absolutly love the OG avante - but what should I do?

[gkatz 10]

Hi all;

after a 35 year slip and browsing through tamiya's offerings, i cant get my eyes of the avante (OG or 2011 re re)

what can I say - its just bueatiful to my eyes...

but... kits are no longer selling (there's the black special now but it looks different)

what would you reccomend? buys at 3 time the prices from ebay? wait for a re re re?

go for the black and make it look like an OG?

thanks!

[ThunderDragonCy 6388]

54 minutes ago, gkatz said:

Hi all;

after a 35 year slip and browsing through tamiya's offerings, i cant get my eyes of the avante (OG or 2011 re re)

what can I say - its just bueatiful to my eyes...

but... kits are no longer selling (there's the black special now but it looks different)

what would you reccomend? buys at 3 time the prices from ebay? wait for a re re re?

go for the black and make it look like an OG?

thanks!

The Black Special body comes unpainted. Just get that, paint the original colour and get some repro decals (MCI Racing are good). You will get good money selling the pink wheels, so you can pick up sometjing a little more avante. Not sure how easy the original camlocks are to come by. 

[Kol__ 2419]

The black special is cool imo, but if you're not a fan and want the og colour scheme, then buying that and converting is an option, but will likely cost you more than buying a 2011 rere NIB from someone on eBay etc. The yellow camlock wheels, as Cy mentions, being a lot more tricky to come by. The 2011 og sticker sets do pop up from time to time, Tony's Tamiya had some recently. The pink BS wheels were going for good money, but Tony is selling them for about £13 a pair at the moment.

The 2011 rere's come up quite regularly for about £450-550 on eBay - anything more than that is over priced imo. Keep your eyes open for one of those mate. And I think they were about £450 when new iirc, so not that bad a mark up really.

[Superluminal 3023]

Black special, MCI decals and a set of Pargu's gold aluminium cam locks which are beautifully made and complement the gold alloy dampers and uprights perfectly.

Plus you get the hop ups with the BS that you would only end up buying separately anyway

[Kol__ 2419]

21 minutes ago, Superluminal said:

Plus you get the hop ups with the BS that you would only end up buying separately anyway

Oh that's a good point too👍

Also linked to that, what will be the purpose of this buggy, shelf queen or runner @gkatz?

[Willy iine 12586]

7 hours ago, gkatz said:

Hi all;

after a 35 year slip and browsing through tamiya's offerings, i cant get my eyes of the avante (OG or 2011 re re)

what can I say - its just bueatiful to my eyes...

but... kits are no longer selling (there's the black special now but it looks different)

what would you reccomend? buys at 3 time the prices from ebay? wait for a re re re?

go for the black and make it look like an OG?

thanks!

Yes.   I didn't pay that much on my Avante's, but the NIB SuperAstute's and other vintage cars .. the car is only worth what it's worth to you.   GL hunting.  

[gkatz 10]

1 hour ago, Kol__ said:

Oh that's a good point too👍

Also linked to that, what will be the purpose of this buggy, shelf queen or runner @gkatz?

thats a good question!!! 

at this point in my life I cant really afford to have it on the shelf

but i'd rather build then drive

[Elbowloh 195]

I think you should by the Black Egress and if you don't like it, give it to me...

[Kol__ 2419]

3 hours ago, gkatz said:

thats a good question!!! 

at this point in my life I cant really afford to have it on the shelf

but i'd rather build then drive

I reckon I'd do what @ThunderDragonCy said, get the Avante Black, change up the colour, livery and wheels if you want and then drive the badword out of it!!!

[Killajb 1204]

On 1/23/2023 at 3:43 PM, gkatz said:

Hi all;

after a 35 year slip and browsing through tamiya's offerings, i cant get my eyes of the avante (OG or 2011 re re)

what can I say - its just bueatiful to my eyes...

but... kits are no longer selling (there's the black special now but it looks different)

what would you reccomend? buys at 3 time the prices from ebay? wait for a re re re?

go for the black and make it look like an OG?

thanks!

I had the exact same problem my friend.  I ended up going for an Avante Black Special and painting it similar to the original.  I've had no regrets

[moffman 4665]

I'm completely biased for the avante it's in the top 3 of my all time favourite rc buggies and the other 2 are the avante 2011 re-release and the black special although performance wise they are bit suspect! But then again for what I actually use it for its again perfect!

Anyway back to @gkatz and your conundrum I personally would try and hang out for a used avante (weather that be an original or 2011 although I have both and my original has been in a state of disrepair for a few years because original parts are expensive and unicorn like to find?) and bring it back to life because like you say a mint in box is going for big money at the moment and to buy a black special then turn it into an original can still be quite expensive although you can sell the black parts and make that money back but it will always be a black converted to original? More so knowing what tamiya do they will more than likely re-re-release the 2011 avante because they are a bit lazy and living of their back catalogue at the moment!

[bavee 496]

35 minutes ago, moffman said:

More so knowing what tamiya do they will more than likely re-re-release the 2011 avante because they are a bit lazy and living of their back catalogue at the moment!

This. I'm in the same boat. Really like an Egress but the Black Edition not so much. I'm sure if I buy a Black Edition now Tamiya will re-release the Egress 2013 next year...

[gkatz 10]

BTW, if I understand correctly, the avante black has imporvements over the 2011 avante...
if this is the case then maybe going with the black edition makes more sense (driving wise)

[moffman 4665]

1 hour ago, gkatz said:

BTW, if I understand correctly, the avante black has imporvements over the 2011 avante...
if this is the case then maybe going with the black edition makes more sense (driving wise)

Yeah it has the ball diff torque splitter set as standard and upgrade steering (which is a must on the avante) 

[Pablo68 739]

To the OP.

One think it is important to remember when looking for a buggy you really want. Be patient, play the long game, or as in my case the really looooooooooong game.
There is no rush, as much as you might think there is. Right now prices are ridiculous for almost everything. If you wait long enough and search often (every day), things do pop up, as much as I complain that it is otherwise.

Somehow in I think the last year-ish, I've snagged a gun metal gray 2011 Avante, an Egress chassis mostly complete and even a mostly there, beaten up and in dire need of a rebuild Porsche 959.

I do this not because I am smart or anything, it's more a case of must needs.....and I don't mind cleaning, fixing, rebuilding basket cases.

Best of luck with your search btw.

[Chest Rockwell 25]

23 hours ago, bavee said:

This. I'm in the same boat. Really like an Egress but the Black Edition not so much. I'm sure if I buy a Black Edition now Tamiya will re-release the Egress 2013 next year...

Yep, waiting for the 2013 re-re as well.

 

As for the Avante, where are you OP? I was offered a NIB 2011 for £400 a week or so ago if you are in the UK? It was on facebook so happy to supply the details?

[gkatz 10]

not in the UK but I will keep my eye on ebay. I am in no rush

[naturbo2000 567]

I was in the same boat. The car I always wanted was an OG Avante, and I've only paid enough attention to the hobby over the last 30 years to notice when any given re-re was 6 months out of stock.

For me, the hop-ups in the Black Special made it a no-brainer (even then, I seem unable to build anything stock), but I definitely prefer the looks of the OG over the Black Special.

Cue my home-brew "Avante Black Edition": MCI decals, VQS Hi Caps and some Kyosho wheels I had back in the day. Since bought some Pargu wheels in silver, but the Kyosho ones are for running with. Body is pearlescent black by laying down a couple of coats of PS58 followed by PS5. I guess it will be complete when I switch those springs to chrome .

[Fish Slice 21]

On 1/24/2023 at 10:19 AM, bavee said:

This. I'm in the same boat. Really like an Egress but the Black Edition not so much. I'm sure if I buy a Black Edition now Tamiya will re-release the Egress 2013 next year...

Totally agree with you on this.

When I originally saw the news on the black coming out, I went and hunted down a silver 2013 re-release.

I worry a little that the Avante and Egress have descended into the black edition being the only edition. Which is disappointing as the Egress special just isn't special, at least the Avante has some interesting upgrades and extras.

I'd have preferred the Egress black to be like the old racing mini 4WD black edition livery like the Avante black was.