Have a great Day! Dave.
Oh tom you will. they jerks. The BBB the media need to take this joker down
I worked for Kopter Krazy this past Christmas season so I am familiar with your problems. However, I flew copters every day for work without incident, so I’m not sure how yours broke so quickly. I do agree with several of the problems stated about the business though. I thought it was weird that there was no phone number but I was informed by my boss that this was because he didn’t want to be constantly fielding questions about broken helicopters. I was one of the top sales people and worked there successfully for over a month, however one day the owner felt it necessary to let me go (through email) only a few hours before my shift was to start. I understand this is legal, but certainly not very respectful. When I emailed him asking for an explanation he never found the time to get back to me. It’s interesting I was let go after questioning prices and inventory. Thank goodness I now have a legitimate job, offering more than 3% commission on overpriced foreign made products!
Dave- I could careless where you were born. And I know theres a lot of people upset with your business practices including myself. I research alot about the the kopters you sell. wholes sale cost is around 10- 30 dollars for each if your getting them through a middle man. And selling them for 45 and up. How can you justify selling something at 400 to 800 percent markup and not warranty or even fix them for free. I know that brookstone gives all of theirs a one year warranty and is half your price. right now 2 for $50 I know you also get a lot of pissed off customers from talking to the sales people in their. And this is also not the only blog on the internet ripping into your scam. Its funny you’ll come on here to protech your name but you wont take care of your customers for simple repairs that cost you little. There is no need to reply to this. I just hope you sleep good everynight knowing your stealing from the all the struggling familys in boise. Im calling you out for those people to read this so they don’t make the same mistake.
It looks as though I am not alone. Long story short. I am in Pocatello, Idaho — I too have lived here my 50 + years — and I too got sucked into this place during x-mas. Mine worked about .5 hour before it broke — on the carpet. I gotta a way cheap — only $50.00. FYI DAVE! I have already contacted the mall manager and will do so with every mall in Idaho. Plus I have already talked with Better Business Bureau. I would find a different place to pawn your crap! You give the malls a bad rep.