anyone into R/C cars?

[wellington1869]

Does the name "Tamiya" make your eyes tear up with nostalgia?

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[audioave10]

That's cool. I just had Estes rockets as a kid. I set a field on fire once-LOL.
This impresses me the most as RC goes...

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[wellington1869]

lol I had r/c airplanes too, just two of them which I crashed in no time flat. It was kind of more expensive to keep fixing those up so I went back to cars

came across my old Tamiyas when moving my mom's stuff, and just looked them up on ebay and online -- and guess what, they're worth a pretty penny as 'vintage' tamiya There's a huge nostalgia market for these things for people who grew up building them and playing with them in the '80s as I did.

They came in kit form which  you assembled (and could pimp out pretty nicely). Tamiya by far made the best ones (tho a number of companies have since jumped on the bandwagon). Tamiya also has the neatest looking models. 1/10th scale. *LOT* of fun building and racing them with my friends in our backyards.

I had an audi rally car and a 'california holiday buggy' like a sand buggy.  I really wanted the ford f-150 which I thought looked soooooo realistic. It was pricey even back then though.  I also reaaaally wanted the sand scorcher (the vw bug pictured above).  I look at them today and I still want them soooo badly. But last thing I can do right now is get back into yet another very expensive and very time consuming hobby. Maybe when i'm retired but no way I can afford either the time or cost right now. Its a pity. They're really beautiful pieces of engineering and technology and really hit all the right buttons for a car-crazy kid.  (Which I guess I still am, lol).

My friend bought a wild willy (the jeep pictured above), which is also worth a pretty penny today (like three times its original value, if its still running).  You cant find a lot of these old models anymore (tho some of them Tamiya has re-issued as their 'vintage' line). NIB they're about $500 to $700 each now. Wow.  I dont think I paid more than $50 to $100 back in the 80s.

Also nice to see battery technology has improved so much. My Audi for instance had a 10 minute run-time. Today's batteries can probably quadruple that, makes it so much more fun.

[audioave10]

I never had a Tamiya...we were poor...

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[wellington1869]

So i dusted off the audi rally car.  I just bought a new battery for it on ebay for $20. I think thats all it needs.  It looks basically ready to run (after having been packed away into its box for 25 years.)

The holiday buggy sadly has a broken front strut, will have to sell that one for parts or as a fix-me-up.

Will take some video of my audi when I put it up for sale on ebay.

[wellington1869]

I never had a Tamiya...we were poor...

lol, i was poor too, but unfortunately at some point i got my hands on a Tower Hobbies catalog, and, well, I took summer jobs just to fund my habit!

(I think they're still in business btw).

[audioave10]

I was that age in the sixties so I never knew about them anyway. I don't know if they could be bought in Kansas back then. I never saw any.

[wellington1869]

I was that age in the sixties so I never knew about them anyway. I don't know if they could be bought in Kansas back then. I never saw any.

I think the first tamiya cars anyway were produced in late 70s. Well, thats when they came to the US market anyway. Probably earlier if you were in japan.

Do you remember this one? Crash, Bang, Smash 'em up? Not RC, but as a toddler in the 70s I wanted this SOOOOOOOOOOOOO badly. Never got one but the commercial from that era is burned into my mind. I still want one today, lol.

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[audioave10]

That's funny. By that time I was drag-racing and smoking weed. Even funnier, the cops didn't care if we smoked weed...they just took it away from us. We were always sure that they smoked it themselves.
I still have die-cast cars mostly from NASCAR drivers.

[wellington1869]

I still have die-cast cars mostly from NASCAR drivers.

yea I still have a small set of matchbox cars and tonka trucks. A lot of those were given away by my mom without my knowledge, something i havent yet forgiven her for, lol.

Want to hear something funny? Complete sets of Smashup Derby are selling on ebay for -- guess how much  about $150-$200

Holy crap.  Save those old toys man. A classic toy can be worth so much on the nostalgia market, its amazing.

[audioave10]

I didn't realize you were a rockstar!
wait for the singing...

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[wellington1869]

lol! yea beaker can belt it out

hilarious

[Lanx]

rc cars=hours of fun for pets. (although i need a new top for my buggy/car thing my dog rips it up)

[clickclack]

Does the name "Tamiya" make your eyes tear up with nostalgia?

Sure does =)

I was and I guess still am to some extent a mad RC fan XD
I was just moving out of racing and moding rc cars about the time that brushless motors were hitting the scene. I wish that had come sooner =(

anywho...

I too wanted a Tamiya F-150 but it was this one-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHrkMOm_2RI
I actually still want one =P
I think they did another limited release of them. Just like many of the classics you mentioned above. Nostalgia and retro are this decades theme it seems and in many ways I have no problem with that!


I just caught a video of this while looking that up and it made me smile big time-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXZxHdw5m6o

I really liked Tamiya for the realism and scale but I also really enjoyed-
Team Losi
HPI
Kyosho

I raced an off road Losi XXT and loved it! I still have it and it's in silly perfect condition. I also had a Team Losi Junior T which was my first REAL rc car (one that I had to put together and such). I still have that one too but it's just a wreck! I modded it so much to do speed runs that it snapped in half one day when I actually caught up to a car on the open road... It was ugly but funny as hell =P

I tried to race a Tamiya TA02W (Nissan Skyline GT-R Clarion) but at the time shaft driven cars were not efficient enough to be competitive. So I moved on to an HPI RS4 Pro (belt driven) which was wicked! I really wanted shaft driven cars to get better (I hated belts and everything about them). But it was when I was getting out of RC that the shaft driven cars became all the rage. It came around full circle.

Throw in about 10 other rc cars and you have a better part of my childhood. Heck, I learned a ton working on them and playing with them and work with some SFX animatronics later soley because I already understood much of the basics =D

Some trends have become really impressive, there are even aluminum rc bodies! How wacky is that? Link-
http://www.aluminumrcbodies.com/

I also have noticed that many companies are supplying very trick detailed parts for added realism now. So I guess if I do another concours build I wont be as special, LoLz.
I made this sucker many years ago based on a popular kit at the time. Tamiya couldn't hold a candle to the detail I fabricated on this thing, haahaa. From glowing brake discs with calipers and working lights to the tinest scale detail like key holes on the door handles, vertical fins on the intercooler and radiator and even valve stems on the wheels. I would do it all over again if I could find the time =)
Here are a couple of old pics of it from a photo and model contest, yes I won =P
heehee











I would love to get back into it =)
Heck I would love to even get back into Gran Turismo! Lawls XD

ok fine, back to keycaps...

[wellington1869]

dude, love the working lights! Very very nice! Why am I not surprised that you won?

The realism is amazing.

yea I learned a lot from building them too, and lots of great memories.  Would love to get back into it but its one of those hobbies that is best suited for children and retirees, lol.

[patrickgeekhack]

I don't own any, but maybe one day when I have more free time and my daughter is older I will. I would like an R/C Helicopter or plane too :-)

[lam47]

I used to when I had more free money.
I had an Associated RC10 truck and a Lossi XXX carbon truck.
Ella crashed the carbon one and broke one of the front arms. I had to order the parts from the US where the truck came from. She was never allowed to play with them again!
I think Marco is a fan. Not sure if he still posts here or not.

[kip69]

Wow.  I had an old hornet like that picture as  a kid.  Would still have it if my brother had not plugged the fast charger in over night.  Exploded battery bad!!!

Now I live in Taiwan.  A few friends and I got into it again.  Most are made here and I can get most parts very cheep.  HPI stuff that did not get loaded on the boat, wink wink.

I got 2 now.  A low street racer with over cooled engine and lipo battery.  And a dirt buggy tricked out for street with 9 cell batteries.

[didjamatic]

I had a Tamiya Fox when I was a kid.  I loved that thing.  Back in the day it was really fast for an RC car.

[wellington1869]

I got 2 now.  A low street racer with over cooled engine and lipo battery.  And a dirt buggy tricked out for street with 9 cell batteries.

sounds sweet!

i'm cleaning up my two 'vintage' ones. Going to put them on sale, but man, just looking at them, they're screaming out for me to take them for a spin.

[WhiteRice]

When I was 14 I got into micro rc cars.

Microsizers
Digi Q
Epoch