Tamiya Models That Don't Get Much Attention

[Saito 7]

Did anyone ever notice that some Tamiya models don't ever get any real recognition? Besides the normal and understandable high interest in SRBs and 3 speeds, there are others that have their own little following like the Thundershot series. Some models however, lack even what seems a small devout following. The original Mitsu Pajero comes to my mind. It's full of wheelie goodness like the Wild Willy, has many mechanicals like a Lunch Box (which is almost universially popular) yet few are seen or disussed. There are others of course. The Wild One has its group but the Fast Attack Vehicle seems left out in the cold. People love their Foxes, but its a fairly quiet scene. At some points, it seems even the ugly duo, Striker/Sonic Fighter, get more press than some of these models (no hate mail on the ugly duo, its just general consensus and besides, I actually like the Sonic Fighter). Any thoughts?

[*Topcat* 17]

how about the Falcon. I currently have three of these and really enjoy them. Doesnt seem to get the attention that it think it deserves. As for the Striker it was my 2nd car that i ever bought so i'll always have a soft spot for it

[SteelRat 46]

+1 for Falcon love. One of my favourite runners is based on the Falcon. Beef up the front end and it's a great runner. Let's not forget of course, that it's the basis of the Blitzer Beetle which is a very popular runner amongst TC'ers

[Singapore_959 18]

Can Am Lola RM1 !

Best. Tamiya. Ever.

[taliesin 262]

Striker. Seems decent enough to me.

JGSDF LAV. The Hummer always takes the show, but actually this model behaves better and isn't so top-heavy. Not fragile either.

[Power Surge 0]

Thundershot chassis cars for sure (Thundershot, Thunder Dragon, Fire Dragon, Terra Scorcher). Design was way ahead of it's time and was an excellent performer. The Terror Scorcher especially, with all the factory hopups as standard. I really don't know why they are not seen in a more collectable status. They are all pre-100 vintage models. My only guess would be because they came out the same time as the Avante/Egress/Vanquish cars which were seen as "high tech", when in reality a Terra Scorcher would handle just as good, if not better than an Avante.

At least Tamiya saw them as important enough cars to issue two "re-re"s off that chassis.

[SB_Aust 42]

I think the Striker for me. Always a fan of this underdog! I have one! You can safely be assured they will not be rere'd, but then again......

[Hibernaculum 938]

Great topic. I definitely think there's too much attention given to certain cars, while others are neglected.

Among Tamiya, I think the Hotshot II is one of the most-ignored buggies from the first 100. Just like in the movies, many "sequels" are not as interesting as the original film. But in some cases they're almost as good. The Hotshot II was actually a better car technically, though not quite as interesting to look at. But it still retains Hotshot "character" (as does the Supershot) and is still a really nice looking car IMHO.

Also the kit is interesting - the only Tamiya kit ever to have a silver box? It's also a pretty rare car nowadays.

However I must say that most Tamiyas are well-loved when compared to the beautiful, classic buggies of the early-mid 1980s made by other brands, that get next to zero attention (if the forums are any measure).

The Kyosho Tomahawk would probably be on everyone's wish list, if only it was called the Tamiya Tomahawk

Marui kits are really beautifully presented. They may have copied ideas from Tamiya for box art, but the kit presentation was actually better than most Tamiyas or Kyoshos...

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/getuserimage.asp...008232153_2.jpg

- The Kyosho Beetle was essentially Kyosho's Sand Scorcher. Surprisingly, it's the only other 1/10 off road VW Beetle toy (right or wrong?) besides the Sand Scorcher, from that golden era of the early 80s when toy makers were most inspired by 1:1 californian buggies. So why then, if so many people are such huge off road beetle enthusiasts, are there only about 20 Kyosho Beetles in the showrooms, compared with 1000+ entries for the (original) Sand Scorcher? Yes the Scorcher was more detailed with a hard plastic body, and looked more authentic. But there's still a lot to love about Kyosho's model, with it's yellow tub and wheels, and Scorpion-era metal chassis.

Perhaps now with the re-release of the Scorcher, the Scorcher-saturation will have reached a critical level and a few more people will start to restore and collect the rare gems made by other companies...?

[HunterZero 84]

+1 for the Terra Scorcher. That's quite a cool little car, at quite a good price.

Can Am Lola RM1 - I LOVE this car! Still trying to find all the bits to put mine together...

Vanquish - often goes overlooked because of its higher-tech siblings, the Avante and Egress.

Kyosho Tomahawk - now that's a really nice car! I've seen a few of those and they look great.

Falcon - Nice little car, but it is let down by entry level image, too much plastic (driveshafts!), rubbish rear suspension, and fragile front end. But they're cheap, which is good!

Terra Conqueror - Hopped-up Manta Ray, and a very rare kit.

It's been quite interesting to see the values and collectability of the 959 and Avante increase, as the older kits have been re-issued, which took away some of their exclusivity.

The Lancia 037 (re-issue, not the ORV) and Dyna Storm are starting to see some love after their re-releases are becoming rarer.

- James

[Kokuzu 38]

What about the Dump Truck ?

I know manypeople don't like its ugliness and that it runs so slow

But no way this one is ugly and boring - it is just the biggest RC animal Tamiya ever made (if I'm not mistaken!!!

[Chain Driven 0]

Just because I saw it on TC today, the 58326: JGSDF Light Armored Vehicle, always been in the shadow this one. Not that it's a bad car.

[zakspeed 210]

What about the Mudblaster

In TC approx 320 Blackfoots listed (NIB to projects) Monster Beetle 426 yet the Mudblaster only 92 !!

I have to be honest and the Mudblaster body is more fragile compared to the other 2 and i've run all 3 types.. With the bodyshell being plentiful compared to the others i'm surprised this isn't taken up by more members. I had a cracking time running mine for the tamiya101 DVD's and if you've seen the movies you know we give them some abuse and mine is still 100% ok ...

As for others +1 for the original Pajero - very underestimated chassis, again great fun to run + I think the original Lancia is overlooked probably due to it's monster truck looks LOL

[Singapore_959 18]

Following Hibernaculum's post there is another Kyosho that comes to mind - the original (MK1) Ultima.

The metal 'ladder' frame is fantastic to look at and the car was a genuine techno and performing star. First world 2wd champ even. These cars are still great to drive and feel far more "mechanical" to work on as there is so much metal when compared with Tamiya's of the same time.

I'd love to also nominate the Gallop MKII which I had as a teenager, but as fantastic as it was to build and look it, it performed terribly. It did look like a bull dog on steroids tho!

[MAD RACER 571]

Hunter Zero.

I agree with the Thunder shot series. I have been interested in them since i have re built many Hot Shots/ Super shots and Hot Shot 11's

I have almost finished my Fire Dragon and can see its far better in design that the Shot's and really nothing carried over from them.

I have been running my Terra Conquaror for a month now and love it. Bought from Jason's Store for $290 U.S. NIB. It really goes well. It does sport a few mods but is still a plastic tub.

I really don't understand why it was released as the top force was a souped up Ray.

My Fox i adore and would run it more but rear arms are scarce and not cheap if you find them. Mine seem to break easy. I guess age has somthing to do with that.

There would be a lot more Fox's out if Tamiya Re RE them but i dont think so as it would have been done by now.

Question. How much involved changing the twin shocks to a mono from the T/S. Im not sur but i think i have left over in the parts build the mono shock mounting arms. I guess different lower arms.

Great Thread.

Cheers.

Mark.

[kontemax 1801]

Thunder Shot serie

Hot SHot 2

Falcon

Fox

Mud Blaster

Super Sabre

Grasshopper 2

Big Wig

Vanquish

Hi Lux Monster Racer

Avante 2001

Mad Cap

Saint Dragon

BullHead

Bush Devil

Terra Conqueror

Dyna Storm (original release)

Super Hornet...

Many Tamiya cars did'n get much attention.

Ciao

Max

[Novastar 241]

The Blazing Star comes to mind. Yes its super basic, has poor tyres for off roading and is'nt too great to option up or race but its super reliable with an esc, tough, easy to maintain and very affordable. An excellant choice to build and run for beginners or just a fun basher.

[TA-Mark 198]

The Blazing Star comes to mind. Yes its super basic, has poor tyres for off roading and is'nt too great to option up or race but its super reliable with an esc, tough, easy to maintain and very affordable. An excellant choice to build and run for beginners or just a fun basher.

I beg to differ. Top Force parts fit the DF01 Blazing Star fine. I've been racing mine quite successfully for a number of years. It's a better chassis than the newer Tamiya shaft drive 4WD buggy offerings ('drag your tub, plastic drive' DF02 and the 'wear out in 20 runs' DF03). The CC-01 wheels/tyres are great for onroad and last well, and the Top Force wheels will fit straight on if you head offroad.

I wouldn't call it 'collectable', there's still hundreds of them for sale in hobby shops.

[TamiyaDan 8]

.

[Saito 7]

Mad Racer, The parts to convert a Fire Dragon to a monoshock are in the kit. They bolt over the kit's lower arms. All you need is a CVA "short" shock or equivalent.

Its interesting that some models get all the glory considering each and every Tamiya has been likely driven and loved by at least one of us in the club at some point. The early on-road cars never get brought up. Can anybody remember the last time the Road Wizard mentioned? The shame is alot of these forgotten models are good cars and great fun.

[highflyer 73]

For me, its evident by which models do not have a sig group here on TC.. I love the Hi-Lux Monster Racer but it gets overshadowed by the King Cab, same can be said for the Terra Conqueror which falls under the Top Force series. JMO

Hi-Lux Monster Racer

Terra Conqueror

[Origineelreclamebord 53]

For me the Terra Conqueror may be one of them. Great looking car, solid and proven chassis and the idea behind it is nice; Some basic hopups for adjustability, but keeping affordability (probably, anyway)

Novastar is right about the Dirt Thrasher, too. It's indeed most basic and not many people seem to like it's looks (which may all come down just to the wheels and tires) - However it's an amazing value for money car when you look at the pricetag of a NIB Blazing Star!

The Dyna Storm does get some attention, and usually when people talk about 'the best 2WD buggy to reach the production line by tamiya' - but that's often still overshadowed by the fact that it was outdated in it's day already among the competition buggies. Still it was and is an underestimated car - yes, it sure has it's flaws, and yes, an RC10 from the same year (RC10B2 maybe?) was quicker and probably cheaper too, but it's still quick, stable and Tamiya pulled off an amazing feat on the looks of the Dyna Storm, to me no one ever made a better looking 2WD buggy again. Actually, I think it also looks better than any comparable (double wishboned) 2WD buggy ever before (nope, not even the RC10's).

[Hibernaculum 938]

Nice to see some Hotshot 2 support. There are only 13 NIBs in the showrooms it seems.

I think the reason why some models were so popular was a combination of timing, lucky and/or talented design, and marketing.

1) In the early-mid 80s, R/C was new to most kids and considered high-tech, so anything high tech and fun is always cool.

2) Add to that the fact that Tamiya struck gold in coming up with a series of versatile, colourful, and friendly-sounding off road vehicles. They had easy names, likeable shapes and colours, and were therefore truly memorable. Word of them spread like wildfire among kids everywhere.

3) And thirdly, Tamiya just marketed them better and had better distribution and parts support, than probably any other brand.

Incidentally, I've always felt the Grasshopper, Hornet and Frog were the best of the best, in terms of being the right toy at the right time. They really represent the peak of the R/C craze for me. Prior to them, Tamiya had had solid success with the Sand Scorcher, Rough Rider, Super Champ, Sand Rover etc but those models were still slightly "before the big wave". I think the fact that the Hornet, Frog and Grasshopper were the first really big re-releases to happen, and even the first Q Steer tributes to be made, kinda reflects the fact that this trio were huge for Tamiya.

As the RC craze died down toward the late 80s, Tamiya seemed to look for some new inspirations to refresh their lineup (jet fighters, spaceships) and reignite interest - but it was never quite the same as during that early peak - the 3 reasons above, when combined, weren't quite as strong as they had been during say 1982 - 1986.

Also, the market was totally saturated by then by new models every month from other companies. And then the whole thing seemed to collapse so badly by about 1990, that some model makers left the world of RC cars for good.

Even though some nice later models are being ignored unfairly, I have to admit that the 1987 Tamiya catalogue is still my personal favourite because it contains only cars from 1986 and prior, and includes a lot of the most iconic models (for me) in the one book (even though it doesn't have the Sand Scorcher or Super Champ).

It also has a high ratio of off-road to on-road cars, whereas most other catalogues (before and after) have loads of on-road vehicles.

cheers,

H.

[yellowscott 0]

The Falcon for me is the underrated one. I have had 4 of these sitting around for the last year or so & have recently got one going. I think it was all the yellow that attracted me to them(me being a yellow freak). They sort of look cool, sort of look a bit ugly but I worked out what was wrong with their looks while working on the recent project. They sit too high in the front with the wishbones drooping down. Push down on the car to lower it a bit & all of a sudden it becomes on of the best looking buggies around. I was surprised how much fun it was to drive. I wasn't expecting much after reading the bad comments here about them but had a blast with it & it didn't handle as bad as I thought it would. Not the best car around, but not as bad as it's rated. I'm currently on a quest to try & get it to handle better, messing with shock valving & oils.

The other model that gets a bad wrap(& probably deserves it) is the tl01 chassis. My first Tamiya. I have a few cars based on this chassis but it seems to be generally laughed at/ignored.

[bside 0]

how about the Falcon. I currently have three of these and really enjoy them. Doesnt seem to get the attention that it think it deserves. As for the Striker it was my 2nd car that i ever bought so i'll always have a soft spot for it

My first hobby-grade RC was a Falcon circa 1989 Wish I still had it. Let me know if you're ever selling one...

I just finished a complete restore of my 1991 Mud Blaster which seems like a little-known model too. Basically a Blackfoot with Brat body.

[twisty 8]

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