im 60 also and in this state of manufacturing cheaply made is in, quality cost weather it be pearl, sonor, tama, dw, ludwig ,etc so thats the point in the 60's cost were still high for great materials , and labor was cheap so as to our mad obsession to collect those vintage well aged highly coveted kits is why we are here, the drum co. are still trying entry level as there biggest sellers and aka kids stuff too for the quick sell ,then when u look at the market when they don't want them any more that's the flood of junk out here, so the has been era is in the way back machine and its sad but this is the sign of the times covet that aged maple shell you wont find another if u get rid of it it will be hard to replace Violin

I don't know where this product you are referring to comes from but this is the official Hayman website http://www.haymandrums.com/ As you'll see, they only have the one product which is a new version of the original Haymans complete with the round lugs and the Vibrasonic shell coating. They appear to be a pretty good quality product too.

As fellow member "Fayray" pointed out, there are no kids drums on Haymans home page. Looking a little closer I could also see that the logotype of Hayman drums is slightly different to the logotype on the kids drums. The word Hayman is not underlined. So, to find out, I simply sent an Email to Hayman drums. This is what they replied:

[COLOR="Blue"]Hello

[COLOR="RoyalBlue"]This is a different Hayman company. They are using the good Hayman name (but not our logo-we are the owners of all the original Hayman trademarks ,designs etc) to sell cheap crap kits.

Not much we can do about it I’m afraid. Except for relying on the good people like yourself to spread the word !!

We are currently marketing one kit for our re launch; as you point out , the model 1000 kit which has had great reviews ….

Best

HAYMAN[/COLOR][/COLOR]

So this explains a lot. It sems strange however that Hayman can't do anything to stop this. It's obvious that the producers of the kids drums are trying to benefit from Haymans good name. -Even I was fooled Hmmmm

IN a music store in a city close by,the kid in the store had not even seen any VINTAGE MADE IN AMERICA Ludwig drums!!! He didnt know what Clubdates were.But here he is selling Made in China Ludwig drums Made in China VOX amps that fall apart in your hands.If they only knew how good it was before modernization und China!!!!. Lucky we were around to witness it all...................................Kick out the jams anybody????

This had me totally confused since I was only aware of the Haymans that Fayray and Fortissimo referred to which seemed at least mid pro level:

http://www.haymandrums.com/hayman_drum_kit.php

I don't know what to make of the kiddie's set if it is really being offered by some rogue Haymanites.

I agree that there is no great traction to be gained by relaunching a dead brand. I wonder if it is any worse a strategy than launching a wholly new product name in these times.

How is it that the real Hayman can't do anything about it, legally?

O-Lugs, I have no idea. If I were to make drums and named them Ludwig I am sure hell would break loose, even if I took away the underscore in their Logo and bent the lettering a little different. I wonder if Hayman is telling the whole story in their mail.....

I'm no lawyer but reading this Wikipedia entry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trademark it may be that as the trademark was not used for a long period of time, it then became a name that could be legally used by others.

In the U.S., failure to use a trademark for this period of time, aside from the corresponding impact on product quality, will result in abandonment of the mark, whereby any party may use the mark. An abandoned mark is not irrevocably in the public domain, but may instead be re-registered by any party which has re-established exclusive and active use, and must be associated or linked with the original mark owner. If a court rules that a trademark has become "generic" through common use (such that the mark no longer performs the essential trademark function and the average consumer no longer considers that exclusive rights attach to it), the corresponding registration may also be ruled invalid.

so although the "real" Hayman company can re-register the trademark it may be a costly exercise. Someone here will know more I'm sure. I doubt that Hayman have anything to do with cheap kids kits though.