T2 Takes On The Counterfeits And Clones

[Rick K - First Member]

Looks like the gloves are off. The T2 is back as the T2 Classic and ready to fight the lowlife look-a-likes with a new look and a radical new price. For real combat check out all the camo gear in amazingly inexpensive accessory kit.

If this becomes the regular price perhaps Steve should update his nugget detector guide.

Teknetics T2 Classic metal detector

 

[bado1]

Excellent price especially for the extra coils. I like how the head phone jack is on the back of the machine making it "ambidextrous". May not seem like a big deal to you right handed folks but for us left handers having everything on the "other side" of the machine sucks. Especially things like the head phone jack that could have, just as easily, been located in a more convenient location for both users. Cool looking machine as well!

Dean

[Steve Herschbach]

Interesting that they decided to undercut even their own new detectors like the Omega 8500. The T2 packs a lot of raw power for $499 and I would certainly choose it over the 8500.

And what about the F75 at $949? Are we going to see a reduced price "F75 Classic"?

A direct shot at the Nokta FORS and Makro Racer perhaps? Those machines share a lot of the T2 characteristics, so much so you would think those machines were based on the T2. At this price the T2 is a better buy with the FORS Gold and FORS CoRe at $595.

I see they are finally trying to get rid of the 15" coils for what they are really worth. Way too heavy for the machines they are designed for.

When old top range detectors get moved to the mid range it makes me wonder what's next at the top.

All I can say is this resets what a person should expect for $500 in the way of a detector. Very aggressive on First Texas part.

You can download the owners manual for the T2 Classic here.

The green is much nicer in real life than the over saturated ad implies.

Teknetics T2 Classic

[Rick K - First Member]

Yes, hard to see where the new 8500 goes price wise.

The G2+ has the new iron tone and v break features plus the higher 19kHz freq. so It

Can be priced above the T2.

Heard that the "classic" F75 might be launched as well.

This may have a lot to do with markets where the T2 has a lot of "brand power" and just be a shot to the chops at the legitimate and not so legitimate competition.

Metal detectors have always been priced at a level well above other electronic goods of similar,complexity. There is a kind of "tax on treasure" factor. Maybe FT is going to use their market power to blow all that away and be the only one standing to meet low cost Asian competition (which is coming) head to head.

[jasong]

Looks like competition is finally leveling the playing field a bit and that's something this industry has needed for a long long time. Detector prices are so arbitrary... Only in detecting is it normal to pay full price for a machine released 20 years ago (GB2, etc).

 

I know there is at least one other manufacturer new to the PI game developing a 5000 competitor right now too. Should be interesting to see if the PI field gets leveled a bit too, maybe the 4500 reintro pricing has something to do with that.

 

Hope it doesn't stop, bring on even more competition and a healthy market!

[Rick K - First Member]

Codan (the folks who own Minelab) are the only one of the bunch who are publicly traded and therefore have to follow all the disclosure rules of the (Australian in this case) Government.

They were to release their half-year results on Friday, but didn't. It is expected on Monday. This will give the first indication of how their strategy of "doubling down" on the "gold tax" by their GPZ7000 pricing - is working out. On point though. They recognize revenue on "sell into" that is, when a distributor gets and pays for a detector, not based on "sell through" when an end user (customer) buys and pays for it. The numbers can be very misleading if the dealers get stuck with slow moving stock - I am not saying that is,the case here - just making a general point.

Anyway, getting back to the main theme. With their enormous volume in mass market outlets of Bounty Hunter machines and their very strong sales in Africa of GB Pro and T2 detectors, FT might be in a position to burn the barn down to get positioned for emerging Asian Detector markets. Every Chinese farmer knows where some treasure is thought to be hidden!!!

When I first started detecting in the early 80’s the world detecting scene was pretty much North America and the UK. When Imlived in Norway in the late 80’s I Never saw another detectorist in the 4,years I detected there. The world has totally changed!

[Rick K - First Member]

As an antidote to all my amateur market analysis blathering above, here's a dose of,the kind of reaction the T2 got when it was new.

http://www.garysdetecting.co.uk/teknetics_t2.htm

[jasong]

I'm more curious how the 2015 full year report looks for Codan, Seems like the half year report captures the initial release of the 7000, but it doesn't seem like there is a lot of interest in the 7000 at this point in time now months after the release, at least not in the US. There was a bunch of chatter about the 5000 for some time after the release by comparison, and it was far less of a leap over the 4500 than the 7000 is over the 5000. Gold has been down to due to the strength of our dollar too so maybe in general there isn't as much interest in prospecting as in years past in the US. Australia's dollar has declined relative to ours so gold is relatively higher there and it seems like their activity hasn't dropped like ours has compared to a few years ago.

 

Anyways, trying not to sway the subject too much. But I suppose it's all related. Feels like maybe times are a changin' a bit in the detector world across the board. About time IMO, I was posting about how far behind companies are in technology usage 10 years ago, and it seems like until the last few years they didn't even try to get current until we started seeing machines like the XP and 7000, and detector prices until very recently haven't been going in the right direction either so it's a welcome change.