I hope all ATEV members are aware of Code 3 Club Members sale of the 5 Super Pumper Fire Trucks. I have been a member of Code 3 since they began selling fire trucks.. I was aware of the Super pumper System coming out in May 2005. It seemed too much for me to afford the $325.00 Club member price. I really wanted the set, but price was too much at the time. Now, I recently checked the Code 3 Website and discovered that the set is now $99.00 plus shipping and packing.. I jumped at the price. ordered the set and received it in three days.. Very happy with it. Lets here some Feedback.

Location: Glendale, CA

Code-3 had a bunch of stuff on sale earlier this year for club members. Several ladders, engines, the Super Pumper and Chicago fireboat. They all went like hotcakes, as most of the prices were 50% off or even more. I appluade C-3 for giving this sale to it's members instead of dumping thier product at some outlet store. A few folks whined that they paid "full price" for them when they were first released, and now they are cheaper. Oh well, thats business..what store in America doesn't have sales. I've paid full price for a lot of things that are cheaper now. Code-3 did good with their sale!

I got my $99 Super Pumper over a month ago. I'd been waiting for this sale ever since Code 3 announced it had made 10,000 of them, even passed up the last sale, convinced they'd go lower. It's truly a wonderful set of models (though there's no need for 3 identical pumpers). I sold one of the pumpers to a friend in my diecast club for $20, so the set really only cost me $79.

Location: Woodbridge, VA

Even at $99, I'm passing. Chuck is my hero-he bought it just for the Mack cabs! This set has been on sale for a about a couple of months now, and it's still not sold out. That says a lot.

I was never a big FDNY enthusiast where collecting is concerned, but I believe that the SPS itself was an engineering marvel. I have always had a keen interest in it from that perspective. In this case, a blueprint looks better to me than the model. Otherwise, I am turned off to the whole FDNY-collecting scene.

I have always believed that Code 3 was making a big mistake in making SPS. It's a very narrow-appeal collectible in that the real SPS system itself was so different from the conventional concept of a "Fire Engine," especially where younger collectors are concerned. Simply put, it's ugly to all but the most analytical eyes. Then of course there was the original cost, which immediately priced it out of reach for many. I think this set is the beginning of the end for Code 3.

Unfortunately, I think Code 3 listened to a very vocal but very small group of collectors, who for one reason or another were regarded as being highly credible in the hobby. They are stuck with this albatross, which sucked so much R&D capital away from other possibilities and reduced the product's appeal to their much wider non-FDNY customer base.

Steve, I agree. We honestly have not seen a purely BRAND NEW mold since the SPS. I feel the effort put into the Chicago Squads and SPS and the DP L10-- released so closely together didn't leave much room in their budget for anything else. I do feel the money spent (R&D) would have been better served to replicate other types of apparatus from the 70-s to current--Modern KME, Maxim, Pirsch, the list is seemingly endless. Instead they went after the FDNY cash cow--now admittedly I bought it at full price--and it's nice, but someday I will not have any issues parting with it.

In the end, the gems of my collection (of their items) is a short list that goes something like this:

Chicago Squads
Chicago FL E92
Chicago FL E23

Boston Tower Ladder

FDNY Aerialscopes (Series 1)
FDNY Squads (I feel, the best deatailed pumpers)

LAFD Tillers and Pierce Pumpers.

The rest to me are all repaints, tweaks, etc. My last purchase (after a 2 year absence) was Boston E30--and after seeing the incredible decrease in quality/accuracy/overpricing, rest assured it was my last.

I purchased a set at full price a couple of years ago from PTH. I had a friend get me a second set at the $99 discount (for kitbashing). I also believe that they invested in the SPS, and did not see a return that was expected. I'm sure every collector that could afford the origonal price bought a set. I was even tempted to get a set at $175. That they had to drop to $99 was a shock (and a marketing disaster). I could guess that if there wasn't the friction between collectors and the company which arose over the last few years, the set might have sold a lot more that it did. (My two cents.)

I don't have any idea how many SPS sets were made. Obviously too many. I'm sure that they produced what they thought would sell, and afterwards could have made a second run if it was a sellout.

I'd blame it on the price (although IMHO reasonable for such a specialty model), and unwillingness of collectors to pay that price. That it still needed a reduction after that 1/2 price drop to $175 indicates there is a price limit on what the average collect would pay for any model. Probably just bad luck, as I wouldn't say this was an "Other" company screwup in the slightest.

In response to Steve and John A. comments concerning the SPS or Super Pumper System. Code 3 can only put out so many different fire trucks for their members and I believe they are still doing it. However, they sometimes run out of ideas.. I think the Super Pumper was a great idea and added a great special fire truck for my collection. I have been purchasing emergency vehicles from them since they began.. I still have my LAFD Seagrave and the Black first Collectors Club Seagrave fire truck and cherish them. However, I do not buy everything that is offered and just the vehicles I like. The Firehouses are too high priced and I just have three of them. I still feel that Code 3 (Funrise) has done a great service for our hobby and the detailing and designs are unbeatable except for the Franklin Mint..Just enjoy the emergency vehicles you collect and it is not necessary to feel that Code 3 is over and doesn't look out for its customers.. I am looking forward to new and better castings of emergency vehicles to come out in the future.

Location: Glendale, CA

I really doubt that Code 3 could run out of ideas, especially since they are constantly being bombarded with a "THIS HAS TO BE MADE!!!!" rig of the week, either on certain forums or directly by email, USPS, or telephone.

Where they may run into difficulty is making what will actually sell at a profit. Clearly, the SPS wasn't it. I feel that they ran into a crunch, and somebody higher up on the food chain decided to kick some ass and take some names.

I was one of the ones who voted yes for the super pumper set when polled by Code 3 and said if they made it I would buy it. The price was steep but I bought it. Too bad for me they put them on sale. I learned to wait from now on and risk the item selling out