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What Country Is R/c Most Popular In?

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As you know I live in the USA, home of everyones favorite president :rolleyes: (Thankfully I am a democrat), but being on Tamiya Club I see so many enthusiasts from all over the world. I knew R/C was popular in England because that is where I was born and have family there, but I never knew it was so popular everywhere else. I see great tracks in Germany, Sweden, England ETC., and I always thought Americans were more into the hobby because of Losi, Associated +. So for those here who travel often, where do you find to be the country seems to follow R/C the most?

I travel often for pleasure and business and would love to know for the future. I go to London, Ireland, Denmark, Italy, and Germany often but only before being back into R/C.

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I assume you mean RC-hobbyists per 1 000 inhabitants or something else that measures the percentage rather than an absolute figure? If you are fishing for the latter US surely will take the lead, if not Japan?

Sweden will rank quite high in terms of percentage. For some odd reason we got a strong and early start in the hobby and everything has just continued from there. Sweden was the first foreign market that Team Associated sold its products on - even before Canada!

Tamiya used very agressive marketing in the late 70s and early 80s, which also forced Kyosho to do the same. Still to this date the Swedish Kyosho distributor says Sweden and the other Nordic countries are very important markets for Kyosho due to the high percentage of hobbyists.

Germany is another hobby crazy country. Everytime I go there I am amazed of the selection of products that the stores stock.

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I assume you mean RC-hobbyists per 1 000 inhabitants or something else that measures the percentage rather than an absolute figure? If you are fishing for the latter US surely will take the lead, if not Japan?

Sweden will rank quite high in terms of percentage. For some odd reason we got a strong and early start in the hobby and everything has just continued from there. Sweden was the first foreign market that Team Associated sold its products on - even before Canada!

Tamiya used very agressive marketing in the late 70s and early 80s, which also forced Kyosho to do the same. Still to this date the Swedish Kyosho distributor says Sweden and the other Nordic countries are very important markets for Kyosho due to the high percentage of hobbyists.

Germany is another hobby crazy country. Everytime I go there I am amazed of the selection of products that the stores stock.

No not by percentage... I just mean over all popularity. For example I am one of possibly 2 people in my entire neighborhood that is into hobby grade R/C. It just isnt popular at all in NY, but I think it is more popular on the west coast. I am just curious what countries still embrace R/C. I was just stating how shocked I was to see it so popular on here in Europe. I think it's great.

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Well... England seems to have quite a few hobby stores and quite a lot of R/C enthusiasts... Maybe that's because they are lyrical about cars and motorcycles too :D

For Germany, exactly the same... Plus things used to be a lot cheaper in Germany than the Netherlands... I heard though that the manufacturers tried to reduce the difference because too many people from the Netherlands were going to Germany for their RC stuff :rolleyes:

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RC remains popular in Australia as its relatively affordable to Joe Public on the average wage, plenty of space to run RC too.

Affordable in Singapore too but space is lacking. Hongkong same.

Not as affordable to average wageearner in Malaysia or Indonesia.

I hear they're plenty popular in Japan but :D

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RC remains popular in Australia as its relatively affordable to Joe Public on the average wage, plenty of space to run RC too.

Affordable in Singapore too but space is lacking. Hongkong same.

Not as affordable to average wageearner in Malaysia or Indonesia.

I hear they're plenty popular in Japan but :D

lol NOOOOO Japan? You are kidding me. i think Japanese men play with R/C life sized women because they are disturbingly kinky like that :) I love Japan by the way, cool country and the people there are the best. I had the best time of my life in Japan. I want to go back, and might as well bring back a Yokomo while I'm at it.

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Well... England seems to have quite a few hobby stores and quite a lot of R/C enthusiasts... Maybe that's because they are lyrical about cars and motorcycles too :D

They are Lyrical? Like they rap about R/C?? No way :) Imagine the next rap video that has a Phantom R/C instead of the 1:1? Wild Wendy as the back ground dancer... mmm shes a looker ;)

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I live in Cyprus and people are very much into RC stuff here

There are plenty of RC shops and you constantly see people running them (cars, planes etc)

Also, there is a Go Kart track here which is 1.6km long (1 mile long) and right next to it is an exact replica in smaller scale for RC cars.

Very cool!

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No not by percentage... I just mean over all popularity. For example I am one of possibly 2 people in my entire neighborhood that is into hobby grade R/C. It just isnt popular at all in NY, but I think it is more popular on the west coast. I am just curious what countries still embrace R/C. I was just stating how shocked I was to see it so popular on here in Europe. I think it's great.

I must admit it is hard to find R/C hobbisit in my area as well. It does appear that the popularity overseas is at a greater percentage IMO as I peruse the web.

I was hoping to find a Tamiya R/C tank club nearby but the closest I have even located is about a 3 hour drive away. :D

So I thought I would try to infect some friends and co-workers here with the Battle Tank system and I believe I have a co-worker hooked on the Sherman. :)

But I would really love to see R/C pickup here in the US. I think anyone who does R/C are more into planes than anything else.

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I think it depends on the area of the US, I live near Nashville Tennessee and there are a few stores that carry RC but it seems to be mostly airplanes. I think in the US So Cal is the place to be for RC!

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As you know I live in the USA, home of everyones favorite president :P (Thankfully I am a democrat), but being on Tamiya Club I see so many enthusiasts from all over the world. I knew R/C was popular in England because that is where I was born and have family there, but I never knew it was so popular everywhere else. I see great tracks in Germany, Sweden, England ETC., and I always thought Americans were more into the hobby because of Losi, Associated +. So for those here who travel often, where do you find to be the country seems to follow R/C the most?

I travel often for pleasure and business and would love to know for the future. I go to London, Ireland, Denmark, Italy, and Germany often but only before being back into R/C.

im here in the USA too. not very popular in oregon. there is like 2 hobby shops in 50 miles from my house. Cali is defiantly where it is. your right the president is a great guy. just hope we dont have Obama to "change" things. heheh. just being a jerk and a redneck, err, republican. =D

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They are Lyrical? Like they rap about R/C?? No way ;) Imagine the next rap video that has a Phantom R/C instead of the 1:1? Wild Wendy as the back ground dancer... mmm shes a looker :P

"We gonna bash, bash, with da Traxxas Slash!"

Maybe I translated it wrong... :P Ah well, let's just say they are above averagely interested in cars looking at the whole european community ;)

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As an RC industry as a whole? Would be difficult to say. But for Tamiya I would say Europe or UK is more popular. What do I have to support this claim? I just look at ebay USA and ebay UK where on average UK has way more Tamiya RC listing than USA. Than is could be more people in the UK are getting out of Tamiya RC :P

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As an RC industry as a whole? Would be difficult to say. But for Tamiya I would say Europe or UK is more popular. What do I have to support this claim? I just look at ebay USA and ebay UK where on average UK has way more Tamiya RC listing than USA. Than is could be more people in the UK are getting out of Tamiya RC :P

I just think eBay lets more people trash their cars then sell them to move on to the next one. I also think people who buy on ebay originally take the risk they might not like how the car/ truck drives etc. and re sells them. I bought a DF-03 and I really like the car, I just have no use for it where I live. I need a big bad nitro truck because I will run it mostly on hard surface like tarmac. I couldnt imagine the buggy taking the same kind of beating(ie: 9 foot ramp jumps onto the street ;) ).

Speaking of eBay, I'm shocked that only one person has bid so far on my df03/df02. **** Traxxas buying fools! :P

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I dont know which country is the most popular regarding RC, the only thing I can say is that in Argentina, I can count all the people looking for vintage models with only one hand.

If you want to know about the actual cars, we have less than 10 hobby shops in all the country, and only one for each company.

This is why ebay is the only way with Tamiya club too to meet people trying to find vintage models. if you look the map, we are only 2 persons from Argentina. I try to find kyosho stuff and the other one looks for Scorchers.

I started this year and I bought things from Austria, Hong Kong, USA, Japan, Belgium, UK, Germany and so on.... maybe this way I have to pay lot of money on shipment, but I can meet people from around the world.

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It is impossible to say where R/C is the most popular. I can only speak from what I see and where I lived. R/C is very popular in this area because many are residents from California and the rest of this country, melting pot :) .. I lived in Milwaukee Wisconsin most of my life and I must say people seemed more intense about R/C than here in Vegas (if that is possible)..

R/C is very popular worldwide-Everywhere!! I say this because I have seen many BIG races over the last 17 years and people travel from all over the world to participate.

Where is it the most popular? If anyone can answer that correctly we should be able to figure out WORLD PEACE, and that's never going to happen ;)

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I think it's most popular in America because you keep good care of your paths and roads and there is a lot more open space, here in England its just cracked paths and high rise flats everywhere.

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I am new to these forums and re-living RC after a 20 year hiatus. I grew up in New Jersey where there were two stores that carried a full range of Tamiya cars. It seemed like 1 in every 4 kids had a Tamiya car. I remember bashing with friends who had Boomerangs, Hotshots, Frogs, and Grasshoppers. I now live in Tulsa, OK. There are two stores in this town. Most of the people working there are 18 to 20 and half had no idea what a Hornet or a Lunchbox is. Neither store carries any Tamiya RC. When I asked about Tamiya, all the kids at the store laughed and used terms like "old school". Associated and Traxxas appear to be the only thing. On two recent occasions while bashing in the street in front of my house, men my age asked me what Tamiya model I was driving. They KNEW the car! In any case, it appears that RC is not big out here in my town and I will have to feed my Tamiya habit (will never buy anything else) using eBay and Tower Hobbies. I travel to London a couple times a year for business. Shall I bring a car with me this time around? :)

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I think it's most popular in America because you keep good care of your paths and roads and there is a lot more open space, here in England its just cracked paths and high rise flats everywhere.

Sorry but I disagree. I live in a DUST BOWL (las vegas) and we only have 2 tracks here and one is to rough on 1/10 buggies like my 501X, the other is a big paved road course that truly is to big to run 1/10 touring cars unless it is a Nitro or a 3.5T missile. All the tracks are made for 1/8 scale here. I don't bash much and I only race in the parking lot of Hobbytown USA (LHS) on a track that is made up an hour before we start racing.

From what I see here on this site, People in England have no problem finding places to run.. You just have to find a nice place to run your R/C just like the rest of us :) ..

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I am new to these forums and re-living RC after a 20 year hiatus. I grew up in New Jersey where there were two stores that carried a full range of Tamiya cars. It seemed like 1 in every 4 kids had a Tamiya car. I remember bashing with friends who had Boomerangs, Hotshots, Frogs, and Grasshoppers. I now live in Tulsa, OK. There are two stores in this town. Most of the people working there are 18 to 20 and half had no idea what a Hornet or a Lunchbox is. Neither store carries any Tamiya RC. When I asked about Tamiya, all the kids at the store laughed and used terms like "old school". Associated and Traxxas appear to be the only thing. On two recent occasions while bashing in the street in front of my house, men my age asked me what Tamiya model I was driving. They KNEW the car! In any case, it appears that RC is not big out here in my town and I will have to feed my Tamiya habit (will never buy anything else) using eBay and Tower Hobbies. I travel to London a couple times a year for business. Shall I bring a car with me this time around? :)

I am surprised, Tulsa is a big city and they only have two hobby shops :) - unbelievable! Traxxas and AE only huh, I guess Middle America is a little different than the EAST or WEST Coast..

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Sorry but I disagree. I live in a DUST BOWL (las vegas) and we only have 2 tracks here and one is to rough on 1/10 buggies like my 501X, the other is a big paved road course that truly is to big to run 1/10 touring cars unless it is a Nitro or a 3.5T missile. All the tracks are made for 1/8 scale here. I don't bash much and I only race in the parking lot of Hobbytown USA (LHS) on a track that is made up an hour before we start racing.

From what I see here on this site, People in England have no problem finding places to run.. You just have to find a nice place to run your R/C just like the rest of us ;) ..

Did the Track at Nellis across from the hobby shop closed?

Also, there this sin city R/C (I guess they are the new club that runs the Silver Bowl track) SIN CITY R/C

I used to run in Silver Bowl and Hobby Town USA @ Spring Mountain all the time back in 03-04.

I'm not sure if all the people I used to race with are still there.

AFAIK only Rich Taylor and Scott Fisher are the local people I raced with and still racing today.

I was with Joker's team...God knows where he is now...

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I am surprised, Tulsa is a big city and they only have two hobby shops :) - unbelievable! Traxxas and AE only huh, I guess Middle America is a little different than the EAST or WEST Coast..

Rob you would be surprised, here in NY Tamiya is DEAD, and I mean deceased. Recently I found a forum on another site for NY and it's all about Traxxas, HPI, AE, and Losi. The tracks remotely near me are mostly 2wd buggy tracks that run mostly Losi because I guess that is the buggy (xxx-cr?) that works best for that track. Not too many scale builders that i can find even on the internet from NYC. I would say tamiya had the beginner market before the recent surge of Traxxas. I can't blame the trend as I just bought a Revo 3.3 and the truck is fantastic. The Slash also looks good, I can't wait to find a track that runs them box stock for some fun.

Tamiya I believe will exist on scale models at the end of the day, and thats cool because they make the best ones. I guess people these days are just more into performance then learning the skill of building and detail. I personally love building/tinkering but the world is different now.

I'd say California USA and England are the 2 most popular places for R/C.

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Did the Track at Nellis across from the hobby shop closed?

Also, there this sin city R/C (I guess they are the new club that runs the Silver Bowl track) SIN CITY R/C

I used to run in Silver Bowl and Hobby Town USA @ Spring Mountain all the time back in 03-04.

I'm not sure if all the people I used to race with are still there.

AFAIK only Rich Taylor and Scott Fisher are the local people I raced with and still racing today.

I was with Joker's team...God knows where he is now...

I am not sure about that track on Nellis, I have never ran on it because it seemed to dusty (on-road).

Sin City R/C I have heard of, I think they run Off-Road mostly on that big bumpy track at the Silver Bowl..

Scott Fisher along with Steve Jackson run at the Hobbytown race every blue moon, their Nitros are way too fast for the small track..

I think everyone knows Joker :) , he pops in and out during race night sometimes.

Do these names ring a bell- Gus, Jonah, Carillo, Batman and many other good racers? All these guys race at Hobbytown

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Rob you would be surprised, here in NY Tamiya is DEAD, and I mean deceased. Recently I found a forum on another site for NY and it's all about Traxxas, HPI, AE, and Losi. The tracks remotely near me are mostly 2wd buggy tracks that run mostly Losi because I guess that is the buggy (xxx-cr?) that works best for that track.

.

Danny, if you like Off-road and want to race, go get yourself a buggy (xxx-CR, B4FT, Kyosho RB5) or truck!! Also, check and see if they race 4WD, you have a buggy for that...

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I am surprised about the comments on English landscape, not to be patriotic here (after all, I am basically an ex-pat) but despite its size, Britain has magnificent landscape for all sorts of racing, rallying, which is mirrored in small scale as well. Just think of the wet sand plains, the isles of scilly (for the tropical sand scorching) and all those peat bogs :-)

Seriously, British countryside is great for RC and accessible, because we are quite small. I bet almost every Englishman can get to a river within 5 miles, the sea within no more than 50 and a proper English wood within 10. I live in East London and have all three (Epping Forest, The River Lea (lol) and of course the Thames and of course Southend on sea :-)

Even in metropolitan areas there are abundant parks (I read somewhere London is more than 95% green space, although I haven't counted) and even fun concreted areas to race around on, my local Sainsburys for one. Of course, I wouldn't leave a car there for more than a few seconds stationary, lest it get put up on miniature scale bricks, but you get the idea.

I drive in my local forest here in Czech (about 500 yards away) and my own back garden where I am developing a track. I also have an very long driveway (drag racing?) and plenty of terrain. Czechs for the most part think RC a bit of a waste of time and money, but I am trying to get my friends more involved. One of the locals is some kind of European champion though.

I miss our green and pleasant land....

I don't miss Labour, the Conservatives, chavs/chavettes, Bruce Forsyth, the M25, London Congestion Charging, Gordon Brown, Scotland (aye, just kidding), the Welsh (I am serious), being less than 20 km from France, being a country of half measures, Vodafone, soggy fish and chips, fights outside pubs from people who don't know how to drink, etc. Oh yeah, I don't have any pangs of longing for Jonathan Ross and I don't know who Russell Brand is, but he looks literally like a muppet.

Hmm, I have gone way off topic. Perhaps I shouldn't drink and post.

Paul.

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