Hotshot 1 Re-Release must!

[Hotshot1 0]

Anyone know if Tamiya will ever re-release the hotshot 1?

The attention to detail and the interresting mechanics,

I can see this Car has been designed and manufactured with inspiration. You just don't find that extra in other sandmaster type off-road racers. This could only be benneficial to Tamiya for they will sell many and i can see no disadvantage for them whatsoever.

It's just a selling design, the monoshock design looks brilliant and is unique in it's class. stabilisers front and rear, upper and lower deck tub chassis, The "rollcage canopy" extending towards the back to shield the suspension mechanics, those big aluminum oil damper monoshocks, and don't forget the solid looking thick aluminum dogbones, you just don't find quality like this anymore.

This is how i can describe it, if i were to take many off-roaders, different models and enlarge them to full scale 

The hotshot would get to be the real car simply because it looks exactly like a full scale sandmaster.Tthe triangle wheel hubs which you can see the three dots on the rims where they lock in place, it looks just like a real 4x4 drive system.The akuminum heatsinks. I can write pages...

 Tamiya will you please re-release the Hotshot 1.

 

 

 

[mobias 0]

I'm sure if they were going to re-re it they would have by now. Most people have said Tamiya are finished with this spate of re-re's, there won't be anymore, and they seem to be right. If you look at all the cars that were re-re by Tamiya they were all cars that even to today can still hold their own in terms of performance. I think the fact that they re-released the Thundershot instead of the Hotshot tells you that at the end of the day the Thundershot may look pretty ugly in comparison but it did perform way better. However there is the argument that all the re-re's were aimed at a certain market (ie us Tamiya enthusiasts) and I'm sure more people here would fall over themselves to buy a re-re'd Hotshot rather than a Thundershot, something I'm sure Tamiya aren't or weren't blind to.

[fyra89 0]

I will be forever puzzed by Tamiya's choice of which three 4WD buggies to re-release, but alas, it does seem that this run of re-releases is over.  Maybe they'll do another in five or ten years . . . .

[Hibernaculum 933]

Totally agree with you that the Hotshot is both gorgeous, and realistic.

I don't think a Hotshot re-release is on the cards though. But I think Tamiya might pay homage to the Hotshot with a Tamtech Gear version.

So far, they've only released 2WD buggies in the Tamtech Gear series. But as many have noticed, the front wheels of these cars have provision for drive shafts - suggesting there will be a 4WD Tamtech Gear car at some point. Given the way Tamiya is recycling these cars identically, over and over (just different body shells on each one), multiple 4WD Tamtech Gear cars are also likely.

Which means there are a number of famous 4WD candidates: Hotshot, Boomerang, Manta Ray, Top Force, Thundershot.... 

They're nice little cars. Great packaging. But it's a great pity that Tamiya is making them so generic. Frog, Hornet and Fox - three utterly different cars, have all been lumped together under an identical chassis that bears no similarity to any of them.

I would have greatly preferred if Tamiya had made only two or three Tamtech Gear cars in total, but had built them as true miniature versions of the real thing. They would have been much better tributes to the originals. But of course, economy demands that everything now be recycled as much as possible. Sure, Tamiya has always recycled stuff. But it's even more blatant now. Some buggies don't even have unique body shells anymore.

cheers,

H.

[HunterZero 76]

It's been reported before that Tamiya planned on ending the current series of re-releases with "a big surprise", which I take now to be the updated 934 Turbo RSR for the 30th anniversary. So I very much doubt there will be any more re-releases in the next few years.

I'd love to see the Hot Shot re-released being the landmark car that it was, and the Fox, Super Shot, Egress and Top Force Evo for that matter, but chances are next to nil at this point. Maybe in another 10 years they'll do another series of re-releases for their 40th anniversary? Imagine what the 50th anniversary kit is going to be!

You never know, Mr Tamiya has surprised us all before.

- James

[DJTheo 2]

It's been reported before that Tamiya planned on ending the current series of re-releases with "a big surprise", which I take now to be the updated 934 Turbo RSR for the 30th anniversary.

Or the F350, would really like to ask Mr. Tamiya which of those 2 it was.

I'd love to see the Hot Shot

re-released being the landmark car that it was, and the Fox, Super

Shot, Egress and Top Force Evo for that matter, but chances are next to

nil at this point. Maybe in another 10 years they'll do another series

of re-releases for their 40th anniversary? Imagine what the 50th

anniversary kit is going to be!You never know, Mr Tamiya has surprised us all before.

- James

Totally agree, never say never, but I also don't see it coming in the next few years.

Cheers 

[DJTheo 2]

Totally agree with you that the Hotshot is both gorgeous, and realistic.

I don't think a Hotshot re-release is on the cards though. But I think Tamiya might pay homage to the Hotshot with a Tamtech Gear version.

So far, they've only released 2WD buggies in the Tamtech Gear series. But as many have noticed, the front wheels of these cars have provision for drive shafts - suggesting there will be a 4WD Tamtech Gear car at some point. Given the way Tamiya is recycling these cars identically, over and over (just different body shells on each one), multiple 4WD Tamtech Gear cars are also likely.

Which means there are a number of famous 4WD candidates: Hotshot, Boomerang, Manta Ray, Top Force, Thundershot.... 

They're nice little cars. Great packaging. But it's a great pity that Tamiya is making them so generic. Frog, Hornet and Fox - three utterly different cars, have all been lumped together under an identical chassis that bears no similarity to any of them.

Also agree and since a long time have a feeling that a 4WD Tamtech Gear series will come and the nice thing will be that the generic/common chassis there will be less annoying as the old Tamiya 4WDs had many chassis similarities.

Cheers 

[Shodog 1835]

as much as I like my hotshot, I don't think it's going to happen.  Lets face it, compared to currently available 4wd buggies, the hotshot would never hold it's own.  Its a complicated kit that has a lot of parts that unless they had a stach of, would not be economically feasible to remake.

Jim

[Hotshot1 0]

Thank you for all your replies )

 It must be re-released. They should not ignore the value of this car.

I will pay more for this kit for you get more.Performance wise,I'm still going out full throttle with mine, and still enjoy it as much as ever. Maybe it does not make competition sense in comparison with other's, but that's not what it's about for me and many other's, this car does perform well in any case. I just enjoy the complexity and seeing it physically perform on and off road with it's complexity is a mind rush every time.

It will always be a unique car. I will be waitng for it's re-release, even if so for many many years. I have the '05 thundershot almost finished building it, not a hotshot but it will be interresting to see how it perform, i do like it's looks, less complicated than the hotshot and i will sure enjoy this one. Still need the complicated hotshot, and won't mind the supershot re-released as well, a original Avante would be excellent too, i know the avante had it's problems with the weak aluminum parts, they can upgrade the material used and re-release it as is.

Thanks

Please keep the re-releases going until the hotshot is released!

[focus1 0]

Nice post! This is a little on the side of the topic, but has any one given out a repro bodie for this car or the other two Shot buggies?

Just wondering.

[HunterZero 76]

Yep, I love the complexity of the Hot Shot and Super Shot cars. They're mostly plastic though, so I can't imagine them being that difficult or much more expensive to reproduce than the Thunder Shot. There would be a few bits they'd update, like simplifying the center propshaft and an ESC would be included so no need for the Dalek looking resistors (unless they include a couple of dummy ones just for looks?).

I'm happy they re-released the Top Force, that's a really nice car I would not have been able to enjoy building without the re-release.

A 4WD Tamtech Gear copying the old Shot body style would certainly be interesting. I am still rather tempted to get a TTG Fox, it's just so darn cute.

- James

[terry.sc 16]

Anyone know if Tamiya will ever re-release the hotshot 1?

The attention to detail and the interresting mechanics,

I

can see this Car has been designed and manufactured with inspiration.

You just don't find that extra in other sandmaster type off-road

racers. This could only be benneficial to Tamiya for they will sell

many and i can see no disadvantage for them whatsoever.

Nope,

the rereleases are over. The rereleases have not been huge sellers even

though there are a few in the TC showrooms. There are almost twice as

many Hi-Lifts than the Frog, the highest placed rerelease.

It's

just a selling design, the monoshock design looks brilliant and is

unique in it's class. stabilisers front and rear, upper and lower

deck tub chassis, The "rollcage canopy" extending towards the back

to shield the suspension mechanics, those big aluminum oil

damper monoshocks, and don't forget the solid looking thick

aluminum dogbones, you just don't find quality like this

anymore.

At the time of the Hotshot release it was

advertised as Tamiyas first competition 4wd. All the features that make

it a Hotshot (monoshocks, monocoque chassis, hex drive propshaft,

rollcage) were all thrown away by the racers and replaced with

aftermarket parts as performance wise they were useless. Racers

preferred the Boomerang as it was actually a much better design,

especially the steering geometry, and the Boomerang was a much bigger

seller as it performed so much better than the Hotshot.

 For those who suggest it is realistic can anyone suggest a full size car that looks anything like a Hotshot?   

I think the fact that they re-released the

Thundershot instead of the Hotshot tells you that at the end of the day

the Thundershot may look pretty ugly in comparison but it did perform

way better. However there is the argument that all the re-re's were

aimed at a certain market (ie us Tamiya enthusiasts) and I'm sure more

people here would fall over themselves to buy a re-re'd Hotshot rather

than a Thundershot, something I'm sure Tamiya aren't or weren't blind

to.

I will be forever puzzed by

Tamiya's

choice of

which three 4WD buggies to re-release, but alas, it does seem that this

run of re-releases is over.

The choice of cars to be rereleased

was based on a survey conducted by Tamiya at the 44th Shizuoka hobby

show in 2004, where Tamiya put on a display to see how popular the old

cars were. the Thundershot is there much more popular amongst the

Japanese, which is the market they were aimed at not the small number

of vintage enthusiasts in the rest of the world. Tamiyas number one

market is Japan, even the USA is seen as a minor market. To show the

difference in market size the Japanese are organising race meetings for

the rereleases, how many other countries could get enough rerelease

owners together to hold one race meeting.

If you are planning on running them a Thundershot will

easily outperform a Hotshot and the Thundershot is considerably more

durable. The Hotshot series and most particularly the Hotshot had many

problems requiring aftermarket parts to improve reliability and

performance. The Thundershot series was faster than the Hotshot range

from the start and as long as you don't hit something solid with a

front wheel (part A5!) they will go on forever, which can't be said of

the Hotshot range.

 

 

[terry.sc 16]

Nice post! This is a little on the side of

the topic, but has any one given out a repro bodie for this car or the

other two Shot buggies?

Just wondering.

Not yet[]

 

Maybe soon though..

[Hibernaculum 933]

For those who suggest it is realistic can anyone suggest a full size car that looks anything like a Hotshot?

The retro space-freighter stylings of the Millennium Falcon, both inside and out, seem sufficiently practical, weathered, battle worn, and realistic in Star Wars - so much so that you could imagine being on board.

Can anyone suggest a real life spacecraft that looks like the Millennium Falcon?

<grabs dictionary>

"Interested in, concerned with, or based on what is real or practical". That's what it says for "realistic".

Even though a full size Hotshot or similar doesn't exist, that doesn't mean the Hotshot isn't realistic.

My personal opinion is that realism is about practicality and 1:1 potential. If a Tamiya buggy looks like it could exist, be occupied by a human, and be reasonably practical in 1:1 scale, then I consider it realistic. Whether or not it actually exists, is irrelevant. If it has a cockpit, a driver, window netting, suspension, a roll cage, headlights - then these things suggest it is "concerned with what is real".

Familiarity of design plays a big role here too. The chunky shapes, sharp corners and straight lines evident in the designs of most vintage Tamiya buggies draw inspiration from, and are related to, the styles of vehicles that were around in the 1980s (and are still around today). Those designs tap into a shapes we recognize from real buggies, cars or machines. Even though they are original designs, and even though they don't exist in real life, and even though they have exaggerations - they may still appeal to things we know and that are familiar to us. They seem possible, plausible or practical in some way. They seem *right*.

Compare this to the more futuristic spaceship-on-wheels designs of the buggies from the late 1980s onward. It's much harder to see the every day relevance of those cars. The shapes do not lend themselves easily to carrying human occupants, and they do not have any reference points in other objects we see around us. Not even NASA's latest Mars rovers look as advanced as buggies like the Top Force. Those kinds of buggies are still beyond us - they are unfamiliar shapes and are still the stuff of dreams and future fantasies.

cheers,

H. 

 

[larbut 4]

For those who suggest it is realistic can anyone suggest a full size car that looks anything like a Hotshot?

This one ? ;-)

Driven by the famous Mickey Thompson..

http://www.tamiyabase.com/1to1scale/real_58047.htm

-Lars

[larbut 4]

For those who suggest it is realistic can anyone suggest a full size car that looks anything like a Hotshot?

Sorry, double post...

[HunterZero 76]

For those who suggest it is realistic can anyone suggest a full size car that looks anything like a Hotshot?   

I can't remember where, but I actually do remember seeing in a post somewhere a photo of a real buggy that looked alarmingly like a Hot Shot.

- James

[HunterZero 76]

Driven by the famous Mickey Thompson

 

Gah... Yeah, that's the one I remember!

Here's another pic of it too:

 

Mid-engined like the Hot Shot too, funky.

- James

[DJTheo 2]

That looks closer to me though to the Kyosho Gallop Mk. II

Cheers 

[Classic RC Fan 0]

Which itself looks like a Marui Samurai!

[RETRO R/C 59]

ahhhhhhhh - but it would be the Samurai that looks like the Gallop II as it is younger!

 

Cheers

Darryn 

[Hibernaculum 933]

Fantastic pics fellas. I had no idea the Gallop Mk II was so close to a real buggy!

cheers,

H.

 

[DJTheo 2]

You should visit Darryn then, you will see that also other mothers have beautiful daughters! [H]

Cheers

Theo 

[RETRO R/C 59]

H , H, H ................man are you gonna get an edufication (LOL) on other brands when you come here..................[8-|]

Thanks for the backup Theo!!

Darryn

 

[Hotshot1 0]

For those who suggest it is realistic can anyone suggest a full size car that looks anything like a Hotshot?

The retro space-freighter stylings of the Millennium Falcon, both inside and out, seem sufficiently practical, weathered, battle worn, and realistic in Star Wars - so much so that you could imagine being on board.

Can anyone suggest a real life spacecraft that looks like the Millennium Falcon?

<grabs dictionary>

"Interested in, concerned with, or based on what is real or practical". That's what it says for "realistic".

Even though a full size Hotshot or similar doesn't exist, that doesn't mean the Hotshot isn't realistic.

 

 My personal opinion is that realism is about practicality and 1:1 potential. If a Tamiya buggy looks like it could exist, be occupied by a human, and be reasonably practical in 1:1 scale, then I consider it realistic. Whether or not it actually exists, is irrelevant. If it has a cockpit, a driver, window netting, suspension, a roll cage, headlights - then these things suggest it is "concerned with what is real".

Familiarity of design plays a big role here too. The chunky shapes, sharp corners and straight lines evident in the designs of most vintage Tamiya buggies draw inspiration from, and are related to, the styles of vehicles that were around in the 1980s (and are still around today). Those designs tap into a shapes we recognize from real buggies, cars or machines. Even though they are original designs, and even though they don't exist in real life, and even though they have exaggerations - they may still appeal to things we know and that are familiar to us. They seem possible, plausible or practical in some way. They seem *right*.

Compare this to the more futuristic spaceship-on-wheels designs of the buggies from the late 1980s onward. It's much harder to see the every day relevance of those cars. The shapes do not lend themselves easily to carrying human occupants, and they do not have any reference points in other objects we see around us. Not even NASA's latest Mars rovers look as advanced as buggies like the Top Force. Those kinds of buggies are still beyond us - they are unfamiliar shapes and are still the stuff of dreams and future fantasies.

cheers,

H.

 

 

 

Could not have agreed more hibernaculum, well said! I did stress that i do not intend to compare the car, it was a brilliant car at it's time, and it still goes well.

And the new buggies do look more like space buggies, unrealistic indeed, when you look at the Hotshot, you can really see it being a real car, like i said, i do not want to compare the hotshot with other cars,  point is, it's more realistic in scale looks and complexity,  "tamiya do like to produce non rc scale models. why not again a hotshot"

It drives well, and since 1986, mine's still good, some plastic parts have a few cracks due to age, which is a natural occurance considering the age of the kit. i did fix the cracks. Also what's it going to take for such a big rc company as Tamiya to do a RE on it, They have the templates,props, call it what you will locked deep inside some vault at the factory, they just need to go in, get it out and make the car . I know they will enjoy manufacturing it again.

Call me in and i'll join in the fun, i'll even work overtime !

Despite Japan being the majority for the Thundershot and other cars, they would increase their audience for catering on a broader scale of entheusiasts. I too like performance, that's why i have a new Evo, and all these new cars are linked to the hotshot in some way, it was the very start or the beginning of a revolution for these brilliant on road car's today.

I would be proud if i were Mr Tamiya to release it and say to myself and to all customer's, this was the turningpoint for all future releases. A unique car in all aspects.

As long as Tamiya exists, I'll Cast my vote and let it be known... !

Thanks to all for your opinions,

i'm really enjoying it!