Explain Me Shelf Queens

[Pylon80]

As in the title and I mean it absolutely respectfully. I am seeing so many of my fellow members obviously fulfilled by building RC vehicles that will not move under their own power, ever, but rather will be displayed - and much loved in that role. 

I always thought that perhaps if I had a long and special history with one vehicle I would one day display it - and there! Shelf queen

But I can only think of one single vehicle that might fit that description one day, maybe.

So here it is, I an just wondering if anyone has any interesting and personal reasons behind their shelf queens projects.

[Kowalski86]

I've built 4 "shelf-queens" if we count scale models, they're quite good in that role. Otherwise "shelf-queens" aren't my thing, but I understand wanting to preserve rare RCs or "toy-grades" that you can't repair.

For a time I considered making my WPL C74 into a shelf-queen...except even as a shelf queen the axles would fall off!

[Jonathon Gillham]

I haven't bought any as shelf queens.  I have some that don't get run much like the Super Astute as parts can be hard to come by.

However, I will end up with a few which were all flood damaged.  I have a TA07 which has every hop up and a carbon chassis.  That has been replaced by a Yokomo DB11, so the TA07 has been stripped and rebuilt but I don't have a need for it now.  It looks so good with all the blue and carbon that its more piece of art, and will become my first shelf queen.  The second will be the FF04 Evo.  Same again, it got flooded but I didn't replace it with another frontie, so it may get used again but more likely will get the same treatment as the TA07, a strip and rebuild.  The TA07 was the first onroad racer this time around and went through a lot of development, so I guess that fits with your category of having history.  There is a TRF102 as well which has been replaced with another TRF102, but I'll probably race my original again.  I like F1 as a class.  Funnily enough I've had offers to buy the FF04 and TRF102 but can't bring myself to part with them

I have a couple of NIB Boomerangs too, and one runner.  The plan for those was to do a weekend building them with my son.  I'll possibly end up with one built and never run for the shelf, as that was my first car bitd.  We'll still have a runner each.  Not that we need them, we did the Fire Dragon and Saint Dragon builds a couple of years ago which are the go to runners, so we don't really need the Boomerangs

[Twinfan]

My shelf queens exist because I wanted to build that particular car. Once built, and if they're quite similar to something else, why run them and get them dirty and damaged? For me, they're better to have brand new, looking great and as decorative items in my office. I get pleasure looking at them and knowing I built them myself.

Plus they all have motors, ESCs and receivers fitted so are ready to run if I ever change my mind...

[Mad Ax]

I have only ever built one car with the intention of it being a shelf queen, and that was my Calsonic Primera Upgraded Special.  It was special to me as a Primera owner and fan, and also as a rare car to come with a few hop-ups over the standard FF01.  I never wanted to run that body, it only takes one wrong move to scratch it, so I built it purely for the building experience, and to display it.  That said, it's been boxed for 6 or 7 years now, so it isn't even a shelf queen.

I have considered making some other cars shelf queens - I had a Corally RDX a long time ago, which looked like pure art in carbon and alloy.  I wanted to keep it just so I could look at it, but in the end I sold it.

I also built a number of road-based touring cars for what was supposed to be a movie project, which never got filmed.  They were built to be run gently in the movie and they had to look good, so I was never going to run them properly until the movie was finished, to avoid them getting damaged.  So for a long time they sat on the shelf doing nothing, waiting for the movie to get started.  I still have some of them, in fact I might even race one later this year.

Actually I lie - I did build another shelf queen: my Buggy Champ Gold Edition re-release.  It looked so fab in factory-finished gold that I didn't want to risk running it, so it was going to be what used to be called a "gentle runner" - its first ever run was at the Tamiyaclub bash and swap meet in 2012.  I ran it outside, in a rough car park, so it wouldn't get hit by the other cars on the little track we made.  And then, just as I was done running and was driving it back towards the venue, it hit a bit of gravel and flipped upside down, smashing off the spotlamps and putting scratches all over the pristine body.  So, it stopped being a shelfer / gentle runner that day and became one of my most-run buggies for a while

On the other hand - I have tonnes of cars that just sit on shelves doing nothing, not because I don't want to run them, but because the opportunity to run them is rare.  They may come down once or twice a year for a race event (but that depends, as I can only race one car at a time and generally only enter one class per event these days) or for a Tamiya Junkies meet, where I'm limited by what I can fit in the van and what I can realistically run in one day.

I've never been one for the "shelf body / runner body" thing - I totally get why people do it and why it's a great idea, but it makes me feel uncomfortable in ways I can't describe.  To me, it feels like saying "this is the wife I have at home to spend quality time with, and this is the wife I have for going out in public with."

[Jason1145]

I’ve never intended to have a shelf queen, tell a lie, I did, simply because I’ve seen what resale values do to a used RC.

It may be a cold way to look at things but these cars cost a lot of money and can be an investment if managed properly aswell.

Plus I ended up with so many cars it’s impossible to run them all ( even though they all get fitted RTR and tested in house once completed) so invariably they become shelf queens albeit not brand new never run ( can that even be a shelf queen?)

My shelf queens are not all brand new built by myself, lots are bought in vgc 2nd which are quite hard to come by again or would require time and energy to research and replace parts to brand new again which I struggle with, so it’s just nice to own something and keep it clean and fresh.

Lastly I’ve seen the “damage” caused by one battery pack on a new RTR and if you can afford the hit on loss of value that’s fine, but I’ve been through so many cycles of selling my collections I know the value and rarity of shelf queen vehicles. I’m currently in the process of building a collection again and I’ll try not to sell it all off again in a few years!

I do have many RC’s I can run and not mind the usage and replacing broken parts or researching hop ups etc, that is a big part of the fun in the hobby after all, but I also like looking at my clean unused / VGC examples on display too.

[markbt73]

Strictly speaking, all RC cars are shelf queens - except the ones being run at this exact moment.

[Killajb]

Guilty as charged as far as shelf queens go.  Some were always intended to be (I'm looking at you Avante Black Special.  Like literally.. I'm looking at it right now)as well as the Turbo Optima gold edition, Porsche 934 RSR Black Special all follow suit.  Others turned out better than I ever expected (Blitzer Beetle, Fairlady Z, Wild One in white and NovaFox) and after a lot of painstaking work, I just couldn't bring myself to run them about in anger.  Regardless, all have full electronic gear and are ready-to-go.  

 

 

[OldSchoolRC1]

My shelf queens are there mostly because I wanted to enjoy the build. Best part of the hobby for me. Always wanted to build an Avante and Vanquish from a kit, so I finally did! I have plenty of runners, these two are just for display. Some are old vehicles I've restored and parts are hard to come by, so they've been retired with honors and just look pretty.  Depends on the vehicle - sometimes I'll take off the tires, put some old ones on and go tool around the driveway just to see it in action but mostly they sit on the shelf. 

[ADRay1000]

back when I had M01s and M03s (and more money to blow), I used to have bodies and wheel sets that were for display only, often box art. Chassis would always be runners. 

[Saito2]

I clearly remember the day I completed my first "shelf queen". Divorced and having to take a lower paying job after my first stint in automotive restoration closed up plus a mortgage payment meant money was tight. I scrimped and saved to buy the freshly re-released 2005 Top Force. I wanted to build something to go fast that handled well. After savoring the build and looking at the completed buggy, I thought to myself I can't run this. Who knew about future parts availability let alone the effort it took to save up for it. Seeing it crashed or sidelined without parts wouldn't sit well. I was also completely content to have enjoyed the build and admire it on a shelf. As life continued and money freed up a little I began slowly collecting both originals and re-releases.

As I've said in the past, I like enjoying my collection as a way of seeing the old Tamiya catalogs "come to life". If a kit intrigues me during the build, I buy a 2nd to run. This trend started with the '07 Hotshot for me. Crazy to some, I know. They are much the same as functional Legos to me. I still build with bricks even though Legos started as a "toy" meant to be played with. Lego is aware of this, looking at their catalog. I don't think the Lego Titanic my wife and I bought for each other was meant to be "played with" in the traditional sense. Tamiyas are beautiful and I love to build them. Truthfully, I'm driven to assemble things. Not only is it a delight for the mind and hands but there is a concrete sense of accomplishment and achievement that no desk job or video game can give in my case.

[Man1c M0nk3y]

I never got the shelf queen thing as to me they are to be built and run/enjoyed however(!) as alluded to in my Schumacher Cougar KD build thread it’s probably/more than likely never going to run now. 

Purely because of parts scarcity though. I spent a lot on it originally  and some more since digging it back out that the thought of running and then damaging it worries me.  
I am still conflicted on it being a total waste of a good car mind. 
 

I don’t think I would buy something with the intention of not running it however. 

[Kpowell911]

Going to flip this question round to you @Pylon80

Explain to my why you run Tamiy RCs in 2024? Theres much better/faster/stronger/cheaper options?

[Pylon80]

23 minutes ago, Kpowell911 said:

Going to flip this question round to you @Pylon80

Explain to my why you run Tamiy RCs in 2024? Theres much better/faster/stronger/cheaper options?

A very fair point although the question wasn't limited to Tamiya.

A lot of my cars are for sale or will soon be once I put them back to RTR condition. The only Tamiya's I'm keeping are unique in that nobody makes anything like it.

Example: nobody in 2024 makes a 1/10 scale pan car topped with a scale Group C body. It drives incredibly well by the way. There are better 1/10 pan cars that are apparently raced in a few places around the world, at least the X-ray catalog has them but there are no scale bodies for them, just batmobile-like ugly wedges. Another example is the M-05: there are a few good m sized cars that might do 210mm wheelbase but I think the M-05 still offers high performance, even today and hopped up as it is. It's just such a niche chassis being 210mm and FWD. The body is nicer than anything anyone else might make too. Then there are the vintage F1's. There was a large study that asked people of various generation to name "the best decade" and invariably everyone named the decade during which they were 10 to 20 years old. So in my case unsurprisingly I have a fascination for the vintage RC's of the early 90's. At the moment I enjoy old F1's... in 2024

 

[Wystan Withers]

Been touched on before, but I go the way of "art" and "enjoyment of the build" (and enjoyment of the hunt/research). They're like mini hot rods which don't take up as much space or deep pockets. Jay Leno has a reputation for being pretty good about driving his many, many cars but how many does he actually use as a car and say, hop in and drive to Vegas? Chances are for that he uses a modern car not one of his steam cars which mostly just 'sit on the shelf'.

 

[Kpowell911]

56 minutes ago, Pylon80 said:

There was a large study that asked people of various generation to name "the best decade" and invariably everyone named the decade during which they were 10 to 20 years old. So in my case unsurprisingly I have a fascination for the vintage RC's of the early 90's.

That's exactly it. Im 37, Id have been around7 or 8 when I got my first 'proper' RC was a Tamiya Mini Cooper #58149. It was second hand, and I used it every day. I wore it out, physically. It didnt break, I just wore the plastic chassis through. I then got a TL-01 Ford Focus WRC in around 2000, to replace it. I then moved on to other R/Cs and have been involved with the hobby ever since, other than some brief breaks here and there.

But lets go back to the Mini and the TL-01. There wasn't forums (well, I Wasnt on forums) or anything like that. All I had was a Tamiya Catalogue (they were so beautifully presented) and I could see other Tamiya Bodyshells. Repsol Cosworths. Calsonic Skylines. Castrol Supra's. Porsche 934's. Subaru and Mitsubishi Evo Rally Cars. I couldnt (or my parents) couldnt afford me having more than my humble M-01 Mini Cooper. Then every now and then we would go to the local shopping centre, and it had a Beatties. IF I was lucky, I could go in there and SEE some of the models Id saw in the catalogue. That was a great part of my childhood.

Moving on, I went from Tamiya's, to race touring cars, to bashing Traxxas. I had pretty much every electric Traxxas model from around 2004-2020. I really liked them and I used them. Id 'bash' people on forums sinking a fortune into a a TT02, or buying an rc with bushings and friction shocks still. However, something 'changed' around 2021. Everything felt 'samey'. I had 8S 50mph 1/5th Scale Trucks, and 'indestructible' bashers that took punishment that shouldn't really happen. But where could it go from there? You cant go faster or stronger, as were already there. So I randomly sourced my TL-01 Focus WRC (the mini was too expensive). It then escalated...... I picked up a Repsol Cosworth, then the Tiger Stripe, then the Pilot Sport, I picked up an Impreza etc. I then looked into it more and decided to 'buy' The Tamiya Catalogue to the best of my ability. Funds werent unimited, so some of the Traxxas models I said id never sell got sold to fund some of the more expensive Tamiya's. But I now have 28 Tamiya 'shelfers'. Ive driven 50% of them more than once, and the BBX and a few TT02's get a run out every now and then but theyre predominatly shelfer. Ive even gone where I said Id never. I even have 4 NIB's......

I still have a few useable, great Traxxas models. I have an Xmaxx, XRT, Sledge, 2x Maxx's, a TRX4, a Rustler 4x4 and 2x TRX4M's. These are insanely capable, but I get as much enjoyment at the moment 'looking' at my Tamiya shelfers, as sending my X-Maxx off a ramp, or hooning about with my XRT. I'd probably sell them if I could be bothered to ship such big boxes to fund some REALLY nice Tamiya stuff.

Here's my mistake though. I got into forums and facebook. That has tempted me to explore other Tamiyas from before my time (lets say 1993). Off roaders. I have an Avante, Egress, Top Force Evo and an Astute (rere's). These mean nothing to me, yet I bought them as I felt I needed those models to be a Tamiya Fan? The Avante Black is NIB, and was a gift which is lovely, and I enjoyed building the Egress, but I should really sell the Top Force Evo and Astute. I also own a BBX, which is, dont hate me, a complicated, slower version of my Rustler, but hey.

I'm also more content with R/Cs than 1:1 cars. Running costs, finance payments and thefts in the UK have just made me carry on with my work van, and spend the £4-500 a month id spend running a car alongside my work van on R/Cs.

No ones right or wrong here. I remember somone saying to me (on here) If you like shelfers, why are you using R/Cs, as the shelves are very poorly detailed compared to a static model, and theyre right. I think you hit the nail on the head, we are fasctinated and obsessed with what ever was cool at a happy point of our life. My Dad's 65 and still read Comics that he read when he was a kid. The worrying part is they're worth incredible amounts of money and he still READS them!

[Gebbly]

9 hours ago, Twinfan said:

My shelf queens exist because I wanted to build that particular car.

 

4 hours ago, OldSchoolRC1 said:

My shelf queens are there mostly because I wanted to enjoy the build. Best part of the hobby for me.

 

1 hour ago, Wystan Withers said:

"enjoyment of the build" (and enjoyment of the hunt/research)

 

3 hours ago, Saito2 said:

They are much the same as functional Legos to me

I agree with these sentiments. I have started getting back into RC (and Tamiya specifically) because I enjoyed building things. I have miniatures that I paint, lego kits I build and static model kits that need painting and building. Most of these, once completed, will just be displayed on shelves somewhere. (Although the lego can be taken apart and given to someone else for the same experience). The draw of a Tamiya kit for me is a slightly more mechanical experience to the build. Something which, when completed can actually move in some way. Building something which combines mechanics with electronics. Its a bit like a far superior Lego Technics kit. 90% of my enjoyment is the research and build process. Which is why I'm more interested if a build would be more complex or have more hop ups to choose from.

[Badcrumble]

This question comes up every so often and I always trot out the same picture of my sole shelf queen.

I think a lot of the appeal of shelf queens is the 'I made this' element. Though I didn't make All Metal Frog, just added a few more metal parts to it. AMF is a piece of RC art for me.

I would like a couple of shelf queens, the Subaru N24 car I adore (but doubt I have the skills to build the shell) and a Monte Carlo Mini diorama I have plans for but no space for the finished article to go.

I would like my other cars to be shelf queens - just ones that are ready to run. I'm closer to that reality with my recent RC storage facility.

[wtcc5]

I understand everyone who doesn’t get why you should build an R/C car to stay on the shelf. I couldn’t understand that when I had 3-5 cars. I bought them to run them.

Now I have 100+ cars. More than 20 of them are FF-01 chassis. Only one of these is a runner. Some could run, but most are motor and servo only. I bought them, because I wanted to own them, or as part of a project. The build (as some here already said) was the important thing. Most are restored runners. I have only build one new from the box and own another NiB kit.

Another thing is the effort vs. time of running. Most Tamiya kits need tweaking, ball bearings and Hop-Ups to run them. Then on the first day you run into some issues, that need to get adressed. Overall you maybe run a kit twice before returning to your standard class or „chassis of the month“ —> what your friends like to drive. So often it is not worth the hassle and money to run a vintage, maybe even rare kit, that then ends up lightly beaten up on the shelf.

At the moment I have a FF01, a TT02 conversion, a Dyna Blaster, a Fox conversion, a DT-02 for my dad and a 4wd buggy as runners.These are up to the task to run a full day, withstand all the beating, have spares and necessary Hop-Ups. Runners are expensive compared to shelfqueens and are time consuming (setup, tuning, cleaning and maintenance). A shelfqueen car is nice to look at, rare and often it would be a shame to damage parts that aren’t available any more for a short fun moment.

The hobby has many ways to enjoy it. I loved the driving most in my early years, then during covid started enjoying the builds more and more. Now, I like to upgrade vintage chassis with my own custom designed parts, run them and develop new parts based on track experience. I also was once one of those guys who looked down on others for buying Hop-Ups for TT02 chassis. Now, I own some of the most expensive TT02 based tuned chassis and spend thousands of Euros to compete with it  All for fun, and boy do I love it!

[toyolien]

I only have one car as a shelf queen. My 1987 Boomerang that I recently restored. The Boomerang was my first ever RC car. Other than that, shelf queens just aren't for me. I have a simple rule: "If it's not getting run, it's getting sold". That rule has really made me stop and think about whether or not to buy any new kits.

I now have 8 cars that I used regularly. Boomerang, Super Hotshot, BBX, Wild One, XV-02, TD2, Lunchbox and Optima Mid

[Kowalski86]

13 minutes ago, toyolien said:

I only have one car as a shelf queen. My 1987 Boomerang that I recently restored. The Boomerang was my first ever RC car. Other than that, shelf queens just aren't for me. I have a simple rule: "If it's not getting run, it's getting sold". That rule has really made me stop and think about whether or not to buy any new kits.

That's my own personal rule too, which is why I'm very mindful of where I can run a specific RC and how temperamental it is. "Versatility" a big selling point with me.

I understand keeping a vintage RC as a shelf-queen, especially a Tamiya with old plastic/rubber. Otherwise I'd stick to toys and books if I needed to fill my shelf.

[Pizza Frog]

I've run all the rc cars I've owned except for 2 shelf queens which have since been sold.

One was a boxart frog I built when it was first rereleased, the other was a Monster Beetle that took me a year to build and I eventually sold it to help pay for a Telecaster guitar in the same red color;

 

[Juggular]

I have inadvertent dust queens.  

"Dirty and Damaged" as @Twinfan said, is the main thing people want to avoid.  I had the same attitude about static kits.  NIB kits were too clean and organized to touch.  But after decades, the vinyl tracks on tank kits would crack. Box art would fade, newer and better kits come out, etc.  It took a decade for my view of them to go from a "shiny new things" to "useless unless I build them."  

Now, I don't even mind if boxes come damaged.  I start it whenever I feel like it, even if I end up finishing it years later.  That's some "half-a$$ed attitude" I did not like.  Now, from the moment it's delivered, I consider it "used."  Once I think that, it's just a thing to play with.  Everything is used, to be used.  

Your 1:1 cars can be shiny dress shoes you want to keep polished.  Or they can be mud boots (our 1:1 Subaru is mud boots).  Broken and damaged parts on RC cars mean they were in action.  To me, it's a badge of honor for a veteran vehicle.  Accordingly, I like clever ghetto fixes than pretty parts.  Obviously, some people prefer things stay pristine and immaculate. That's also perfectly valid.  

It's 2 different ways of enjoying the same exact thing.  If you are on the fence, buying 2 kits and doing both is a perfect solution to satisfy both needs. 

I have enough parts for 2 FAVs.  Maybe one of them could be a shelf queen. 

My vintage Blackfoot has seen many hours of running.  But the shell was restored.  So if I have a shelf queen right now, this shell might be it. It's slightly different from the new shell and the sticker sheet was vintage. So I'd run the new shell and keep this one undamaged.  

This shell is just sitting on a Frog chassis without a way to secure it.  Did anybody make 3D printed adapters?

 

[technics]

@Juggular Double sided tape Velcro? Magnets? Zip ties? 😀

[technics]

How about box queens?

Fully built and then put away in a box. Space is an issue to display more than 1 or 2 for me. But I do this mainly because I can’t stand the topic anymore once it’s done. 6-18 months of problem solving, research, being inspired then being drained again… I get tired / bored / only see the flaws in the subject vehicle I’ve made.

Boxed away for x amount of time makes you drop the emotions you have about it and appreciate it more for what it was, what you were able to do at a period of time. Till the inspiration furnace warms up again to display, run or sell.. if the flame never comes back. 

I have never sold any of my “long” wrc builds, but I have sold all of the shorter ones.

My longest build and longest period boxed up one below.. still need to address some wire management and dremelling to get some of that chunky tire clearances at full lock.