batninja Posted July 12, 2013 Share Posted July 12, 2013 I debated posting this, but after careful consideration, I thought it important to post, if only to assist fellow Scouts when shopping for helmet options. Back in 2004, I ordered KS armor and a helmet kit. The armor was, in my opinion, acceptable for what it was. The helmet kit was a complete disaster. Two different shades of ABS, dimples and gouges everywhere. Having done some vacuforming work in the past, I could tell the bucks needed to be cleaned up or remastered. I deemed the unfinished kit unusable, and ended up selling it at a prop party a few months later. Getting back into the Scout trooping mind again last year, and after seeing a few Scouts get better-than-average pulls, I started to reconsider KS as a reputable prop seller. And their price had risen a bit, so I'm thinking, "Well, they must have updated the molds, right?" I had looked at SC (too small), MLC (blinder top is too flat), LW (out of production), so I decided to pull the trigger on KS once again. In May, I won a buy-it-now auction on eBay for a KropSerkel helmet kit, from KS themselves. The kit arrived in a timely fashion. However... Opening the box, it seemed that KS never updated their molds, and once again, I got a crappy kit. Here are pics, along with notes that I sent back to KropSerkel, concerned about their quality control. After a scathing email (I was NOT a nice biker scout) to KropSerkel, they offered to replace the defective kit with one from their NEW IMPROVED molds. This pissed me off even more! Why did I get an inferior product when they had a better option available?? I shot another email asking this very question, along with several other remarks about quality control, pride in a product, etc. No sooner had I shipped my kit back to them, they posted another eBay auction, using the same pictures as the one I won, but labeling it as a 'B' kit, stating there might be blemishes or color issues! Now I'm LIVID. After several weeks of production and shipping delays, and a half dozen emails (all of which deflected my questions regarding kit quality), they finally shipped the 'new' kit version last week, and I picked it up at the post office on Monday. I will say that the resulting quality is marginally better. The left-side blinder gouge is gone, as are some of the dimpling and other blemishes. And the color issue seems to have been looked into. However, there are still some problems. As you can see from the pics, the dome warp is still not corrected, and the blinders now sport a 1/2" warp edge along both sides...VERY noticeable. I still think the new kit can be workable. I'm just sitting on the fence whether to accept the blinder warps as they are, or attempt to fill them, forcing me to repaint the entire product. This will give me a few sleepless nights. So, in closing, I just want to make potential customers aware of the lack of quality control with KS. And if you DO decide to go this route, make sure to ask for a kit from the 2013 NEW REMASTERED molds, NOT the 'B' kit. Buyer beware. I don't see me making another purchase from KropSerkel, ever again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donovan Posted July 12, 2013 Share Posted July 12, 2013 This is y I went with sc.great quality and awesome customer service Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
batninja Posted July 12, 2013 Author Share Posted July 12, 2013 ...which is great, if the smaller helmet fits you. For me, it would not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donovan Posted July 12, 2013 Share Posted July 12, 2013 That sucks to hear you HAVE to stick with tht bucket.we need a larger bucket tht has great quality... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest SUP_Ronin Posted July 28, 2013 Share Posted July 28, 2013 Hmm, I just ordered a helmet this week. I'd better send her an email an let her know I'm a stickler regarding defects. It seems to be a bit of a crap shoot on whether or not people are getting a decent product. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shdwtrpr13 Posted July 28, 2013 Share Posted July 28, 2013 I just recieved my replacement helmet kit from KS this weekend. Alot of back and forth with a mis shipment in the middle. I have from the new molds their using and this looks alot better. It doesn't have that wierd bump on the visor so I'm extremely happy, now I need to figure out how to sand trim and glue it together. Bat I think I'll be working with you step by step on this. I have also asked Tyranus and oldline garrisons to help out. Yup thats right I'm shamelessly asking to Garrisions (I live on the border of 2 states) for help. My reasoning. Wedding pictures, My fiancee wants them in there so I have to have it look good. then I'll dirty it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest hel0wrench Posted August 7, 2013 Share Posted August 7, 2013 Wow, I hope my head is small enough to fit a SC bucket. Thanks for the Buyer-Beware! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZIECKZEON Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 Hi, I also purchased a KS bucket early 2015 and so far all pieces color tone matches. I ordered this KS kit before reading this thread, thankfully it came in an acceptable standard to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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