Excalibur Price Going Up?

[Critterhunter]

Several days back a friend shot me a Email and said rumor has it the price of the Excalibur is going up $150. Anybody heard anything about this? If it's true then I'm wondering why in the world that's going to be done, because as it stands right now the Excalibur is already a premium price. Perhaps with the GT being discontinued there are no longer two options to "go BBS" on the beach, and so if you want to do that, even if you only plan to hunt the sand, then in terms of buying new the Excalibur is the only option (in terms of BBS for those who like it's smooth as silk operation, penetrating power, long detailed audio, and simple set up/use).

If this is true, then I'm betting you might see even more used Sovereigns thrown into waterproof enclosures to save a few bucks, as they already seem rather popular for doing that and building a premium water machine on a budget. Of course the Sovereign is ready to water hunt right out of the box by chest mounting the control box thanks to the extra long factory and aftermarket coil cables on coils sold for these BBS units. I never felt safe going any deeper than about my belly button, which was fine for most days, but on occasion I wanted to go shoulder deep here and there, so I'm picking up one of the $20 Plano boxes Kbron2000 uses to throw his GT into when water hunting.

My Plano box is going to be mounted on the back of the shaft at head height using a snap on back shaft extension. I'll be committing the 10" Tornado to my water shaft and a pair of headphones so the only thing I'll need to swap between that and my light weight land rig is the control box real quick. Sooner or later I'm going to pick up a Sovereign control box from one of the models over the years if I can find a good price, and that will stay in the Plano box as my water setup. Only takes seconds to swap my GT box to my water rig but just the same a control box committed to the water shaft will make it even more spur of the moment for me to wake up and decide to go water hunting that day.

 

[dewcon4414]

ML has been doing some off the wall marketing..... remember the CTX introduction? Might be another stradigy to get people to buy before anything new comes out. I think they may be trying to cover the loss of not having the Sov and Xcal. BUT...... i think you would be amazed at the number being sold, so why not supply and demand. Companies never used to want to produce a water machine.... didnt feel there was a market and felt most beach hunters were just coin hunting. I love my Xcal.... that said if someone comes out with a competitive machine i doubt they will get my coin for another. Fisher already gives a straight shaft.... which we pay extra for and they have better headphones. Like ive said i think ML is putting us on notice.... as long as business is good they are going to take advantage of it. But that business isnt it?.

Dew

 

[deepdiger60]

With finds like this and more he gets all the time 150.00 increase is pocket change 2 good video,s Digginrings made with his Excal,s . Jim
http://youtu.be/inOC98y1JM0 http://youtu.be/BHZh3GUhhXI

 

[Buried Crap NJ]

150 bucks is extra month of clad or one gold ring which ever happens first. By the end of the year you can buy 4 or 5 or more Excaliburs so who cares? Have you gone food shopping it cost almost as much as a Excalibur...LOL!
BCNJ

 

[Critterhunter]

Dewcon, yep...IF the rumor I heard turns out to be true about a price increase it's an odd way to run things. They raised the price of the GT and stopped making the Digisearch meter about a year before discontinuing it. Just hoping they aren't raising the price on the Excalibur for the same reasoning that it's going to be canned, whatever that reasoning was for raising the price on the GT before ending it's production.

There are some who have used it all in water machines and still end up going back to the Excal for various reasons, one of which but not limited to is it's very robust, long, and detailed audio report at depth. Not necessarily a must have when people should be scooping it all while water hunting but just the same at the very least it helps to notice stuff at fringe depth. I know that drawn out audio helps me to hear fringe depth stuff on my GT and gives me a lot of info via the audio to analyze with my ears to make decisions on digging or not.

The Excal is also a very sleek machine POD-wise so it slips through the water without much in the way of drag, and lends it's self to easy customizing by changing shafts and mounting the pod where you want it- on your body or high on the shaft or elsewhere. Of course everybody knows this, just pointing out just a few of the reasons why it's the go to water/beach machine for a lot of guys out there. But while some can afford the price increase, a lot of people on a tight budget might be turned off by it.

There comes a point where price over weighs performance for some, especially when you see something like the AT Pro as a dual land/water unit going for such a low price new. Not saying it's a match for the Excal in some respects in terms of rings at depth or handling salt/minerals as well, or on land that it'll bang as deep on silver as a Sovereign in bad ground, but just the same it's a heck of a bargain for a water machine that is also light enough and with a full function LCD screen so that it's just as at home on land as in the water. I bet the price of that unit has got a lot of people in water/land hunting that might otherwise not have took the leap.

I know there are some Minelab guys who use the AT Pro as a backup on land when they are in the mood to swing faster without as much risk of masking targets due to the faster pace in heavy trash or iron looking for silver. One of these days I'm going to add one to my line up for various days, even when I put a Sovereign in that $20 waterproof Plano box. From what I'm hearing the AT Pro isn't the best there is on finer gold jewelry like thin chains and earrings, but just the same it's said to be more sensitive for that kind of stuff than a Minelab. On days I've worked the water or beach for deep gold rings with my Sovereign, I may pull the AT Pro out and re-grid the area looking for the finer gold items. It'd also be nice to have one as a backup land unit when I want to scout the woods fast looking for areas of activity or for working heavy trash when I'm in the mood to move faster. I can always come back with the GT to clean up the site more.

 

[ML]

Wow, ANOTHER $150.00? I hope not. And being made in Malasia, I'm curoius as to what their profit margin is right now, regardless of any possible price increase. My Excal II,(which I rarely use at this point) has become an expensive dust collector. It's been back to the shop twice and still runs like crap. I'll never buy another one. My seven year old Sov GT, on the other hand, runs great, but we all know the pending future of that model.

 

[dewcon4414]

Guys i hear some of you saying its such a great machine who cares about a chump change increase..... ummmm again. Is it $300 better than a CZ.... or 4 or 5? Can i make it up out there sure..... but it doesnt make me any happier than the CTX's price. Im starting to feel like they would like to make it a rich mans hobby. Everyone sruggs their shoulders because gold it high right now..... what if it drops... think the price will? OR will research and development slow? Just like gas prices i guess it doesnt do much good to complain about, but i dont have to like it.

Dew

 

[Ytcoinshooter]

Yes,I've seen mention of the price increase from at least one fleabay retailer. As much as I love using my Excal 2 and am considering getting a second one...What improvement(s) have they done to justify the increase. Nothing. The "tooling" was paid for long ago and the crappy headphones haven't changed. I honestly think this is price gouging.
I'm not cheap and can afford what I want but there comes a point I expect product improvements when the price of an existing model increases significantly. Shame on them.
HH-Bruce

 

[Ytcoinshooter]

Verified on an other retail site. Increase is for sure.

 

[greenmeanie]

I don't know if he has a IN with Minelab but he posted this.

http://placerlode.net/2012/12/22/minelab-excalibur-ii-price-increase-for-january-2013-lock-in-low-price-now/

 

[Ytcoinshooter]

placerload - that's where I saw it too. Yeah, hurry before the price goes up? Again, if only Minelab did more previously than change the unit's color scheme and skid plate color? Ok, the retailer is just trying to make a sale and I really like most things about the excal except for the headphones and it sinks like a stone. Fortunately I'm in the habit of tethering it to me to reduce headphone cord strain while two handed scooping. Hmmm, needs an aftermarket shaft (straight out of the box), crappy headphones, sinks.... OK I'm finally done cutting on them.

 

[dewcon4414]

Has other companies increased prices recently? I believe they increased their prices last year as well on the Xcal $100.... another $100 or $150 next year.... getting into my pocket now at $250. I love my Xcal..... but they are forcing my cheap butt to go in another direction. CZ already has a straigth shaft doesnt it.... any knob problems or coil separation problems with them.... and the price is?

Dew

 

[Neil]

placerload - that's where I saw it too. Yeah, hurry before the price goes up? Again, if only Minelab did more previously than change the unit's color scheme and skid plate color? Ok, the retailer is just trying to make a sale and I really like most things about the excal except for the headphones and it sinks like a stone. Fortunately I'm in the habit of tethering it to me to reduce headphone cord strain while two handed scooping. Hmmm, needs an aftermarket shaft (straight out of the box), crappy headphones, sinks.... OK I'm finally done cutting on them.

they did more than that. they replaced the nicad battery with a nimh battery. they also replaced the heavier coils with the lighter/thinner tornado coils. not saying it justified the price increase, but certainly was more than a color change.
Ive also read they increased the shielding, but ive never opened any of them up so I dont know if thats correct or not.
one things for sure, there doesnt seem to be anything thats getting less expensive.

 

[ML]

My guess is that we are paying for their recent "excellant" service support that was less than acceptable in the past. It's now at the level of support that should have provided from day one.

 

[Critterhunter]

Guys i hear some of you saying its such a great machine who cares about a chump change increase..... ummmm again. Is it $300 better than a CZ.... or 4 or 5? Can i make it up out there sure..... but it doesnt make me any happier than the CTX's price. Im starting to feel like they would like to make it a rich mans hobby. Everyone sruggs their shoulders because gold it high right now..... what if it drops... think the price will? OR will research and development slow? Just like gas prices i guess it doesnt do much good to complain about, but i dont have to like it.

Dew

Dewcon, I know we've bumped heads on a few things in the past, but for once we are both on the same page on a topic. There comes a point in price when people end up saying "I don't care how much better the car does with it's seat warmers and tire pressure sensors, I ain't paying another dime higher because it still drives from point A to point B no better than my last car." I'm starting to think Minelab is trying to become the Lexus of the detector world, where it's more about prestige based on price than any real performance increase. Yes, the Excal is at the pinnacle top of water machines performance wise, but price could very well start changing that. I bet the AT Pro has bit into it's sales a good bit, if only because it costs about 1/3rd the price, if not for any other valid reason.

I've always been a Mossburg fan myself when it came to a cheap "get the job done" shotgun for my small game and deer hunting. Sure, it didn't have the name cache of some other shotguns, and it might not have had the fancy engravings on it, but it still got the job done, and at a much cheaper price than most other guns.

 

[Critterhunter]

Yes,I've seen mention of the price increase from at least one fleabay retailer. As much as I love using my Excal 2 and am considering getting a second one...What improvement(s) have they done to justify the increase. Nothing. The "tooling" was paid for long ago and the crappy headphones haven't changed. I honestly think this is price gouging.
I'm not cheap and can afford what I want but there comes a point I expect product improvements when the price of an existing model increases significantly. Shame on them.
HH-Bruce

I agree with this. Seems like the tooling has long since been paid for. That's one of the bigger expenses in initial production of a new machine, along with re-couping the research costs. Long since done I would think. Where is the POT change that people have wanted for years? At least throw it on a straight shaft. Nimhs? Come on, about time they went nimh. They've only been around in most fields and other hobbies (like RC cars/planes) for about a decade easily. Cheap too, at least if you know where to look outside of detecting circles, so I wouldn't think that would justify a price increase. The switch to nimhs was done a while back anyway. Same deal with the switch to the Tornados. Long time ago. If that cost more wouldn't they have raised the price right then and there?

What about coil or headphone waterproof connectors to justify a price increase? Hey, if they did that then maybe they'd start selling stand alone 8 and 10" Tornados again, instead of just hardwiring them to future Excals, so that others could buy them for their Sov or Excal. I still wonder if they'll sell an intended to be hardwired to a produced ExcaliburTornado to the public if the guy buying it says he'll solder his own coil connector to it for his Sov.

Here's the sad reality though....we'll about moan about the prices, but in the end we know what "Minelab" means in terms of performance, and that there is the reason why we'll pay, and they know we'll pay.

 

[otlew]

What we may be seeing is currency valuation adjustments by Minelab. Today one USD is worth 1.03 AUD, projected to be 0.991 to 1 AUD by May 2013. Crude oil is a good example of this, when the USD is weaker the sellers want more of the US Dollars for the barrel. Print more Fiat dollars and each one is worth less, maybe we are seeing inflation of what may soon be a worthless currency. I say keep your gold, before long 5 ounces might pay off you mortgage.

Or it could be that Minelab is just another greedy corporation.....