Is the Clodbuster the longest in production model?

[GTodd]

Took out the clod with some others yesterday for backyard bashing with my son. While driving the cold my son asked how long it had been around for. I never really thought of it, but the clod has been in constant production since 1987. It's received paint , sticker, and plastic color changes but other than the chassis brace it's exactly the same.  

Has there been any other model produced for over 30 years constantly?

[wolfdogstinkus]

Some say that Clodbuster production has been running since before the dawn of time itself, and it will be produced forever in a bid to stop robots destroying the world. 

All we know is that it's called the Clodbuster.

[wolfdogstinkus]

Some say that this thread maybe the perfect place to drop all my *stolen (*adapted) Clodbuster introduction jokes in.

All we know is that it's probably getting boring now?

And it's called the Clodbuster.

[Saito2]

I think you may be right. If you disregard its "transformation" into the Super Clod, which, as you said, is basically the same truck, Tamiya's first big truck might be their longest running vehicle.

There may have been production hiccups along the way like the transition to an ESC or rumored issues with the tire molds wearing out, but I think the Clod, in some form, was still always on hobby shop shelves.

The only thing I'm unsure of, was there a break in availability between the original Clod and the first Super Clod? @Mokei Kagaku would be the man to ask.

[GToddC5]

@Saito2 If the info on TB is accurate, the original was available until 2003. First Super Clod was 2004, so very little time. That ran until 2013 which led right into another release of it and still going.

[wolfdogstinkus]

Some say that when you push the throttle on a clod, it doesn't travel forwards, it actually pushes the world backwards.

All we know is that it's called the Clodbuster.

And production must continue or the world will stop turning and destroy life as we know it.

[GTodd]

The Cold is kind of like the Porsche 911, the 911 was supposed to be replaced by the 928 and 944. Those both went away and the 911 is still here. The Jugg was supposed to replace the Cold...we know how that went. 

[markbt73]

And why shouldn't it still be in prouction? It's a brilliant design, a very capable and durable truck (even stock, which isn't always the case with Tamiya), it has a deeper aftermarket than just about anything else in the industry, and Tamiya still sells every one of them it can make.

[GTodd]

I couldn't agree more! The only items I think it NEEEDs are ball bearings through out and oil shocks. I fitted both (top force hicaps for the shocks) and it's one of my most reliable back yard bashers for some fun with my kids. 

[Dakratfink]

20 hours ago, GTodd said:

The Cold is kind of like the Porsche 911, the 911 was supposed to be replaced by the 928 and 944. Those both went away and the 911 is still here. The Jugg was supposed to replace the Cold...we know how that went. 

The B1 Lancer and the B2 Spirit were both supposed to replace the B52. 
In 2022 I retired from active duty as a B52 crew chief. In 2021 Rolls Royce got the contract to provide new engines for all 76 B52s keeping them in service until at least 2050. 
Stratofortress, the ClodBuster of the sky.
 

[Sogogi]

I gotta have one someday..

[magpie]

i love the clod.but i think grasshopper been in production longer.

[GTodd]

2 hours ago, magpie said:

i love the clod.but i think grasshopper been in production longer.

The Grasshopper was gone for a very long time. Did not come back until the first go round of the rere with the Frog, Hotshot, etc.

[GTodd]

4 hours ago, Sogogi said:

I gotta have one someday..

Just do it, they really are a blast. Spare parts are everywhere and the clod is just good old fun! Just get ball bearings and oil shocks. 

[WillyChang]

Doesn’t need a Chevy body to make anything a Clod.

Don’t forget the Bullhead, a Clod in disguise! 

[No Slack]

Some say the first batch hasn't sold out yet.

[GToddC5]

It's about time for a "This Thread is Worthless Without Pics" comment, so here's mine!

 

 

[GTodd]

9 hours ago, WillyChang said:

Doesn’t need a Chevy body to make anything a Clod.

Don’t forget the Bullhead, a Clod in disguise! 

Very true! I kind of want one now that I can't have one.

[JeffSpicoli]

I just remember looking at it when it came out and thinking how cheaply made it looked compared to higher quality models.  Like a Lunchbox on steroids when it came to parts breaking or not being very good performance wise. 

[GTodd]

What???!!!! How is it cheaply made? It's worlds better than a Kyosho High rider, MIP Crusher  etc.

[urban warrior]

12 hours ago, JeffSpicoli said:

I just remember looking at it when it came out and thinking how cheaply made it looked compared to higher quality models.  Like a Lunchbox on steroids when it came to parts breaking or not being very good performance wise. 

Hi, I would like to know which RC models with higher Quality existed, when the Clod Buster was released in the late eighties of the last Millennium? Decades later the folks were still using Clod axles for various types of own creations and several companies were making aftermarket parts for it. And anything offered from competitors at the time of the release was either based on somekind of beefed up buggy chassis (Kyosho USA-1 and derivates) or were highly complicated vehicles (MRP High Roller) or were not even close to the level of the Clod (Marui Big Bear, OK he came first, but w/o 4x4). Maybe the Clod was not the fastest MT or the cheapest, but it always had a very reasonable performance over all. Thus maybe the reason why it has such a long production time. I think most of all the other MTs seem to be gone and nearly forgotten. Don't get me wrong, I have searched for a MRP High Roller (for example) for a long time, just for couriosity reasons, but couldn't get my hands on it. Same with the MST Monster Truck which I seem to have missed in the recent years (But that was in the last ten years not more than three decades ago). Your "Lunchbox on steroids" phrase makes me think, that you maybe mixed up the Clod Buster with the Big Bear? Because the Big Bear looks quite like a beefed up Lunchbox/Midnight Pumpkin from the bottom.

[isomer1]

3 hours ago, urban warrior said:

beefed up buggy chassis (Kyosho USA-1 and derivates)

Only Kyosho monster truck I can think of being based on a buggy is the gas USA-1 from a hopped-up Inferno. I think all of the electrics were off the same (original) chassis? Difference was the tires and inclusion of a 2nd gearbox at the front (for Double-Dare & USA-1 vs Big Brute, original Hi-Rider).

[Saito2]

If I was wheelin' a Bruiser just before a Clod, I can see it seeming more "plasticy", otherwise the Clod seemed no more or less plastic than the other models Tamiya was putting out at that time. The Bruiser would have been the exception, not the rule. Engineering-wise, the Clod was a tough, fairly bulletproof truck compared to other big trucks back then. It even uses a lot of machine screws and nuts vs just self-tappers that most Tamiyas relied on at that time.

[AndyjcClod]

The Clod sure has been around a long time I remember it was the model I used to dream of as a kid in the 80s whilst zooming my Tamiya Falcon around but there was no way I could have afforded one back then. Years later when I got my first job I worked to the bone cramming in the hours and the first Tamiya I saved up for was a Clod Buster.

I still love Clods so much bouncy fun.

[bRIBEGuy]

On 10/22/2023 at 10:05 AM, GTodd said:

The only items I think it NEEEDs are ball bearings through out and oil shocks. I fitted both (top force hicaps for the shocks) and it's one of my most reliable back yard bashers for some fun with my kids. 

Bearing YES.  Oil shocks... maybe (IMO).

The Clod is not dissimilar to the Lunchbox/Mignight Pumpkin in my mind, in that they both have a certain crappy driving feel that just makes them unique and fun.  Oil shocks will help tame a bit of the "Clod bounce", but to me, that bounce makes the truck more fun.  If you start down the road to make a Clodbuster truly good, you end up with empty pockets and 90% of the original vehicle in the spare parts bin.

Here's one of my Clod's if we're sharing pics... bad film shot from a while ago... OG with bowtie grill and unobtanium gold plated wheels...