BPS Double Down Plopper??? And I was Going To Buy Another WP 130

[dsqui]

I just wish sennet made a smaller pace maker that thing is killer

[everythingthatswims]

even in the stock photo the hooks look like trash lol

[Master Bait'r]

The ONLY area this comes into sketchy copyright infringement zone is through their usage of the word "plopper".

 

if I was a R2S lawyer I'd be using my big red stamp right now. Prop baits aren't new, but knocking off a specific product AND it's name is asking for trouble.  

 

They were likely pulled from the site for those exact legal reasons and will be renamed when they reappear.  To the few who snagged them you may now have a limited edition misreleased product.  May want to keep that in the original packaging!  ???

[J Francho]

You can't copyright a name, though whopper plopper is a registered trademark.

[5fishlimit]

18 hours ago, Esoxfreak said:

I get upset when companies are doing something blatantly for the money.

 

Isn't this the EXACT reason that a business operates under?  Otherwise, it's a charity.

[J Francho]

That's an oversimplification.  Profit is different than margins.

[deaknh03]

24 minutes ago, J Francho said:

That's an oversimplification.  Profit is different than margins.

Much.

[Master Bait'r]

46 minutes ago, J Francho said:

You can't copyright a name, though whopper plopper is a registered trademark.

 

 

Exactly.  Taking the name directly is pretty much the one thing they shouldn't do when cloning baits/tech for domestic sale.  It's just not smart, unless they are trying to wallpaper a cubicle with C&D orders or something lol 

 

[eyedabassman]

23 hours ago, Esoxfreak said:

Forgive me, and I'd like to apologize upfront because I will know what I'm about to say will offend some people.

I'm ashamed at bass pro, not surprised though. I will give them that they are different, but this is why I won't but from big box tackle stores. They only cheapen quality products. The r2s whopper plopper is a good bait, its good quality, and will last a long time if stored properly. I hope this dosent make them cut corners to compete with bps. It's principal for me, I can't stand knock offs. I'm tired of companies trying to make a quick buck pawning off junk and I think most real anglers will know they are looking at a cheap knock off.

Yes,plopper style baits have been around for almost a century but dahlberg designed the "plastic" cupped tail so it wouldn't need tuned, as opposed to metal ones,and produced a particular tone. He made the bait by himself for decades and further developed it with river2sea so everyone could expierience fishing one. What makes me sick is that bass pro saw dollar signs. Millions of em. And capitalized on not the angler but the cash. They take advantage of anglers. Larry dahlberg built it, River 2 sea developed it, bps ripped it off and cheapened it. 

Did you know bps has a nearly identical river 2 sea s-waver also?????

Yes, river 2 sea has had some total flops over the years, but when they started developing baits the company started to shine. But why focus on research and development when bps or some other thief of that ilk will just steal it?

I will not get into the Chinese manufacturing debate on this thread, both baits are made in China. I wish River 2 sea would manufacture here, but a lot of people complain about a $10-$12 price tag for a 90 anyway,so I get it. It all boils down to quality control, and river 2 sea has that.Yes river 2 sea gets them for cheap, but your jaw would drop if you saw what bps buy their rip offs for! It's pennies...literally.

Bingo!!!!!!! Spot on!!!!!

[Esoxfreak]

1 hour ago, 5fishlimit said:

 

Isn't this the EXACT reason that a business operates under?  Otherwise, it's a charity.

Sure! And what bps did was completely legal! But terribly unethical, and done in the name of profits! I did say "blatant," meaning that they took shape, size, dahlberg tail, and the color schemes almost exactly. Then engaged in a marketing ploy to achieve name recognition calling this particular one the "double down plopper" very similar to the r2s "double plopper" name, solely for the sake of profit, because r2s was moving so many units. on top of that they made them out of cheaper materials.they didn't do the the work, they let someone else do it. They arent filling a void in the market either. I could understand if r2s went under and bps developed a replacement. This is ALL about the money, and very little to do with the angler...almost nothing now that I'm thinking about it except or wallets. And that's sad...But I guess companies don't  get that big being ethical.

 

 

 

[Cgolf]

1 hour ago, Esoxfreak said:

Sure! And what bps did was completely legal! But terribly unethical, and done in the name of profits! I did say "blatant," meaning that they took shape, size, dahlberg tail, and the color schemes almost exactly. Then engaged in a marketing ploy to achieve name recognition calling this particular one the "double down plopper" very similar to the r2s "double plopper" name, solely for the sake of profit, because r2s was moving so many units. on top of that they made them out of cheaper materials.they didn't do the the work, they let someone else do it. They arent filling a void in the market either. I could understand if r2s went under and bps developed a replacement. This is ALL about the money, and very little to do with the angler...almost nothing now that I'm thinking about it except or wallets. And that's sad...But I guess companies don't  get that big being ethical.

 

 

 

 

While I understand and appreciate your arguement to a point, but where do you draw the line.

 

Is everyone that makes a floating minnow unethical because rapala was first on the market with one? Don't forget that the different brands have a different action.

 

I could even make the case that LD and R2S were unethical in making the plopper. They took an existing concept and all they did was change the blade material? Like I said where do you draw the line.

 

Do we want only one manufacturer making a single tail grub, etc?

 

I did read once that Reaction Innovations would not go to BPS because they had to sign away parts of their designs to be copied. If that is true than R2S may have signed a similar deal and given permission for this to happen. If anyone has any info on how this works can they chime in.

 

I am curious though if it was pulled for now due to 'plopper' being in the name.

[Esoxfreak]

2 hours ago, cgolf said:

 

While I understand and appreciate your arguement to a point, but where do you draw the line.

 

Is everyone that makes a floating minnow unethical because rapala was first on the market with one? Don't forget that the different brands have a different action.

 

I could even make the case that LD and R2S were unethical in making the plopper. They took an existing concept and all they did was change the blade material? Like I said where do you draw the line.

 

Do we want only one manufacturer making a single tail grub, etc?

 

I did read once that Reaction Innovations would not go to BPS because they had to sign away parts of their designs to be copied. If that is true than R2S may have signed a similar deal and given permission for this to happen. If anyone has any info on how this works can they chime in.

 

I am curious though if it was pulled for now due to 'plopper' being in the name.

I draw the line where companies act like moral and ethical boundaries no longer apply to them. R2s didn't just change the material, the redesigned the tail completely to give it its distinct tone.if i wanted to buy a balsa jerkbait I'll get the rapala.and I'm pretty sure most if not all rapalas are patented. So yeah if someone copies them for resale it's absolutely unethical as well as illegal.So if r2s couldn't get or just didn't get a patent, then that's their problem, the unethical piece is that bps was aware they could legally do it, so they did. I'm 99.9% sure r2s was unaware that this happened because they were surprised as well. BUT I don't think we will never know unless r2s stops allowing bps to sell their baits. It's Edison vs. Tesla all over again.

[MichiganBass80]

On 4/13/2017 at 10:59 AM, Travis Gasper said:

Well, here it is! I set it next to a River2Sea Whopper Plopper (its a little used and beat up) of the same color to compare. The length of both are the same at 3.5", but the Double Down Plopper weighs .2oz more at .6oz instead of .4oz. Bass season doesn't open for another couple weeks so I will have to wait to do a test with it.

 

 

 

Looks interesting. Let us know what you think once you get a chance to use it. I'd give it a try if they ever get it back up on the site.

[MassYak85]

7 hours ago, cgolf said:

 

While I understand and appreciate your arguement to a point, but where do you draw the line.

 

Is everyone that makes a floating minnow unethical because rapala was first on the market with one? Don't forget that the different brands have a different action.

 

I could even make the case that LD and R2S were unethical in making the plopper. They took an existing concept and all they did was change the blade material? Like I said where do you draw the line.

 

Do we want only one manufacturer making a single tail grub, etc?

 

I did read once that Reaction Innovations would not go to BPS because they had to sign away parts of their designs to be copied. If that is true than R2S may have signed a similar deal and given permission for this to happen. If anyone has any info on how this works can they chime in.

 

I am curious though if it was pulled for now due to 'plopper' being in the name.

I'd draw the line where the company making the similar product gets to almost completely skip the R&D phase because they let someone else pave the way for them, and I'd draw another line where they blatantly are riding the success of another brand by using a similar or exact name of the already established product in hopes of getting sales from the confusion alone.

 

Sure, most of us know the difference without a second glance, but think about the guy who's buddy told him "I killed them yesterday using XYZ". And he goes to Bass Pro and looks for the lure, sees this, and tried to recall what his buddy said, "what was that lure called again....whop plop? Whoppity plop? Whopper? Plopper?...huh, this one sounds like the right one". And then grabs it off the shelf. BPS just got a sale off of the success of another brand, and did absolutely nothing to earn it. Even worse...if that guy has a bad experience with it and tells others, R2S could get undue bad publicity as a result of the confusion. 

[Cgolf]

29 minutes ago, MassYak85 said:

I'd draw the line where the company making the similar product gets to almost completely skip the R&D phase because they let someone else pave the way for them, and I'd draw another line where they blatantly are riding the success of another brand by using a similar or exact name of the already established product in hopes of getting sales from the confusion alone.

 

Sure, most of us know the difference without a second glance, but think about the guy who's buddy told him "I killed them yesterday using XYZ". And he goes to Bass Pro and looks for the lure, sees this, and tried to recall what his buddy said, "what was that lure called again....whop plop? Whoppity plop? Whopper? Plopper?...huh, this one sounds like the right one". And then grabs it off the shelf. BPS just got a sale off of the success of another brand, and did absolutely nothing to earn it. Even worse...if that guy has a bad experience with it and tells others, R2S could get undue bad publicity as a result of the confusion. 

 

The thing that is getting to me is it really seems like there is a grudge against BPS here, perhaps R2S pro staffer? This is not the most blatant copy I have seen, yes the back is very similar, but the front is not. I just don't see what all the anger is about, BPS should just take plopper out of the name and move on. I am really curious what esoxfreak would purchase for baits, because there aren't a lot of original designs out there anymore, just subtle tweaks of existing baits. 

 

Maybe we should just start a thread about knock off baits, could get interesting, Cabela's has a least one knock off that I think isn't right, but I won't boycott them because of it.

[MassYak85]

22 minutes ago, cgolf said:

 

The thing that is getting to me is it really seems like there is a grudge against BPS here, perhaps R2S pro staffer? This is not the most blatant copy I have seen, yes the back is very similar, but the front is not. I just don't see what all the anger is about, BPS should just take plopper out of the name and move on. I am really curious what esoxfreak would purchase for baits, because there aren't a lot of original designs out there anymore, just subtle tweaks of existing baits. 

 

Maybe we should just start a thread about knock off baits, could get interesting, Cabela's has a least one knock off that I think isn't right, but I won't boycott them because of it.

I wouldn't advocate boycotting BPS over this, I still probably give them most of my offline business, I just wouldn't buy this lure or their S-waver knockoff. Honestly most of my beef with this is the name itself more than the design. We've seen countless design rip-offs before but rarely do companies actually try and mimic the name itself. 

[Travis Gasper]

14 hours ago, Master Bait'r said:

The ONLY area this comes into sketchy copyright infringement zone is through their usage of the word "plopper".

 

if I was a R2S lawyer I'd be using my big red stamp right now. Prop baits aren't new, but knocking off a specific product AND it's name is asking for trouble.  

 

They were likely pulled from the site for those exact legal reasons and will be renamed when they reappear.  To the few who snagged them you may now have a limited edition misreleased product.  May want to keep that in the original packaging!  ???

I haven't opened mine up yet, and I don't intend to until they go back for sale. May be a rare packaging like you said if they end up changing the name. 

[Esoxfreak]

58 minutes ago, cgolf said:

 

The thing that is getting to me is it really seems like there is a grudge against BPS here, perhaps R2S pro staffer? This is not the most blatant copy I have seen, yes the back is very similar, but the front is not. I just don't see what all the anger is about, BPS should just take plopper out of the name and move on. I am really curious what esoxfreak would purchase for baits, because there aren't a lot of original designs out there anymore, just subtle tweaks of existing baits. 

 

Maybe we should just start a thread about knock off baits, could get interesting, Cabela's has a least one knock off that I think isn't right, but I won't boycott them because of it.

 First off I'm not angry, and I have no grudge against bass pro, the problem is someone else did the work and they took it.period. Legally or illegally, it still feels wrong, but that's what kind of world we live in now.

second I'm not a pro staffer,lol, but I do fish for a living,but have no r2s logo on my shirt or boat...wait I did buy a jacket a few years ago from them, but I only wear it when it's cold outside. I'm not an advocate for r2s, yes they know me and I know them but so do other lure manufacturers. I just like where the co. is headed

third I only fish night crawlers and corn. I fish a lot of different glides and swimbaits, and in that market, subtle differences are big differences. I like to shop small.

fourth there are a lot of innovative bait companies out there.but this thread isn't about that.

 

[wdp]

Bass Pro has been doing this for years. Their whole line of in house baits are rip offs of other companies' successful lures. Like has been mentioned tho, the big difference this time is the use of the word "plopper". 

[MichiganBass80]

Just got a new Bass Pro ad in the mail for their Go Outdoors event and sale.  They have the double down plopper in there. Checked the website and it's still not on there. 

[nhpleasantlakebass]

Was about to mention same thing

[ghost]

Color scheme are R2S WP's

[moguy1973]

I was just told that BPS took all the 3.5" Double Down Ploppers off the shelf because of split ring issues.

[nhpleasantlakebass]

I would prefer the 5" version but my store doesn't have it in stock

[ghost]

Bass Pro Shops website has the XPS Double Down Plopper now:

 

http://www.basspro.com/Bass-Pro-Shops-XPS-Double-Down-Plopper/product/185812/