I have been studying the two chassis (AE and Serpent Mini) and there are a number of differences between the two.
The Serpent uses only one damper in the rear, these new AE products have on all four corners.
The electronics layout under the case looks different along with the configuration of the hardware.
Battery system is also different.
The AE is built into the chassis where as the Serpent has to be removed to be charge.
The rear gearbox assembly does look similar however.
When I look at previous AE rigs, this one I have in the house, it looks more like an update to their 28th scale lineup.
Older chassis :
Already showing two rear dampers
New release
I think we're seeing yet another rework of the tooling to achieve a "new" product.
New front tower and arms to bring the shocks to all four corners and they brought the charging system inside instead of external like on this dude.
The charging system move is a good one, ditching this small connector for USB-C is a win all day long.
I think the big problem here IMO is white and gold fatigue.
The horse is so dead, and people are way burnt out on it. Each one is getting ripped apart on social media, partially deserved and sometimes seemingly not.
They need to chill out and release something all new. No more rebrands or white plastic or trying to strum that nostalgia cord for another old tune.
We get it, you were once a great company. Time to get back to what built the brand, or we're going to see the RC** from the Grave Edition.
Update
Wait, did these launch before Christmas?
They're just making these available to ship now? Now there's a major fumble!
Should have been on the shelves when this video landed.
