If you need a replica Brabus jacket, I got one! Let me know, I'll let you borrow it.

 

Actually, RONAL (www.ronalusa.com) manufactures wheels for Brabus, Lorinser, etc... it's nothing "special"

 

Great site.

How do think these would look on my S500?

I wonder if they make them in 22s

 

hehe I'm serious. For those with "real" Brabus wheels, look underneath on one of the spokes and it'll have the ///Ronal symbol on it.

Check the "History" link:

http://www.ronalusa.com/history_locations.html

 

its fine if you wanna buy replicas... but dont you feel embarrased using them to the original manufacturers store? i would be embarrased if the girl i was with was using a knock-off handbag and wanted to go into the boutique which the original was from. id tell her no. or id wait outside and pretend i didnt know her.

if you really wanted to buy something from brabus you shoulda just brought another car down there. replica rims are hurting their sales a great deal so ofcourse they see you as a theif. just like how the music companies are suing all people who download mp3s from kazaa....

 

also, you would have to be crazy to buy things straight from brabus anyways. they will charge you full retail prices or more. 8700 for rims and tires? thats crazy! i would sell the same for almost 2 grand cheaper.

 

There is something that you don't seem to undersstand. Perhaps that the rims are made by the same company but the design came from Brabus and that's the most important. If everybody wants these rims in replica it's because they are beautiful. Brabus pay designers to do this and I'm quite sure that this a part of price that you pay.

 

I can't comment on the 954RR, but IMO this would probably fit in pretty well in your driveway and complement your replica collection nicely

http://images.auctionworks.com/hi/38...trightview.jpg

 

Let me guess, you might actually be one of those that would buy one of those Napster cards... pathetic

 

Ok guys, here's a reality check from my perspective on this knock-off issue.

First, DESIGNERS of nearly everything don't count much in the $$$ equation; it's the IMPLEMENTERS of those designs that rake in the $$$. Sure, without any idea, nothing new gets off the ground... but then, anyone can sit around, do a few sketches and eventually create something kool. But that and a buck won't even buy you a Starbucks coffee.

Now bring in the distributors (implementers) , the guys with $$$ and contacts. They take an idea and bring it to market at sme risk to their bottom line.

This is what capitalism is all about. Let's see - P&G marketing all of the produects it doesn't make, Amazon.com marketing all of the products it doesn't make, drug manafacturers marketing generic drugs they do make but didn't conceive, etc. All legal approaches to making $$$.

Sometimes, it all comes together for those unique guys like Bill Gates (with MS-DOS), since he both conceived and sold his PC operating system; that's why he's so rich.

Net - it's a free market and if clowns like that salesmen want to be *****s about who they sell to, that's their right. And so is saying bad things about their service and potentially shopping elsewhere.

Not a problem for me - but I have to admit I've been amused at this thread's content

 

From http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa033099.htm

==
IBM tried to contact Kildall for a meeting, executives met with Mrs. Kildall who refused to sign a non-disclosure agreement. IBM soon returned to Bill Gates and gave Microsoft the contract to write the new operating system, one that would eventually wipe Kildall's CP/M out of common use.

The "Microsoft Disk Operating System" or MS-DOS was based on QDOS, the "Quick and Dirty Operating System" written by Tim Paterson of Seattle Computer Products, for their prototype Intel 8086 based computer.

QDOS was based on Gary Kildall's CP/M, Paterson had bought a CP/M manual and used it as the basis to write his operating system in six weeks, QDOS was different enough from CP/M to be considered legal.

Microsoft bought the rights to QDOS for $50,000, keeping the IBM deal a secret from Seattle Computer Products.

Gates then talked IBM into letting Microsoft retain the rights, to market MS DOS separate from the IBM PC project, Gates proceeded to make a fortune from the licensing of MS-DOS.

In 1981, Tim Paterson quit Seattle Computer Products and found employment at Microsoft.
==

 

...but Mr. Gates, while apparently not the creator of MS-DOS (this could be debated, you know, i.e. who created Windows - Microsoft or Apple?), was/is still a superb example of implementation, wouldn't you agree?

 

well actually when it comes to downloading songs... i wouldnt pay for it. but things like knock off clothes and replica rims are different. what you download or buy for your computer, no one else sees. but what you wear or buy for your car, everyone sees. its a matter of pride. id rather work my *** off and save up for the originals rather than try to save a few bucks for replicas.

 

So the artists who create the music aren't deserving of your money?

I don't get it... it's so easy now to legally download music from say itunes and it's only .99 cents a song.

As a part-time musician - this really pisses me off...

I don't wear fake watches.... have real AMG rims (the funny thing is that I think they are made by Ronal ) and don't steal music. :banghead:

 

Who first implemented the graphical operating system isn't up for debate at all - it's a known fact that it appeared on the Macintosh in 1984 and even earlier than that with the Apple Lisa. Windows was/is a lame attempt at copying the Mac OS.

And DOS isn't a great example of implementation, but of exploitation/selling something as his own that wasn't his to begin with. JPB, you beat me to the post, I was going to post the same thing LOL

 

Actually, replica's are made in Taiwan...

Many wheels are now made in Taiwan.. and in the future, in China.

 

My friend has a bootleg Louis Vuitton bag that she bought from China Town, yet she EVEN WORKS AT LOUIS VUITTON! Technically his rims arent counterfit, because they dont have Brabus written all over them, sure if they did say Brabus then of course they would deny him, but his rims are MOVEN. Moven is a company, they do not bear the name Brabus, so technically he is a consumer, not someone who loves to buy bootleg... so if you're going to attack someone, atleast have the COMMON SENSE to know what wheels he has exactly. Honda Accord Coupes look like CLK's, you think they are bootleggers? They dont bear the same name, thus they are not counterfitting anything, they just look alike, thats all. Regardless of who makes his wheels, he shouldnt be denied, and thats bull crap, because idk if you notice, but many women in NYC buy FAKE BAGS, and still stroll up to Gucci and Burberry wearing them, and they dont get denied.

 

We're going off-topic here, but... I never said Microsoft was first at Windows, only that BG did a better job implementing (my word), or exploiting/selling (your words) it. Your comment that it "wasn't his to begin with" is totally wrong - remember that he bought the rights to the code he then represented in a better fashion than the dude who created it in the first place.

Net - while the creator should get kudos for starting things, he/she ain't necessarily the person who makes it feasible for everyday use. And as much as you seem to spite Redmond for their op sys, you should be thankful that the original ideas of a windowing op sys has blossomed into what it is today... which goes way beyond the scope of this forum.

Anyway, my whole point in responding to this thread in the first place is that it is not necessarily a bad thing to buy/sell/use knockoffs, as long as the transactions are legal. Nobody owns a patent on ideas (like socialism), so let's all just try to deal with what we have - a free marketplace where we all have a choice of what to buy from whomever we want.

 

Hey, this is free enterprise at its best. Personally I think this guy is nuts based on this and previous posts, so I WOULDN'T want to buy anything from him anyway. And I guess since I stated this opinion, he wouldn't welcome me in his store as well

My take - if you bought a knockoff and then walked into my store which sold "the real thing", I would try my hardest to convert you to my product - plain and simple... and nicely without berating you.

 

http://www.macos.utah.edu/Documentat...sxone/gui.html

has a very interesting (yet brief, fortunately) history of GUI's. Xerox seems to have been just a wee bit ahead of Apple, and others possibly before Xerox.

WRT knockoffs, how about Hyundai cars and the way their headlights look almost exactly like the ones on our 230k? If I were the designer of our MB's front, I'd probably be a bit miffed. But like MadManAboutTown and others mentioned, if I were a salesperson, I'd try to attract people and get them to spend money.

Wow, all this started from one disgruntled Brabus representative.

 

I've been reading this thread for awhile, and resisted the urge to enter the frey but...

You can rationalize your decision to support the people making the knock off rims many different ways, Brabus rims are too expensive and unless Brabus lowers their prices its ok to buy knockoffs, replicas are only copying the design element of the wheel.. where all the money is made in the sales/distribution. But your still supporting something thats against the law, so don't be surprised if people treat you poorly when you choose to do this. Especially the people that you are essentially stealing money from, Brabus.

Like someone said, Brabus isn't hurting for money, so don't expect them to deal with a criminal just to make a few bucks.

BTW I know for a fact that the knock off or "replica" Brabus rims are NOT being made by the same people that make the real Brabus rims.

 

Your all missing the point, sure what you are saying is valid, but think about it, his rims dont say the words BRABUS on them, so how are they counterfit, counterfit is if you are trying to pass something as something else, which he clearly isnt, his wheels are Movens, and isnt telling people that he has Brabus wheels... sure they look alike, but they are made by Moven, a company who makes wheels that look like a few european tuners, and if its so illegal, then why isnt anyone stopping it? because they arent breaking any rules, they are selling legit products.
Lets take Coke and Pepsi for example, two different brand names, but the colors and products look alike, though they taste different... you dont see people saying "oh you drink pepsi, i guess you are drinking knock-off coke." thats ridiculous, and if its true, then lock me up for drinking pepsi...

I do agree with some people when they say that Brabus shouldnt be so blunt about it, and try to convince the people to buy Brabus wheels... its the only smart business descision..

 

who cares if they dont say BRABUS on them. they look exactly the same. your comparison of a honda to a clk is stupid. they dont look exactly the same and are highly differentiable. and i am sure you dont know the people at MOVEN cuz if you did then you would know that they are trying to pass their rim off as a brabus one. havent you seen their whole line? its just full on copies of brabus and lorinser.

 

Your taking it to another leven, hypothesizing if you will. Their entire line may be of complete knock-off's but that still doesn't mean they are counterfit and illegal. It's just a simple design, no where have they said on their rims that they are Brabus. It's up to the viewer to decide if they are Brabus or not in their mind without seeing the Moven brand. It's not Moven's fault that some passer-by thought that their rims were Brabus.

 

whatever. the people who are defending the fact that movens arent brabus wannabes are just trying to justify to themselves that its ok to have their replicas and its just as good as the originals. you guys might as well pimp out prado shoes, guggi sunglasses and roleks watches as well.