Grasshopper Jr.

[Bwaaatch 617]

Kind of a big deal:

https://tamiyablog.com/2024/07/future-mini-4wd-tamiya-18105-grasshopper-jr-vz-chassis/
 

Easy East on Insta made a custom one a few years back, but a real Grasshopper Jr. is a bit of a treat out of nowhere. Never existed before, and we hardly ever revisit buggies from this era in the Mini 4wd format (no Frog, no Rough Rider, no Wild One, no Supershot).

Hyped!

[Wheel_Nut 365]

I prefer the Mini 4WD Santa Claus.

https://tamiyablog.com/2024/07/future-tamiya-mini-4wd-year-of-the-snake-2025-tamiya-mini-4wd-santa-claus/tamiya-mini-4wd-santa-claus/

[Saito2 7249]

Pretty cool news. As a kid I used to wonder about the lack of a Frog, Grasshopper or Super Shot racing mini 4wd. Later, I just figured it was because the racing minis started with the Hotshot and the Frog/Grasshopper just predated it (always wanted a Super Shot Jr. though). Glad to see Tamiya producing this. It could be my first mini 4wd purchase in a very long time.

[Kowalski86 3983]

I wish that we had Mini 4wd races locally, it seems like a good hobby to get kids into since you can learn about tuning and working on smaller machines with a smaller budget.

[Mad Ax 10029]

Neat stuff.  I'll be excited to see how it looks, although if interest is as high as initial posts are suggesting it could be hard to get hold of.

I've always loved the Mini 4wd line, I had a handful when I was younger - I found some last year while I was clearing out some old stuff, ones I completely forgot I had, although I didn't find the ones I remembered I had.  But I'm reluctant to buy any as an adult because the price is so lo and the range is so big, I could end up filling every available flat surface with them.

[Bwaaatch 617]

6 hours ago, Kowalski86 said:

I wish that we had Mini 4wd races locally, it seems like a good hobby to get kids into since you can learn about tuning and working on smaller machines with a smaller budget.

Had terrific fun with my kids, my friend and their kids at a recent event in Ipswich. It’s exactly as you say: hypothesising, testing, observing, amending… repeat.

[alvinlwh 6887]

9 hours ago, Kowalski86 said:

I wish that we had Mini 4wd races locally, it seems like a good hobby to get kids into since you can learn about tuning and working on smaller machines with a smaller budget.

You get the point of Mini4WDs, not many do. Put it this way, they were my pocker money STEM education in the 80s, before STEM existed!

[alvinlwh 6887]

4 hours ago, Bwaaatch said:

Had terrific fun with my kids, my friend and their kids at a recent event in Ipswich. It’s exactly as you say: hypothesising, testing, observing, amending… repeat.

In my efforts to introduce Mini4WDs to the local populace, I am donating these kits to the upcoming local model show's raffle.

[Kowalski86 3983]

2 hours ago, alvinlwh said:

You get the point of Mini4WDs, not many do. Put it this way, they were my pocker money STEM education in the 80s, before STEM existed!

Oh absolutely, I'd much rather see kids into a real hobby vs mobile games and their disgusting gambling tactics.

[Bwaaatch 617]

3 minutes ago, Kowalski86 said:

Oh absolutely, I'd much rather see kids into a real hobby vs mobile games and their disgusting gambling tactics.

Agree, but let’s at least acknowledge that the Mini 4wd model is also based on elements of risk and micro transactions! Tamiya kind of have the market locked down —Cheap to start with, but it adds up.

Overall pretty wholesome, but with an edge!

[alvinlwh 6887]

12 hours ago, Bwaaatch said:

Agree, but let’s at least acknowledge that the Mini 4wd model is also based on elements of risk and micro transactions! Tamiya kind of have the market locked down —Cheap to start with, but it adds up.

Overall pretty wholesome, but with an edge!

Absolutely true! But I will prefer a money dump that gets me something physical in return rather than some virtual pixels.

[Bwaaatch 617]

3 hours ago, alvinlwh said:

In my efforts to introduce Mini4WDs to the local populace, I am donating these kits to the upcoming local model show's raffle.

I love this! It really is a powerful gift, opening up so many possibilities for kids, at a modest price. This is especially true in Japan, where the cost of the kits barely higher than the 5 quid I used to pay at my local toy shop (Giles in Carterton Oxfordshire, RIP) back in ‘88.

I give these away for family and friends whenever possible, and enjoyed giving one to a curious dad at the Ipswich meet, for his son to build and race. I genuinely felt like I was in edutaining, and got that evangelist’s glow. That’s probably addictive too, so I’ll watch out 😅

[alvinlwh 6887]

10 minutes ago, Bwaaatch said:

This is especially true in Japan, where the cost of the kits barely higher than the 5 quid

Too right. This is what I bought 2 years ago when I went out to the Far East.

Half given away to friends of my kids by now. And RC are cheap there too. 😁

Mostly built now, need to replenish my stock. So I am now putting together a shopping list and planning my next trip out there again.

[GToddC5 1599]

This is GREAT news, and I will eagerly add some to my collection of ~95 minis!

[Kowalski86 3983]

4 hours ago, alvinlwh said:

Absolutely true! But I will prefer a money dump that gets me something physical in return rather than so virtual pixels.

I could add plenty of more reasons that make Mini 4wd better than dumping money into microtransactions, but I think your post sums it up best.

[Bwaaatch 617]

For those who enjoy the educational and tinkering nature of mini 4wd, do check out https://www.mini4science.com

some crazy detailed science and ai stuff, but also fun.

[Sogogi 3333]

On 7/11/2024 at 5:24 PM, Kowalski86 said:

I wish that we had Mini 4wd races locally, it seems like a good hobby to get kids into since you can learn about tuning and working on smaller machines with a smaller budget.

I like mini 4wd. Much more budget friendly, but like others, if you go into advanced/open class with bunch of carbon parts and what not, price goes up quite quickly. Lol

I am quite amazed what people did to mini 4wd… suspension, brakes, dampers and such. 
 

my recent builds…

[JimBear 805]

Oh no, another wabbit hole ... eeps.

But the Mini 4wd presence in Europe (at least on the mainland) seems spotty ... does anyone know of sources? I found a few bits and pieces at Modellbau Seidel but not much. Some italian funky dude sells a few cars on Ebay and that seems to be about it. Not much of a scene to be honest, as far as I can see, but maybe I am looking in the wrong spots?

[Sogogi 3333]

On 7/17/2024 at 7:23 AM, JimBear said:

Oh no, another wabbit hole ... eeps.

But the Mini 4wd presence in Europe (at least on the mainland) seems spotty ... does anyone know of sources? I found a few bits and pieces at Modellbau Seidel but not much. Some italian funky dude sells a few cars on Ebay and that seems to be about it. Not much of a scene to be honest, as far as I can see, but maybe I am looking in the wrong spots?

I think it is much more popular in asia… compared to RC scenes in US, mini 4wd seems much smaller (also less parts availability). 
 

[alvinlwh 6887]

On 7/17/2024 at 3:23 PM, JimBear said:

Oh no, another wabbit hole ... eeps.

But the Mini 4wd presence in Europe (at least on the mainland) seems spotty ... does anyone know of sources? I found a few bits and pieces at Modellbau Seidel but not much. Some italian funky dude sells a few cars on Ebay and that seems to be about it. Not much of a scene to be honest, as far as I can see, but maybe I am looking in the wrong spots?

Manchester Model Shop is the main on in the UK but rather expensive, especially the tracks. I went out to Asia 2 years ago to pick up 2 set of tracks in person for the local model show next month.

[Bwaaatch 617]

Good shop in Italy. https://www.artecolormodellismo.net

I placed an order last week and all went well. For. International orders just email them a list of what you want and they tot it up and send you a PayPal bill. All very smooth, recommend.

in terms of a European ‘scene’ Italy looks the strongest,, including outdoor hockey stick guided ‘Street Mini 4wd’ find them in YouTube.

SC Models in the UK also stocks a few cars, but not much else.

As discussed in another thread, plaza Japan is probably the best place to buy.

have fun!

[alvinlwh 6887]

RCJ is good for finding some rare old ones. Not that cheap but at least they don't charge VAT.

https://www.rcjaz.co.uk/mini-4wd-kids-racing-t-24_308_309.html

[Oscar10 2]

Hello everyone, I found this online store in Italy that is well-stocked with Mini 4WD. https://www.vendilosegrate.it

[Bwaaatch 617]

Remembered where I’d seen a custom made edition a while ago … 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CuT7M1eyNEF/?igsh=bHk0bGU5NmJmN2py

Amazing channel.

 

[Gebbly 760]

On 7/12/2024 at 11:32 AM, alvinlwh said:

donating these kits to the upcoming local model show

How did the raffle go? Have you seen any of the kits built and run by the winners since? It would be cool to think you had inspired a youngster into a creative hobby

Some of the minis look so cool, that "Lord Guille" is right up my ally  

As @Kowalski86 says it looks great for encouraging children into thinking and engineering. The biggest enjoyment in this hobby for me is the selection of parts and building/customising, so something like the mini 4wd series which is aimed at that sentiment is great.

Things like mini 4wd and the people who help encourage children into these pursuits are quit important so well done @alvinlwh. I was so disheartened one Christmas when the family were together and my niece (7) and nephew (10) were bored so I got the family lego tubs out of the loft, poured them out on the floor and suggested we just start building things. I sat in amongst all the bricks and my niece and nephew just looked at me and said they didnt know what they were supposed to do. They were so used to potted entertainment on the beep-boop devices. So I spent the afternoon building things and encouraging them to just make things up and create. They slowly got the hang of it but without someone to continuously encourage them they are these days back on the beep-boops