Watts

Not to hijack but was the 2021 egress re-release ever, you know, released? Am I missing something here? Can't seem to find much if any info, where to buy, or if they're sold out, or if I totally missed the boat...

Ha, I'm glad you asked actually, I'm still quite proud of that from having done it aged 16. Not my idea initially. I read a review of the Top Force and the author thought the box art was rubbish so he made his own paint scheme (I cant find the article for the life of me). Splattered the inside with some sort of solution (I used elmer's glue), waited for it to dry, painted inside black/dark grey, waited for it to dry, peeled off the glue (I don't remember this being a pain but it must've been), then sprayed neon red and yellow from opposite ends. Theres all sorts of overspray but I didnt care as I was just excited it worked and I got the two colors to blend orange in the middle!! Going to try it again sometime soon

Thanks mate, got to get out and run it now!

Thanks! I keep going back and forth on the white lettering for mine - it looks great on yours but sometimes I think it looks sleeker without. Decisions, decisions! Luckily I believe that crack is actually only in the paint underneath. I have to take a full, detailed look still on the whole thing top to bottom, but I think the shell is actually "okay" Looks mint! Thanks for the comments and compliments all, you are right, it's about the enjoyment you get out of it and so far that's been fantastic, been wearing a ****-eating grin for the past two days already As for cost I don't mind sharing, it's just info at this point, it was basically a grand even ($1000). There was one a couple weeks back that came with 3 shells (tho none in box art) and may not have had the manual, it was missing something. I wanted to get a complete one if possible and also, while I'm not always a fan of box art, with the Evo I've always loved it, and didn't want to go the repro-decals route. This had everything together and I like the completeness of it. Even has little tire marks inside the box where someone was obviously working on it at some point and turned it on without realizing it was at part throttle and there's little spike-tire skidmarks on it! Little details like that, I love the history of it. I was going to get the Evo re-re in May but it's a bit cut-spec and I thought, just get the real things while I still can...

This is not a bad idea at all

No affiliation with me but just wanted to let folks here know. Item 333905969232 Tamiya 58107 RC Buggy 4WD 1:10 Top Force Evolution First Release 1992 NIB/OVP | eBay

Yes, on that note Jonboy1, do you happen to ahve any lottery number recommendations? I'll go 50/50 with you on any winnings :) About 3 months after my first post here, apparently... Thanks! Really appreciate all the comments! Definitely plan to look for cracks and so on. I feel like a reasonably seasoned expert on the Manta Ray as I've already done multiple multi-decade restorations and now the failure points, but the Top Force is brand new to me...

Cont'd

Hey lads, Just splurged on the car I've been wanting for decades, like many of us, a 1992 Top Force Evolution. Really happy with it, though it's not in quite the condition I expected (or paid for). Clearly has been run a few times as can be seen in some chips and stress on the paint and chassis, as well as the shocks, but nevertheless a fairly complete kit, original box, manual, tires, wheels etc. Really enjoying just going through it and I've done a brilliant job parenting as both my sons are nearly as happy as I am As it's not in tip top shape I am in fact going to run it. Nothing stupid and I won't be doing so with the original wheels/tires/shell, but I am going to enjoy it for a while before doing a full strip down restoration to then get it to mint. Comments more than welcome!

Sooooo, for the first 42 years of my life or so, I had one car, a 1991 Manta Ray, bought from Beatties in good ole Romford, UK. In April of last year I found an original Top Force in Japan and decided what the heck, always wanted one, so bought it. Then came a birthday, Christmas and a few late night splurges and here we are: When the inevitable happens and I receive my divorce papers, can anyone offer me a couch to sleep on?

Well, you were all correct of course! About to start a new thread with my now rapidly expanded Tamiya collection, but wanted to update this one from nearly a year ago now. Of course, the world in general is a very different place, but for me and my family especially. June of last year we moved 3000 miles to the US, by end of July we lost a family member (not from Covid), and by September moved into a new house, so it's been a bit of a whirlwind to put it mildly. But anyway, focusing on the positive, spent a good deal of time with my sons cleaning this one up as well as starting a 2017 TF re-re build, so here she is my 1991 Top Force in some intermediate parts of the project as well as how she now stands:

Thanks for all the input already fellas. And of course, now that I've spent a little time on it, I have some observations/questions: 1) Is it always hard to find replacement tyres? Am I looking for the wrong parts or something? Thought standard Tamiya front/rear tyres wouldn't be much of a challenge... 2) Appears as though the front and rear diffs are brand new. The car is quite dirty, but the innards are spotless. That said, as you can see from the pics, parts of the chassis quite discolored - any thoughts what that might be and whether it's, mechanically/structurally speaking, an issue? 3) It appears as though the previous owner has the standard ball diff in the rear, but replaced the front diff with a Manta Ray gear diff - any idea why they might have done that and what effect it would have on the handling? 4) lastly, I've not had much luck with the search function on this, but I'm looking to get an appropriate ESC and servos to get this thing up and running, how do I go about finding out which one is the right one? Cheers guys!

Yeah, now that you mention it, the chassis does look to as though it might be delaminating. That's kind of why I was originally thinking to make this my runner, as swapping in new parts doesn't feel to me like "restoring", more like replacing. We'll see...

Yeah, that is totally my future! Lol What do you think of the car though, not a bad deal for £100? Maybe you're right, maybe the re-re will be the runner, we'll see

Hey Folks, Just joined the forum this week, was a huge Tamiya fan back in the early 90s when as a kid I bought and built a Manta Ray. Getting back into it now with two sons of my own as well, and like a lot of Tamiya fanboys have an over-developed affinity for the Top Force . Was browsing eBay the other day and came across one that looks the worse for wear, but a perfect project car to get back into the swing of things. Before I really knew what I was doing, I bought the **** thing, not sure if I just got ripped off or if it was an okay deal, lol (it was less than £100). Now comes the hard part of waiting for it get all the way to the UK from Japan. Plan to restore this one to its former glory then use as a runner, and buy the re-re to be a shelf queen. Thoughts/comments/roasts welcome Mike