legooolas

I think the TF Evo has a shorter front shock tower (than the standard TF) and uses the mini ones on the front?

If only Tamiya would take this as some inspiration to make a Dynastorm Evo. But hopefully for less than £650... (who am I kidding).

The whole car is 3D modelled and parts available via 3D printing? :o I expect that would cost quite a bit though?

I think it's all about that challenge Also a Tamiya forum here (People have got to > 150mph with a Hobao Hyper VSe off-road 1/8 buggy...)

Rcjaz shipping is even more bonkers - £125 for the £56 2-lane track loop! MMS said to me early last year that the track prices last time they got them were: Tamiya 69569 Mini 4WD 1:32 Oval Home Circuit & Lane Change - £115.00 Tamiya 94892 Mini 4WD 1:32 3 Lane Jr Circuit & Lane Change - £225.00 But that you have to ask to be put on the waiting list and they come by sea so they take a while and usually sell before they make it to the website. Tbh given the crazy shipping prices those don't look too bad? Definitely the cars and parts are a lot cheaper direct from Japan so I might have to do that when I get more. Shipping used to be a lot cheaper but I think some sites have had to drop a load of the cheaper shipping options since covid. The boxes for the track are really big, and that's why the shipping costs are so high, so you might have trouble bringing them back on a plane? To make this mildly RC-related, I'd love it if Tamiya would do micro RCs and tracks based on the mini 4wd models themselves rather than the crazy conversion kits people end up making

Admittedly from a while back, but I think that Manchester Model Shop are one of the few UK stockists of mini 4wd kits and parts: https://www.manchestermodelshop.co.uk/shop/tamiya-17003-wild-mini-4wd-132-vanessas-lunch-box-monster-truck-van/ £25 so a bit cheaper (but plus postage), but the other mini 4wd kits of cars for use on the track are cheaper - I think the "off-road" ones like the Lunchbox are just a bit more anyway. They will also take pre-orders of bigger items like mini 4wd track (which is pretty expensive even in Japan), but I'm not sure whether they are having trouble getting that stuff at the moment as shipping is probably a pain.

Not that it makes a massive difference when the item is a lot more than the shipping, but you also pay import VAT on the shipping, so it's the item (price + shipping) + 20% + ~£10 fee. And if it's more than £135 you might have to pay customs fees too - the rates of which are different for different items... (ugh)

£279 at modelsport, £285 at modelbuild. Better than the £300-400 originally expected!

Modelbuild says : "The 'estimated' retail cost will be between £300-£400." :O

I thought the original Evolution had an FRP chassis and shock towers rather than carbon fibre?

Tamiya have managed to make titanium screws for the TA08 Pro (#47476 Tamiya - TA-08 PRO Titanium Screw Set), so I don't see why they couldn't on the TF Evo. Maybe it will be offered as an upgrade?

I miss proper HPI Superstar wheels Why won't HPI remake those too?!

I got a turnbuckle set as a hop-up for my Top Force, which look like this (but with black ball-ends), so they have been available separately. I had no idea they were the Evo part, I just got them because I wanted turnbuckles and it was the TF set Part number 53109 was the set I bought, although they seem to have gone up in price quite a lot since then!

Don't forget that low value consignment relief (no VAT if under £15) has also gone away - so *any* purchase from abroad will get import VAT and fees added, unless the seller is registered to sort out the UK VAT for you and count it as pre-paid. (But then that's a pain for them to sort out how money shuffles around to HMRC here etc). Argh! (Edit: the £135 limit is for customs duty as well as import VAT) I'm glad I got a TF from Tamico ages ago when it somehow got down to about £140! (€160 at the time) Are any of the parts like the Evo coloured wheels and upgraded diffs going to be available separately, does anyone know?

All the parts moulds were lost in a fire so they would have to remake it from scratch, unfortunately. Although I'm pretty sure they'd sell enough that they could still turn a profit even if they did have to recreate everything! Edit: I would absolutely love it if they did a re-re though

They re-re'd the XX4 long ago, but don't seem interested in re-making anything now. Maybe with Gil Losi Jr rejoining them they might reconsider?... Every time they post anything vintage on Facebook they get a load of people asking for re-res, so maybe they just need to do something Kickstarter-ish to gauge interest and guarantee making money on it if they did go for it.

Unfortunately, despite the excellent Horizon pun, the moulds for the old Losi models were lost in a fire years ago . So unless they remade it completely from scratch there will never be a JRX2 re-re :'(. A shame as I'd love to be able to race a JRX2 without worrying too much about parts availability! (I wasn't into RC when it was first around, so missed it then) Tamiya-wise I'd like to see a re-re of the Dyna Storm (as I missed the re-re a few years back!) and maybe the 959 on a newer chassis..

I forgot to take pictures, ha. Here are the TRF dampers on my TF, which I still haven't finished or run yet (really should do!). The wheels have a bit too much offset really, but they'll do for on-road running (Obviously it won't have the standard silver can motor in it when it's finished

Back in the game in that they're being re-re'd, or that people have said they'd like them to be?

I went for these on my runner/racer TF build and they are gorgeous :) Will stick a picture on here later!