When do you pull the trigger?

[Juggular]

It's a multiple choice question. 

I thought about getting Nxgen, but I'm wondering if I should wait a bit.  Then I got curious about how other members decide to buy.  

 

[Blista]

All of the above.

[Frog Jumper]

I was going to get myself one new kit per year for xmas but nothing appealed to me last year…

[Kowalski86]

Usually I wait until I can find a used example or a sale, ideally after most of a models bugs have been found and noted by the early birds and only after I've completed my checklist:

1. Where will I run it?

2. Have I owned this model before?

3. Are parts easily accessible?

4. What condition is it in?

5. Does it accept standard 1:10 electronics and parts?

6. What is currently in my fleet? (This is how I prevent myself from ending up with 30+ RCs and an empty wallet), this question both looks for redundant models, and keeps me in check.

I like the DT-04 but I already have a Hornet EVO and a Wild One for my 2wd Tamiya buggies.

[GToddC5]

It depends on the kits and their availability, but generally when the mood strikes - but i still look to use coupon codes and credits - I'm not an animal 

[kevinb120]

3 hours ago, Blista said:

All of the above.

This is the way

[Blista]

1 hour ago, kevinb120 said:

This is the way

There needs to be an option for "Wait for other people to buy it then find the faults and devise fixes, so I can have a flawless build."

[Re-Bugged]

Well today felt like as good a time as any seeing as you asked 😉

I bought this with one of your own philosophies in mind Mr Juggular as I recently fitted a new toilet in the en-suite, some painting & decorating (still ongoing though ) fixed the tumble dryer plus a few other jobs, so I’m still quids in on the savings buying a BBX against the cost of calling in trades people to to it.

I’m not someone who has to keep up with the Jones’s or have to have the latest greatest release. I do get excited to see what’s coming after Nuremberg Fair announcements, but fortunately as it’s usually months before things hit the shelves that I have a good long time to consider if anything is right for me and cool off a bit.

I have bought stuff in the past because it was to good a deal to pass up, but it would still have to be something that’s on the radar in the first place.

I tend to pass up ‘Limited Release’s’ as I’m not in this for investment and quite often the price of such things is well above my comfortable range of spending on one item.

On the subject of what I consider a comfortable range, if it’s something I need, say Motor & ESC combo or basic kit etc up to around A$200/250 I can handle at anytime if the need arises without a guilty conscience. Over that it’s more of an occasion driven spend, Birthday, Christmas or Vouchers to use. On the Radar principle still applies.

Todays little splurge was because it was actually marked down as it being my nearest hobby shop that’s 100k’s away will be closing its doors very soon, so it was a bit of a final souvenir from there, and an early Birthday present to myself for next month. My closest shop will be over 500k’s away then. I’ll certainly miss the possibility of a bricks and mortar establishment within reach.

The BBX has been on the radar for a while now, and today it just felt right to do more than anything. In the excitement though I forgot to ask if they had any 5x0.5mm shims for the drive shaft to stop them popping out, oh well hopefully the 3 o-rings on the rear shocks to limit full compression will suffice.

So I guess all that being said it’s got to just ‘Feel right’ at the time 😉

 

 

[Andreas W]

@Re-Bugged Congrats with what I expect to be a great kit. A nice and good looking 2WD buggy, to remind of old times, but in a package for us grown-ups.

 

I am and have been on the fence with the Dirtmaster since it came out. Now that the Tomahawk is downgraded (and I like it) I am looking for the right time and reason to grab a Dirtmaster to gave a capable and fast 2WD buggy again. 

[Hobbimaster]

I believe patience is a virtue. Like anything prices are high when kits, games,  when anything "new" comes out. Usually after a few weeks, maybe a month or two, you can find online shops willing to sell items at a lower cost to move stock once the hype has slowed down.

[Twinfan]

I usually buy straightaway if I know it's definitely something I want - especially if I think production or supply may be limited. Other times, when I'm more on the fence, I'll look for a deal when I've warmed to the model or got a few quid spare that month.

So for me it depends on the kit.

[Torhaantje]

9 hours ago, Kowalski86 said:

What is currently in my fleet? (This is how I prevent myself from ending up with 30+ RCs and an empty wallet), this question both looks for redundant models, and keeps me in check.

I wished I had this view years earlier.......

I guess I wasn't adware that such contemplation existed. 🤔

 

 

 

 

Now I am stuck with 30+ RC's and an empty wallet.

Rick

[ADRay1000]

personal rule is one per year, but I skipped last year because I was more focused (at least my finances) on the fun 1:1. Kinda wanted a Hornet Evo, but I guess not enough to buy one.
 

definitely getting a Mini Cooper this year. 

[Saito2]

A re-release of something I've always wanted (that list is very small now) gets purchased when it becomes readily available. I certainly don't freak out and try to get one of the first examples to hit the market or pay a premium price for it. I'm a grown-up.

Everything else get researched and deliberated over a course of months and sometimes years. I don't need any of it but I have to be sure I really want it. Knee-jerk wallet reactions result in an empty wallet and yet another vehicle to sell down the line at a severe loss. Even with this slow method, I still screw up from time to time. My technical curiosity still gets the better of me.

I do not like the ideas of rampant consumerism, FOMO, hype or the "gotta get 'em all" philosophy. I feel that anyone advertising goods nowadays are playing on these factors to get you to part with your money. Social media and the utterly absurd concept of "influencer culture" has only kicked these tactics into overdrive. I watch daily as people fall into these traps over and over again. You know what? Its just stuff and buying that stuff to throw into some un-fillable  "hole" in someones life doesn't make sense to me. But thinking is hard and its easy to just hit the "buy it now button". Influencers have crafted this unsustainable notion of constant acquisition. This may be a bit of tinfoil hat thinking, but I wonder if the "powers that be" love keeping us distracted with consumerism rather than considering bigger political, environmental and socioeconomic issues but that's probably beyond the scope of this question.

I still subscribe to the old methods of product advertisement. What does this product do for me? Does it work better than what I have? Do truly need it and even if I don't and still want it, will I want it in a year, or 2 or 5? I took one look at the DT04, looked at what truly made it different from my DT02 and decided the changes did not mean enough to me personally to part with my money. That's not a critique of Tamiya for releasing it. The DT has simply slowly evolved and Tamiya has improved it along the way. They aren't shoving it down my throat like other manufacturers.

While we're on the subject and my disposition is so sunny this morning, I will add I have noticed changes since I originally joined Tamiyaclub back in '05. There seems to be a more emphasis on getting particularly new stuff now than 20 years ago. Whereas the old days spoke of tracking down and restoring a piece for a collection, today its more "look what I bought". That's not a criticism of anyone here, just how times have changed. It could be considered a negative impact of re-release culture. Its also why, despite not personally being my cup of tea, I still support all the inventive creativity 3D printing and the like bring to custom builds and such. I never want to see imagination, crafting and creativity leave to hobby. 

[alvinlwh]

When I saved up enough money to fly to Asia to buy a year or two worth at once! 🤣 

 

[Kowalski86]

1 hour ago, Saito2 said:

Influencers have crafted this unsustainable notion of constant acquisition.

It's like these guys are secretly pulling the strings...

[Torhaantje]

49 minutes ago, Saito2 said:

While we're on the subject and my disposition is so sunny this morning, I will note I have noticed changes since I originally joined Tamiyaclub back in '05. There seems to be a more emphasis on getting particularly new stuff now than 20 years ago. Whereas the old days spoke of tracking down and restoring a piece for a collection, today its more "look what I bought".

+1

When I joined TC , I was into ( and still am) the old threespeeds: the Hilux and the Blazing Blazer. I spent many hours trying to find  ' good projectcars' , hunting down the missing parts and restoring them.

When I look at them now, they remind me of why, where and when the love for Tamiya started: going through the illustrated catalogues in the 80's as a teenager and fantasizing about owning one of those classic Tamiya's.

Having said that,  by no means I want to say that the olden days were better than the present RC days!

Who doesn't remember the gliching of the 27 MHz, the overheating of the mechanical speedcontrollers, the overnight  tricklecharging of the 6 volts NiCad batteries for running your car for 15 minutes the next day, the cost of ballbearings........

Hang on: as I am writing down these memories, I realize that the olden days were indeed better !!!!!!!! 😜

Dinosaur Rick 

( TC member since 2004)

[Wooders28]

Tamiya purchases I usually wait until they come down in price, and let others find what the weak points are...

Race cars, as soon as they're released,  they usually don't come down in price much, and usually don't have weak points.

[Blista]

15 hours ago, Re-Bugged said:

Well today felt like as good a time as any seeing as you asked 😉

Seeing a BBX in a Woolworths bag is an image from a perfect world where they sell this stuff at supermarket checkouts.  

One thing I always factor into my purchases is the time I will likely own it.  It's nothing to wait a couple of years if I expect to own it for decades.  M07 was a day one purchase with zero regrets.  Even on sale the TD buggies can't get me to buy them.  I won't want to look at those shells in 10 years time.  Something like a BBX might.

[Re-Bugged]

4 hours ago, Blista said:

Seeing a BBX in a Woolworths bag is an image from a perfect world where they sell this stuff at supermarket checkouts.  

We can but live in hope bud, and just think of the rewards points you would accumulate 👌🏻

[Kpowell911]

It really depends on the model

[Nikko85]

My cars are all either 1/12 or 1/16, so there's very little new that appeals instantly. It's more about working out what we will work with a different body, and then pulling the trigger, which is usually when I find a bargain or had a couple of beers.

So for example I've been eyeing up  1/16 bruder dakar truck build. I've been waiting for a few truck bodies to be cheap, but last night after a couple of beers and long successful day at work I picked up a used model for a fiver more than I might have got if I had been patient, but just wanted to crack on.

Cost is important to me, all my cars are QDs or MF01x, CW01 or GF01 kinda level, nothing too fancy. Of course it all adds up when you add everything else.

 

 

[Juggular]

I thought a lot more people would just buy when it gets released.  

But the #1 vote was the most frugal one.  #2 was waiting as long as a year... 

And twice as many people buy when they are happily drunk.  This gives a legitimate business reason for Tamiya to open pubs all around the world. Wasn't there Tamiya wine or some such thing? 

 

 

[BuggyDad]

Interesting. Mostly I have some kits loosely in mind and hit buy when I see a really great deal. My DT-03, Boomerang, Fox, Avante and Egress were all bought at the best prices I've seen them. 

But then not always. My Optima Mid was a pre order almost on day one. 

In the end though, the purchase point is in the past and forgotten. So the Mid feels like as good (or bad) value as any to me now (in fact, it's good value because it's been run loads to the point it looks quite worn, and yet it's broken nothing).