JPickettIII

Good Afternoon, I have been a member for a bit, but have not posted too much. I love this site (great pictures, great advice and great cars) and love just getting lost in it. Because of this site, I have received a new passion for r/c cars. My collection has grown from a Wild Willy II to now: an Academy Galaxy Buggy (mostly new built. Just needs cleaning, painting and stickers), an original Grasshopper (just needs stickers, paint, cleaving and new front tires), Marui Hunter (needs new body, new bumper, paint and stickers), an Academy Road Runner I (needs body, wheels, paint and stickers), a Frog (needs total restoration), another Grasshopper (needs total restoration) and original Clod Buster tires (start of restoration). I have no ideal where to start and I love it. Anyway, back to why I wanted to put in a comment. I love R/C cars. I love going to EBay to see what is out there (for my next car to get in line to be restored and to find parts for my current cars) and to daydream. However, there is a problem that I have with the bidding on EBay. I see a car or a part that I want or need and find it for a great price. Let us say the starting price is $.99 and the sale duration is six days. I look and then put into my "Watching" queue for EBay. I go back a few hours later and everything is still good. I go back the next day and then there are four to five bids on the item. The price is now forty to fifty dollars. Then there is the shipping that in some cases can be severely outrageous. Now, I know that I am not the only one that wants the item or items. I also know that the people that are selling the items are trying to make some money, but the prices I think are getting a little out of hand (as well as some of the shipping quotes). I know that when we see an item (let us say a set of tires for a Grasshopper) and say to hours selves that we must have this. Then we jump and put a bid on the item, then the next person sees that a bid was put on and then the cycle repeats it self, the next thing you know, the item reaches a very high price. Now while this is good for the seller this is bad for the average working person. (I know that many of the people on this site are average working people with families.) The reason I say that this is bad is that the hobby (I feel is getting a little out of hand, price wise) and this is making it harder for a lot of us to get the cars that a lot of us drooled over in the Tamiya or other catalogues (Super Shot, Avante, Bruiser, Grasshopper, Fox to name a few) because of the high dollars that these cars get because people are jumping to bid with out waiting. (Now I am not saying that some of the rarer cars do not deserve to have a higher price tag attached to them, but some of the prices that I see on EBay are outrageous.) I will wrap up now (because I do not want to ramble) and say that I feel that we could make the hobby more affordable. If we see something on EBay, we should look at it put it into the Watch queue and then bid on it in a few days. I would like people to make money when selling their items, but when the average person is kicked out of the running in a hobby he loves, it can be frustrating. Thanks for letting me speak a piece. Later, John

Unfortunately that is not it. I am restoring a Road Runner though. I got everything except the body, driver and the wheels (I got it with a bunch of other items in a big box). I will take a picture of the car that is on the side of the box and post. Thanks for the follow up. Later, John

Good Afternoon, I got a Galaxy Buggy with the box. Great find. Anyway on the side of the box, it shows a Hornet Buggy. This is an indentical car to the Hornet, minus the Tamiya stickers. It does have gold rims. Does anyone know where to get one or find information on this buggy? Thanks, John

I have a vintage Grasshopper and a vintage Academy Galaxy Buggy that I am restoring. I would like to start a collection of the cars that shared the Grasshopper chassis. Besides the Grasshopper Re-Release, Rising Fighter, Hornet, Grasshopper II, Rockbuster, Road Runner and Road Runner II what other cars are out there. Is there a complete list somewhere? Let me know. Thanks, JOHN

How about an "Academy Galaxy Buggy"? http://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.a...6855&id=514