Kit tote sale?

[bhaidet]

I've been looking to get a handful of the KOP totes for storage and was wondering if the AndyMark "game piece" 6-tote bundle this year is likely the cheapest option. I've never payed attention in previous years if they firesale extra game pieces after the season ends. Might it be worth waiting?

Thanks!


p.s. I'd also take a similar tote from elsewhere, but the AndyMark ones are official and one can never have too many FIRST Logos around the house, right?

[Lil' Lavery]

I'd call up your neighbors in Michigan after the season. I feel like FIRST in Michigan may have quite a few leftover totes, if you don't mind them being a little banged up.

[Qbot2640]

Originally Posted by bhaidet

I've been looking to get a handful of the KOP totes for storage and was wondering if the AndyMark "game piece" 6-tote bundle this year is likely the cheapest option. I've never payed attention in previous years if they firesale extra game pieces after the season ends. Might it be worth waiting?

Thanks!


p.s. I'd also take a similar tote from elsewhere, but the AndyMark ones are official and one can never have too many FIRST Logos around the house, right?

Hold an off-season event. You'll end up with some nice green recycling cans, and some (likely chewed-up) pool toys too.

[bhaidet]

After seeing my post I realized I hadn't updated my info since moving to Raleigh... oops.
There's a regional about 10 minutes from here, but I'm sure the regional field totes move. I don't know of any teams with full practice fields around here but maybe I could offer to buy some from the actual practice field at the regional? I don't know if those travel also...

[rich2202]

Ask whoever hosted a Week 0 event.

Totes might be considered "consumables". In any case, the Game mentions teams being able to use the games pieces after the challenge is over. So getting some from the Regional (whenever they are done with them) would be consistent with that.

Any regionals during the last week of competition close to you?

[MrRoboSteve]

There will be a bunch of teams with extra totes at the end of the season. We don't like the KOP totes for team storage because they hold too much and carry too much risk of back injuries. Instead we use 12 gallon totes which are easier to handle.

[Mr V]

In the past game pieces have not been included when you rent a field for an off season event. Because of that in the past AndyMark has not discounted them until after the off-season season.

[IKE]

Originally Posted by Lil' Lavery

I'd call up your neighbors in Michigan after the season. I feel like FIRST in Michigan may have quite a few leftover totes, if you don't mind them being a little banged up.

Did you see the delivery picture? It was ... Well... It was a lot of totes.

[Lil' Lavery]

Originally Posted by IKE

Did you see the delivery picture? It was ... Well... It was a lot of totes.

Nope, but I know how many totes MAR got. And Michigan has more than twice as many events as MAR does.

[bhaidet]

Thanks for the tips - I'll see if they have some to be gotten rid of after the local regional, then they may not be cheap till summer.

I appreciate the info!

[GreyingJay]

I'm keeping an eye out too.

The same totes are available on ULINE.com for $24 each (no FRC logo though, and no yellow totes). ($30 CAD)

I posted a link but then realized they're cheaper at AndyMark

Shipping kills the deal for me though, as I would need them sent to Canada ($88 FedEx shipping on $100 worth of totes).

So yes, I'm on the lookout for any sales!

[sanddrag]

For anyone interested, I have somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 of the exact Orbis grey totes for the 2015 game, in used condition, without the FIRST logo on them. I'm not sure what the price would be, but likely cheaper than anywhere else currently. We'd have to work on freight though. Send me a PM if you have any interest in a large quantity of these for an event or something.

[GeeTwo]

After Bayou, some of our students were helping pack up while some others were reconfiguring the robot to fit in a shipping crate. The totes were palletized and wrapped, then loaded them in the truck to send to the next event.

[jds2001]

I realized that I could use the totes for storage as well, and my team didn't want to buy any even though I recommended it (they had old KOP totes, which they didn't believe me when I said everything from 2013 prior was a different model). So I bought some myself from AndyMark (3 of my 6 are currently in my team's shop.....told them so! ). FedEx ground from AndyMark to NYC added a bit to the cost, but not enough to make it unaffordable.

I also went overboard and bought recycling containers from Amazon (yay Prime shipping!). Those we never used, and now I have 2 recycling containers in my one bedroom apartment in NYC. Need to find a way to make them decorative pieces

[RamZ]

Sorry to revive an old thread, but does anyone know of any cheaper options for the totes? The shipping on AM is a bit pricey.