Check out this new Malibu boat???

[LS-One]

Looks plainly like the last ditch effort of an unimaginative company.

[Big Belly]

Tige is a joke and I think this proves it.

[txwakejunkie]

Looks like you will be stuck with the speaker config that is molded in. The lights are a good idea, but to ugly to look at!!

[chrisallenhogs]

Malibu can't patent it, it's owned and built by Metcraft. Now maybe Bob Metcraft patented it.... I don't know -

It looks like Metcraft does have a patent on the tower, I'd be interested to see what is done about the extremely similar look. Couldn't find anything on Tige patenting their tower ( I doubt they even checked ). Here is the metcraft tower patent number D442,910.

[edgeski1]

My Gut feeling is this is a metcraft tower. Metcraft does after all build for other manufacturers

[Squag Mon]

My Gut feeling is this is a metcraft tower. Metcraft does after all build for other manufacturers

Metcraft does manufacture other towers and accesories that mount the same as the Illusion X. I'm betting that Metcraft expanded their manufacturing capabilities and started seeing the $$$$$.

[Guest J-Ro]

Anyone remember the first Metcraft Tige towers? Holy Jeebus were those bad. They were rickity, ugly, and the board racks dripped on the people in the boat.

[stewart]

Once you add the bimini, they look awfully familiar....

[Cory]

Malibu can't patent it, it's owned and built by Metcraft. Now maybe Bob Metcraft patented it.... I don't know -

It looks like Metcraft does have a patent on the tower, I'd be interested to see what is done about the extremely similar look. Couldn't find anything on Tige patenting their tower ( I doubt they even checked ). Here is the metcraft tower patent number D442,910.

That's a Design Patent (not a regular utility partent) of some other type of tower--not the Illusion X. Design Patents provide very limited coverage. You would pretty much have to copy the exact look of the tower illustrated in those pictures.

[winddawg]

It is still a Tige with an obvious "copied" tower design. What is the sales guy going to say to a prospective customer, "TIGE engineered this new tower design?"

-Dave

[PDR447]

It is still a Tige with an obvious "copied" tower design. What is the sales guy going to say to a prospective customer, "TIGE engineered this new tower design?"

-Dave

just playing devil's advocate a little here. since metcraft makes both towers they can't really copy themselves can they? metcraft came up with a new design and tige decided to put it in their boats... I don't see any copying going on.

tige didn't engineer anything on the tower. metcraft did. so tige didn't copy anything since they didn't make anything.

[stewart]

It is still a Tige with an obvious "copied" tower design. What is the sales guy going to say to a prospective customer, "TIGE engineered this new tower design?"

-Dave

just playing devil's advocate a little here. since metcraft makes both towers they can't really copy themselves can they? metcraft came up with a new design and tige decided to put it in their boats... I don't see any copying going on.

tige didn't engineer anything on the tower. metcraft did. so tige didn't copy anything since they didn't make anything.

So, what your saying is that a Metcraft salesman walked into the Tige plant and sold them this tower. And that Tige and possibly Malibu had nothing to do with the design.

Given the engineering and design at Malibu, I would find this hard to believe.

[Malibudude]

The first Illusion style tower was built by Titan for Malibu.

[Madmanacrossthewater]

It's no different than Titan making a new tower for CC. Tower manufacturers need to be versatile, so they can make a living.

.

[stewart]

The first Illusion style tower was built by Titan for Malibu.

but whom approached whom?

[winddawg]

It is still a Tige with an obvious "copied" tower design. What is the sales guy going to say to a prospective customer, "TIGE engineered this new tower design?" -Dave

just playing devil's advocate a little here. since metcraft makes both towers they can't really copy themselves can they? metcraft came up with a new design and tige decided to put it in their boats... I don't see any copying going on. tige didn't engineer anything on the tower. metcraft did. so tige didn't copy anything since they didn't make anything.

So, what your saying is that a Metcraft salesman walked into the Tige plant and sold them this tower. And that Tige and possibly Malibu had nothing to do with the design. Given the engineering and design at Malibu, I would find this hard to believe.

What' the Tige sales guy going to say to a prospective buyer that asks about Tige engineering and design.?

By copying other manufacturers' designs and styling Tige validates the design and styling of other boat manufacturer design. Tige is only going to be able to sell on price and they can say they are fast followers of designs and engineering not tbe trend setters. It is very similar to the ipod and all of the copycat versions that came after it Look how "wakecraft" advertizes their product-"just like a malibu"

Someone had to foot the bill for the original design effort on the illusion tower. I am not a historian but if what I read is correct Titan made the first Illusion tower. So did Titan do the styling and engineering and then knock on the door of Malibu and say hey look at what we got for you? I think not. I think Malibu engineering driven by their own marketing department came up with the illusion stying and looked for a manufacturer to design maybe even co-develop the original illusion design. I am gonna go out on a limb and make an educated guess the the malibu engineering department does not have in-house experts on aluminum casting so they looked for a vendor that did and I bet that malibu had an exclusive on the design for some period of time which was also a function of NRE and number of units sold along with price.

How Metcraft got involved I don't know but I bet as long as it is not an exact copy of malibu's illusion design, what did Metcraft do wrong.? I am sure if one of these companies violated a contractual obligation or stole some IP we will see a court case soon.

What would really be interesting to see on the Tige tower is if any improvements were made to the hinge mechanism when folding and how well that all works or doesn't compared with Malibu's design.

I still see Tige as a copycat and I think the market will too, but what do I know? I am relative newby to owning a Malibu and when I was shopping for a boat I never considered a Tige after looking at it in a dealership, the quality just didn't impress me.

(All this typed with 2 thumbs on my blackberry;) the wife thinks I am crazy.

-Dave

[Marmonick]

you are crazy

[FIC]

I am new to your site, and let me say that I have owned over the years several brands of boats and all have had there advantages and disadvantages. I dont understand your logic of saying that the tiges are a copy , where do you start with any brand on who copyed what. Who built the first boats? who had the first ski pylon ? I know chris craft had a pylon in 1938 is everybodys pylon a copy? Who had the first tracking fins ? I know cc had them in 1968 , is everybodys a copy? Who had the first v drive ski boat ? I know centurion had them in 1992, is everybodys v drive a copy? Who had the first ballast system? Centurion, is everybodys a copy ? Who had the first wakeboard tower period and got a paten for it? Correct Craft , does that make everybodys tower in any configuration a copy? My point by now is there are only so many combinations of styles, colors , and ways to build a boat and what makes it all great is we have a varity to choose from and everybody has a right to be proud of what they choose and like.

[NorCaliBu]

...everybody has a right to be proud of what they choose and like.

No one ever said otherwise. But just as you have the right to have a favorable opinion of Tige's products, others have the right to have a negative opinion of their products based on a lack of true innovation. If you want nothing but glowing opinions about Tige's you might what to wander over to TheTigeCrew.com as our preferences (obviously enough) lie with another brand.

...My point by now is...

Under your hat?

j/k...I could resist.

Edited June 28, 2008 by NorCaliBu

[VinRLX]

...everybody has a right to be proud of what they choose and like.

No one ever said otherwise. But just as you have the right to have favorable opinion of Tige's products, others have the right to have a negative opinion of their products based on a lack of true innovation. If you want nothing but glowing opinions but Tige's you might what to wander over to TheTigeCrew.com as our preferences (obviously enough) lie with another brand.

...My point by now is...

Under your hat?

j/k...I could resist.

Oh Michael, stop picking on the new guy. Idiot.

FIC, and I hope you stick around long enough to participate in some of our meaningful arguments.

[NorCaliBu]

Oh Michael, stop picking on the new guy. Idiot.

I was hoping that he would turn out to be a worthy intellectual sparring partner...arguing with a dimwit like you gets tiresome. I slay me.

[VinRLX]

I was hoping that he would turn out to be a worthy intellectual sparring partner

Hhmmmm. . .a worthy intellectual sparring partner for Michael. . .

. . .I have some algae out front, would you like me to send some to you?

[PDR447]

What' the Tige sales guy going to say to a prospective buyer that asks about Tige engineering and design.?

By copying other manufacturers' designs and styling Tige validates the design and styling of other boat manufacturer design. Tige is only going to be able to sell on price and they can say they are fast followers of designs and engineering not tbe trend setters. It is very similar to the ipod and all of the copycat versions that came after it Look how "wakecraft" advertizes their product-"just like a malibu"

Someone had to foot the bill for the original design effort on the illusion tower. I am not a historian but if what I read is correct Titan made the first Illusion tower. So did Titan do the styling and engineering and then knock on the door of Malibu and say hey look at what we got for you? I think not. I think Malibu engineering driven by their own marketing department came up with the illusion stying and looked for a manufacturer to design maybe even co-develop the original illusion design. I am gonna go out on a limb and make an educated guess the the malibu engineering department does not have in-house experts on aluminum casting so they looked for a vendor that did and I bet that malibu had an exclusive on the design for some period of time which was also a function of NRE and number of units sold along with price.

How Metcraft got involved I don't know but I bet as long as it is not an exact copy of malibu's illusion design, what did Metcraft do wrong.? I am sure if one of these companies violated a contractual obligation or stole some IP we will see a court case soon.

What would really be interesting to see on the Tige tower is if any improvements were made to the hinge mechanism when folding and how well that all works or doesn't compared with Malibu's design.

I still see Tige as a copycat and I think the market will too, but what do I know? I am relative newby to owning a Malibu and when I was shopping for a boat I never considered a Tige after looking at it in a dealership, the quality just didn't impress me.

(All this typed with 2 thumbs on my blackberry;) the wife thinks I am crazy.

-Dave

haha, I think I've gotta agree with your wife. longest thing I've written on my treo is about 1/3 of what you just wrote.

as for malibu designing the tower... since metcraft has the patent I'd be willing to bet that they were the original designers of the tower. malibu would have patented it themselves if they had designed it. the "story" I've heard is that Metcraft designed the tower and then shopped it around to boat manufacturers until malibu signed on(malibu was not the first company they brought it to).

It looks like Metcraft does have a patent on the tower, I'd be interested to see what is done about the extremely similar look. Couldn't find anything on Tige patenting their tower ( I doubt they even checked ). Here is the metcraft tower patent number D442,910.

the way I look at it is this: Tige decided to put a Metcraft tower on their boats. it's that simple. if another manufacturer put a Titan tower on their boats would they be malibu rip-offs too?

[NorCaliBu]

. . .I have some algae out front, would you like me to send some to you?

I would say "yes" but then...who would you use for a financial advisor?

[VinRLX]

. . .I have some algae out front, would you like me to send some to you?

I would say "yes" but then...who would you use for a financial advisor?

Your mama.

Bwah hah hah!