T-StudioWorks

It was around 2003-2004 and I walked into Hobby City in Auckland, NZ and I saw a brand new in box Avante 2001 for NZD$400. The Avante 2001 was released in 1990 so it was sitting on the shelf for a good 10 years. I wanted to get back into the hobby but life was a bit tough monetary wise as I had just started working. So I had to settle for a TT01 which was half the price. That is perhaps the only RC car I regret not buying because it taught me a valuable lesson about earning, saving and having sufficient funds ready to purchase things at the right time. Up till now Tamiya has not rereleased the 2001 and am still waiting. While waiting I built my own custom version. I also have two 2nd hand built Avante 2001s waiting to be restored. That’s how much the one that got away has impacted me.

Not so much sharing how I organise my collection but sharing the kits from Tamiya. It’s like Christmas Day & opening presents.

Some of the kits that are the 1st production run had bonus parts included. For the Avante Black Special, there were extra black Egress lightweight rims because the standard were pink in colour. For the Super Hotshot, the bonus part were white lightweight wheels. i think Tamiya did this to differentiate the 1st production runs to make them more special even if it was a rerelease knowing that there would be subsequent production runs of the rerelease.

Thank you Joeling, Yes the boss / Uncle is a good chap. His son is also great to deal with and the staff are always helpful & friendly. Stargek is a fantastic shop. I was so amazed at how complete the shop was with Tamiya kits, hop-up parts & spares when I first arrived in Singapore in 2007. Since then I’ve been slowly buying kits that I think I would like to collect & build. We should help the brick & mortar / physical shops as much as we can. If not they will slowly shrink & disappear. And I and others will never again have that feeling of stepping into a shop like Stargek & thinking that we have gone to heaven.

Apart from the evolution of the series of M-chassis there were special editions of the M03s. Then the odd numbers of the series were front wheel drive like M05 and even numbers became rear wheel drive like M06. Then there are the R top of the line versions. Yeah, the Hypercars look good. As the series is having a revival, hope Tamiya joins in as well. At least make the Toyota and the Ferrari as those would sell well. 😊

Just completed organising my RC collection with lots of Tamiya rereleases. What would you like Tamiya to rerelease next? Drop your wish list and comments about the video below.

Just completed organising my RC collection. Click link below to watch video. Tell me what you think. Enjoy the vid.

These look great! Hope the test rims worked & your venture takes off.

I can certainly understand why Tamiya is re-re-re-releasing the Top-Force. Come on, it’s Tamiya’s 100th RC car. Apart from the Avante & Egress, there isn’t a body design like it (& I like mine with the overhead air-scoop thank you very much). And the DF01 chassis spawned the TA01 & TA02 touring cars that started the touring car craze of the 1990s. Now… I wish I could say the same for the TD02 & TD04. I think Tamiya will let them die a natural death unfortunately. But that doesn’t mean I won’t get one of each in the future for the collection for posterity sake.

What might be left off in that story is in Japanese culture, constantly saving as much as possible is important. Hence the allowance is given by the wife although its money made by the man after deducting away the target savings. As the focus is on saving the allowance is adjusted lower based on cost of living. Often the wife is a housewife (stay at home Mum) and has to do this to balance the household expenses and plan for the future. And this is the ‘average’. It’s different in western culture where savings are lower & consumerism is a way of life. Every society & culture is different I guess. But in every society, there are always those that are less well off & those with more disposable income. Japan’s population is about 125 million. Say Tamiya, Kyosho, Yokomo etc sell 15k high end kits a month in Japan, that’s only 0.012% of the population. That shouldn’t be too difficult to find. It’s not expensive for people that can afford. In the States if the product is right with consumerism, it should be even easier to sell more product with a population of 330 mil. I guess that’s why there are so many US brands & almost all overseas brands want to sell in the States. Anyway, just enjoy the hobby whichever which way we can. Or count ourselves lucky & grateful if we can afford what we want from this hobby.

I thought this was their plan all along, to put an Avante 2001 body on the Egress Black Edition & add some white Avante wheels to end the series on a high. It could still be after maximising on the 2013 Egress rerelease again. I don’t believe it’s about getting rid of leftover stock. Everything is run in batches with small % in spares as it’s not cost effective to manufacture more parts than necessary. Maybe they are changing strategy & moving closer towards Kyosho’s legendary series where they keep cycling through the cars. More production runs are made not long after the last run are sold. After gauging how much more profitable it is.

There was a shortage of paints during Covid & supply chain problem. Perhaps it’s led to this conclusion.

Lol… no JJ Ultima or Worlds MID for the YT channel. Long live Tamiya! 😬

Many many I reckon. Life is tougher with inflation & other expenses like family trips getting in the way post-Covid.

Hurry up & get one. Prices have reached rock bottom & final ones are being snatched up. Unfortunately I’ve already got urrr… more than enough cars… 😬

Very nice! Good to see the top end collection. I’ve given up on an original evolution (& also previous plans for a replica) since the evo was rereleased. Now need to find time to build the evo.

Nice! No nonsense fun. Wish we each had a track in our backyards. Like having a pool… Wishful thinking. 😬

Eye-candy pics from the vid.

Just finished this tribute video for the Top-Force which was built in 2017 and realised how simple yet beautiful it is. Maybe it was a response to the overly complex Avante series that came before it. Only thing I changed was the titanium hex screws wherever possible. Glad I didn't build it in a custom colour however tempting it was. I have another new in box that I bought with custom parts / Top-Force Evolution replica until that idea was sunk when the Top-Force Evo got released. Comment & show us all your versions of the Top-Force. Enjoy the eye-candy tribute vid.

Finished Beautiful Tamiya Top-Force 4wd Buggy | Tribute video. Got it uploaded on Youtube to record Tamiya history. Enjoy guys.

Reckon it will be TA07RR type of money. The TA07RR is bulletproof & performs very well especially on tighter tracks & can be configured so many other ways. But still the TA08R is tempting. Its like a club class TRF420X.

Some pics from the vid. They were a bit shy in showing the motor side as I would have liked to see the motor mount.

The TA08R was shown in the Tamiya Inc Youtube live stream today. Fast forward to 1:20.20 for it's unveiling. We got a carbon deck that looks similar to the TRF420X. Looks like it's got all the TRF drive shafts, steering, suspension blocks with all the previously released hop-ups for this car. Awesome!

Yes… I have one already bought many months ago…. having gone through the thought of sticking plastic plates to the sides & drilling holes…. 😂

With Covid lockdown & the revival of collecting in the hobby, it’s made these cars very scarce, snapped up quickly, going for crazy money. It would be crazy to build a new in bag original. I would rather stare at the box & blister packs. & build a custom runner. Hahaha… 😬 I found my used original in Japan but it’s missing that all important body mounted driver figure. If any of you have a spare to sell, please PM me. Then I can complete my restoration + video. Till then there are other ‘special’ projects I really want to build. @Snappy1 I’m drooling just thinking about 2 x 2001s. 😂