A few weeks ago I was lending a hand with setting up Will Calhoun's Mapex kit at our local drum fest and got to asking about these tom arms. The Mapex rep took one off so I could look at it. I happened to have a tom arm from a Rogers Big R era kit right there in my backpack so I grabbed it for a weight comparison and the Mapex were probably slightly lighter. I also got a firsthand look at how they are adjustable from full sustain to a more muted sound and it was actually pretty cool. I'm kinda with tris66 on this one. I'm glad companies are trying out other things than tube lugs and neo-vintage finishes. Drummers are traditionally conservative when it comes to change. I'm sure back in the day Swivomatic hardware looked pretty weird to some of the old jazzers who had only ever seen consolettes or clip-on mounts, though they probably compared it to Buck Rogers movies as opposed to the Terminator :D