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R/C cars (like Tamiya) made me bored with lesser toys

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I'm probably going to be alone on this one. But it does relate to Tamiya in the 1980s, so hear me out... ;)

When people talk these days about "80s toy collecting", most of the discussion (not all, but most) is about action figures.

Listen to podcasts, go to forums, read books...there is an overdose of discussion about action figures, all under the entirely broad heading of "vintage toys".

Of course action figures were popular. They were toys. Based on heroes and monsters. And they were cheap. $2 - $10 each.

But when I was a kid in the 80s, I thought action figures were completely boring - not just because they were action figures. But because they really couldn't DO anything. And the 80s were packed with electric toys that did DO stuff.

Part of the reason why I started a blog was actually to offer a different perspective on the web, and recall a bit of a different "toy childhood" to the typical 80s action figure buff. My childhood had almost nothing to do with action figures. And everything to do with R/C cars.

I had friends who had loads of Star Wars figures. Masters of the Universe figures. Etc. I really loved the movies and cartoon. But never once did I ask for those figures at birthdays or Christmases.

I remember seeing my Masters of the Universe friend playing with his Castle Greyskull set and all the figures one day, when I visited his house after school, and just thinking "what's the point of these figures? What's the objective? You can't build anything, everything is rigid plastic, nothing does anything..."

When I was about 8, someone gave me a GI Joe figure. It looked nice. Had some weapons and accessories. But I really never knew what to do with it either. It didn't fit in any of my R/C cars.

I think my early exposure (aged 6) to R/C cars seemed to mean I liked mechanical toys and powered toys. And if something wasn't mechanical or powered, it at least had to be construction oriented. Or at the bare minimum, be vehicle oriented.

This offered variety of play, or at least vehicles you could roll along the floor - so they had a sense of self-propelled, mechanical motion to them.

Fully R/C cars (like Tamiya, but also Nikko, Radio Shack, anything really) absolutely rewired my brain cells. They were like a miracle - like the pinnacle of all possible toys. A car you could control and race - from a distance.

Once I first saw them, a lot of what I considered 'basic toys' - like action figures - were old fashioned to me. As boring as wooden toys. You couldn't do anything with figures except run around and "pretend" they were doing stuff. Hold them in your hands? Sit them on playsets? Make them fight in mid-air with one in each hand?

LEGO was still ok to me because it was intricate and had endless building variety. Slot cars were almost as fun as R/C for obvious reasons of racing and control. As were all other powered car toys, trains, planes, electronic toys, LCD games, etc. Transformers were ok because they had some functionality (and they were toy vehicles you could roll around).

But plastic figures of people, often with no movement at all (but never more than bendy arms, spring loaded punches and kick actions) etc, just seemed too prefabricated, too simple, too limited.

So what I want to know is: was I alone in being such a mechanical little nerd, who was probably spoiled and ended up needing $100+ R/C cars as gifts, instead of $5 figures?

Or was my experience a common one among those who had early childhood exposure to Tamiya (or any R/C cars)?

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You are certainly not alone in having found action figures rather boring. I too didn't see the appeal.

The toy-grade RC cars I was exposed to as a young child also had limited appeal due to the cost of batteries. They were fantastic fun when they ran, and I thoroughly enjoyed running mine when I could. However a single set of dry cells cost the best part of a month's pocket money, but lasted less than a day's worth of play, which meant my little Taiyo Martini Porsche 935 spent 29 days out of 30 sitting in its box under the bed. (Rechargeable batteries were waaaay out of my price range at the time.)

Back in those days, it was all about Lego for me. No batteries required, endless possibilities, and active encouragement from parents who considered it educational meant that it was by far my most enjoyed childhood toy.

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I am lucky to say that even for my first R/C car, my Dad bought me rechargeable batteries. So I didn't have that issue (and in fact, run times on RTR models were always 3-4 times longer than on 7.2v powered models).

But yes, LEGO was (and still is) a toy with huge variety of play, and I actually had quite a lot of it. And some LEGO was powered too. Once I saw the electric train sets, it brought an already great toy - to life.

I also wanted the big Technic "car chassis" with electric motor you could fit :) I had a friend who had that.

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I think me and my brother had a mix a different toys etc. Growing up in the 80's as a kid was a fantastic time. We did have action figures such as star wars and all the vehicles including the AT-AT, millennium falcon, tie fighters, x-wings etc. There were also the transformer figures and gobots. The 80's was the start of computers and consoles really taking off so we were into those too.

The ones that stood out for me though were a toy line called zoids. Like you mention there's nothing that action figures actually did. Well the zoids first of all came in a kit, not unlike the part trees in tamiya kits. There were no screws but they sort of clipped together and held together by rubber caps. They tended to look like animals and dinosaurs but heavily armoured and weaponised. The good thing about them though as well as being an exciting kit for kids to build once you had finished they actually functioned under their own power. Walking, lighting up and moving arms, legs and weapons etc. The smaller cheaper ones were wind up but the larger power zoids required batteries. I think I'd like to build one now! :lol:

To your question I think the answer is no I don't think you are alone being a mechanical little nerd like you said :lol: . Most on here probably were too. A hobby grade rc car would blow all those toys out of the water so you probably did got spoiled seeing one so early so toys didn't live up to expectation. I got exposed to tamiya later than you but when I did, wooooooow!!! The tamiya hornet trumped everything I'd seen before. :D

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I think me and my brother had a mix a different toys etc. Growing up in the 80's as a kid was a fantastic time. We did have action figures such as star wars and all the vehicles including the AT-AT, millennium falcon, tie fighters, x-wings etc. There were also the transformer figures and gobots. The 80's was the start of computers and consoles really taking off so we were into those too.

The ones that stood out for me though were a toy line called zoids.

I too was blessed with a mix of different toys as a child. I was and still am heavily into Star Wars so most of my toys were Star Wars. I had many figures, ships & vehicles including the Millennium Falcon, Speeder Bikes, AT-ST and the Snowspeeder. I'm envious of Terz1 for having the AT-AT though :D Also many Transformers like Soundwave, Ratbat & Frenzy, Blitzwing, Devastator & most Dinobots. Had heaps of Masters of the Universe, Battle Ram, Land Shark, Spydor & Snake Mountain. Then there was GI Joes & Mask.

No for the most part these figures etc did not do much but they reminded me of the tv episodes & movies and helped bring them back to life in my imagination. I'm still into AD&D which apart from the amazing miniatures around these days is purely imagination..I do remember the Zoids but I never had any. My parents for the most part bought me the toy variety RTR RC cars as the real ones like Tamiya were too expensive as a single purchase.

I was a mechanical Nerd to some degree though - I loved the Technical Lego kits and other stuff like Meccano & D i c k Smith electronic kits which could be built from scratch. And having a taste of RC with the toy variety had me dreaming of and really got me interested in one day owning the "real thing".

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Then the ZX Spectrum came along and changed everything for me... The age of computing destroyed the need for all other toys

To be honest we had bikes and friends which was a huge thing and I spent a lot of time in the garage fixing classic bikes and not classic at the time cars.

I watch my kids with playmobil pretending and am sort of jealous I am not wired that way. They both love RC though :-)

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I didn't get my Hornet until '86 when I was ten. So I grew up with Lego and Star Wars from 4 on and loved it. True the figures don't do anything but you bring the imagination and creativity to bring them to life in your minds eye. I see my eldest son (last day of 10 today) playing with his figures now and he loves it, even in this age of ipads/r/c's, gaming consoles, and it is great to see it.

From about '86 I got heavily into Mask, loved the cartoons and the vehicles actually did something, I think I played that up until about 12, RC's was another hobby but most of us only had the one battery and had to wait for long charge times for short battery runs. I also had a petrol motorbike that I used from about 6, so plenty of mechanical hobbies but not at the expense of action figures. The commodore Amiga launched in about 88-89? It took home gaming to a new level so that was fun too. Then there were air rifles which we also played about with and skateboards and bicycles. I had a fantastic childhood and pretty balanced with exposure to lots of differing stimuli.

We used to play a game called secret agents as well where we turned sofa beds into helicopters and ran around pretending to be some kind of special police/agents.

The 80's was such a stimulating era for imagination and creativity. It was everywhere, I watched the Neverending story with my kids a year or so ago, all about the 'nothing' that creeps in when kids stop imagining. Such an honest time, I love the 80's and love that so much of it is coming back around so I can share and enjoy it with my kids.

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"Lesser" toys sounds a bit harsh to me, how about "other" toys instead?

Real men never grow out of their toys.

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I've still got a full set of vintage star wars figures, and I used to have them as a youngster and had great fun with them! All I can do now though is look at them and reminisce, as I don't have the active imagination that I used too when I was little. Mind end up selling them after the new film comes out and buy more rc stuff, or a real car!

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For me it was wood (swords & crossbows, cars, sleds, treehouses, etc.), LEGO, Matador & Baufix.

RC cars would habe been awsome, but that were the toys of the older boys (my father had an toy grade buggy that looked like a white Hotshot 2...).

Baufix:

http://www.amazon.de/Stadlbauer-Marketing-Vertrieb-GmbH-10420/dp/B00J656GT4/ref=pd_sim_21_2?ie=UTF8&dpID=51Y9hEX5tQL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160%2C160_&refRID=1VV6PAXS292YZWCHB262

Matador:

http://www.amazon.de/Matador-KI-4-gro%C3%9Fer-Holzbaukasten/dp/B000NWIH64/ref=pd_sim_21_6?ie=UTF8&dpID=51B1IrgAJHL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160%2C160_&refRID=0VWN9W0G1PYWQ561YRYG

I had a huge Matador set from the era of my fathers and uncles childhood, that would be worth thousends of euros today.

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Totally agree with you, H!

Here are some of my childhood toys that I remember. Keep in mind that I live in the USA so some of these toys might not be familiar.

Action figures: I never understood the fascination about them either. I had two Star Wars action figures (darth Vader and Luke I think) back in 1978 and never played with them. Never asked for more.

Wooden blocks: Loved them. I could make bridges and buildings and then "destroy" them and do it all over again. I enjoyed the building and the destruction. Always wished I had more blocks to make bigger things. Given to younger cousins years ago.

Capsela: Loved it. Could make mechanical things and even stuff for the tub! Sold the kit at yard sale years ago I think.

Lego: Loved them. Still do. Have all of my childhood sets, including the precursor to Technics called "Expert Builder".

Riviton: Loved it. Use rubber rivets to build stuff. Was recalled due to safety issues (kids choking on rivets) years ago. I still own it.

Erector Sets: Loved them. Still own all of them from childhood. More of a "grown up" thing so didn't play with it as much as Lego. Fiddly screws and nuts took forever to assemble stuff.

Lincoln Logs: Loved them. Sold on years ago. Always wanted more to build bigger stuff.

Loc Blocs: Competition for Lego. Fun, but not as fun as Lego. Sold on years ago.

Girder and Panel set: Loved it. Very fun to build tall buildings and other things like bridges. Destruction wasn't as fun as I hoped because the pieces fit together well enough to actually be somewhat strong when assembled properly.

Cap guns: Loved them. Still own some of them. Favorite manufacturer: Edison Giocattoli from Italy. I had the Falconmatic and Lionmatic which used the Supermatic cap strips. I still have the guns, but they are in rough shape internally (partially seized mechanics and impossible to take apart and clean).

Stomper 4x4: Made by Schaper. Was all the rage in the 80's. Little vehicles that took a single AA battery and drove all 4 wheels.

And then there are RC cars.

I loved them when I was 8 and got my first crappy Radio Shack single-button remote all the way to today. By far my longest running hobby and "toys" for me.

[edit: spelling, typos, grammar]

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Totally agree with you, H!

Here are some of my childhood toys that I remember. Keep in mind that I love in the USA so some of these toys might be be familiar.

Action figures: I never understood the fascination about them either. I had two Star Wars action figures (darth Vader and Luke I think) back in 1978 and never played with them. Never asked for more.

Wooden blocks: Loved them. I could make bridges and buildings and then "destroy" them and do it all over again. I enjoyed the building and the destruction. Always wished I had more blocks to make bigger things. Given to younger cousins years ago.

Capsela: Loved it. Could make mechanical things and even stuff for the tub! Sold the kit at yard sale years ago I think.

Lego: Loved them. Still do. Have all of my childhood sets, including the precursor to Technics called "Expert Builder".

Riviton: Loved it. Use rubber rivets to build stuff. Was recalled due to safety issues (kids choking on rivets) years ago. I still own it.

Erector Sets: Loved them. Still own all of them from childhood. More of a "grown up" thing so didn't play with it as much as Lego. Fiddly screws and nuts took forever to assemble stuff.

Lincoln Logs: Loved them. Sold on years ago. Always wanted more to build bigger stuff.

Loc Blocs: Competition for Lego. Fun, but not as fun as Lego. Sold on years ago.

Girder and Panel set: Loved it. Very fun to build tall buildings and other things like bridges. Destruction wasn't as fun as I hoped because the pieces fit together well enough to actually be somewhat strong when assembled properly.

Cap guns: Loved them. Still own some of them. Favorite manufacturer: Edison Giocattoli from Italy. I had the Falconmatic and Lionmatic which used the Supermatic cap strips. I still have the guns, but they are in rough shape internally (partially seized mechanics and impossible to take apart and clean).

Stomper 4x4: Made by Schaper. Was all the rage in the 80's. Little vehicles that took a single AA battery and drove all 4 wheels.

Yep. All of this, minus the cap guns, plus Estes rockets, Cox control-line airplanes, and lots and lots of static models: cars, airplanes, and spaceships. It was a real moment of pride when I graduated from "Snap-Tite" models to the kind that needed glue. RC cars came later. I was already a mechanical-toy nerd before then.

That girder-and-panel set: was it black columns and girders that fit together with little dovetails, and then you snapped clear plastic "walls" on? I had a set like that. Was supposed to make airports, but I usually built skyscrapers.

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I see my eldest son (last day of 10 today) playing with his figures now and he loves it, even in this age of ipads/r/c's, gaming consoles, and it is great to see it.

Wow, that's impressive. A few of you mentioned the impact video games had. Today I see touch devices like iPads, as really ruining an enormous amount of traditional toy time for kids. A lot of parents just seem to hand their kids an iPad.

I watched the Neverending story with my kids a year or so ago, all about the 'nothing' that creeps in when kids stop imagining. Such an honest time, I love the 80's and love that so much of it is coming back around so I can share and enjoy it with my kids.

Well said! The Neverending Story, ah what memories. I saw it at the cinema. And had one of my first ever hobby shop visits immediately afterward.

"Lesser" toys sounds a bit harsh to me, how about "other" toys instead?

Point taken. I guess the thrust of my argument was they did become 'lesser' to me, after exposure to things like R/C, so I went for the controversial title (purely to draw attention to myself ;))

"Toys they're not."

I know, I know...

These days, everything from Jet Skis to Hot Rods are referred to colloquially as "big boys toys". So I think the word "toy" has become a lot more common in it's usage.

Tamiya ran that slogan in their catalogues, but it was really just pure marketing - trying to distinguish themselves from the cheaper, ready to run models. Yet at the same time, Tamiya were selling cheaper, ready-to-run models. Tamtechs, Quick Drive, Boys Racer series, and others. Kyosho and Marui followed suit. Nikko sold kit models. Lines were being blurred all over the place. And by any literal definition of the word "toy", Tamiya cars have always been toys.

I've still got a full set of vintage star wars figures, and I used to have them as a youngster and had great fun with them! All I can do now though is look at them and reminisce, as I don't have the active imagination that I used too when I was little. Mind end up selling them after the new film comes out and buy more rc stuff, or a real car!

He's not kidding either. MOC (mint on card) Star Wars figures have gone through the roof in recent years.

TBYP8OB.jpg

Still doesn't make me believe I should have played with them as a kid ^_^ But sure wish I'd bought them for $2ea, not played, and kept them in a box.

RC cars would habe been awsome, but that were the toys of the older boys (my father had an toy grade buggy that looked like a white Hotshot 2...).

Not totally sure, but it may have been a Taiyo Jet Fighter.

Those look really cool.

They remind me a little bit of another plastic construction set I had, made in New Zealand, called "Torro". I loved it.

Capsela: Loved it. Could make mechanical things and even stuff for the tub! Sold the kit at yard sale years ago I think.

Stomper 4x4: Made by Schaper. Was all the rage in the 80's. Little vehicles that took a single AA battery and drove all 4 wheels.

Capsela and Stompers, I am totally with you there. I actually never had either. But 80s commercials like these, sent me into a spin...

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Wow, that's impressive. A few of you mentioned the impact video games had. Today I see touch devices like iPads, as really ruining an enormous amount of traditional toy time for kids. A lot of parents just seem to hand their kids an iPad.

Well said! The Neverending Story, ah what memories. I saw it at the cinema. And had one of my first ever hobby shop visits immediately afterward.

Point taken. I guess the thrust of my argument was they did become 'lesser' to me, after exposure to things like R/C, so I went for the controversial title (purely to draw attention to myself ;))

I know, I know...

These days, everything from Jet Skis to Hot Rods are referred to colloquially as "big boys toys". So I think the word "toy" has become a lot more common in it's usage.

Tamiya ran that slogan in their catalogues, but it was really just pure marketing - trying to distinguish themselves from the cheaper, ready to run models. Yet at the same time, Tamiya were selling cheaper, ready-to-run models. Tamtechs, Quick Drive, Boys Racer series, and others. Kyosho and Marui followed suit. Nikko sold kit models. Lines were being blurred all over the place. And by any literal definition of the word "toy", Tamiya cars have always been toys.

He's not kidding either. MOC (mint on card) Star Wars figures have gone through the roof in recent years.

TBYP8OB.jpg

Still doesn't make me believe I should have played with them as a kid ^_^ But sure wish I'd bought them for $2ea, not played, and kept them in a box.

Not totally sure, but it may have been a Taiyo Jet Fighter.

Those look really cool.

They remind me a little bit of another plastic construction set I had, made in New Zealand, called "Torro". I loved it.

Capsela and Stompers, I am totally with you there. I actually never had either. But 80s commercials like these, sent me into a spin...

Ha stompers, I can remember buying them from Woolworth's these and penny racers.
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The 80's were a great time to be a kid when it came to toys and the half hour commercials they called "cartoon shows" ;) . I had mostly a mix of GI Joe and Transformers toys. Transformers were my favorite along with Legos. I had and small RC tractor trailer when I was very young and did not like it. Once the novelty of "control" wore off, I went back to pushing around my regular diecast trucks. The reason I liked other toys is because they required more imagination in a way. Transformers were a bridge requiring both imagination (making up stories and battles and such) and working with mechanisms. I decidedly did not like battery operated toys. I simply wasn't amused by flicking a switch and watching something move about without my intervention. I wanted to know how things worked, not just be happy with watching them work.

That all being said, it was Tamiya and RC models in general that roped me in. Here was something YOU had to construct, paint, and maintain. They taught you all about mechanics and tuning them taught you about driving dynamics. It was (and still is) a little slice of heaven. I had other Nikkos before Tamiyas when I got older, but they were only to tide me over until I could get my hands on a Tamiya kit.

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Yep. All of this, minus the cap guns, plus Estes rockets, Cox control-line airplanes, and lots and lots of static models: cars, airplanes, and spaceships. It was a real moment of pride when I graduated from "Snap-Tite" models to the kind that needed glue. RC cars came later. I was already a mechanical-toy nerd before then.

That girder-and-panel set: was it black columns and girders that fit together with little dovetails, and then you snapped clear plastic "walls" on? I had a set like that. Was supposed to make airports, but I usually built skyscrapers.

For some reason I never got into rockets. I thought they were cool, but not enough to actually build any. My dad was a big rocket fan when he was younger.

And for plastic models built with glue, I only made a few of those. I found them too fiddly plus the parts needed to be painted and I wasn't patient enough when I was younger.

The girder and panel set that I played with had blue girders with dovetails on the ends and 2 pins in the middle on either side for the tops of the plastic panels to push onto. The posts were also blue and had 4 joints for the girders on top plus 4 pins on the bottom for the panels and they could connect together vertically. They might have made a black version too (special edition?), not sure. They had an airport set, skyscraper set and maybe some others. I forget which set I had. Good times.

What really got me with Tamiya RC cars when I first got into them was the size of the motor (Mabuchi RS540S). Compared to any other motor I had ever seen in a RC car (toy store quality), it was like 4 times as large and very heavy. I couldn't believe that a battery powered car could be feasible when the motor was so heavy. Then I learned that the 1200mAh battery only lasted about 5 minutes in my Super Champ. It kinda put things into perspective for me.

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Wow, that's impressive. A few of you mentioned the impact video games had. Today I see touch devices like iPads, as really ruining an enormous amount of traditional toy time for kids. A lot of parents just seem to hand their kids an iPad.

Well said! The Neverending Story, ah what memories. I saw it at the cinema. And had one of my first ever hobby shop visits immediately afterward.

Point taken. I guess the thrust of my argument was they did become 'lesser' to me, after exposure to things like R/C, so I went for the controversial title (purely to draw attention to myself ;))

I know, I know...

These days, everything from Jet Skis to Hot Rods are referred to colloquially as "big boys toys". So I think the word "toy" has become a lot more common in it's usage.

Tamiya ran that slogan in their catalogues, but it was really just pure marketing - trying to distinguish themselves from the cheaper, ready to run models. Yet at the same time, Tamiya were selling cheaper, ready-to-run models. Tamtechs, Quick Drive, Boys Racer series, and others. Kyosho and Marui followed suit. Nikko sold kit models. Lines were being blurred all over the place. And by any literal definition of the word "toy", Tamiya cars have always been toys.

He's not kidding either. MOC (mint on card) Star Wars figures have gone through the roof in recent years.

TBYP8OB.jpg

Still doesn't make me believe I should have played with them as a kid ^_^ But sure wish I'd bought them for $2ea, not played, and kept them in a box.

Not totally sure, but it may have been a Taiyo Jet Fighter.

Those look really cool.

They remind me a little bit of another plastic construction set I had, made in New Zealand, called "Torro". I loved it.

Capsela and Stompers, I am totally with you there. I actually never had either. But 80s commercials like these, sent me into a spin...

That is a Double telescoping 12 back so is quite rare (very) This is an exception rather than a rule.

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Transformers were my joint but after my mom and I built an old spitfire static model I was bitten by the building stuff bug. My parents stepped on quite a bit of sharp lego. Rc cars came later but they were mostly terrible until I got my aero hopper in 1988, then I was reading every issue of RC Car Action cover to cover.

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As a kid, I really liked everything.

- Star Wars

- Go Bots

- GI Joe (pretty much just the Skystriker)

- Transformers

- Wheeled warriors

- Battle Beasts

- Robotix

- Starcom

- Tamiya Mini 4WD racing

- kyosho & Tamiya RC

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- Robotix

Loved me some Robotix. Crazy that they still make these sets :blink:

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YES! I loved Capsela! Taught me a lot about drivetrains and how power is transmitted.

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Loved me some Robotix. Crazy that they still make these sets :blink:

I wonder if the plastic is still super brittle? The one thing I hated about Robotix was how the plastic would crack with only minimal use (making the pieces loose). If Milton Bradley had figured out Lego's plastic formula, that toy would have been a perfect 10/10!

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