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fritjofarnold

The Fox Replica: The Killer!

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Hi TCers

When I was younger I had the Fox. A very good friend of mine had a similar car called The Killer and we used to run these cars against each other. I sold my Fox, while he kept his buggy. Now some 25 years later, he asked me if it wanted it. Being a huge fan of the Foxes I gladly accepted. Here are some photos of it.

Obviously the Killer is a copy of the Fox. Lots of parts are identical and it seems like they have used the same mould. Therefore, many parts are interchangeable with the Fox. It has some improvements like a strong metal rear roll cage. It has also front and rear sway bars. The body is cut behind the rear window and the wing is little bit different, so are the wheels and bumpers. They have done their best to masquerade the box, using same colors and break throughs as Tamiya.

I do not know who produced the Killer. I have not found any information on the net either, nor is the name or the address of the producer mentioned on the box. They have removed the Tamiya logo on the mechanism box. Any information you have about the Killer is appreciated!

Have a nice weekend!

Fritjof

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That could almost trick you into thinking it is the real deal if you saw it at a flea market or something. Looks interesting

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That's such a close knock-off it makes me wonder if its not an MRC product?

Great looking buggy though. I'd love to know the manufacturer for sure....

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This question had me curious as well. I turned up nothing on the net but the answer was actually on TC in a post made by wldnas in December 2003 in a thread about Optima clone makers.

"The KILLER was made by a company called MAPLINS and in the UK they are a large chain of electrical wholesalers a bit like Radio Shack in the states, they did a few notable RC clones, the Killer being a clone of the Tamiya Fox except it was fitted with loads of metal hop-up parts, they also did a Optima clone called the BEAGLE and they also re-sold that old chestnut the MRC Road Winner as well."

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Maplins are a UK electronics supplier, not a manufacturer. They brand some products with their own name instead of the manufacturers name, and this included the Blue Bird Wild Cat (known in the US as the Traxxas Wild Cat and in Europe as the Robbe Wild Cat), a Chinese clone of the Bandai Interceptor (known in the US as the MRC Road Winner), the Great Vigor Beagle and this Killer.

There is no manufacturer on the box as it's intended to be rebranded by whichever company buys it from the manufacturer, with the distributor sticking their own name on the box. It happens today, with the Chinese Team C Racing TC02 buggy sold as the Kawada B2X in Japan and the Ansmann Mad Rat in Europe as the distributors have rebranded and repackaged them.

I would say the most likely suspect for the manufacturer of the Killer is Blue Bird Mfg Ltd, as they made loads of clones and slightly tweaked versions of many other manufacturers products.

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I had this kit as a kid and loved it. The metal cage on the rear is great at protecting the motor (which iirc the fox only has a small plastic bar to protect it).

My dad got this from Maplins back in the late 80's.

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Badge Engineering, or the death of diversity. Forced by our desire for cheap products and enabled by globalisation and reliable supply chains from countries with low cost labor. Not just for RC cars. The reality is your new mercedes benz designed by a korean on a computer made in vietnam, with software from japan can be assembled by a robot in the USA with parts manufactured in china. Who is up for a drive of the new r/c generic vehicle inspired creation with a design life of 5.3 months and comes as standard with planned obsolesence of 6 months. Also available in virtual form for playstation, or Mac. No seriously, not wanting to hijack this thread too much, but are we approaching the limit. Has material science, computer aided design and mass manufacture reached its point of ever diminishing returns?? Its ok, my rough rider look-alike is around here somewhere underneath all this hypocracy.

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I wonder if the producers of replicas like this ever had any lawsuits :o

There are two ways they get around copyright laws.

Firstly, make it different enough. Look at the Killer and it's obvious that it isn't a Fox even if they have copied most of the parts.

In the full size world there's a replica Ford RS200 that looks identical to the original, but they can't be done for copying the original as it is longer, narrower, and no panel is shaped the same as an RS200 one.

Secondly, these "copies" are made in China. Until the mid 90s China didn't really have any decent copyright laws at all, now infringement is usually ignored by local councils who wouldn't want to shut down factories, so investigations are difficult to pursue, and I wouldn't be surprised if the fines are a lot less than the profits made.

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Badge Engineering, or the death of diversity. Forced by our desire for cheap products and enabled by globalisation and reliable supply chains from countries with low cost labor. Not just for RC cars. The reality is your new mercedes benz designed by a korean on a computer made in vietnam, with software from japan can be assembled by a robot in the USA with parts manufactured in china. Who is up for a drive of the new r/c generic vehicle inspired creation with a design life of 5.3 months and comes as standard with planned obsolesence of 6 months. Also available in virtual form for playstation, or Mac. No seriously, not wanting to hijack this thread too much, but are we approaching the limit. Has material science, computer aided design and mass manufacture reached its point of ever diminishing returns?? Its ok, my rough rider look-alike is around here somewhere underneath all this hypocracy.

One of my favourite quotes for a while :-) I couldn't agree more. MRC actually used to stick their sticker on the word TAMIYA on the boxes of some kits, I have a few early Countachs, one even has the word TAMIYA cut out (precisely, a long time ago, I can't guarantee it was MRC, but they are prime suspects in the crime!).

For me, the final nail in the coffin for Mercedes was not the manufacture (which is poor) or the customer service (which is dire) but the announcement on 17th August 2008 that Wayne Rooney had signed a deal to become their 'ambassador'.

A slightly less acknowledged date was August 18th 2008, the day I brought my nearly new Mercedes ML into a ******* garage to trade it in. They hadn't heard the news, perhaps if they had they would have offered me even less. True story, no exaggeration, I literally sold the car within less than 24 hours of hearing the news.

Paul.

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The body shell looks the same as the Fox (but with the back chopped off), but the rear wing looks like a Super Shot copy.

- James

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So was this thing made by Tamiya at all than added parts to it.

It looks so much a Tamiya with all the plastics.

Does it say Tamiya on the motor pinion cap???

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You can just make out on the pinion cover that it doesn't say Tamiya :-)

P.

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There are no visible Tamiya logos, but I have compared many of the plastic mouldings with the Fox and they are identical :lol:

I asked my friend if he could remember where this car came from. He said he got is as a free sample from a company in Taiwan.

All the best

Fritjof

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A Super Shot copy exists. The plastic parts for that appeared to have been manufactured using copy moulds made from the original parts, with all the Tamiya logos removed. The clone parts used plastic that was lower quality and more brittle. Perhaps this is the done the same way, it's a clone car?

- James

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