Sand Scorcher - re-release?

[tarznatz 0]

(I've replied to the wrong post here - it should be in response to Shodog's)

So.......As Shodog said - it would be a SS version of the Blitzer Beetle. Exactly!!

I'm surprised that they just haven't released what would essentially be a modified Blitzer Beetle with the original sand scorcher shell. All they would have to do would be to change the suspension arms to ones that are not as long and maybe throw in some high end shocks to give it some machismo, and then add the wheels already re-released on the Grasshopper. Perhaps it wouldn't sell as well as many of us think but it would be a much better look than all the ugly off road buggies they already have out that are low to the ground, have uninteresting polycarbonate shells and can't be differentiated one from another unless you are up close to read the decals.

The final step would be to reproduce those famous SS decals and perhaps include an inner lexan cover for limited water/dirt protection. I'd buy it.

[MikeT 0]

So.......As Shodog said - it would be a SS version of the Blitzer Beetle. Exactly!!

Yeah, that'd be great too, the scorcher rear cage ( plastic item ) and it'd be great, maybe a lexan mech-box ( KAMTEC )

That'd be just the ticket imho.

Mike

[Big Al 1]

I don't think anyone here can come up with a valid marketing reason why

Tamiya would re-release the Scorcher. Can anyone come up with a valid

reason as to why they re-released the XR-311?? Was there really a

demand for that kit? I doubt it. They probably re-released it because

it is a beautiful model when it is put together. I think we would all

agree that the Scorcher is also a beautiful model when it's built as

well! Technically I think they could do it without any problems and the

cost to make it wouldn't be outrageously high either. Things are alot

easier to make these days compared to back when this kit was first

made. There is less work involved considering that machines can do most

of the work for you! I wouldn't be surprised if this kit gets

re-released someday! As for Tamiya needing marketing reasons to

re-release old kits, I think the re-release XR-311 proved that they

don't need marketing reasons.

[Drewboyaus 0]

So I think it would purely be a decision made by the Tamiya marketing department with little or no concern to the cost..

Anyone know of a valid marketing reason for Tamiya to go to the trouble of rereleasing the Scorcher, apart from to make a few hundred TC members happy? They would sell less of them than the other rerelease buggies.

Indeed Terry..... Personally, I can't think of a particularly good reason either. Perhaps to display their heritage and try to hook a few 30 somethings and their kids into the hobby again? 'Dunno.

As I said earlier I don't really care either way (though, one would look nice on my shelf), but the decision will be made with little regard to the cost (I don't believe it would cost much more than a normal kit), because without knowing the exact numbers, I suspect the other re-re's are manufactured in pretty low volumes and thus would have slightly higher costs than the regular kit range too.

Cheers,

Drew.

[WillyChang 1814]

We get nearly all of them manufactured by contractors in China, and they are all cheap to produce.  I see no reason why Tamiya would be concerned with contracting out the metal die casting process...most manufacturers in this part of the world have been doing it for decades and at rates that are outrageously cheap.  All you need to do is provide a specification for them to manufacture to and keep a tight reign on quality control.

Tamiya's much-admired QC consists mainly of producing everything themselves INHOUSE, that way they have 100% control. They don't need "cheap" China production facilities as they've already got their own production plant in Philippenes... it don't get much better than that.

Your other problem with China is lack of respect for IP. Give your chinese contractor a mold and ask him to make 10,000 items for you... he'll go and use your mold to make 30,000 of which 2/3rds disappears out the backdoor at midnight.

Or china might substitute a cheaper styrene compared to what what is specified, or even use 'waste' recycled chips to make your parts.

You must think the Tamiya boys are stupid? The only way to control their IP is to keep tight reign on their tooling - so they make everything inhouse.

 

[Big Al 1]

Good point Willy! But how do you explain all of those Tamiya knock-off kits (Holiday Buggy, Super Shot, Blackfoot Extreme, etc.) that are exactly the same as the Tamiya version but have a different name? Did they contract out some of the parts for those kits to be made? Or did they sell the molds to these other companies? Or did these companies simply rip them off?

[TWINSET 1793]

Are the Frog steering arms the same as SRB ones?

 

Pic blagged from http://www.fusionhobbies.com/home.htm

[meridian 0]

hey guys I don't mean to pour salt in a wound but could someone tell me what that trick was played on you here about rereleases. I remember one guy said he got an email back from Tamiya when he asked about rereleasing the Bruiser, Superchamp, etc. and they came back to him (he claimed) that they were going to release them all in the next 2 years. Was that what the trick was. ?? (As much as I hope for that to be true I'll believe it when I see it)

Also, why is the Sand Scorcher so sought after. What is it about it that appeals to much to Tamiya classic fans. I'm excited as all heck I got some Hornets and Frogs now but I'm suprised by how popular the SS is and I'm just curious.

Last thing, I emailed TamiyaUSA asking for more rereleases and they said that Tamiya Japan made the decisions (obviously) so have you guys been contacting Tamiya Headquarters in Japan. I was actually thinking of drafting a well written professional and mailing it by regular mail to Japan. Would anyone else be interested in contacting them that way and expressing our interest (love!) for the tamiya classics??

[MikeT 0]

Chris ( Netsmith, owner of this site, great guy [A] ) made a render of a PILE of Sand Scorcher boxes and said he had had a meeting with Tamiay officials and it was SO Believeablem got alot of people very annoyed..

Thats all...

[OldSchoolRunner 116]

I personally don't think it will ever be re-released because of  some of the already sighted reasons memebrs have come-up with. So that being said If you really want one of these to bash, run, or to make your shelf queen look for an opportunity to bid on one in eBay that will meet your needs.  I personally am tired of this topic coming up again and again. I honestly would like to see us put our combine effort into some really good posts rather then talking of a possible re-release that probably won't happen. IF you really want one bid on one and do whatever you want to do with it.

OSR 

[tarznatz 0]

I see no harm in people expressing some sort of hope. The best way to kill these threads is to simply not respond....!

[terry.sc 16]

Are the Frog steering arms the same as SRB ones?

Yes Andy, the steering arms were the only part carried over from their previous buggies, which were the SRBs.

[terry.sc 16]

hey guys I don't mean to pour salt in a wound

but could someone tell me what that trick was played on you here about

rereleases. I remember one guy said he got an email back from Tamiya

when he asked about rereleasing the Bruiser, Superchamp, etc. and they

came back to him (he claimed) that they were going to release them all

in the next 2 years. Was that what the trick was. ?? (As much as I hope

for that to be true I'll believe it when I see it)

Try here for the fake Scorcher thread. Prepare yourself for a long

read. http://tamiyaclub.com/CS/forums/1/67709/ShowThread.aspx

Also, why is the Sand Scorcher so sought after. What is it about it

that appeals to much to Tamiya classic fans. I'm excited as all heck I

got some Hornets and Frogs now but I'm suprised by how popular the SS

is and I'm just curious.

Don't know myself, I preferred the Rough Rider back then and prefer the later cars these days.

[Bigwheels_inc 11]

people keep on about this liecsense issue to reproduce the body the liecense is only needed for the vw badge as the original sand scorcher style body kit for the real cars was produced (as far as i can remember) by an american company and so tamiya would not be producing a model of a genuine vw car and if they dropped the badge there would be no issue (have a look at a company called wizard roadsters in the uk) they produce a 1:1 baja bug/sand scorcher body complete that you can bolt onto a vw beetle floorpan and have no issues with vw as they are not copying a vw product

so tamiya can just remove any vw names from the item and no problems

and surely tamiya would have had alot of moulds made for the ss body due to wear and making so many kits so even if they did modify a few moulds to produce the monster beetle body shell there must be some ss moulds left over

i think if tamiya do re-issue the srb cars it would prob be with carbon fibre chassis and silver/grey nylon/plastic parts to reproduce the look

but i like the idea somebody had about the blitzer chassis and a scorcher body id buy one

hope this does'nt offend anyone

pete

[Drewboyaus 0]

Your other problem with China is lack of respect for IP. Give your chinese contractor a mold and ask him to make 10,000 items for you... he'll go and use your mold to make 30,000 of which 2/3rds disappears out the backdoor at midnight.

Or china might substitute a cheaper styrene compared to what what is specified, or even use 'waste' recycled chips to make your parts.

You must think the Tamiya boys are stupid? The only way to control their IP is to keep tight reign on their tooling - so they make everything inhouse.

True Willy, I forgot about the IP issue, but in 10yrs of manufacture in China we've only struck IP issues once, and that was from choosing the wrong contractor....at the end of the day it's about relationships with your manufacturers.

Even if they didn't contract the work out I don't think that changes my stance on an SRB re-re costing barely any more to manufacture than the other re-re's.

Cheers,

Drew

[terry.sc 16]

Even if they didn't contract the work out I

don't think that changes my stance on an SRB

re-re costing barely any more to manufacture than the

other re-re's.

That is assuming Tamiya already have a foundry for manufacturing the

parts. Tamiya will not contract out, especially to Chinese companies,

so they would need to build a facility to cast the metal parts. Highly

unlikely just for one or two kits. If the gearbox was moulded in

plastic Tamiya can just drop the mould into one of their machines and

let it run all day to produce hundreds of parts automatically,  I

cannot see how metal casting can be done for the same price.

I could see the feasiblity of making a plastic reproduction, but that

would have an even smaller market than a metal version as lots of

people would not buy it because it wasn't metal.

[pleiku68 24]

HI Terry,,,,I must be getting old.. 60 this year....Re releases or modified re-issues as I prefer to call them are nice.but IMHO..You got to ride the original old junker to really appreaciate the poor handling!!! but what fun.[]... 

Now that said if you want a Sand Scorcher buy a junker and fix it up....I have over 25 SRBs six or seven Sand Scorchers, Champs mostly, many RR's and and three XLT's. and probably the worlds largest collection of used  parts...Most are re-conditioned not NIB,,been there and done the NIB gig...Some have been hopped up and I polish and plate each one as I put them together..You can make them better than new with little effort...And you don't need the sufisticated equipment that I use..Plain old elbo grease, small file and several grits of emry paper...That to me is what this hobby is about, modeling, making things fit, even occasionaly making a part...Remember most the original metal parts will be around forever..

The best thing to come out of a "Modified re-issue" would be if they kept the box art...Remember they already re-issued similar cars...Monster Beetle, Blitzer Beelte, ect..

Sorry to bore you but this thread has been around a while...We had it on Robys site and may have been on Jims site going back probably 6 or 7 years...and guess what...The results are the same..."NO NEW SAND SCORCER RELEASE..."Hey but I heard a guy  in an old Hobby Store in Mississippi Has 40 NIB Sand Scorchers" ASKING $40 AUS FOR LOT..Remember that one????LOLOLOLOL

The prices on ebay for used parts have come down by orders of magnitude...because we all built and re-condition Scorchers a few years back...Now I heard the three speeds are being re-issued in december..[] Regards jerry

Yes, I would buy a few if they were re-issued..as originals,  not re-released as plastic monster....regards jerry

[RichieRich 685]

The re-release steering arms are slightly different looking than the originals.  They look more "refined".  They still will work with any buggy that uses those steering arms.

[Katan 10]

Doesn't the fact that the Frog uses similar steering arms to the SRB prove that they have the ability to cast metal parts?

If so, then this doesn't necessarily mean there is going to be a re-release.

[theshopkeeper 39]

As I understand it, there will be more re-issues announced at the Neuremberg Toy Fair in a few weeks time...