Never had them.

Of course Tama WAS involved. Their parent company Hoshino bought the rights to use the Camco name and produced kits here in the US for about a year. Hence the Hoshino badge Camco references. Operations were then moved to Japan. As far as I know the name Camco (for these high end kits) was then dropped. They were obviously trying to capitalize on the well respected Camco brand name. I believe there was a later Camco line but nothing compared to the quality of these kits.

Those early 80's Tama kits are nice. One of the difference being shell construction and the uses of Japanese maple.

Anyway the kit which is not mine BTW... is still for sale. PM if interested.

Thanks.

Some people don't consider LA Camcos "real" Camcos either, due to their shell differences from earlier versions.

Laughing H

I'm in the minority, but as a former Oaklawn Camco owner I consider this TAMA era of Camco drums to be a legitimate member of their lineage.

DOH

I don't believe this beautiful kit will command the kind of price it's "real" Camco ancestors do, despite it's rarity.

:2Cents:

I agree orangemi.

No problem VDB, I never pegged you for a buyer anyway plus talking about this very brief period only sheds light on the fact that this kit, admittedly different that early Camcos, is still a rare piece of drum manufacturing history (if you're into that stuff).

A couple of points:

The Camcos of this (short) era are, as I mentioned, referred to as Hoshino Badge Camcos, not Tamcos, or Tampax, or Camshafts or Tampons. I know for "real" Camco lovers it's hard to take, but it's true.

You're partially correct in that this era Camcos only relate to the earlier ones by name, and a desire to capitalize on it by keeping the customer base with a quality product made in the USA. As you pointed out it dosen't have the same lugs or hardware at all, nor I might add, the same shells. The simple reason is that all the hardware rights were bought by DW. This is how they (DW) got their start... producing pedals, which at that time were nearly identical to the Camco pedals. So here again, in order to retain loyal "Camco" customers, Hoshino designed a similar looking lug, with most or all of the other hardware being Tama. Why not, they were already making drum hardware. It's unclear to me if this hardware was made in the US, or more likely imported from Japan, but what is known is that the shells were all six ply American maple and made in Pennsylvania, and to my knowledge no one, in the US or anywhere, was doing the type of hand inlay work that is on these shells.

Regarding Elvin's kit, I've also wondered about those badges. If you've noticed, the only Hoshino badge on that kit is on the snare. Wouldn't surprise me if they didn't have many of the new badges available yet and being Elvin, they just sent him what they had ready. It must have been huge to have him on board. Also I talked to the guys at Maxwells and apparently the shells on that kit have re-rings unlike the kit I'm selling. Possibly some of the last LA Camco shells. Who knows. Things usually get mixed up when companies change hands.

Anyway back to sale. I've been playing professionally since the mid 70's and in all seriousness, this Hoshino Camco kit sounds as good as any bop kit I've ever played, and I've play quite a few.

"The tell is that the Camco shells had vertical seams and the Japanese made Tama shells had a diagonal cut seam. Diagonal seams were used on all Japanese made versions of the Superstar shells, including the early thin shell with reinforcing hoop versions."

From the TAMA Forum

At this point I have serious doubts about that. Perhaps you need to start your own thread about your dislike of the Hoshino Badge Camcos. I'll leave it at that.

"...to my knowledge no one, in the US or anywhere, was doing the type of hand inlay work that is on these shells."

In 1980 TAMA printed and released 5 versions of their General Catalog. In catalog #2 the then named Super Art line of snare drums appears and includes a natural finish model with the same inlay as the Renaissance line of Camco kits. Catalog #3 again includes this snare model which is now named the Artwood and described as having a "6 ply rock maple" shell. The entire line of snares is now named Mastercraft. The Artwood model shows up again in catalogs #4 and #5 with the rock maple reference deleted. This inlayed model disappears from catalogs after 1980. My research has uncovered two variations of the pattern on these snares.

I believe the inlay work on the Renaissance shells was developed and executed in Japan. It's a common wood working skill in that country and perhaps after the demise of the Camco kits, and because they had the expertise and materials, they used it on the Artwood model snare.

FYI

hes totally trying to put down ur price! ur price is fair, stick to it.

Thanks. I think so. There's no recent sale history to determine a value on an kit like this. For this reason I'm open to negotiate any legitimate offer.