Here's an idea to throw around - if Mike sold Zippy Lipos, he'd kinda have to take care of replacements/warranty should any go bad or be defective. That could be a lot of work for such a busy Monster and the payoff might not be so beneficial when he has other things which require his time.

Also, shipping Lipos in quantity can't be easy, especially overseas. He would want HC to ship EMS for obvious reasons, and if it cost us $25 to ship a single battery then it wouldn't cost him too much less. So in reality I don't think it would be worthwhile for him to sell Zippy Lipos, as part of his business. Maybe Mike will chime in and give his thoughts.

IMO. :whistle:
A sale is a sale :wink: and the team including I have bought Zippy’s before and chances are we are going to buy them again. :yes: I too would like to see Mike carry Zippy (just add a disclaimer) about the quality or what not!. :whistle:

If Mike sold them I and probably others wouldn’t have to feel guilty :oops: about getting them and who knows that might just add sales which adds to the bottom line..

Just my two cents..:smile:

Well, HobbyCity has a state-side warehouse. I'm sure Mike could have them shipped from there with a large enough order. I, too, would love RCM to carry the packs. I personally will buy Zippy packs again, I love them.

Sure a sale is a sale, but if it doesn't make a business money then it is invested capital that could be used for better things - like nice batteries or new vehicle conversions.

Speaking as a business owner, I wouldn't touch those packs as resale material with a 1000 foot pole. Sure I may buy a few myself, but the consistency of construction and known overrated cells totally turns me off.


Would you be willing to pay twice as much? That is about what it would cost to cover the shipping, industry margins, and VAT fees from importation in mass. Then you still have a crappy Zippy lipo.

theres nothing crappy about the zippys......I never hear anything but great things about them......if you order more than one at a time from HC than your shipping cost per battery comes down

I use many of them

one battery cost $20 to ship
two batterys cost $20 to ship

not sure about three

I've heard the same thing. Seems it would only be worth it if Mike could get the raw cells and then put them together himself. But then there goes any profit...

Really? I've known nothing but great consitancy and underrated cells. As for a crappy Zippy, these packs are anything but crappy. I've had them side by side with MaxAmps and they blow them away, at 1/4 of the price. Who has had a problem with the Zippys? Other than one member who tried to use it in a weedwacker, I don't know of another failure.

I think he's referring to some reports of balancer lead coming apart at the solder joint. But that just sounds like an assembly issue to me. I don't think anyone is questioning the quality of the cells themselves...

something else to keep in mind...

Even if mike could secure these cells at a reduced price and get them shipped to his store at the same cost as hobbycity's website offers....he would then need to add something to it to turn a profit. Otherwise he is running a charity, not a business. Also, offering these cells on his site would directly compete with the other cells he has, thus lowering his profit margin even more. As nice as it would be to have these cells sold to us by our favorite vendor, I just dont think it would be mutually beneficial.

Mike needs to buy LiPo manufacturing machinery. Then he can make whatever cells we(he) want(s)!! :lol: :whistle:

Edit: AND sell them at a higher margin while maintaining a lower price! It's factory direct, you know...

Mike all ready has so many QUALITY choices for lipo battery's . I dont think he really needs anymore :lol:. You have to remember he has to put alot of money out of his pocket . Then sit on the product untill it sells to recoup his investment .

I completely understand why he doesn't have them, I just wish he did. I will continue to purchase them personally. They can not be beat for the money. Unfortunately times have forced me to curb my RC spending and I haven't made any large orders lately. Up until a few months ago(when the whole nazi Traxxas mod fiasco was going on) I didn't know this site existed so I was placing orders elsewhere. As soon as things pick back up, I have about a grand order waiting for me on here. The one item Mike doesn't have that I will be ordering are the Zippys.

The only real prob w/ the zippy's I've experienced is that they are not matched cells, so they get horribly unbalanced and need much more attention than high quality cells like PQs, etc. And the tap is lame...

Although we would all like to have high end cells, we all have budgets. Zippys def fill a much needed niche of powerful yet cheap lipos. The new cells Mike has, while not cheap as zippy's, seem really good and are priced quite a bit less than MAs or PQs.

The only thing they seem to be lacking yet is
1.) Variety of configurations/capacity
2.) Labeling/ Brand recognition

I would love to see Mike carry a line of lipos to compete with MA. Would a line of RCM branded zippys necc cross compete w/ these? IDK, depends. I think there is def room for a more midgrade Zippy pack. Ie, better matched cells and better taps. You can't compete w/ HC's price, but if you could build a "zippy-like" 5S 4000 mah pack for say $120-130ish bucks vs the $85 HC wants, and run that as a RCM Value Lipo line, along with enough variety to pull in plane/heli/boat people, then it may fly.
Depends on how much its worth it is to do it, plus all the capital required to get it going. I do think a US based supplier of these could charge a bit of a premium for the convenience if another perk was added in as well.

Says something about MA cells there, doesn't it.


When I say crappy Zippy, I am indeed referring to the construction and not necessarily the cells themselves. No matching, sketchy soldering work, and generally a big possible variation from pack to pack.

I am in no way saying that Zippy isn't a good value. They are cheaper than anything else out there, but you do have to inspect them before use and keep a careful eye on the balance of the pack.

all good points. the numbers would have to be verified and run. i don't think anybody is returning zippy's to hobby city, perhaps it could be an "as-is" sale. just food for thought.