akihabaramallrat

There were some unis released by hotbox for the original and I think some are coming for the rerelease

You probably have the special edition version

The Mountaineer! Like the Taisan Starcard Porsche, Alpine & Fiat Abarth it will be an event only body first available at the Tamiya Model Gallery in Ikebukuro, Tokyo the first week of August.

Hi I closed the website as there were not enough sales to justify it. Some of the things I had listed there for a year sold in a day on ebay so all stock has been trasferred there. Jason

Its rather ironic you say that as the buyer of the Mountaineer owns a car showroom that imports and restores vintage cars including Ferraris into Hong Kong.

The Shizuoka Hobby Show is being held the second week of May at Makuhari Messe and is a fairly big deal for Tamiya, it is also when they have their HQ open to the public, being only a few blocks away.

Im surprised no one has mentioned this yet

oops, I was looking at the list on page 1 with the Mini 4WD versions at the top

The avante above is a mini 4wd which is not RC: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mini_4wd

There are some other times here from an event in Japan http://www.geocities.jp/wrfyt827/html/115-challenge4.htm The page is part of a build profile of one of the vehicles that starts here http://www.geocities.jp/wrfyt827/html/115-challenge.htm *edited as quote is mph

The beetle is released at the end of February in Japan and the brat release has been delayed

nikko gets a great review for their $2500 viedo projector r/c R2-D2 http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-12760_7-9675832-5.html?tag=blog

They may not have the licence any more as skynet have one for the Japan market

The key line is 1000 were made and sold out Japan wide on the release date. I have not been able to get a answer to whether more will be made and nowhere has Tamiya officially announced that is all that will be available for Japan. It is a 49 code kit which is limited edition sure but so was the Dyna Storm re-release and that was around for years (though partly because it was slow to sell). I assume the 1000 made first was a mix of hype for the 30th anniversary and making sure a high value kit like this could sell unlike the manta ray and thundershot rereleases which are still on store shelves despite their limited production run & low price. I expect in a month or two more will become available.

There are a few kits of similar rarity to the black porsche such as the FW Sports Special Road Wizard, TGX Nismo Clarion with OPS Engine & Calsonic Skyline Kakegawa Commerative as well as some of the early TRF kits. Not totally unique but some F1 kits were also given to stores as a sample in a plain box with a sticker on the top. The black porsche is older but was considered very collectible on release so more have been kept NIB than what would be normal for its production run. Other rare kits include the Jugg1, Brabham, Lotus 79, TT01 Calsonic Skyline, Toyota Bb, F103 RX Chassis Kit, M4 Sherman Computerized & RCT

The retail price for the frog in Japan is Y16,800, the Brat will be Y20,000

How this bet is going to be covered now is going to be interesting: http://www.tamiya.com/japan/products/49400...he934/index.htm?????????????????? ???·????·?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? The body (and some other parts) can be ordered but only through Tamiya customer service and the buyer has to register to buy them through a card in kit box i.e you can only buy the parts if you buy the kit

Just go back from the show, the retail price will be Y20,000 (the frog was Y16,800). The roll bar on the display has a metal core but the rep I spoke to did not know if it will be in the final version or it will be like the re-release body set without one.

I know a couple of club members are going to the Tamiya GP this weekend so even if its not ready for display there any Tamiya employees will be able to confirm it.

Released with changes as per the frog. Probably as with the rerelease body there will be no metal core in the roll bar

These will probably shown at the Tamiya Grand Prix/Tamiya Fair in Shizuoka on Nov 18-19 http://www.tamiya.com/japan/tamiyafair/index.htm They usually display December-February releases then

New releases announced for December Japan Release Tamtech Gear 1/12 Porsche 934 Assembly kit with Driver Doll , Mesh Wheels and Slick Tires Expec SP Tamtech Gear Radio Set TT-01R Mobil 1 SC Lightweight Body Set (Ltd Edn) January Tamtech 1/12 Porsche 934 Body Set February Tamtech Gear Chassis Kit TRF415MSXX Volkswagen Beetle M-04L (Same body as original)

The wheels are plated the same as the 2 piece mesh wheels 50548 & 50549. The display at the show had working headlights and indicators, front and rear.

It will also be a polycarbonate body with a carbon double deck chassis (TA05 based)

If you want to keep the wheels at standard width as per the stock kit use the normal size (43300). The 8mm & 16mm extend out the wheels, if you do this the best set up is 8mm front and 16mm rear as in the photo below