86 replies to this topic

[hedge]

Why not get a few runner Scorchers, do them up in all different colour schemes, and get together with other SS / RR owners and run them on the beach along the sand flats and water puddle splashes, there's nothing like seeing it for real

You know the idea for the Rough Rider was and maybe still is to run it so you never know. Hopefully this winter I will get around to stripping it down and re-building it. I loved the recent cheap SRB diff post and may even give that a go to induce a bit of steering LOL.

Paul

[TenzoR]

Parent bought me Lego and my uncle introduced to me to Tamiya via the Lunchbox

I still love both product

[retroman]

I can remember hounding my Mum and Dad for an R/C car, must have been about 12 years old. I think I got the usual "Too Expensive", and then normally got Scalextric stuff, which was cool. They both worked hard (and still do), and bought me up well.
One Christmas I was lucky enough to get a remote control car. it was some kind of gold porsche, and it steered via a little wheel underneath the car. the controller was a push button. Push the button, and it would go backwards and start steering, then when it was pointing in the right direction, press the button again, and it would go straight forwards!! LOL. I remember one of the lucky kids at school had a Frog, and I was really jealous.

I'm now 36, and have a huge amount of fun with vintage R/C stuff. It's kind of I now have the money to just do it, and love trying to find those missing parts. I had messed with racing touring cars for a few years, after my lovely wife bought me a TL01 for a christmas present a few years back. I still have it, and have just restored it!! My first ever R/C car.

What started me with the whole vintage thing, was "The Brat". I went into my local LHS, and saw the re-re kit. I just had to have it. It was one of those kits I always wanted as a kid. Had great fun building it, and had far more fun driving it than any touring car!! Since then I have bought a few more re-re's; Frog, and Hornet, and have also tackled 2 SRB projects, Super Champ, and Sand Scorcher, and current rescues include a vintage Frog, and a Blazing Blazer. I have to admit, I never thought I would ever own a Blazer as a kid, they were so expensive :-)

I don't do the whole racing thing anymore, but I have recently joined up with the "Clumber Meets" crew, and have a great time. Any car I have gets rebuilt to fully working, and reliable condition, and it gets run. This will include the Blazing Blazer. There was a Clumber Meet at the weekend just gone, and it was first time out for the Sand Scorcher. It got absolutely filthy with mud, I was hooning it through muddy puddles, it even got ramped!! And I loved it. It took hours of cleaning afterwards though :-)

[Artsy]

Yep, Got a Sand Scorcher in 79. Greatest Christmas ever as my older brother bought me an Atari 2600(?). Still have the SS and great memories of building it with my dad.

Cheers

[highflyer]

My parents never bought me a kit when I was a kid, I was into sports and BMX bikes. My younger brother did get a 'Bandito' (maker?) in 1985 or '86 and I remember my father putting it together for him. I recall it being very fast but the RX batteries always fell out ...

[VagabondStarJXF]

My parents weren't particularly well off but that didn't mean that my brother and I didn't get our fair share of toy RC's (radio shack etc.). One day, back when I was 11 I think it was, I was staying with my dad over the holidays (He was working as a maintenance man in a hotel in London at the time) and I decided to pester him to get me a 'proper' RC car after I saw some while aimlessly wondering around London. He'd generally been leaving me in the staff quarters in the hotel's basement with nothing to do except occasionally take care of my baby sister when she was there. There was a TV that I couldn't watch because it had bad reception down there and I would've gone completely insane if I didn't have my walkman. Thankfully I could get out onto the streets of London and I often went into Selfridges and Hamleys to see all the cool toys I couldn't afford. I know my dad wasn't particularly keen on spending 180-200 on a 'toy' but I guess he changed his mind and probably thought it'd be a good idea to get one when he saw that it was a self build kit (I think he was glad I was into building stuff being that my dad was always into cars and machinery etc.) so I had one in my hands within a week. We actually went into a few stores before I decided on one. It was the Striker. I picked it because no one I knew had one. That wasn't much of a push as I didn't know anyone who had a Tamiya at the time! I spent the last day I was with my dad building it up while I waited for him to finish work so he could drop me home. It was really exciting building my first kit but I was a bit worried when I had those few screws left over.

[Live Steam Mad]

There was a Clumber Meet at the weekend just gone, and it was first time out for the Sand Scorcher. It got absolutely filthy with mud, I was hooning it through muddy puddles, it even got ramped!! And I loved it. It took hours of cleaning afterwards though :-)

Blast it with a hose pipe with one of those water jet gun attachments that varies the jet from wide to narrow. Saves on cleaning time, works great! I use the Hozelock brand.

Cheers,

Alistair G.

[skip665]

My first Tamiya was a Christmas present - my mate and I both asked for them the same year - my mate asked his parents for a Lunchbox and I asked my parents for a Midnight Pumpkin - imagine my complete disappointment when I ripped open the wrapping to discover the dreaded "Quick-Drive" version! I was absolutely gutted and I seem to remember me letting them know that (I sound like a spoilt brat there I know but I was hugely disappointed!) I was sooo looking forward to the build etc but all I could do was fit the 8 AA batteries and run it around the garden - I remember being so gutted at how slow it was They explained to me that they bought that version as they thought they would save me the "hassle" of building it myself and I could just get on and drive it - assuming it was the same thing just pre-built - if only the XB versions were around back then!

I saved up furiously after that and bought a Lunchbox as my mates was soooo good - obviously that first Pumpkin experience had put me off!

[mini-ac]

hello

I remember when I was 14, asking everyone in the family (grandparents, uncle, everyone) not to give me any present, but to give me some cash to buy my grasshopper II.
I was supposed to receive some money, and than to go buy it on december 26th, so what a surprise when I found, under the X-mas Tree, a grasshopper II super-G with radio, charger et battery packs.
I had to pay a big part of it, but yes, my parents bought me my 1st real rc car

tom4

[Leethal Driver]

Dad, dad, can I have Hornet/Lunchbox/Grasshopper (or whatever took my fancy on the particular day we were in Beatties) for christmas?

We'll see son, we'll see.



Only went and bought himself a Sand Rover didn't he!!! Think I got a BMX from memory instead so well chuffed at the time.

Dad thenswapped his Sand Rover for a shedload of Scalextric so didn't get much use out of it either.

So, my first daughter recently arrived.

In the space of four days I bought a NIB Blackfoot Xtreme, second hand TT01 for some on road action and a second hand re-re Hornet. Hopped the Blackfoot somewhat, tidied up the Hornet and planning some upgrades for the TT01 over the winter.

Still can't work out what I want next.

Lunchbox or Pumpkin?

[Bearhawk_Boy]

Lunch box everytime, never really fancied the Pumpkin

My first tamiya was already built but we stripped it down and cleaned most of the parts and rebuilt is clean, but we was on the look out for a Stadium Blitzer to compliment our Bear Hawk when we found a little Model shop when out on a trip and popped in sadly the store owner talked both me and my dad into buying a Schumacher Alfa 155 and I regreat it still to this day

[rezotop]

here's my little story, my friend had received a super saber for is birthday, so me too wanted a tamiya kit, started to look at the tamiya line and begin to dream of having a thunder shot. work all summer but didn't had enough money to purchase my dream machine so I purchase a blackfoot that I still have

[Tamiya1/10]

Tamiya kit yes, Tamiya RC no. I guess that is why I am now into RC and not so much for the kits. Maybe, if I did have RC when I was a kid, many many many years ago, I would have out grown it and now into something else, or maybe not.

[HereBeMonsters]

I only got a Tamiya as I found it at a jumble sale I went to with my Gran. Even they weren't impressed with my massive bargain (brand new built Hornet with servos, receiver and MSC - although painted on the outside of the shell - d'oh!) when I told them I needed a 50 radio tx for my birthday (cheapest Apex Models had at the time).

I had no chance of getting another, or anything better. My Grandad built r/c boats, so he gave me a couple of old batteries, but that was it. I remember once the Beatties guy showing me a DynaTech powered Manta Ray on the pavement outside their shop in Woodley, but that was as close as I got to that.

I thought a LunchBox would be a more realistic proposition, and I absolutely loved it. Asked for it three Christmases in a row, and the best I got was an actual lunch box (as in, something to stop sandwiches from getting squashed) with a picture of a Hornet on it. That was cool actually, but I still wanted the VLB.

Anyway, long story short. I finally bought myself one yesterday. Only 18 years since I first asked for one, but hey.

[schonbacher]

My dad bought me verious rc cars in the 80s mostly nikko, i loved them all. one was a big 1/10 jeep which i wish id looked after and still had

in about 1988 aged 14 i got a grasshopper 2nd hand for xmas but was in good nick, well was till i drove it under the rear wheel of a ford sierra! i did rebuilt it tho early 90s saw me buy a escort cosworth pilot and a mondeo bttc which i still have

[Singapore_959]

FAV


Still remember going shopping with my Mum for it I remember everyone having or getting one, but can't remember where I saw one first or even why I came to know they were 'Tamiya'. Got a new but built (unpainted thankfully) FAV with the classic Futaba Attack radio, the original 1200 black and red Tamiya battery pack and the tiny 2 pin square light brown colour overnight charger. Gosh I happy and excited!

I think I was 14. It was a VERY expensive birthday gift, and I remember being absolutely HORRIFIED the first time I plugged it in, turned it on and gently pressed the throttle and seeing it HURTLE head first into my parents bedside table at full throttle! I wanted to die thinking I'd broken it before I even got it outside for it's first run!!!

Thankfully the super bumper saved it and no damage at all.

It's still my favourite r/c memory car and the best powersliding tamiya of all time!!!
I remember painting it carefully and always coming home after school soooo excited to put in the battery and drive it in the afternoons!

I am slowly collecting parts to build a new one and it will be a keeper



Great memories. Thanks Ma & Pa!

[Badboy]

My dad bought me Kyosho Land Jump back in 84, but I wanted a Sand Scorcher.
So I bought mine in 85. As 15 years old kid I was alone with my "toy" wile the other guys trying to get girls.
I didn't have to because I was home all the time so when the girls was leaving to go to party I snatche 'em befor the others!!!
So... My first Tamiya was bought by me, not my parents.
BTW my LJ broke all the time so I thru it away in frustration...

Badboy

[just_a_kid]

Hi well i was racing bmx back in the early 80s when the craze for tamiya rc cars came out onto the bmx race tracks.

I remember not long getting a new race bike tange aero when my mum / dad come home from a trip to adelaide with a nib pajero and radio gear for me.

I remember sitting in the shed for days building it and having alot of fun at bmx race days.

My parents also brought me a hornet , fast attack vehicle , hotshot and the supershot.

When i turned 15 i brought a bigwig and technigold motor esc and other parts as i then was working it all ended when i was 16 as i got my licence then and

had real cars to play with.

Now at 37 im over working on real cars and have returned to what i enjoied all them years ago.

But my parents would still bbye me a new car today if i wanted one.

It seems funny as im the only boy and had 3 sisters none of us ever went without.

[casethejoint]

First post here, hello

I guess I had a priviledged background. Got a Sand Scorcher in Xmas 1979 (or may have been 1980). I still have it in the attic and it's on the list to restore at some point. Still runs but some of the parts are a bit rough.

That started a hobby for me that continued - I find building these kits very therapeutic (hardly ever get to actually run/drive them). I have 22 of them now - both new and vintage and mostly Tamiya.

Age 38 now. Glad to see plenty in this thread of same age group - I get badword sometimes from my other half for being somewhat childish with this stuff

[ThomasR]

My perents where not rich at that time (I'm 36 now), but I got a Boomerang when I was 14. But I did not get the whole thing together. I got the car on my birthday (november) and the radio on christmas day. Had to wait for more than one month to have my first run. But I was very happy nevertheless.

[bx4525]

Found this old post and found it interesting since I only joined a few months ago. I am 34 yrs old now but I remember a buddy of mine owning an rc magazine about 23-24 years ago and talked me to death about a truck called Midnight Pumpkin he wanted. I thought it was nice but saw the prices of those trucks and knew my parents will never get one for me. I looked for the cheapest one and looked at the Lunchbox because I did not want to get my friend upset by buying the Midnight Pumpkin.

A neighborhood friend already had the Blackfoot so I woudln't get that one. So I read that the Monster Beetle was almost the same as blackfoot so I looked into getting the beetle. I begged and begged and my parents would not budge. I got so desperate that I asked my grandparents and although it was not easy my grandfather gave my mom $200 US dollars so I can get my monster beetle. So in late 1987 my older sister takes me to a hobby store and I was the happiest kid in the planet. The hobby store was so far and I was about 11 years old and I did not care how far the walk and commute was.

Took the box to my friends house who introduced me to the whole rc world. He was about 3 yrs older and helped me build the truck that Saturday afternoon. We had my beetle running around 12-1am sunday morning. LOL The shell was left white and no stickers were added as it was too late to be up as it was. I now have recently restored my 23 year old monster beetle with a fresh and neat paint job. Something an 11 year old could not do. LOL I added new repro stickers and some hop ups but has to much value and just keep it as a shelf queen.

Now that I have the time and some money I am re-living my childhood and own a King Blackfoot, Re-re 2010 Stadium Blitzer, and my custom Blitzer Beetle. Needed to my collection is the Lunchbox, Original Blackfoot, and a Clod Buster (just think they are too big LOL). FYI, my buddy never did own a Midnight Pumpkin over the years so maybe I should get one and ******* him off. LOL

[pikachoo-75]

I too got a Tamiya R/C from my parents.i too am in the magic "30 something" (35!) age group.
but i got my Grasshopper2 for Xmas and i didnt even know they exsisted!
I had seen a Tandy (radio shack) porsche 959 and Turbo Beetle in the shop and hoped for one or the other for xmas.
I had always loved cars but thought R/C stuff was so exspensive and so were the dry cell batteries they used.
so i didnt realy hold my breath for either....

So imagine the surprise when xmas morn came and i found a HUGE (to me!) buggy with real springs and a "proper radio controller"!.
my Dad had made it in secret at my Grans house before xmas so it was all built and stickered up perfectly for me.though my Dad showed me how to dismantle and re-assemble for maintenance.
I was also totally blown away with the fact i had got one! it was a massive present.so i was VERY grateful for receiving it.
i was 11 im sure? totaly love how Tamiya has had this effect on so many throughout the world!

[TamiyaDan]

HA i had to really think back there was one time my dad bought me a r/c, The monster beetle.

It was really funny how that happened.

Basically my father had a friend from europe with 2 boys whom i sort of knew but we were not friends. somewhere in a conversation my father learned that the 2 boys of his friend were into R/C cars and they both owned Kyosho cars.

but, neither one was able to finish the cars so they were still in the boxs. somehow my father traded completing both of the cars for his kids into having our basement dry walled and painted.

one owned a Kyosho Icarus, the other a Kyosho Rocky, At the time i was away from home, being forced to go to summer camp in Delaware, where i stole a go-kart and went into town to get pizza, but that is another story. So my dad completed the cars for the kids, got the dry wall done in the basement and had it painted. then somehow he got a bug up his Bum about the 2 kids having 2 new r/c cars and i always had older cars that were beat up since i raced them and would trade them all the time since my dad had issues with funding any of my endeavors. so on the day i came home from camp, not in handcuffs, i walked into my room and there was a monster beetle NIB sitting on my bed with a Futaba attack R radio and a Hump pack battery White shrink wrap with the blue metallic label reading 1200Mamps.

i built it and had many adventures with it till i ended up trading it for a Losi JRX-T to race the new stadium class at the track, biggest mistake ever, the buddy i sold it to always refused to sell it back to me

funny thing was finishing it at like 1am on a saturday and on the first test drive right off the line both rear Hex drive dog bones failed LOL! thank god for Thorp!

as far as the two boys with the kyoshos, we played together with our cars just once, my dad video tapped the entire thing. I had to sit through it again when i transfered all the family VHS tapes to DVDs a few years ago.

about 15 years ago my mom finally told me the story about how the monster beetle came to be. so my father going out of the way to video tape the whole thing added an extra level of how sick he was in the head.

as for having a monster beetle i have a few now on my need to restore shelf, and finished restoring an icarus and a rocky a few months ago, kind of as a laugh

[BeetleLover]

Cool, thread... really enjoyable read. I must have been about 9 or 10 (85-86) when I received my first RC car, was a Tandy Turbo Leopard with the 8AA's that took all night to charge and then most of the next day cause the charger only held 4 batteries. It lasted a few weeks until the front went under a fence and broke the front suspension uprights. Maybe a year later my Grandparents brought me back a Turbo Fox which was larger and for a Toy grade car on the double AA's again it went reasonably quick when you were in the high speed gear and in Turbo. In 1987 Tamiya was the talk of the school amongst the boys. A friends parents had split and his dad bought him a gift to compete with mum's affections etc, a Tamiya Fox... boy was I jealous, couldn't get over how big they were compared to what I had been used to. Another friend's brother had a Boomerang and a Nikko Dictator too, liked them a lot also. Anyway's I just wouldn't shut up about Tamiya's and how much better they were than my previous 2 cars. In Xmas of 1988 I was very lucky to receive a Tamiya Falcon with Acoms gear, batteries and lead etc... The funny thing was Xmas day came and went and I got very few gifts and so I was very disappointed. The next day I was asked to fetch something from outside and when I came back there beside the xmas tree was the goodies! The local model store had been closing down and so all the cars had been reduced in price... I had been talking a lot about the Falcon but in hindsight I wish I'd talked of Supershot or Porsche 959 instead, they'd been in the shop too! My step father helped me to assemble it and he did the painting, he was a very good model maker etc so the paint job was immaculate. On the first run we were both stunned with what the thing could do, very very exciting as an 11 year old. A week later we arranged to go to the park to give it a good run, moment's later another Falcon joined in the fun, I was amazed. Turned out my step father had gone back and bought one for himself as he liked it so much! We raced them for a couple of years together before I eventually sold my one and came home with a Monster Beetle about xmas 1990.

James

[Falcon#5]

I got my first R/C when I was about 6. A Tandy Gold Porsche that went forward, and only turned in reverse. Possibly the same one as Retroman.

But I always remember eyeing off The Fox, Hotshot, Frog, Grasshopper, Hornet, Wild One etc at Toyworld and LHS.
Never allowed to get one. "Too expensive" "You'll get bored with it in a few days and not use it" Was what I was told.

A kid at school said he had a Boomerang, but nobody believed him - until his Dad brought it in one day. I was jealous as h3ll!

After many years of looking and dreaming, came that xmas day in 1988 (when I was 11) that I opened up this big box, and inside it was a brand new Falcon!!!
I think BeetleLover knows where I'm coming from. It appears we were exactly the same age, and on the same xmas day we both got Falcons!
I'm guessing it was the same kit too, with Acoms Techniplus radio gear, 7.2v 'Racing Pack', 15min fast charger that had that timer dial and clipped onto a car battery.

Even to this day, it was the best present I ever received.

I had a ball building it, and painting it myself.
Turned out pretty good actually. I have always had an eye for detail (even when I was very young), but also had plenty of practice from building a swag of static models.

Funny thing was, it was meant for my little brother. Who had never shown any kind if interest in R/C at all.
I was supposed to get a mountain bike, but the cycle store couldn't get one in in time for xmas.
I'm so glad that was the case!!!
My brother got an Academy Road Runner II that xmas instead.

I got the mountain bike the next year for my birthday, so all worked out well.

Anyway, I still have my original Falcon. I'm in the process of restoring it at the moment.
And have another Falcon project in the mail.
As well as a new built Shelf Queen project that I have started collecting parts for.

I now have a big wish list of Vintage and Re-re models. (And more Falcon projects)

So as for the "You'll get bored in a few days" excuses, my parents couldn't have been any further from the truth!!