Your first First Tamiya Moment?

[technics 3183]

First Tamiya moment 

FTM 😄

 

Summer 1998 I was infront of my childhood home in the suburbs, i was enjoying my only rc at the time my Traxxas 2wd sledgehammer truck when my close school friend came over one day and brought his rc…. 

 

From my vivid memories it was a TA03F Subaru Impreza 22B 1997. Which checks out the kit appears to have been released Feburary 1998. God it looked great. It was sophisticated, lightweight and small next to my behemoth. Tiny purposeful crisp drivetrain belts, and neat solutions throughout. It drove with so much grip and pep, felt high quality, had scale looks, drifted and gripped at the same time around corners -Everything!!

 

It was the only time I saw a Tamiya outside of a NIB package, I remember a further away hobby store by bicycle had some rc´s which were the same era of cars and were a tasting Menes of the Audi STW, BMW 318i, Mondeo, think I recall prices of $250-350? CAD just for a kit. I could never afford such a thing till decades later... 

 

In 2008 as I started a career job I still went sensible on a budget. I bought a very high performance for the price RTR Kyosho TF-5 with a G26 motor that came with a touring car spec mazda 6. It was 200 Euro bought while living in Germany. I ordered my first Tamiya lexan bodyset to change it immediately to a Subaru Impreza 2007.

 

In 2015 I bought my first tamiya which was a new built but used TA06 with a low turn brushless motor and esc. Also a Subaru this time BRZ R&D GT300. This is the first time I “raced” with like minded friends and co workers in the courtyard at work during lunch and each Monday at a very nice asphalt track which was the first of a kind I’ve ever witnessed let alone drive located in Templestowe Australia. 

 

Done deal, rabbit hole dive in. Hobby for life here onward. 

 

I have yet to make the Subaru 22b or own to keep a TA03F. I have some similar era cars I’m waiting on to come in which are on the FF-02 chassis.

Otherwise I’m quite pleased how the TA02T series of kits feel and drive.

 

That’s what made me disproportionately obsessed.. what’s your story / excuse? 😂

 

 

 

 

 

[Kowalski86 4076]

I started with a vintage Grasshopper and a TT-01 (which incidentally was a Subaru like the one above), which lead to me trying out a large selection of their catalogue over time.

I don't own anymore Tamiyas, but I understand their appeal.

[toyolien 5602]

Local carnival in about 1986/7. A local RC club was there racing CAT XLS's and Optima Mids etc. That was the first time I saw an RC car. Then I started buying magazines and was hooked on Tamiya artwork on their boxes. We couldn't afford to race back then, and I asked for the cheapest car for Christmas, which was the Grasshopper. But, my folks managed to scrape together to get me and my Brother a Boomerang each. I've been into RC cars ever since that Christmas, and in 1991 started racing a Procat. Great days for me...

[gkatz 58]

86,
a new tamiya fox made its way form the US to me with a friend...
a thundershot came a year or 2 later from the UK...
almost 40 years later i found myself here

[ADRay1000 447]

summer 1988. What the kids would call a “pop up” rc car track opened in an empty parking lot next to the small airfield in town. close enough to convince mom or dad to bring me to to watch. I hatched the plan to get a Tamiya for Christmas, and next summer I’d be there every day. 
 

well, I got the lunchbox, but the track was gone the following year, never to return. 

[Saito2 7329]

I was fortunate that my grandfather was a frequent visitor to hobby shops, as he built a variety of wooden ships when he retired from Bell Telephone, My father was no stranger to plastic kits either and took me to hobby shops as well for my model railroad stuff. Most kids around my age never saw the inside of a hobby shop. When it came to RC, Tyco and Radio Shack commercials on TV drove most kids to the toy stores like Kay-Bee and Toy-R-Us. Being in hobby shops, I was certainly aware of Tamiya, both for modeling supplies and the expensive kits, usually high up on a wall behind the counter.

One day, back in '86, my grandfather took me along as usual and I saw something that changed my life forever...the Monster Beetle. To this day, I'm not quite sure what it was about it that grabbed me so hard. The Monster Beetle was so unique as a monster VW, standing out from the usual pickups. I started getting RC Car Action magazine after that. The Monster Beetle would prove to be my favorite followed by the Lunch Box and then the Wild Willy and Clod Buster. Being the lowest priced, the Lunch Box would later be my first Tamiya. By the time I had the purchasing power to get a Monster Beetle, it was on its way out and I had my eyes on a Clod Buster or Bullhead instead. Years later, when Ebay became a thing, a vintage Monster Beetle (followed by a Wild Willy) was my first purchase on the site.

[Gruntfuggly 570]

82 or maybe 83 - a friend at school had a Sand Scorcher. I convinced my dad to let me buy a second hand Sand Rover. It came with a Tamiya Radio Control Guide Book (the one with the Grasshopper on the cover) and that was what got me hooked. Then the guy over the road sold me a Sand Scorcher and 80% of a XR311 (wish I had kept that).

Sold it all many years ago and then bought an M03 Mini just before Chris started this site, which was great timing!

[markbt73 5700]

Full confession: the first hobby-grade RC car I fell in love with was a Kyosho (Cox) Turbo Scorpion. Saw the display model at Toys R Us and I was smitten. I was like Wayne with the Stratocaster: It would be mine. Oh yes, it would be mine.

Didn't happen. The Scorpion was discontinued not long after, and back then, when a kit was gone, it was GONE. Instead, when I started saving up, I set my sights on a Kyosho Pegasus, but the local hobby shop guy,  Tamiya man through and through, talked me out of it. He showed me a Wild One and a Hornet, and I fell in love with the Wild One (I guess I had a thing for rollcages).

But I got impatient, and as soon as I had amassed Grasshopper money, I pulled the trigger. No regrets, as I now have a re-re Scorpion and a re-re FAV/Wild One hybrid, and the Grasshopper was a fine start in the hobby.

[Frog Jumper 3817]

I saw the Frog box art teasing me from a hobby shop kiosk at the mall.  I asked for it for my birthday.  Months later when I got home from an out-of-town swim meet, it was on the kitchen table waiting for me.  1984ish…

But truthfully, I had been building static models for a few years at that point and I was familiar with and was already a fan of Tamiya bc their kits were so much better than the cheap monograms and revell kits I was buying at the toy store.

[Frog Jumper 3817]

Doible post

[zerobug 5]

My father was big into plastic models and had a decent number of Tamiya boxes stacked in the garage, in addition to a Sand Scorcher and Blackfoot. When I was around 6 or 7, I got a World Engines Rock Buster (poor Grasshopper knockoff?) for my birthday. It ended up with more superglue holding bits together than functional car after a summer of bashing in our gravel driveway and I knew I had to save up for a car from a proper brand if I wanted it to last.

A few years later ('93?), the touring car craze was taking off and I purchased a BMW M3 on the TA-01 chassis with lawn mowing cash. My dad painted the body for me but I used at least two sets of Testors brush paints painstakingly detailing the included interior. My dad would roll his eyes when we took our cars out to race around the nearby school parking lot... after a draining a battery pack, I'd spend more time cleaning the body than prepping it for another run.

[Krustybus 220]

1980 something. I lived in a small rural village and a few of the older lads had Tamiya RC cars, thinking Boomerang, Thindershot and a guy with a Mardave Meteor that used to be way faster than anything else! My mate got a Striker and I had a Grasshopper for my birthday. My Dad built it for me and I proceeded to crash it and break the gearbox on the 1st run. I got the blame but it was shonky receiver batteries (pre-BEC) that did it ;-) Me an my friends were obsessed but charging them up for hours on end for 10 mins running time was a challenge! 

We moved onto Kyosho (I had an Optima and my friend an Ulitma) and spent a load pocket money on Tamiya mini 4WD (Juniors as they were known) as we could take them to school and unleash them across the playground. Loved it. Looked forward to getting Radio Race Car every month to see what was going on.

Got another Grasshopper as a COVID thing and have been loitering around the hobby since but not really done much recently. 

[Nick-W 1790]

Christmas 1991, I would have been 9, and I received a Grasshopper 2. My dad and I built it on Boxing Day. He was so engrossed in the build and drinking the Christmas whisky he got up as the chassis was finished and immediately stumbled over!  It’s one of my favorite memories, and one of the few times it was just him and me without the rest of the family being involved.  

I’m considering a commemorative Grasshopper 2 build this Christmas. A build thread completed in real time about what happens when man, Grasshopper and a bottle of rum (I don’t like whisky) meet on one December afternoon.

[simalarion 2530]

Fast rewind to a 12 year old version off me: First around 7 month sleeping with Tamiya catalog under pillow and whenever i had the opportunity i would stand and watch the Tamiya shelf for hours at the local hobby/toy store, trying to decide which kit to get. I finally landed on Bigfoot :)… All those pictures and box arts from that catalog is burned into my memory

[Aerobert 2324]

My first Tamiya moment was around 1989. I had a Nikko Big Grolly (a purple Jeep Wrangler Monster Truck with "winch" and 4WD). A friend of mine who had all the toys I would like to have, had a Tamiya Monster Beetle. In comparison this truck was a revelation. But it took almost 20 years until I've got my first Tamiya kit, a TT-01D Subaru Impreza. 

[Pizza Frog 691]

I remember having the 1987 guidebook, where it came from I don't remember, and then I got a 1/10 fox and a 1/32 boomerang around the same time.

I was already interested in plane kitsets before that happened, I think I had a f-15, a f-14, a Lancaster, a Harrier and a Cessna? And also a balsa wood boat kitset
 

[bsy2010 298]

Autumn 1983 and I finally convinced my parents to get me a rc car for my 13th birthday   And while I would have been more than happy with any of the better toy-grade rc (Nikko, etc) that most of my friends were driving, my father knew from his own hobby (astro photography) that you get what you pay for. So he took me to the local hobby store and I was blown away by the choices. There was the Tamiya Hilux, a Kyosho Scorpion and many other kits on display. I would have liked the Scorpion, but Dad noticed the pre-assembled shocks and diff, and he wanted me to build it all!

We came home with a Tamiya Super Champ, radio, servos, charger and 6 single Sub-C cells and he taught me how to solder them together first. It took us probably 3 or 4 evenings to get the Super Champ going, the perfect father/son time and THE Tamiya moment I will never forget! Over the next months, he taught me to repair stuff, build replacement parts on my Granddad's lathe (which is mine now) and supported the hobby in any way he possibly could - even when my performance in school didn't justify it anymore!

Fast-forward nearly 40 years, skip many races, a long time out of the hobby, hundreds of cars I bought, built and sold since I got back, here I am with my 7 year old, helping him to build his DT-03, taking him and his friends to our track, putting my transponders in their cars, just to watch them having their very own Tamiya moment they might write down somewhere, sometime!

[Pablo68 1095]

Mine goes back a bit. I had a Taiyo Porsche 935 that my grandparents bought me, it was awesome, but I eventually wrecked it. For er...reasons, most of my toys ended up being a collection of parts. Anyway, around 1982/3 I was quite into model trains (still am a bit) and went for a trip to the hobby store. Sitting in there pride of place was a Wild Willy. I remember being impressed and stunned. It was awesome and well out of my price range. That I think was my moment. Fast forward to 86, in the intervening time I'd seen many more Tamiya buggies in the hobby shops around the place, and I'd left school and started an apprenticeship. It dawned on my one Friday afternoon that I was earning money now and had some in the bank and actually could buy one now. After a bit of a talk about it we went into the local town and I bought a Hornet. I didn't know anything about these buggies at the time, but it looked good and was cheaper than the Hotshot and Frog also on display there.
After a few days of building and painting (took my time, always have) I had my second Tamiya moment, a Hornet taking off across the lounge room floor scrabbling for grip on the Lino, eventually the battery hanging out of it behind, stuck under the couch going full bore.
I also learned in that moment how the servo on the MSC could get stuck in fwd and kept going no matter what you switched off. I quickly learned exactly how these things worked though, and I ran that car so many times.

I got better at it. Eventually. It was also a great outlet for someone who took his stuff a apart all the time.

[Wooders28 4873]

Mid 80's, 

Saw a lad using a Hornet on a local school playground, and he give me a shot.

Man, it was the fastest thing I'd ever seen!, 

Asked Santa for a Frog, and he duly delivered,  a 2nd hand one, without any radio gear....🤦‍♂️🤣

Used my Christmas and birthday money, got it running, then hit the track at Southport (the old track, not where it is now, close though). 

Broke the gearbox, fixed it ,broke the diff, fixed it, lost a driveshaft, replaced,  fitted a Parma K-Stock, gearbox proper spat the dummy ,lost patience and chucked it in the loft...

Saved paper round money, birthday and Christmas money, and bought the newly released Kyosho Ultima, which was faultless...then saved summer work money, paper round money, and bought a Mid Custom.. 🙄 (and a Tamiya Lunchbox from the Woodvale Airshow, when you could haggle for a good deal..🙂) 

[Pablo68 1095]

I forgot to mention, in reference to the OP, I have a TA-03F with the Subaru wrx body on it. It was a basket case when I bought it, I didn't think much of the chassis tbh. After talking to a few people on here (wayyyy back) I tidied it up, bearings thru it and esc and drift wheels. It was awesome. So good that many years later, I have two of them. Not sure why I bought another, but there it is. Fun chassis.

[Elbowloh 1235]

My first was having a go on my mate's Grasshopper about 1991 I think?

Could never afford one at the time, but lusted after one in catalogues (Beatties mainly i think) hoping to one day get one.

Fast forward 31 years to September 2022 and I bought myself a TT02 Lancia Delta Integrale! I've now got a few more (and sold a few) and very much loving it.

[nowinaminute 3328]

Seen them in movies and kids shows etc, but irl around 88-92 seeing other kids with Grasshoppers and Lunchboxes etc.

I only had a Tandy/Radio Shack jumbo van (which I did and still do love) but there was something compelling around how fast they went and how complicated they were etc. 

I remember we had a themed day at school were we had to make stalls and sell something and one kid had his lunchbox and you could pay to drive it. I remember being spellbound as he swapped the motor out for a more powerful one.

Another kid brought his brand new Super Nintendo for people to have turns on, so I guess this must have been 90 or 91..

Didn't get my own hobby grade stuff till 2016 when I got interest in RC again.

[Badcrumble 4417]

My experience was similar to @nowinaminute.

I remember pouring over the Tamiya in the Littlewoods catalogue as a kid and I'm pretty sure one of the local boys had a Tamiya buggy - not that I can remember what it was. Whilst I wanted one, I was given a Taiyo Mini Hopper for Christmas - and still do, boxed in my loft.

A 'few' years later, my boss at work bought himself a Hornet for his 40th birthday - he'd always wanted one - and I thought it would be something I might like too so bought a used TL01. Ten years later and I have lots more cars. 

I still have that TL01 though it needs a front end rebuild.

[Nicadraus 6434]

My first Tamiya experience came in 1983, when I started showing interest in building model cars like my dad did. Also at the time he had a two RC cars. Rough Rider and Ford F150 XLT (both SRB). But my interest at that time was still in the model building. He bought me my first model in 1984, a 1:24 Lamborghini Countach LP500s and showed me some tips and tricks. My uncle, who's also into modeling, taught me how to paint and detail too. 

Summer of 1984, we went to Hong Kong and my two eldest brothers bought RCs for themselves. An Audi Quattro rally and Subaru Brat. I bought three 1:24 model cars (MB500 SE, BMW 6 series coupe, Toyota Celica Supra), and two model planes (Airbus A300 and a MD DC-10) and a few Star Wars figures. When my brothers finished building their RCs and began driving them, my dad lent me one of his to try out. I didn't have difficulties driving it as well as the orientation. Boom! That was when I realized how much fun it is to drive an RC. So my dad handed down his Ford pick up to me. I also began tinkering. First time to remove the body (with 3 body clips), removing the wheels using the small crosswrench and unscrewing/screwing some parts to clean them every after run, was so much fun. Then I experimented on disassmbling and assembling the entire car without the use of manual was a challenge but luckily, I did it. I also removed the waterproof casing in the chassis to lessen the weight. Two years later, my brothers handed me their RCs as they outgrew them. I began joining local races but sadly, never won because either the Ford or Subaru would always flip on the side when it came to corners. Both were also terrible jumpers. I saved up money and slowly converted the Subaru into a Frog. Wheels, rear shocks, differential gears, body and installed bearings. I broke the chassis after a few races. Bought a new chassis and reinforced the weak area with steel epoxy before assembling it back. My first trophy (3rd place) I won was in 1987. The next car I bought was the Astute. I heavily modified it and changed the battery layout from side ways to parallel. Replaced plastic shocks to aluminum gold ones, installed a Dynatech motor and a Futaba MC110 ESC. It won some trophies and medals too. I retired from RC in 1991 and pursued my new interest, which was DJing.

I went on and off in the RC hobby. 1996, my dad and I went to a local shop. We bought new RCs. A Parejo (CC-01) and Toyota Exiv (FF-01) for him and a Renault Clio (FF-01) for myself. I retired again in 1998 and went back to on-road touring in 2005 to 2007. Retired again. Then came RC heli in 2014 to 2016. Retired, then 2018, back to road RC again up to present.

Both CC-01 and FF-01 are still with me up to this day. Both were also rebuilt and heavily modified with some custom modifications.

[Wystan Withers 338]

Well, I didn't know it was a Tamiya Moment at the time, but it would have been '81 or so (10 years old give or take) and for some reason I was hanging out at the elementary school after school and an older kid with a paper route (read: the only kids in my neighborhood who could afford much more than Hot Wheels or Stompers) had primer gray SS and was driving it hard on the gravel which passed for an athletics field in those days. Didn't know what it was at the time, but I knew it was cool (Baja Bugs were a pretty common sight in SoCal in those days, so the idea of a small one I could drive had me drooling. Not that he let me of course). He had another thing which he might have made himself which was like one of those fan boats you see on the bayou but with wheels- a nitro airplane motor and propeller which pushed the car along with the prop blast.

My first personal moment would have been about '84 or so there was (and still is all these years later) a high zoot model train store that used to have a small corner with Japanese model kits. I assume they had the 1/24 stuff also, but what I remember were the big boys- the 1/12th Martini 935 was my first introduction to a model kit I didn't buy at the local drug store and I was hooked. I had built the Revell (Monogram?) 1/8th scale '82 Camaro and '82 Corvette, but these were in a different league altogether. Birthday's and X-mas were the only time I'd ever have $100 (or a little more) in my pocket to be able to afford them, but whenever I did it meant a trip to Reed's to pick up the 1/20th JPS Lotus, the 1/350th USS New Jersey, and USS Enterprise. Ironically enough I stopped by the store other day to grab a can of paint and some brass and they had an Enterprise sitting there on consignment. 40 years later, same shop, same kit... nostalgic doesn't quite cover it. I half expected to see my old Schwinn in the bike rack as  I left the store.