William writes “Radio Shack has made the Vex Robotics Programming kit “in stock” for online and phone orders. Word on the street is that most ‘shacks don’t have them in-store”. I think Radio Shacks aren’t going to carry these in store as they continue to move towards a consumer electronics only inventory. Link.
10 thoughts on “Vex Robotics Programming Really Out?”
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These Programming Kits indeed WILL be carried in-store, as indicated on my inventory screen (for the record, if the product SKU doesn’t begin with a 9, it is supposed to be carried in-store). True, they aren’t in stock just yet, at least not at my store, but my store is easily one of the smaller locations. I see no reason why any other Radio Shack, which would likely be larger, would carry them as well. My store currently has no shipments of these kits listed as being ‘on the way’, but this may be due to priority amongst stores with particular volumes.
So yes, these kits will DEFINATELY be carried in stores.
This is a very new product, so it doesn’t surprise me that none of the stores in my district have them in stock just yet, but rest assured, we will.
These Programming Kits indeed WILL be carried in-store, as indicated on my inventory screen (for the record, if the product SKU doesn’t begin with a 9, it is supposed to be carried in-store). True, they aren’t in stock just yet, at least not at my store, but my store is easily one of the smaller locations. I see no reason why any other Radio Shack, which would likely be larger, would carry them as well. My store currently has no shipments of these kits listed as being ‘on the way’, but this may be due to priority amongst stores with particular volumes.
So yes, these kits will DEFINITELY be carried in stores.
This is a very new product, so it doesn’t surprise me that none of the stores in my district have them in stock just yet, but rest assured, we will.
Sorry, accidental second post.
Holy crap these things are expensive… A tank-tread kit is $30, and includes the tread, a few sprockets, a few tensioners, and a couple of other bits to attach things to other things. That’s a lot of money for some tread. I really like the idea, but those are worse than LEGO prices by at least twice.
-Jesse
-Jesse,
Yes, twice the price of Legos, but you get more flexiblity, expandabilty with both hardware and complexity of challenges you’re capable of tackling.
I am a FIRST robotics mentor, have a kit myself and will be employing it as a training mechanism (no puns intended) to help my team succeed.
As far as the reason that R/S is pulling the kits from the store, I talked with one manager who bluntly said that it was all about moving product through the expensive-to-operate stores. The pricing was below what their cost is, a considered move by the R/S top brass.
I have to say, that had it not been this massive price reduction, I couldn’t have acquired three kits to use with my team. One would have been adequate, three will make the training more indelible. Given the number on the team and the smaller number who want to get into mechanical design, control systems and programming, the three kits will make a difference.
My $0.02, your mileage may vary.