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Bwaaatch

The Mini 4wd thread!

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I like some of the "Wild 4WD" ones that Tamiya has done, and I quite adore the older "mini" versions that Tamiya did of some of the RC lineup.

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The actual "race" cars don't do much for me, but it's honestly just a combination of not having a track nearby (nor the funds, interest or room to buy/build one) and already having enough hobbies.  :lol:  I do like having mini/alternate versions of some of the RC cars I own, and I think some of them are great in that regard.  I just wish some of the cooler old kits (mainly the "Jr" series c/w awesome box art) didn't command such high prices!

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Mini 4WD is an interesting phenomenon. I always thought it was just a brief fad, so it's surprising to me that it's still going strong after all these years. I think the Hasbro Record Breakers were more popular here, although I don't think they ever had truly wide appeal. My only experience with those was through the smaller push toy versions that came in kids meals for the Burger King promo.

I never knew Tamiya made them until I started searching around for info on my Nikko mini. I got it for my birthday one year, but I didn't have a track or know anybody with one, so it really didn't get used other than back and forth across the floor with my brother a little bit. We had already been into slot cars and toy-grade RC by that point, so mini 4WD seemed like a step backwards because you couldn't control the car in any way other than through the setup/tuning.

It's really a similar concept as a tether car: prep it, fire it up, and let it run until it stops. Also a lot like B-spec mode in Gran Turismo: if your car is set up properly, the AI driver can do the rest. Truly a tinkerer's race.

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42 minutes ago, El Gecko said:

Mini 4WD is an interesting phenomenon. I always thought it was just a brief fad, so it's surprising to me that it's still going strong after all these years.

It really depends on where in the world. In some parts of the world (mainly far east), there is almost no space run full size RC and a Mini 4WD track can easily fit inside a shop selling them. 

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4 hours ago, 94eg! said:

Yeah I fell for the "Dash" line as well when I purchased a Dash-1 Emperor to race in the Class A stock. That car was a miserable failure. Sometimes you just get lucky I guess.

I never entered any real race, I just like the build and running of them. However my rere Dashes are going to be mainly shelf queens. 

I will love a Dash-2 RC but will settle for any Dash in RC form. 

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2 hours ago, bRIBEGuy said:

The actual "race" cars don't do much for me

It is a region thing I believe. I read a review of the Super Storm Dragon and the reviewer don't like the shell much. Many Mini 4WD are modelled in the lines of manga and that is more of a Eastern thing, not as popular in the west. 

Which is why I have some real world cars (Yaris, Supra, F1) in my order. My thinking is (feel free to correct me) the "cute" cars for the younger kids, the colorful ones for older kids and the real world ones for the dads (or mums) if I am ever going to start this Mini 4WD cafe. 

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@bRIBEGuy I kind of miss those types of Mini4WD cars..the ones that appear more 'normal' without the big racing bumpers..  :D  I have a Landcruiser too somewhere..

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23 hours ago, Willy iine said:

@bRIBEGuy I kind of miss those types of Mini4WD cars..the ones that appear more 'normal' without the big racing bumpers..  :D  I have a Landcruiser too somewhere..

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These are often called ‘Original Mini 4wd’ and they pre-date the better known ‘Racing’ (buggy-like) and ‘Wild’ (monster truck-like) variants. They have a different chassis that is between the other two in terms of ride height and speed.

There is a very useful Mini 4wd page on fandom. Here is their page about the ‘Originals’ (some called ‘comicals’ and clearly in the ‘chibi’ style): https://mini-4wd.fandom.com/wiki/Original_Mini_4WD

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On 7/29/2022 at 7:31 PM, El Gecko said:

Mini 4WD is an interesting phenomenon. I always thought it was just a brief fad, so it's surprising to me that it's still going strong after all these years. I think the Hasbro Record Breakers were more popular here, although I don't think they ever had truly wide appeal. My only experience with those was through the smaller push toy versions that came in kids meals for the Burger King promo.

I never knew Tamiya made them until I started searching around for info on my Nikko mini. I got it for my birthday one year, but I didn't have a track or know anybody with one, so it really didn't get used other than back and forth across the floor with my brother a little bit. We had already been into slot cars and toy-grade RC by that point, so mini 4WD seemed like a step backwards because you couldn't control the car in any way other than through the setup/tuning.

It's really a similar concept as a tether car: prep it, fire it up, and let it run until it stops. Also a lot like B-spec mode in Gran Turismo: if your car is set up properly, the AI driver can do the rest. Truly a tinkerer's race.

turbo_panther_mini_01.jpg.ed08713d43bd7d0209a47e04be5665ea.jpg

turbo_panther_mini_02.jpg.2f26f88bd57378a22f80f42edc6a5d41.jpg

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I really enjoy these ‘origin stories’ @El Gecko. Mini 4wd is such a niche thing in the west that people discover and rediscover it through some pretty contrived means.

I love the non-Tamiya attempts, too. Rivals could smell the trend unfolding and sought a piece of it. In later years this de-generated into copy cat brands, but later 80s and early nineties had rivals trying to actually outdo Tamiya, with some great results.

 

I love this amazing list of boxarts by brand!

http://www.mini-4wd.de/mini4wd.html
 

Things like this!

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This is a mini-4wd I built to display with my Dyna Storm Evolution. It's a VS chassis with a replica Evo1 chassis upgrade and replica carbon bumpers.

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1 hour ago, Bwaaatch said:

I love the non-Tamiya attempts, too. Rivals could smell the trend unfolding and sought a piece of it. In later years this de-generated into copy cat brands, but later 80s and early nineties had rivals trying to actually outdo Tamiya, with some great results.

Talking about great results with Mini 4WD models from other companies than Tamiya, I really like Aoshima's series of realistic models similar to Tamiya's 190XX-series (Unimog, Wild Willy Jr. etc.). The Aoshima chassis combines 4WD with working steering! Also, the chassis was available with many realistic bodies of real vehicles that Tamiya has never made Mini 4WD models of (Honda CR-V, Daihatsu Midget, Subaru Legacy Outback and multiple others). 

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My first Tamiya was the Terra Scorcher mini 4wd, had no idea what the point of it was, other than leaving marks on my moms furniture.

I tied two fishing lines to it, front and rear bumper to run it in circles around me inte parking lot when not scuffing furniture.

Its the reason i got the Terra Scorcher rere when i saw it :)

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27 minutes ago, Ziddan said:

My first Tamiya was the Terra Scorcher mini 4wd, had no idea what the point of it was, other than leaving marks on my moms furniture.

I tied two fishing lines to it, front and rear bumper to run it in circles around me inte parking lot when not scuffing furniture.

Its the reason i got the Terra Scorcher rere when i saw it :)

I used this approach when taking a couple of Liberty Emperors out with my daughter last year. Great fun, but a good way to wreck the cars, too!

Tamiya understood the gateway power of Mini 4wds really well back in the day. That seems a little lost today, though it was good to se the new Avante getting a Junior.

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I had seen the cardboard ones. They are great and a cheap solution if you have space to set them up long term. If they have to be cleared away at the end of the day... 

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On 7/29/2022 at 3:14 PM, alvinlwh said:

It really depends on where in the world. In some parts of the world (mainly far east), there is almost no space run full size RC and a Mini 4WD track can easily fit inside a shop selling them. 

My thought was "well so can slot cars!" but of course, slot cars need special track, power supply etc. I can certainly see the appeal of Mini 4WD when other options are limited, they just never really took off here like it did in other places.

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On 8/1/2022 at 11:10 AM, alvinlwh said:

I had seen the cardboard ones. They are great and a cheap solution if you have space to set them up long term. If they have to be cleared away at the end of the day... 

 

2 minutes ago, El Gecko said:

My thought was "well so can slot cars!" but of course, slot cars need special track, power supply etc. I can certainly see the appeal of Mini 4WD when other options are limited, they just never really took off here like it did in other places.

I can see a quite interesting crossover here, mini 4wds with ESCs and RXs, they would enable track configurations that would be very hard/costly to do with regular slot cars.

As for the Terra Scorcher Jr i got as a kid, ive got no idea where it came from and i had no idea what mini 4wd racing was until a few months back when i started getting back to RC cars/digging into Tamiya.

Have never seen/heard of the mini 4wd hobby here in Sweden.

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11 minutes ago, El Gecko said:

My thought was "well so can slot cars!" but of course, slot cars need special track, power supply etc. I can certainly see the appeal of Mini 4WD when other options are limited, they just never really took off here like it did in other places.

BITD we had Mini 4WD tracks set up outside shops selling them, outside metro/underground stations and recently, at the void decks under flats. 

https://mothership.sg/2022/06/tamiya-car-punggol/

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12 minutes ago, Ziddan said:

I can see a quite interesting crossover here, mini 4wds with ESCs and RXs, they would enable track configurations that would be very hard/costly to do with regular slot cars.

That is called the SU-01 chassis. Never took off though. 

 

 

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