El Gecko

I'd say since Youtube became popular, with folks "sending" their trucks off ridiculously large ramps, attempting to flip or spin as many times as possible and hoping to land on the wheels. Definitely a more extreme (and expensive) version of the hobby, but I guess lots of people have money to burn. Traxxas was new in the game back in the early 90s, and Tamiya was the established entry-level juggernaut, but Traxxas blew that all apart by starting to offer RTR in addition to unbuilt kits. RTR of hobby kits was unheard of back then--up until that, you had to build the whole thing yourself, but Traxxas saw that some people just wanted to drive and not necessarily build, so that is the market they catered to. Their designs have always raced well out of the box, and only needed minor evolutions to really dial everything in. My Hawks, for example, are direct ancestors of the Rustler, and the Sledgehammer was clearly the inspiration for the Stampede (and later, the Slash). But the Sledge came in pieces in a big box with a Frog, so in my mind Traxxas and Tamiya are equals. I love driving them around, they're still fantastic cars, leaps and bounds better handling and adjustment than any Tamiya I've had, although the old plastic is a bit fragile. As for new stuff, I had the pleasure of rebuilding my cousin's 4X4 Slash last winter, and I have to say they've continued to make things better. I was a little intimidated at first (3S lipo running a Velineon 3500 brushless system) but once I dug in, it was nice to work on, easy to understand, and everything went together smoothly, like I would expect it should. However I was not prepared for how big those trucks are compared to a "normal" 1:10 vehicle (aka Tamiya) but they are quite large. It's no wonder they need such power to get them moving. The driving experience is sublime, though.

Since this month is Halloween, I've been channeling my inner Dr. Frankenstein by making body parts for my monsters (some out of literal pieces of trash) I tried to choose the "best" part of the juice jug for the nosecone... not sure if I really like it but at least it's "aerodynamic" right? Well, more aero than before, at least

Most excellent, especially with the upgraded gearbox! I will always have a soft spot for that shell (and King Cab) and you have done it better than justice. Tamiya needs to re-re that tire set!!

Oh, say it isn't so, that's probably one of the last few in existence with original paint and decals! As they say, "it's only original once" and even with imperfections I'd keep it as is myself. It's nearly a museum piece at this point, especially with those forks.

Exactly, sometimes they need a small file run through the brush channels in the endbell to de-burr the inner openings (with the brushes removed obviously). @Pkpiano Take the springs off and slide the brushes back and forth in the channel, and make sure they're smooth all the way to the comm. The brushes should literally just drop in and out--very little to no resistance. If you feel them getting hung up at any point, take the brushes out and file inside the endbell channel. It's trial and error, so you may have to repeat the process a few times, but once you're satisfied that the brush action is smooth on both sides, put it all back together and it should run a lot better. Make sure to put a piece of plastic or something to protect the comm while you're filing (it's better if you take the endbell off the can for this--less chance of damaging the armature).

Nice, that's an iconic design from the early days of full suspension MTBs, very cool and will look great cleaned up. Hard to see from the pic but does it have hydraulic rim brakes?!? Usually you only see those on trials bikes.

Yep, we're all ambassadors for our hobby every time we're out and about with our RCs. There are a few (much) older uptight types who have given me the stink eye out on the trails, but for the most part everyone is cool and just seems curious and supportive. Whether that translates to them joining the RC hobby is anyone's guess, but I always try to emphasize the fun in those encounters, because fun is a language everyone can understand.

Shame about the box going in the trash, but you got a great deal all of that for $10!

Super Sabre, which uses the Boomerang chassis https://tamiyabase.com/tamiya-models/58066

Saw some talk in the previous pages of "ugly" cars... well it's ugly truck season here!

Hum. Take a basically blank canvas, open to any wild crazy custom idea you could think of... and transform it into... box art? I don't get it, but don't mind me, you do you

Success! Added a crossbrace/front body mount and got everything shimmed up--it drives awesome! So much tighter and more balanced than ever before, and there's not even oil in the shocks yet!

Replacing DIY parts with more DIY parts in the search for ORV driving nirvana... the previous front shock towers were sculpted from a rollerblade brake, and they weren't identical side to side, which was made painfully apparent after switching to shorter shocks. The new towers are hewn from flat aluminum heatsinks robbed off an inoperable inverter, both sandwiched and bolted together so they're identical this time! Getting a rough idea of the geometry after going back to using the standard lower shock mounting locations. Previously this car had long shocks mounted to the extra holes in the bottom of the caster blocks. I was going to try to use the rear shock mounts in the first pic for this, but the holes didn't line up right, and I don't have the equipment to drill part of a hole accurately. I have a different idea for those anyway

Maybe not strictly necessary, but it definitely doesn't hurt! I have yet to try one of these on any of my ORVs.

My Frog has never had a body, so let me know if you decide you don't want that one anymore. It's not the color scheme I had in mind, but I'd love it just the same.

Monster Buzzard?!? Must admit, it's not my cup of tea but very well done!

Apt comparison. With the higher energy density of lipo, they are certainly more dangerous than NiMHs or NiCds. Like a bundle of dynamite vs. a hand grenade. Both will cause damage if misused, but one is definitely more likely to take your whole house down with it.

Honestly I would be in the same boat, since the Hotshot was never on my radar personally. But even if I don't own that particular car, I tend to respect that the part has managed to live its whole life (nearly 40 years now!) still in its original packaging, which is especially rare for something that old and unique. So I would most likely keep it around, in the package, maybe not on the shelf but definitely stored away safely, until I found someone who did appreciate it even more than me. It's not like it's a big part that takes up a ton of space, so it's hard to see the need to just sell it off to the highest bidder.

Everyone will have different opinions of course, but this is what I would do. I couldn't bring myself to open possibly the only one (left?) in existence. I think it's ok to have "shelfer" parts as well as whole cars. I don't use my old Futaba Tx or Tamiya NiCds anymore, but nonetheless they still hold places of esteem on the shelf with the cars.

It's not quite a full-fledged Sand Viper, more like a Holiday Buggy chassis with a lightweight Sand Viper shell and road tires. It comes with the molded plastic upper suspension links instead of turnbuckles, plastic dogbones/drive cups, and a 380 motor, all the same as the Holiday Buggy. I came across the SV model earlier this year when I was researching the DT02 I bought, which happens to be the Holiday Buggy version of the chassis. At first I thought the "SV" could stand for "Starter Version" or "Street Version" but I suspect it simply means "Sand Viper". Mine came with a blue Desert Gator shell which gives it a very SV look, so I've nicknamed it the "Fighter Buggy DG". It's a great car

I tried a spreadsheet for awhile, fell by the wayside as I was just making too many changes to the cars too often (may have to go back and update now that things have settled down a bit). I have a note in my phone with all the cars listed and what they need, like really short form, then a bunch of links bookmarked into folders in my browser, for things that I need to buy, either immediately or eventually. I don't put anything in my "cart" that I don't intend to buy, and I have a "next order" bookmarks folder for the top priority things, although I do reprioritize in the moment based on the total amount of money I'm willing to spend. But I have stuff in the overall folder from years ago that I still haven't gotten around to yet, so it kind of serves as a reminder of all the ideas I still have to try. The one car I actually planned out was my DT02, although it still ended up a bit different than it started. I think that's my style, kind of like on Roadkill--take a clapped out junker (the DT02 was actually the nicest RC I've ever bought, no disrespect @Saito2!), take it apart, clean it, and add bearings, then get it running with whatever random parts I have laying around to establish a baseline and figure out what to fix or upgrade. Then the real overthinking starts. Does X need a shim there to stop that slop? How does the car drive with a different pinion gear? A different motor? On and on. Until eventually the car drives how I want for the purpose I intended. Oh but wait, sometimes cars change purpose, too!? Yes, the Blaster was a fun offroad basher all summer, with big knobby Traxxas tires, but with its recently reconfigured suspension setup and reinstalled tarmac (technically, clay) tires, it's basically a dedicated road racer now. And another round of thoughts have already started on how to upgrade the front suspension again! Honestly, it's neverending.

Yesterday was my first time at the local track in awhile, and it was nice to see so many people out having fun with their RCs It's a public/free outdoor track, and someone has definitely been working on it, but the surface was dry and loose, so it was like driving on snow--just no grip whatsoever. The only grip was in the bumps, which of course tried to throw the car off its line, so I didn't worry about trying to be fast or anything. I was really just trying to make clean-ish laps while dodging everyone and everything on the track. There was a son and father who had set up some plastic BMX kicker ramps in odd places, and the track was recently reconfigured so there were a lot of loose barriers and random steel stakes, and eventually a group of teenagers showed up with a few cars, so there was a lot to pay attention to. Spent a battery in each car with no breakages and had a blast doing it, all in all a wonderful day of RC! (sorry no pics unless you want to see my grimy DT02 after a day in the dirt)

CCP made Clod, Blackfoot, Lunchbox and Midnight Pumpkin parts too From this pic, IMHO the King Cab looks just as shiny CCP vs. the "custom" new one.

Lead is probably too soft and will deform too much with repeated impacts. Those PC brackets would be perfect, probably a bit thinner and easier to work with than the stereo steel I used. Old PC cases are great for mining RC raw materials.

Of course, I forgot about the bending part. Yes, totally fine to bend 90 degrees. I did mine all with pliers/bench vise but you could also use 2 pliers. I also had the plastic/glue thought, but I don't think glue will stick very well, so it would be better to find a piece of plastic with a 90 bend, then you'd just need to drill a hole and file down the excess. Lots of things around the house could be useful. Do you have aluminum rain gutters? That aluminum is a bit soft/thin, but should work fine if you double it up. I might try with a scrap piece myself, to see if it works on my Frog. I got my sheet aluminum for the Brat bumpstops at a local store, and they sell small sheets of various thicknesses on Amazon as well. The Blaster's were created from a random strip of steel that I "liberated" from a stereo receiver case when cutting holes to convert it to a PC about a decade ago. I have a "random junk" bowl (ok, a couple) that I keep "possibly usable" pieces in, which could be described as "trash" but comes in handy more often than you'd think! For RCs, slot cars, bicycles, and just fixing random stuff around the house.