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Looking at it again..

It looks like a first generation (with the mount and legs on the front part of the kick) Hip Gig Jr. model with its 16'' size. The laquer looks stripped and a strange mount (no Yamaha part) attached to the bottom. It also looks like the carrying handle is switched to the bottom and there were two support brackets attached to it (this is a thing one would only see at the bigger 18'' Sr. version)

This is a first gen model:
jhkgt0secndus794nuef.jpg
 
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Its strange indeed, because the number says 16'' kick, but everything (the lugs, the two supportbrackets) screems Sr. (but that means 18'' kick)

I know they made some custom versions of it, but that big chuncky round off mount is not an original Yamaha part and has never been.
 
The finish seems off to me. Not just the kick. I don't recall seeing a natural birch finish. Yellow was the original.

What if this is a Keller shell reproduction using some OEM parts?

Unless the deal is stoopid, I'd pass.
 
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I'd get it. I mean, someone would get into the trouble of duplicating yamaha tags that says exactly what it is (bd16hg and sd12hg)??

I had a rick marotta in red and looks pretty much the same except that handle and extra mount. I believe the handle was on the stool/hardware storage and not on the kick.

My best guess would be it is a hipgig yamaha made before they decided to out the rick marotta name on it.
 
Never saw a blue one like that. And judging the kick shell finish on that, that natural one could very well be the real deal.

Still, if it's a prototype or limited edition, you might find the resale market poor. Kind of like building a custom kit with no badges/name.

I think you are wise to pass. For half that price, it might be worth a chance.
 
Ok, maybe dumb question about Rick Marrotta Hipgigs. I think they stopped making them in 2011 but when was the first year? I can't seem to find any info on the dates anywhere. And how long were the first generation models made? I had one first gen, and own to later models, one of which has the turning latches for the throne, spring typed for the bass drum, the other is all spring type latches.
 
I previously owned a Yellow Hip Gig kit, really wanted to like it but found too many issues with it for my taste and soon sold it. I ended up replacing it with a Whitney Nesting Penguin 16 kit that IMHO is the bear perfect nesting kit.

Issues I had with the Yamaha Hip gig :
Very heavy when nested
Tom and snare positioning was clunky at best and I could not position the snare and Toms where I wanted them .
Cymbals could also not be positioned exactly how I wanted them.
The Tom sounded really nice , the snare not so much.
I tried a number of head combinations trying to get an acceptable bass drum sound. I ended up with an Evans Hydraulic on the batter side.
The padding on the throne is not very firm and flattens out quickly.

Advantages of the Whitney
Very lightweight - entire kit nested weighs less than 40 lbs.
The Quickstand is very well engineered.
Tom and cymbal positioning is excellent.
They sound great. Toms, bass and snare are all equally good.
 
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