The Best RC for Timmy

[Wooders28]

26 minutes ago, Kowalski86 said:

I think that FTX is better value, it being 4wd so it'll go through grass much better. It's just a question on how fast it is despite being brushed.

They do do a brushless version, which looks (from the limited info) to be the same car, which suggests a cheap brushless combo upgrade, a 2s /3s lipo and you should be at, interesting,  speed..

[Kpowell911]

1 hour ago, Wooders28 said:

It's the RTR crowd that are keeping alot of Hobby shops in business, (and thats from staff at CML ) ,that and the , silly youtube stunts, crowd.

Like them or not, most money isn't made by people buying a kit, and sitting it on the shelf...

 

Definitely, not sure where the hobby would be without RTRs im afraid =/

[Wooders28]

1 hour ago, Kpowell911 said:

Definitely, not sure where the hobby would be without RTRs im afraid =/

The world has changed, most of the population what instant gratification, and want it delivered within hours of tapping the app on their phone.

Saying that, the top end race cars ,are still  kits.

I have looked at some of the RTR cars, but they're all the new fangled wheel controllers 😳, so I'd need to throw another receiver in, and a servo as they usually look rubbish, and probably a motor and esc...

 

 

[Saito2]

I don't usually add to these threads because I do have an outdated mindset, but overall, looking at the reviews, the Arrma Gorgon kit seems like the best bet in terms of ease of assembly. durabiltiy, price and parts availability.  

[Kowalski86]

18 hours ago, Kpowell911 said:

Definitely, not sure where the hobby would be without RTRs im afraid =/

I completely understand the appeal of RTRs, I'll never really understand the appeal of "lets repeatedly break expensive toys doing stupid stuff".

Yes it keeps LHS's around, especially when Joey pays the LHS to do all of the work (and misses out on any educational merits of the hobby), it's just not my thing.

[Kowalski86]

3 minutes ago, Saito2 said:

I don't usually add to these threads because I do have an outdated mindset, but overall, looking at the reviews, the Arrma Gorgon kit seems like the best bet in terms of ease of assembly. durabiltiy, price and parts availability.  

Definitely, I've look at them in person and their design is much less antiquated than the Traxxas 2wd line-up. Plus its a monster truck, it'll have a better chance at rescuing itself from grass.

[gogsyfinnie]

On 12/3/2023 at 11:01 PM, Wooders28 said:

The world has changed, most of the population what instant gratification, and want it delivered within hours of tapping the app on their phone.

Saying that, the top end race cars ,are still  kits.

I have looked at some of the RTR cars, but they're all the new fangled wheel controllers 😳, so I'd need to throw another receiver in, and a servo as they usually look rubbish, and probably a motor and esc...

 

 

I think your right for a great many kids these days but there is hope, I’ve joined this forum as this year my “little timmy” and “Timmy-Thea?!” are getting a pumpkin and a lunchbox this Christmas and I suspect the build will be as enjoyable as the driving around after.  They’ve built several static models (tanks, cars, aircraft) and they love it (apart from decals, that’s firmly a daddy job 🤣)  We also came across an RC meet in the summer in a local park and both were very taken with it.

This thread has been a great read and very timely for me! 

[JimBear]

In many ways I am thinking that the "get out and drive" and the "building something" mindsets are sort of colliding - the RTR vs a bunch of pieces in bags that actually becomes something.

Perhaps one can get the kids further along by engaging in the "why" when they lose interest, try to find another aspect of the hobby that excites. I can sort of only show my boy (or any kid) the stuff that I am excited about; "hey, look at this!" and then he'll have to say yes or no to that. Maybe it'll show up later in life, if not now. It's sort of like being out in the woods, you have to tune in, man.

[wolfdogstinkus]

Depending on age and skill levels, you build the car and let them loose on the body.

[Saito2]

From my vantage point locally, its interesting (and distressing) how things have progressed. First there was the concern that the hobby aspect would be lost with the proliferation of RTRs. The short attention spans and "gotta have it now" mentality were blamed. Now, things have progressed where even getting a kid to go outside and play with a RTR seems like a challenge. Heck, just getting a kid to go outside period is a challenge. My daughter and I see many empty swing sets in back yards around our neighborhood but never a single child. Its been this way for many years.

[gogsyfinnie]

Nice Wolfdog!  I've got a can of candy pink and metallic green (their favourite colours) to paint, I'll prime the shells pre-Christmas so they can both get in the carboard garage spray booth Christmas day (they both love spray painting models).

They are 11 and 8 and both like doing a bit of assembly themselves,  I'll no doubt need to assist a bit, but both a pretty handy.

[alvinlwh]

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[Kowalski86]

1 hour ago, Saito2 said:

Now, things have progressed where even getting a kid to go outside and play with a RTR seems like a challenge.

I don't get it either, kids don't want to wait an hour to charge a battery, but they'll put up with hours of loading times in a videogame or the "grind" that modern games demand.

38 minutes ago, alvinlwh said:

On a slightly different note, I had been investigating a number of RTR recently and am impressed by what they offer but at a lower price than an equivalent Tamiya kit. No wonder the hobby is moving towards RTR now. But a RTR, unbuilt it and rebuild it and it is self built!

That's a pretty good idea there, regardless of approach, it's really about just getting people to not be intimidated to work on a toy.

I'm not really a fan of any pre-assembled Tamiyas with bushings, like their "XB" series. It ultimately means more work in the long run.

[JimBear]

31 minutes ago, Kowalski86 said:

I'm not really a fan of any pre-assembled Tamiyas with bushings, like their "XB" series. It ultimately means more work in the long run.

But what those have in favour of an RC toy-thing is that they (and many other big-brand RTRs, just to include those) are possible to take apart, get back together again, and are modular (no single-board ESC/TX/light units).

As exasperating as it is to have to include "extras" to get the car to run, I have to accept that the big T in Tamiya is Tinkering.

[Tamiyastef]

28 minutes ago, Kowalski86 said:

RTR, unbuilt it and rebuild it and it is self built

Been there, done that. The feeling for me isn't even close to starting from a kit. And that's just talking about the chassis, not even mentioning "all the fun" we kit builders have with the (not precut) body and (not precut) decals. (stickers or whatever you want to call them) I must admit I'm not at all impressed by the boxart of RTR's...

[BuggyDad]

Re kit vs RTR I think it depends on the kid (which perhaps really means it depends on the parents, situation, siblings, I don't know). I got mine a Tamiya kit for his 8th birthday. We built it together and he loved doing that, and he did genuinely do most of it, just under my direction. Did a more complex kit with him 18 months later and he did more, but still under supervision. He later volunteered some view along the lines of "you need to build it to value the reward of driving it", which amused me. 

[87lc2]

2 hours ago, alvinlwh said:

Instead of the debate about self built or RTR, how about a semi build? Tamiya First Try has the difficult part assembled (but with bushing) but still require some assembly.

On a slightly different note, I had been investigating a number of RTR recently and am impressed by what they offer but at a lower price than an equivalent Tamiya kit. No wonder the hobby is moving towards RTR now. But a RTR, unbuilt it and rebuild it and it is self built! With all the good bits! A FTX Banzai, for example, costs the same as a base TT, but has some good bits that only a S/R offers. 

At first I thought you meant semi truck build - talk about diving in head first

You're not kidding about value of other brands vs Tamiya.  I'm determined to stick with Tamiya cars for on road racing, but you can get budget all out competition kits these days for the price of a basic TT02 kit (Sakura, Xpress). 

[alvinlwh]

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[Kowalski86]

50 minutes ago, 87lc2 said:

I'm determined to stick with Tamiya cars for on road racing, but you can get budget all out competition kits these days for the price of a basic TT02 kit (Sakura, Xpress). 

If theres any reason to stick with a TT02, its the crazy aftermarket that you dont get with a handful of other on-roaders, and silly cheap replacement parts (just $12 gets you a ton of spares).

2 hours ago, Tamiyastef said:

I must admit I'm not at all impressed by the boxart of RTR's...

I'm not a fan of the "clipless" body mount systems sold with most RTRs, just adds to the cost if I want to run a custom body.

[alvinlwh]

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[Kowalski86]

4 hours ago, alvinlwh said:

Well, for some of them, you will not even need to buy much hopups. Take the HPI Maverick Strada, oil shocks - check, metal top deck - check, metal shock towers - check, bearings - check, metal prop shaft - check, fancy suspension mounting (Type R style) - check. Also included are TX, RX, ESC and battery. All for £109.

Sadly, much like the FTX that you mentioned, HPI doesn't sell the Maverick Strada here in the States.

The only other budget RTR touring car that I can think of, that I keep forgetting, is the Redcat Lightning, which comes with plenty of adjustability out of the box. You just loose the scale body shells of competitors (and it's an old chassis iirc, older than TT02).

[alvinlwh]

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[Kowalski86]

4 hours ago, alvinlwh said:

Wow! That really sucks! 

It does, I'm sure that our main distributors simply don't want any cheaper competitors to contend with.

[alvinlwh]

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[Mrowka]

FWIW, my little man did a fair amount of the work on his Super Sand Dragon, as much as he could, and two years later he did probably 90% of the work building his Traxxas Slash from a kit.

He tried to get his cousin to build with him, but the cousin got bored almost immediately. It does not hurt that my wife runs the house like maximum security children's prison.