[COLOR="Purple"]Those are pretty good drums actually ! Of all the new(er) companies I like Mapex the best - their hardware isn't crap and their maple shells and edges are nice. Hard to give you a valuation because you didn't say the finish or # of pieces ;) As a rule though newer asian-made sets don't keep their values on resale. But enjoy it - you ended up with something very respectable Clapping Happy2[/COLOR]

Hey Jaye i attached a photo. i zoomed in on the toms so you can see the finish. It is a five piece kit. I payed $500. It came with the shells, snare stand, hi hat stand, a cymbal stand, bass drum pedal, throne.14" b8 hats 17" b8 crash and 20" b8 ride. I already had all my cymbals and hardware, so I already sold off some things for$80. So right now Im into it for $420 and still have some thingsa to sell. I thought that was a good deal. Do you know how much a kit like this would have been brand new? Let me know, and thanks for the info,Dean.

I believe they replaced the M series with the Pro M which is maple and M Birch. Both sell for about $899 for a new 5pc shell pack.

Now i am wondering. After doing some more searching I have found that there is an m series maple and an m series birch. How do you tell the difference? The badge says m series made in china. Her is a close up of the badge. They are rectangular.

The original M series drums were 8ply maple/basswood, they discontinued these shells around '05-'06ish and changed the names to Pro M maple and Pro M birch. These shells were all maple or all birch. The name has again been changed and they are now called Meridian Maple and Meridian Birch. I believe your set is an older M series maple/basswood shells.

I used to have a Mapex in that exact finish - bought from new in 05 I think, but it was Pro M. I sold it for £350 last year, and didn't pay much more for it cos it was warehouse clearance.

Nice sounding drums IMO - I only sold them cos I wanted more vintage birch stuff.

[COLOR="DarkRed"]Very difficult for a layman to eye the difference between maple and birch shells....they look very similar. If you really wanna know, all I can suggest is taking one to a woodworker or cabinetmaker or the like.

Regardless of which...you got a good deal.[/COLOR]

So...there have been a LOT of name-changing in this particular line. It started out as the Mars series and Mars Pro series before they abbreviated it to "M" and "Pro M". Weird stuff...

My first kit in which I still possess is a 1993 5 piece Mapex Venus series in a white wrap. I bought these drums off the showroom floor for $700.00 CDN. I'm not sure when they discontinued this series but I really like the sound of the BD and toms. Snare that came with the kit is mediocre, which I still own, but I replaced it with a 5.5" x 14" Black Panther Maple snare. I believe the drums in this series are birch shells.

Compared to most of the newer entry level companies of today, I believe that Mapex drums will stand the test of time. I know mine have and I wouldn't trade or sell them for the world.

Cheers.