6 replies to this topic

[nckiter]

I just acquired a Neos Omega to add to my Rev bag. How many of these were made and during what time frame?

Is this something I should fly and enjoy as with any other Rev, or should I protect and save for prosperity?

[Kitelife]

Unless someone else can come up with a reply, I'd email or call the head office of Rev... I don't have that info, and they should have some idea.

info (at) revkites (dot) com
(858) 679-5785

Nice catch, by the way.

[NED]

nckiter,

I think less than 300 were made. 285 rings a bell.
ChecK with Rev. I believe they came out in 1989.

If it was my kite I wouldn't fly it, but that's my opinion.
What kind of shape?
Joe said they are meant to be flown, but most have been beaten to death, and not many left.
Your kite, your choice.

Rick

[nckiter]

Rick,
I've emailed rev, but I'm still waiting for a reply. The kite is in great shape, fabric is still crisp, colors are bright. No apparent holes, tears or rips in sail. The label on the wingtip has "1988 Patent Pending". Rods are unlabeled, vinyl endcaps have metal inner sleeves, external metal sleeves on each end of LE center rod, swivels at all 4 connectors. The only sign of wear I've found is a small pinhole (1/16 - 1/8") on the backside of the LE sleeve adjacent to the tops of the vertical rods I'm thinking possibly from folding for storage. Color is hot pink center with deep purple tips. Do you have any other info or know who else may?

[NED]

Hi nckiter,

Don't know of anyone who can fill you in, went that route myself and came up with a lot of bogus info.

Best info came from Joe H. at Revolution. Sent him a typed letter with pictures of my collection and a bunch of questions. He sent a letter back and answered everything
I asked. I failed to ask how many?

Email me if you'ld like a copy of the letter.
rknauss (at) bellsouthdotnet

Rick

[beach]

Here is some info on the Neos Omega and a little more, the first run was 80 kites which all sold that day then another 160 were made and sold. Now for a little off the record rev news, during a major clean up this year and a lot of being nosie 7 Neos Omegas that were never sold for one reason or another were found in a large box of goodies, these kites are now being offered for sale from Rev direct. This where it all started and if you looking for a chance to own a part of kitting history heres a once in a lifetime chance. So call Lolly direct and tell her that you heard it here and that you want to own a part of history, hurry cause two are already gone

[Kitelife]

This info from an email sent by Lolly at Rev:

I went out and organized and listed all that I have left.
I am sorry, there are no more Gray centers.
There are only 6 left of the original 22 prototype kites.
There was a total of 240 Neos Omega kites made before the name was changed to the Revolution.

These kites are not meant to be flown.  They come with a letter from Joe including its' authenticity.

Available:
1 Pink Center with Gray tips.  Has holes for bunji and caps but is not built.
1 Pink Center with Gray tips.  Built with caps, bunji, and newer bridle.
2 Aqau Center with Pink tips.  Built with caps, bunji, and newer bridle.

2 Pink Center with Aqua tips.  Built with caps, bunji, and newer bridle.
These 2 kites are a bit newer than the previous 4 listed.  Meaning they are abit further along in the testing process.  These have a zigzag stitching on the LE, and the letters "T3200" are not in the logo.  It still says 'High Modulus graphite'.

These are sails only.
The current price is $300.
If you want the kite framed with graphite spars, they are $400.
These kite sails will be going up on our website in the next 2 weeks.  Please call for your first choice.  I would like to discuss the kites with you.

Sincerely,
Lolly Hadzicki

Also, some history from another email...

Dear Sally and Rick,

    First, let me apologize for the delay in responding to your letter.  I started responding as soon as I received your letter, but soon realized it would take some thought to properly answer your questions.  So, I  gradually added to the response during breaks in my other projects and we just returned from our International convention last week.  Secondly …..  

    Wow!!  What a collection!!  Let me first throw out a few of my first impressions.  This is by far the best Neos Omega collection I’ve ever seen!  Pink and gray … un-flown pink and gray!   Along with three other un-flown Neos Omega’s!  Five Neos Omega’s in all!  Wow!!  

    Your research is very impressive.  The fact of the matter is, there really weren’t any detailed records kept on the early production, or, for that matter, the present production.

    The color choices that were picked were based on what we felt to be “hot” colors in the sporting goods market at the time.  Gray was an accent color being used in the snow skiing market at the time.  We thought it was cool … the kite buying public didn’t think it was that cool … therefore we didn’t make that many of them.  The rarest of the kites is the gray center aqua tips.  The next rarest is the gray center pink tips.  Next, aqua center gray tips.  Next is a pink center, gray tips, which is your un-flown kite. The rarest of the rare is a set of 22 pre-production prototype Neos Omegas.  These kites were part of a final test run designed to evaluate the manufacturing process, quality control and “over all” design. These remaining kites (the rest of this test production run was destroyed during testing) had been in storage (in a closet at my parents home) from October 1988 until late 2001, or early 2002.  Finally, my parents insisted we remove them.  Since we really had no use for them, and people ask for historical kites on occasion, we decided to sell them to those interested.  These prototypes come complete with a number and signed letter of authenticity.

    Now to answer some of your other questions:

   Q: “…. Your sister mentioned a possible “special production” coming out soon….”
   A:               A special production model of the “Revolution I” is available now.  It is    the “Lee Sedgewick Signature series” Revolution I with the upgraded “super leading edge” (SLE).

    Q:   “ … production and non-production colors and which are more valuable …”
    A:  Since there were no custom Neos Omega kites made, I believe this relates to the      kites containing gray in them, which we have already discussed.  There is one point concerning these “rare”, “valuable” kites that I find interesting.  The one thing that makes these kites so rare is a color arrangement that few people find pleasing.  The customer buys fewer of these kites, the retailer orders less of these kites, and therefore the manufacturer produces less of these kites.  This probably explains why Revolution still has available three of the rarest Neos Omegas ever made!  For $200.00 U.S. you can still purchase an original pre-production prototype Neos Omega with a gray center and aqua tips!

    Q:   Does an autographed kite increase its’ value? And if so can I still get it autographed?
    A:  We don’t know if an autographed kite is worth more or not.  All we know is that we haven’t signed very many (I would guess less than 30) Neos Omegas over the last 12 years.  Secondly, Dave and I would be glad to sign any of our kites that you have.

    Q:  Why did we change the name from Neos Omega to Revolution?
    A:  The name Neos Omega came from a design slogan we were using at the time.  “Neos Omega.  The final word in new design.”  (neos is the Greek word for new as in “new design”  and omega is the Greek word for last or final as in “final word”).  Kind of confusing isn’t it?  We thought so too.  In fact, people would ask us who’s Ned?  The “o” in Neos was often mistaken for a “d” and they assumed this was Ned’s Omega.  Secondly, a member of the kiting community was using Omega kites for a line of kites he manufactured.   With all this confusion, we felt a name change was in order.  We decided on Revolution for two reasons:  First, a natural characteristic of the kite is to revolve about its’ center.  Secondly, we considered the kite to be a revolutionary design approach to sport kites.

    Q:  Is a flown or un-flown kite more valuable?
    A:  Definitely the un-flown kite is more valuable.  As for kites that have been flown, the closer their condition is to new, the better.

    Q:  Black foam handles versus blue foam handles?
    A:  Our foam supplier ran short on black foam and we substituted blue for a short period of time.  Black is by far the most common grip color.  Out of the hundreds of  Revolutions I’ve seen flown around the world, I doubt I’ve seen more than three sets of blue handles.

I hope this info has been of interest...