fyra89

If it's really a Hotshot re-release this is my happiest day ever on TC[]

We're starting a vintage racing class at my local club. I'm planning to run my Frog. We'll be running some of the races on an indoor track that is fairly hard-packed--I normally run Hole Shots for tires on my modern cars. My question is, what tires should I use for my Frog? Would Subaru Brat tires work for hard-packed conditions? If so, do they fit on Frog rear wheels, or do I need Brat rear wheels?

Those who are interested can reply so that we can discuss how we want to organize the class . . . .

I sold a complete Astute, which I had restored, for $50. The car had sentimental value as it was my childhood favorite. But I was into racing and couldn't justify what I was spending without selling my old stuff. I also sold a nearly-new Yokomo YZ10 for $75. I had no emotional attachment to that one, but in retrospect I would have held out for twice that much.

A list of when Tamiya listed each kit as discontinued would be very interesting. I'd volunteer to do it myself, if only I had the catalogues. That information about how Tamiya does production also sheds a lot of light on things. For instance, we were all confused when Tamiya took the Thundershot out of production after only a few months. Top Force lasted somewhat longer; Manta Ray has only recently been listed as discontinued. I assume they did one production run of each in late 2005, and the Thundershot just sold out very fast. I'm glad they're still making batches of Frogs, Hornets, and Grasshoppers.

The TA03 version of the Lancia Rally has a hard body.

There is serious talk of organizing a vintage racing class at Dirt Heaven in Champion, WI (near Green Bay) this summer. Several of us have re-releases and are itching to run them on a more competitive basis. Rules haven't been discussed in detail, but would likely be something along the lines of pre-1990 chassis (vintage or re-release) and silver can motor. Having oil shocks in front may be grounds for disqualification[] Any TC members in the area?

Perhaps the hop-up option universal shafts would solve this?

Would the body from the Lancia 037 Rally (58278) fit on the TA03F-S chassis?

Does anyone know whether Tamiya plastic parts are dyable (with RIT Dye or something similar)? I'm thinking of the yellow CVA shocks as a candidate.

Racing is 90% driver, 5% equipment, and 5% luck. When you are starting off the "equipment" portion is largely about not breaking parts, and having replacements handy when you do. Nothing is more frustrating than having to sit out an entire night's racing because you broke something in the first heat.

Amongst TC members the re-releases (at least the Hornet, Frog, and Grasshopper) do see to be selling better than anything Tamiya currently offers, except for the F-350. But I suppose that is to be expected given that this is a Tamiya collector's site, not a kid's wish-list site. Still, since Tamiya decided it wanted to do re-releases, and presumably knew it was appealing to the collector market, the Hotshot would have seemed to be a pretty good call. Most popular 4WD on the site, after all. The Thundershot seems not to have worked out, given its short production run. Rather than doing a show survey, they should just have looked at this site.

I will be forever puzzed by Tamiya's choice of which three 4WD buggies to re-release, but alas, it does seem that this run of re-releases is over. Maybe they'll do another in five or ten years . . . .

Awesome post! You've inspired me to seriously consider racing my re-re Frog instead of my B4 at our last ooutdoor off-road race this weekend. The way I drive, I'm going to come in last either way, so may as well have some fun, right?

The models page has release dates for most Tamiya models. Has anyone ever tried to collect the dates when Tamiya took these models out of production?

DJTheo's comments raise an interesting point--evidently some models changed colors over time? So if I bought a Thundershot in 1990, would I have got the brownish MSC, whereas in 1987 I would have got the black one? Or did Tamiya usually stick with one color for a model?

Looking through my old parts collection I noticed that I have Tamiya MSCs with bases of two different colors--some are black and some are orangeish brown (or at least that's what I'd call it, my wife always tells me I'm colorblind). I know that the black ones are older, but when did Tamiya make the switch? Aside from curiosity, my reason for asking is that I'm interested in putting period-correct gear in my re-re Frog and Thundershot.

Any car can win with the right driver.

29.

Just got my two Thundershots in the mail today . . . the boxes are significantly smaller than I remember the box on my old Astute being. Did Tamiya shrink them? Or did some cars have smaller boxes than others? Or is my memory just faulty . . .

When I was restoring my Astute I needed a few of those 3mm press nuts that are so hard to find. I got in touch with Tamiya USA (via my LHS) and within a week I had them for free. No shipping change, no nothing.

From looking at Tamiya USA's website it appears that most of the parts have not yet been discontinued. Hopefully they will keep producing them a while longer even if the kit isn't available.

Tower had them listed as discontinued yesterday; today they are "In Stock--Limited Quantities." Get 'em while you can, boys.

I'm going to get a re-re frog soon, and for old times' sake I'm considering installing a period MSC (which I have). For those who have the kit already, what other hardware would I need to acquire to mount it?

The price difference isn't so great in the USA; Tower has the Frog for $134.99 and the Hornet for $99.99. Guess you Brits have a special affinity for Frogs . . . .