Have a similar experience. Purchased the first blaster, M4, from TacToys but then moved on and the next screw together toys (SCAR and MP7) that came from Josh’s garage, before he morphed into GBU and started to hire some of the coast’s finest.
Still drop into TT’s every couple of weeks to look around as they are just down the road from my local Aldi. They now have some tech staff with real experience in repairing and upgrading.
Must be about time for another store crawl - Yatala Pies, Meadowbrook KFC, Mt Gravatt Maccas, SunnyPark YumCha and Acacia Ridge Aldi or Supercheap
I pretty much agree with your stance on the moral aspect of buying from TacToys, Doc… they’ve alienated a lot of potential customers with their shabby treatment of customer returns, for sure.
They may have changed the way they conduct business a bit these days, but now and then they’ll do something to remind you of what they can be like when they’re at their worst.
Like their online JM SCAR V2 review that describes them as being made of “premium nylon construction, externally and internally”. Yeah, bullshit. That said though, they’re selling those SCARs for $120 with an extra 20% discount, puts them at $96… that’s a very good deal in anyone’s language.
I saw a guy dump close to $200 at M4A1 just before Christmas on an ABS JM M4A1 Gen 8.5 for his kid… I had to bite my tongue, so many better options at that pricepoint… and of course they were happy to take his money.
My take on TacToys is that if I can take advantage of them with their cheap prices and in some small way repay them for their shitty customer treatment over the years, I’m happy to do it. Like the CYMA M4 I got from their “props only” bin for $60 that performed faultlessly when I plugged a battery into it.
Was at x-Force a couple of months back and watched Vas spend 20 minutes explaining a blaster to, I assume, mother and son. They were going to buy $500 blaster as first blaster and Vas talked them into getting a $150 blaster so they could work out if it was more than a passing fad. Find that I can always get honest advice there, even when it hurts their sales
I agree with you @Friendly_Fire on tactoys. I am always happy to buy from them if the price is right, and by right close to ripping them off. Purely as I am sure that for a couple of years they ruined so many potential hobbyists staying in the hobby with poor service. I also had a $42 cyma cqb from the prop bin, that worked flawlessly, just had no battery and charger, and did 180fps.
For me, I don’t want or need warranty so the price is all I am concerned about, so for that tactoys is ok.
There’s two kinda of sales people, the one that will try and maximise the sale and the one that will try and maximise the customers satisfaction, cause you know which customer will come back.
Being in a sales position myself if I don’t have the specific item someone wants I’ll find who does or try and find something close to it.
And those are the ppl who leave us good reviews and/or become regular customers later on because they know we will honestly try and help them.
Have to admit, X Force are very good like that… if they don’t have what you want or need, they’ll send you to a competitor who does.
Their prices can be a bit prohibitive for me, they definitely aren’t the cheapest… but their customer service and warranty policies are first rate… they actually get proactive about helping you achieve your build goals.
But from the day I bought my first blaster (HEe Punisher V2) it was screws out straight away and warranty voiding was something I didn’t give a second thought to. I’ve only ever taken two blasters back to the seller, both were immediate replacements, no questions asked. Any other faulty gear I’ve fixed / improved because I’ve always figured I’ll do a better job and go the extra yard… because it’s mine.
X-Force was my go to supplier for the bulk of my blasters/parts for the whole time I was in the hobby
I got that very first JM Gen8 from TaccyToys, but it was pulled apart pretty much straight away and was rebuilt with all parts from X-Force!
I would grab everything that I needed from them for years, but was always only if they stocked/sold what I was chasing, otherwise I’d have to find suppliers elsewhere in Australia and overseas.
Never had a single issue with X-Force and shipping/postage/communication was always top notch
If only we were given time to be able to advertise and sell/ship our Gelblasters before the bans came into effect, but we were only given close to 2 weeks to organise anything
UPCOMING BLASTERS/PRODUCTS
Would have loved to be able to get one of these!
I’m having a wild guess that those metal gearboxes would be a nice fit in an old Gen8!
I have to agree. Buyers market shop with your wallet.
In my opinion the bad rap was completely to do with the at time CEO Corey and his interactions. I went through a fair bit of reading that regular people had real troubles with their purchases. Simply it was bullshit. Since he fucked off from Tactoys they seem to do all right. C was a disgrace imo
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