So Casablanca has dropped Inteli-Touch...

[organistjx]

What are your guys's thoughts?

[Parkman]

Its sad because I like the system, the IT2 I hated and the IT3 I didn't like as much as the Original IntelliTouch.

Back in its day it was revolutionary and is still a classic neat system, however with technology now despite the fans not being Vintage the Fan companies are keeping up by being innovative by allowing Smart Phones to control the fans and many types of remotes.

I have a Universal Hampton Bay remote on the Hunter Bayport in my bedroom. It has a timer for 2,4, and 8 hours. It has a thermostat control, and it has "Island mode" which switches the speed every so many minutes. Although it doesn't have six speeds these features probably would entice a lot more consumers then the IntelliTouch.

[Cole S.]

Honestly, I think the only thing it still had going for it was the amazing range of the six speeds. I'm not big on IT3, I think it kinda died when they changed to RF from the pulse system. I will always like it for the trailblazer that it was, but it was too fragile and overly complicated. I mean, how many people really use all those features? It was a lot of marketing back in the day, the 'smart fan' of its time. Now people aren't impressed by just the features alone, they want the ease of having all of the functions laid out on the control, or even their phone now as stated above. Technology has advanced beyond IT.

Also being honest, Casablanca's other new control systems are pretty good. You don't get really any of the special features (which nobody uses anyway) and are limited by 4 speeds, but they're nicely selected speeds. Their 4 speed pull chain fans are amazing too, that aesthetic low is something you just don't see much these days.

[fancollector12]

With the Victorian II being the last fan to use the system, I saw it coming... IT3 had some flaws in its design, and fans tended to be nosier, emitting a constant "hum" whenever power was applied... honestly the Universal Control System, as they call it, is cheaper to replace should something go wrong due to it having a standard receiver and switch combination, plus it requires no wiring, as it operates on a 12V battery, or, in the case of the remote, another type of battery), and it is also universal for use on any fan, even those fans regularly operated by a pull chain. Not everyone preferred the "beeps" of IT, and there was no way to disable the beeps (you could NOT remove the Piezo buzzer from the PCB, or else the fan would not function properly)... the only downside I can think of to this is that once IT parts are depleted, they're gone for good, and you'll be lucky if you get IT parts on eBay. But it'll be awhile before that happens... I don't find myself using all 6 speeds on my IT3 Panama II, as I only use speeds 1, 2, and 3... and the new control system (and even some of Hunter's "newer" control systems) use the same security features as IT did, such as Light Minder and Security Mode... the IT3 system was just to expensive to produce for just one fan (the Victorian II), and wasn't worth it for them... the XLP motor will unfortunately be next on the chopping block for Casablanca, but Casablanca's DC motors and "Direct Drive" (Spinner) motors move just as much, or even more, air than the XLP does (did), and are very quiet motors, so the XLP really won't be missed too much, either, except by us collectors, of course.

But that's just my opinion. From what I've heard from Cole and others (but mainly Cole), both the new Casa motors and control systems are good, and those statements comes from collectors.

[organistjx]

Hmm... this kind of draws up something... Casablanca... seems to be trying to be... more mainstream... I guess...

[Parkman]

Not mainstream but the old school stuff including the nostalgia for us is now just a thing of the past. Its about profitability. The IT system in all forms is past its prime, just like I can remember as a kid me thinking the IT was cool and adults I talked too would say they wanted a fan operated by a remote.

Hunter/Casablanca has been owned by an equity firm MidOcean Partners since 2007. On the firms site they boast "MidOcean has also helped drive the implementation of a standardized platform based on a new product development process that will increase customer choice while dramatically reducing costs." i.e. cheapening.

As a BIG Hunter collector, I can tell you buy the same model Hunter from 2003 vs 2008 vs 2011 and you'll see the downgrading in the fan as you get closer to present time and more then likely one of the different mounting systems they developed at that time.

Casablanca was given more time before getting chopped up and essentially becoming glorified Hunters although some of the higher end models Cole has gotten from Casablanca show quality. In reality 2013 is when the Panama's switched over so six years since Casablanca got acquired we had with their last mainstream Traditional "vintage" in a sense fan.

[organistjx]

Apr 26, 2017 16:19:10 GMT -5 Parkman said:

Not mainstream but the old school stuff including the nostalgia for us is now just a thing of the past. Its about profitability. The IT system in all forms is past its prime, just like I can remember as a kid me thinking the IT was cool and adults I talked too would say they wanted a fan operated by a remote.

Hunter/Casablanca has been owned by an equity firm MidOcean Partners since 2007. On the firms site they boast "MidOcean has also helped drive the implementation of a standardized platform based on a new product development process that will increase customer choice while dramatically reducing costs." i.e. cheapening.

As a BIG Hunter collector, I can tell you buy the same model Hunter from 2003 vs 2008 vs 2011 and you'll see the downgrading in the fan as you get closer to present time and more then likely one of the different mounting systems they developed at that time.

Casablanca was given more time before getting chopped up and essentially becoming glorified Hunters although some of the higher end models Cole has gotten from Casablanca show quality. In reality 2013 is when the Panama's switched over so six years since Casablanca got acquired we had with their last mainstream Traditional "vintage" in a sense fan.

Eh, I would like to see a sub-brand of Casablanca go back to what it was known for... bring back W-11/W-12 Inteli-Touch controls, Venus, Saturn, Halogen Star, that sort of thing...

[Parkman]

Wish it could happen but it won't unfortunately. At least we got the Star/Starlet back for a bit.

[Cole S.]

It's interesting, because Casablanca really got sucked into Hunter when they went about converting existing models to the new format, but their newer releases are beginning to separate themselves again. Last year was STUNNING. Beautiful fans, high quality units. Really a restoration of my faith in the Casablanca brand. There's still something to offer there, but as I've said a million times now, it's completely incomparable to what Casablanca was. But Casablanca in the 1990s was already different than what they were in the 1980s, it's the evolution of the brand that can't be controlled.

[Parkman]

Cole, I have to agree.

I think in many ways Casablanca lived out itself by continuing on the models that we as collectors love dearly. I mean take a Panama from 1983 and one from 2005, sure where it was manufactured and the concealed hardware changes but it ideally was the same fan just got some updates. Now its a glorified Hunter but then their taking that to the next level. Its basically catch up.

I personally view Casablanca in five phases (in my mind):
1. The creation when Tom Frampton was there, the original models.
2. Casablanca's hey-day, made in the USA... What we are all used to finding, basically the 1980's and 1990's.
3. The Hunter purchase around 1996-2003, Lady Delta goes out production more Hunterized products like the Concentra, Capistrano come out..
4. The Direct Drive infiltration around 2003 or 2004 when all of those models came out like the Wilderness and Casablanca was downgrading its motors but finding itself again the IT2 came out around here, the Vita and a few XLP's showed up.
5. The Catch up, the true revision of Casablanca to where we are now.

I think about things like the Fanaway for example, thats something that Casablanca would have come out with if they still had their initial creative control but where does it go to? Hunter... Hunter that spent years living on its legacy of the Original then a few more models like the Summer Breeze and Low Profile then expanding into a huge full line company but when it comes to that uniqueness in design and engineering Casablanca can still pull it off, Hunter can do designs and unique stuff but its like buying at Walmart as long as it sells its produced. Casablanca has that luxury/premium desire to it where its neat and unique so the price can be put towards it unlike Hunter which is going to your everyday consumer.


This comparison may make sense to our car people here. Its like the Ford Crown Victoria or Lincoln Town Car... It ran from the time Ford put it out and sure it had little updates but it was a well built old school product that didn't hit mainstream like a Toyota Camry or Ford Fusion but sure was loved by Fleets, Senior Citizens, and Panther Platform enthusiasts! Then the Ford Five Hundred/Taurus and MKS comes out to be the Crown Vic/Town Cars technical successor and its a different ball game, Front wheel drive, Unibody Frame, and all sorts of gadgets. Meanwhile over at Toyota the Avalon has had advances and so forth as its Full Size Sedan.

[organistjx]

Apr 26, 2017 17:30:31 GMT -5 Parkman said:

Wish it could happen but it won't unfortunately. At least we got the Star/Starlet back for a bit.

Maybe as a separate 'home brew' company or something...

[Aaron T.]

Apr 26, 2017 20:06:24 GMT -5 Parkman said:

Cole, I have to agree.

I think in many ways Casablanca lived out itself by continuing on the models that we as collectors love dearly. I mean take a Panama from 1983 and one from 2005, sure where it was manufactured and the concealed hardware changes but it ideally was the same fan just got some updates. Now its a glorified Hunter but then their taking that to the next level. Its basically catch up.

I personally view Casablanca in five phases (in my mind):
1. The creation when Tom Frampton was there, the original models.
2. Casablanca's hey-day, made in the USA... What we are all used to finding, basically the 1980's and 1990's.
3. The Hunter purchase around 1996-2003, Lady Delta goes out production more Hunterized products like the Concentra, Capistrano come out..
4. The Direct Drive infiltration around 2003 or 2004 when all of those models came out like the Wilderness and Casablanca was downgrading its motors but finding itself again the IT2 came out around here, the Vita and a few XLP's showed up.
5. The Catch up, the true revision of Casablanca to where we are now.

I think about things like the Fanaway for example, thats something that Casablanca would have come out with if they still had their initial creative control but where does it go to? Hunter... Hunter that spent years living on its legacy of the Original then a few more models like the Summer Breeze and Low Profile then expanding into a huge full line company but when it comes to that uniqueness in design and engineering Casablanca can still pull it off, Hunter can do designs and unique stuff but its like buying at Walmart as long as it sells its produced. Casablanca has that luxury/premium desire to it where its neat and unique so the price can be put towards it unlike Hunter which is going to your everyday consumer.


This comparison may make sense to our car people here. Its like the Ford Crown Victoria or Lincoln Town Car... It ran from the time Ford put it out and sure it had little updates but it was a well built old school product that didn't hit mainstream like a Toyota Camry or Ford Fusion but sure was loved by Fleets, Senior Citizens, and Panther Platform enthusiasts! Then the Ford Five Hundred/Taurus and MKS comes out to be the Crown Vic/Town Cars technical successor and its a different ball game, Front wheel drive, Unibody Frame, and all sorts of gadgets. Meanwhile over at Toyota the Avalon has had advances and so forth as its Full Size Sedan.

This. Good car analogy!

[organistjx]

Apr 26, 2017 20:06:24 GMT -5 Parkman said:

Cole, I have to agree.

I think in many ways Casablanca lived out itself by continuing on the models that we as collectors love dearly. I mean take a Panama from 1983 and one from 2005, sure where it was manufactured and the concealed hardware changes but it ideally was the same fan just got some updates. Now its a glorified Hunter but then their taking that to the next level. Its basically catch up.

I personally view Casablanca in five phases (in my mind):
1. The creation when Tom Frampton was there, the original models.
2. Casablanca's hey-day, made in the USA... What we are all used to finding, basically the 1980's and 1990's.
3. The Hunter purchase around 1996-2003, Lady Delta goes out production more Hunterized products like the Concentra, Capistrano come out..
4. The Direct Drive infiltration around 2003 or 2004 when all of those models came out like the Wilderness and Casablanca was downgrading its motors but finding itself again the IT2 came out around here, the Vita and a few XLP's showed up.
5. The Catch up, the true revision of Casablanca to where we are now.

I think about things like the Fanaway for example, thats something that Casablanca would have come out with if they still had their initial creative control but where does it go to? Hunter... Hunter that spent years living on its legacy of the Original then a few more models like the Summer Breeze and Low Profile then expanding into a huge full line company but when it comes to that uniqueness in design and engineering Casablanca can still pull it off, Hunter can do designs and unique stuff but its like buying at Walmart as long as it sells its produced. Casablanca has that luxury/premium desire to it where its neat and unique so the price can be put towards it unlike Hunter which is going to your everyday consumer.


This comparison may make sense to our car people here. Its like the Ford Crown Victoria or Lincoln Town Car... It ran from the time Ford put it out and sure it had little updates but it was a well built old school product that didn't hit mainstream like a Toyota Camry or Ford Fusion but sure was loved by Fleets, Senior Citizens, and Panther Platform enthusiasts! Then the Ford Five Hundred/Taurus and MKS comes out to be the Crown Vic/Town Cars technical successor and its a different ball game, Front wheel drive, Unibody Frame, and all sorts of gadgets. Meanwhile over at Toyota the Avalon has had advances and so forth as its Full Size Sedan.

Hmm... I wouldn't say that it's THAT abrupt a change... the Saturn slowly started the changes... and that was in 1987...