How Much Did You Pay For Your Ride Back In The Day?

[GTodd]

Lets get sick and see what crazy prices people were paying. I will start

Astute-320 with radio, charger, and bat.

Egress.99.00 from Tower Hobbies Sale

Top Force-99.00 from Tower Hobbies Sale

Toyota Hilux Monster Racer-??? SAnta!!!!

These are all in American dollars, just please mention Euro, CAN... etc so we can get an idea.

[markbt73]

My first one was a Grasshopper; I ordered it from one of the ads in the back of RCCA (Sheldon's Hobbies, I think) as a combo deal. $139.99 plus shipping for the car, an Airtronics 2-stick radio, a Leisure charger (timer, DC-only), and a 1200mah hump battery.

I remember when a hobby shop in the mall went out of business in about 1990, and sold off a ton of kits for next to nothing - my friend got a Willys Wheeler for $75. By the time I got there, all they had left were the 1/12 on-road cars, which didn't interest me at the time, and I thought the $50 would be better spent on parts for my real car (which I sold a year later because I wasn't allowed to take it to college). Sigh... oh well...

[94eg!]

$99 for my Vanquish in 1990 out of the back of RCCA...

[MAD RACER]

I paid $600 for my Turbo Optima (Chain Drive) I got a Jr Radio, One 8.4 v batterry and a charger i think.

It kept falling to bits but went ok.

Paid $450 for my first Optima Mid Car only

At the local track you can buy a Pb Mini Mustang For $450 and the 2 speed was another $100.

I think the hobby was cheaper back than as you didnt have battery up dates every 6 months, Fancy chargers, a box of mod motors, a lathe,

A huge a range or tires and compounds. A heap of springs and etc.

[dazaa]

Hi my dad paid 200 pounds for a mint 959, monster beetle, jps lotus and loads of spares beatties bags ect in the 80s. sadly only the 959 is left the rest he says i destroyed when i was around 5 years old, how i regret ripping the 959 box apart .

[Saito]

I also paid $99.00 for my Vanquish. It was a clearance sale at Great Northern Hobbies.

I paid $199.00 for my Bullhead, also from Northern. I was so happy when I saw the ad in my fresh issue of RCCA. I had been saving forever to get the Bullhead (which at the time was $249.99 regularly) and then suddenly I had all the money for it!

[skip665]

I remember paying 140 for a Lunchbox with Acoms Techniplus, 7.2v Racing Pack and 15 minute quick charger - that was in 1992 - you can get them even cheaper now!

[Butler]

My Falcon was 70 in the early 90's for just the kit.

My Swift raw kit was 64 2 months ago and comes partly ball raced.

RC stuff is much better value now. Plus the batteries, esc's and motors are faster, lightly, longer, cheaper etc etc.

[Blacque Jacque]

My Monster Beetle was 160 with Acoms radio, 2 NiCd's & slow & fast chargers '87 I think (it's an original white shell, not the later red shell)

For the sake of my own nostalgia, can anyone tell me what this lot cost around 1979 / 80?

• 58006 Porsche 936 Turbo
  
• 6v Tamiya NiCd
  
• trickle charger
  
• Acoms 27MHz am kit
  

[007al]

I paid around 260 all in for a Bigwig in 86.The kit alone was 160,exactly what i paid for my NIB one this year! pretty happy with that.

[TheFantom]

$109 U.S. Dollars for the Road Wizard F-1 at Sheldon's Hobbies in the SF bay area, back in '86.

$70 for my Grasshopper in like '87 at the same shop.

[larbut]

USD 418 for my Toyota 4x4 Hilux (58028) back in 1984....

(with today's exchange rate)

[mike32]

I got my first proper RC car using a 7.2v racing pack over K-mart toys using AA batteries in 1988, it was a blue Bison F-10, back in 1988 for about $70 and lasted about 10 months, then in early in 1989 i got my big break...an Optima-Mid, with radio and battery package deal for around $500. I was rapped, it took me and my dad 2 days to build it. It went great, but after several weeks the (then) standard manual speed controler begain to dog the car, i convinced my parents to buy an ESC for it, back then they were hugely exspensive....around$300, but it was worth it, no problems after that...it out-lasted the car.

Even though the Optima was one of the best cars around then, i still wanted Tamiya cars, but my local hobby shop didn't stock Tamiya's at that time??? i had to buy a car in which spare parts were supported. (logical)

The Optima used a belt system for 4WD, it was hugely important to have this belt covered properly with the plastic guards, otherwise dust in gearboxes, the motor was a pain to install and pull out, and it used a complex steering setup...but it performed like a dream and lasted me (with replacement parts) 4 years of constant use.....

I might get myself another Optima oneday!

P.S. This is embaressing but my first RC car that i loved, was a Jet hopper back in 86' they came in black and red, i had a black one, my friend whom lived next door had a red one, they were fun and we raced each other, didn't even know hotshots exsisted back then, even if i did, i couldn't afford one!

P.P.S I wish i kept my F-10..., they are so hard to get now!!!

Mike32.

[richard.tufty]

My first proper car was a Grasshopper. I honestly have no idea when we got it, but it was when the Model Engineers Exhibition was A) good and at Wembley. I have a vague recollection of it being 100 including radio gear (that was one of the things that made the exhibition so good, they had great show-only special offers).

That car was ace, though I do remember being a little jealous of a friend who bought an Avante a year or so later (that gives a clue to the age of my Grasshopper!)

[twisty]

I was talking to a local model shop owner about the Blazing Blazer a few months back,he said he bought a job lot of them back in the day because they were cheap,maybe the next kit was due out,anyway they wouldn`t sell untill he had dropped the price to 49.00 ha ha,i told him i had seen a NIB on the net at 1500

i cannot repeat his next words here

[Lonestar]

1650 French francs for my monster beetle in 1987

1900 French francs for my Mid Custom in 1988

divide by about 6.5 to get to euros... still quite a chunk of cash in the 80's...

Paul

[topforcein]

my first rc was the hornet and i brought it from beaties in wolverhampton. to witch my girlfriend at that time worked their so i used her discount for the complete kit. and i think it came to around 140 gbp and this was back in 1989.

[Wild Child]

My first back in the day was a Tamiya King blackFoot. bought it brand new from Pioneer Valley Hobbies. no radio or anything. just the kit. 79.95 and LOVED putting it together. I felt like I actually accomplished something lol then bought a 14t quad and a brand new Tekin ESC with futaba radio. everyone had a super rooster at the time...I didnt want it lol

[skip665]

Blimey necropost or what!

I paid £140 in 1992 for a Lunchbox, Acoms Techniplus, Tamiya 1200mah "Racing Pack" and a Riko Quick Charger.

You can still get them for that (or even cheaper) 17 years later!

[kevinthegerbil]

I'm gonna sound old here

£59.99 GBP For the SandScorcher in 1980 from Beatties, Swindon, UK it was on offer from £69.99 GBP

I had to wait 3 months to buy the radio gear for it - Acoms Mk 1 and I think that cost more than the car!!

[BruiserBrew]

USD 418 for my Toyota 4x4 Hilux (58028) back in 1984....

(with today's exchange rate)

Sounds like a deal to me...

Here's my story:

Growing up in the 80's was definitely an interesting time period. There were these kids who tried too hard to get girls but failed, then there were kids like me, who had a girlfriend. I soon learned that in order to calm me down when the girlfriend ******** me off, I built models. I started with static models, then moved to R/C.

My first car was the Sand Scorcher. It was actually a Christmas gift.

The next Christmas came early when my father's friend, who was a hobby shop owner decided to move across the country. They asked if we wanted to take over their family business, and we said no.

He sold as much inventory as he could with the time given, but there were few kits left that just couldn't be moved. These kits included the Hilux, Blazing Blazer, and the Bruiser. We paid about $500.00 with today's exchange rate for the whole lot. It also included the good old 4000 MAH batteries, Acoms 4-channel radios, extra bumpers, press bags, etc.

Most of these models are still around today. They've all been restored and put on display.

[Splended]

In 1987 I paid about 400 USD with today's exchange rate for my Porsche 959 and a Racing Pack. The same price for the Bigwig at the time. The 959 is still with me as a runner:-)

[Swarm]

Fast Attack Vehicle back in 1985 for AUD $99.00.

Again I think the radio gear and battery cost me more the battery alone back in those days was AUD $50.00.

[muratti]

I remember paying 5990 Austrian Schilling which is about 435 Euro for my Top Force Evolution some years after it was released. This shop was the General distributor for Tamiya in Austria and Hungary. In Austria the TFE was long sold out but nobody wanted to buy his NIB kit in Hungary (where he had a second shop) so he took it to Austria where i luckily could buy it! I built it as soon as i was at home and still race it from time to time at my home track.

[Snakehands]

Lets get sick and see what crazy prices people were paying. I will start

Astute-320 with radio, charger, and bat.

Egress.99.00 from Tower Hobbies Sale

Top Force-99.00 from Tower Hobbies Sale

Toyota Hilux Monster Racer-??? SAnta!!!!

These are all in American dollars, just please mention Euro, CAN... etc so we can get an idea.

Sand Scorcher: £63.00