Answers from Combi and Britax

Combi

Rear-face tether for the Coccoro?

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She couldn't comment.

HWH or erf seat from Combi?

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No comment, lol. She did say in her presentation though and Combi's out of Japan and they are very concerned about things being small b/c of the smallness of the cars so I'm not sure we'll be seeing any bigger seats from them personally.

any sort of RF stabilizer, KWIM?

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YES! You can call Combi and they are sending out the foam pieces that come w/ the Zeus, kind of like noodles but not round. You can then use this in the seat bite to help w/ forward movement. A temp solution can be shelf liner under the seat and in front of the foot portion of the seat as well. They will send this as well if you ask.

I'd like a sunshade accessory for the Coccoro.

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She said this was mentioned to them earlier and they are trying to find something that works w/out having to redo the mold for the seat.

Any plans on fixing the misuse in the Coccoro video?

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Vera posted on that thread (she's the one here) so she knows about it.

Does either company plan to make a 'quick start' dvd that parents can just stick in the computer/dvd player and WATCH a correct install with latch and seatbelt so that people who don't bother with the owner's manual because it's got 'too many warnings' or whatever can see how to CORRECTLY install their seats without asking for too much attention from them?

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Vera from Combi said they had done something like this in the past and it was a disaster of sorts. She did say they were working on putting videos on You Tube and just made a FB page as well.

I only have a few questions not covered already, for Combi: will the 2nd generation (2010 model) Coccoro covers be compatible with the older Coccoros? And, do they plan to release the Coccoro Flash in any color but tan?

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Yes, the 2 covers will be interchangable. She said the dimensions of the seat are not changing. She said she has a gray one, but it might be a prototype and will check on the colors for the Flash.

Britax

crunchierthanthou said:

Cowmoo Frontier 85?

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3rd or 4th Qaurter. She said they keep trying to discontinue it but stores won't let them!

Mommy0608 said:

boy and girl colors/patterns would be great. Thanks!

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She said keep telling Britax! They have a facebook page or you can e-mail them, but when they've done parent research in the past, those boy covers aren't considered important so they don't make them. She said tell them nicely though, don't criticize as that's not going to get you very far.

She said they are working on some changes now to the PW SG but she wasn't sure if making it taller was one of the plans. So if you need that super tall booster, you might just have to break down and get the FR85.

The new LATCH anchors are the new no-handed LATCH anchors. You used to have switch the sides the anchors were on going from ffing to rfing etc, and now you can use them on either side at any time. It was a measure to simplify things for parents. This was something I saw often for parents coming in w/ ffing Britax seats.

Oooh, I like the no-handed LATCH connectors, that'll be great!

Thanks for the update.

So I guess that means no new covers for the pkwy sg then huh. I do know when I called about something I told the rep that the arm rests should be a tad longer to make it easier to kids to buckle and parents to use correctly and she stated at that time they were working on that very issue. I hope it's a arm rest re-design and that they will get new covers for the sg. I'm getting a bit frustrated with Britax! Every single seat I get ends up with crappy cover choices because they change something!

thepeach80 said:

Combi

No comment, lol. She did say in her presentation though and Combi's out of Japan and they are very concerned about things being small b/c of the smallness of the cars so I'm not sure we'll be seeing any bigger seats from them personally.

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This seat fills a niche. One that could not be filled ,IMO, if they made it bigger.

thepeach80 said:

YES! You can call Combi and they are sending out the foam pieces that come w/ the Zeus, kind of like noodles but not round. You can then use this in the seat bite to help w/ forward movement. A temp solution can be shelf liner under the seat and in front of the foot portion of the seat as well. They will send this as well if you ask.

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Do you know what the name of this part is called so that the CS rep will know what one is talking about when aske for it?

thepeach80 said:

She said this was mentioned to them earlier and they are trying to find something that works w/out having to redo the mold for the seat.

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It would also be cool if the sunshade came with, or could be ordered for the stroller itself. As far in in the car, there are other options (like tinting car windows), so having it attach directly to the seat is not as big of a deal, but having one attach to the flash would be awesome.

I would call and ask the Zeus recline block. It comes standard w/ that seat so they should know what it is and should know this is the current fix for the CCO issues.

Did you ask about a Britax Convertible with higher RF limits?

I didn't. Britax seems pretty set in their ways as far as designs of seats, lol.

I called Britax this morning and was able to get a little bit of info out of the CS Rep. They ARE doing testing on seats with higher RF limits. There is no timeline as of yet as to when/ if a new seat will be on the market.

From what I got from her it sounds very promising!

I suggested that the seat have higher RF weight limits, a taller shell, more leg room and be more condusive to fitting seats side by side. She sent an email to markrting.

I tried!

hrice said:

I called Britax this morning and was able to get a little bit of info out of the CS Rep. They ARE doing testing on seats with higher RF limits. There is no timeline as of yet as to when/ if a new seat will be on the market.

From what I got from her it sounds very promising!

I suggested that the seat have higher RF weight limits, a taller shell, more leg room and be more condusive to fitting seats side by side. She sent an email to markrting.

I tried!

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Oooo, good n00b. Have a cookie!

They'd have to take off the base IMO to make the shell taller and for us, we need the taller shell to get anymore rfing use out of it for the most part. That would be a major seat change for them, but even they just offered 1 higher rfing seat w/ an all new look.

We all ready know they can make a solid, easy to use product. If they made a rear facing ERF seat that conforms to FMVSS 213 testing bench, I'd buy it in a lickety-split second :twocents:

I learned a lot about FMVSS 213 yesterday. I've decided it sucks, lol.

I really hope they address the lack of rf leg room.

thepeach80 said:

I didn't. Britax seems pretty set in their ways as far as designs of seats, lol.

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you didn't even ask?! They changed the Frontier. They brought back a booster. They completely revamped their infant seat - all in the last year or so. I can't imagine they'll just ignore our complaints and sit back while all their competitors speed by with ERF convertibles.

and FWIW, I have heard a Combi HWH convertible rumor (and other potential Coccoro changes). They must get tighter lipped the further things get in development.

I didn't ask, I'm a loser, lol. Sarah was the last one I talked to and it was on conference day before lunch so not the best of times to keep her much longer than I already had! I'm sorry. I did have a nice talk w/ Dr. Laura Jana though, I like her.

No worries. She can be intimidating for how small she is. I'm pretty sure I annoyed her on the first day of the conference where I met her last fall. I felt like I was nitpicking every time I asked a question after that. I'm sure being self conscious and unsure just made my curiosity that much more bothersome. Not to say that she isn't kind and accommodating, I just felt like a pest. and I probably was one trying to clarify and glean as much as I could to report back here.

To Keep or not to keep the Frontier80?

Don't need it and I am not using it right now....

hrice said:

I called Britax this morning and was able to get a little bit of info out of the CS Rep. They ARE doing testing on seats with higher RF limits. There is no timeline as of yet as to when/ if a new seat will be on the market.

From what I got from her it sounds very promising!

I suggested that the seat have higher RF weight limits, a taller shell, more leg room and be more condusive to fitting seats side by side. She sent an email to markrting.

I tried!

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See now I called and asked the same thing and they told me there are no plans for taller/higher weight seats at all and they also told me their seats work for all 5lb babies. Yes, the lady I talked to was a winner for sure. :thumbsdown:

Sarah was very intimidating the first day I saw her, hence the waiting till day #2 and finally convincing myself to go talk to her, lol.

More random things from each company.

Britax will be adding 'discontinue use after x date' to all products. Currently on FR only.

The Advocate reduces the crash force energy by 50% on the child in the seat when in a side impact crash. The extra bonus is that is protects occupants along side of it as well. I had NO idea! This makes me think more highly of this seat.

Combi is releasing the independent blue lockoff that currently comes w/ the CCO by itself to be used with other products. They are NOT testing it w/ other products though and are maintaining that is each manufacturers job. Ugh, just another aftermarket product for the most part.

Releasing the Kobuk Air-Thru, 33-125#. Padding on seat prevents submarining.

Starting tecnician access on their website soon hopefully.

There will be anti-skid material on the CCO 2010 model.

AmandaR said:

See now I called and asked the same thing and they told me there are no plans for taller/higher weight seats at all and they also told me their seats work for all 5lb babies. Yes, the lady I talked to was a winner for sure. :thumbsdown:

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Guess it's just who you talk to. The first lady I talked to gave the the "scoop" and then the cell dropped the call so I called back and got ahold of another lady who offered ZERO information about a new seat.