Sorry, business has kept me too busy to reply to this one.
Try to realize the audience here. There are like, 15 people on this forum and maybe a hundred on the other popular forums, that CANNOT wait to get this machine. Reality is, 90% of the folks in the metal detecting world, I.E., common hobby folk, A) don't read forums, B) don't care. In other words, 90% of the hobby people except the ones on all these forums don't care. There will not be a stampede to get one when they actually release them. For the first month with all the back orders, yes, maybe. From then on it will be trying to market to the masses. This is the crux of marketing and the real deal breaker in success of any product. Even kitchen gadgets...
It may not be the fbsers who put their used units up sale in masses.
Rather a few other models/brands.
And yes after some of the fbsers infact do some comparisons to Equinox they may indeed sell their fbs units- depending.
Some after comparisons may sell their Equinoxes too.
Folks should also remember there are some folks who do believe in having more than just one detector model to use to detect.
So even what we see happen to the used market may not tell the whole story as far as actual Equinox sales.
Bottom line White's mxsport, Garrett AT line has definitely been challenged.
Just from the waterproofy thingy.
The lighter weight should make the detector very appealing to some too.
And this detector not expected to hit the market for a while, so there may be a delay as far as folks who decide to unload some units either because they feel they don't need, or just want to liquidate some older detectors for loot to buy Equinox and possible Equinox accessories.
Also don't forget the new pinpointer that seems to have some sort of ferrous disc.
No matter what manufacturer released let's say a "barn burner" performing detector,,there will be those who jump on fast,,some who jump on slower, some who will sell one or more units fast, some who will stand fast, some who defintiely want to see feedback from purchasers they trust, some will wait even longer even if performance reported is very good, but fear glitches and other shortcomings.
Not a one size fits all here,,folks are different.
But this light weight and price of units will turn more heads than usual for a new release pending.
(Mud-puppy is your fine example here).
All normal human reactions.
Now if a fbs3 Minelab were being released that weighed a little than a Deus and ID similar to CTX,,you could expect to see many boat anchor fbs/fbs2 units start cropping up in the used portions of forums for sale.
Another thing.
With each passing day, IMO the percentage of actual detectorists looking at, or participating in metal detecting forum(s) is going up.
Why?
Because the older less computer/internet savvy are either becoming too old to detect, hence lose interest, or kick the bucket.
And hence the younger generations are replacing at a faster rate.
I highly suspect there are some older detectorist out there who have never seen or participated in a detecting forum, even looked Facebook, have an email account or anything.
They may be still using rotary dial phones too.