Avante Coming Soon

[Origineelreclamebord]

I agree, £400 is an awful lot of money for a 4x4 buggy, especially when you can something like a full option king tiger for not much more, and look at how much more stuff is squeezed into the KT kit. I'd like one, but won't be buying one unless I can get it for less than £300. At the end of the day £300-400 is a lot for a car, that you can probably build in about 10-15 hours and probably drives worse than many of tamiyas more modern 4x4 offerings. At least if you spend that kind of cash on a tank, it takes weeks to build and paint. I can understand someone paying that and more for an original, even to sit on a shelf, but it is rather expensive for something that is 'just' a re-release, not enough rarity value to keep on the shelf, and too expensive to indulge in serious bashing or 'Death by brushless'. I just don't see how you can justify the cost based on what you get in the box.

The economic climate in the UK isn't helping either. Every time I fill the car with fuel it costs me at least a 'grasshopper', another couple of years and it'll probably be closer to a 'hotshot'. Road Tax is about a 'TXT-1'. Don't forget we've got the olympics to pay for next year and the taxmax does love to bash the motorist.

Note that a King Tiger technically speaking is two wheel driven - and the wheels that drive it don't even touch the ground! And it seems to be front wheel driven even

Anyway, it is expensive, yes. I think the expensive nature of the car is just something that needed to be replicated to feel like a re-re - just like Apple computers wouldn't feel anything like exclusive if you could get them from the store for the same money as any laptop (note: I'm not an Apple fan but it is just the way it is) - not to mention it's good for Mr.T's wallet And on the other hand, I think this car actually costs a lot to produce. They had to stick to expensive production methods an materials they used back in the day to keep it genuine - so in a way, there was no escape from a high price either.

As for the economic climate... I'm glad were not paying in actual RC cars, it would make it even more real and painful - I think unfortunately many regions/countries are suffering from these things. If only money would be spent efficiently, you'd pay half the tax - and I guess you could miss those few spares for your TXT-1 in exchange for good community services and the removal of some complicated and dubious regulations (in the case of the Netherlands where I live also on the front of Radio controller vehicles)

[djmcnz]

...and the removal of some complicated and dubious regulations (in the case of the Netherlands where I live also on the front of Radio controller vehicles)

Care to elaborate since I'm an ex-pat in NL and have no idea what you mean?

[tamiyoman]

Thanks Andy

Yes I am in Australia so if anything the kit will cost a bit more if anything as the UK Pound and US Dollar are better than ours ,although having said that we have reached parity against the greenback in recent weeks ,but that will not last as half our country are suffering floods on an epic scale at the moment which has affected our dollar's value .

Perhaps I should have gotten into boats as a hobby seems only fitting with the current crisis.

I still expect to pay about AUD $850.00- $900.00 + postage for the 2 kits I pre-ordered or even a tad more that is what I have said to the other half anyway.

Can't really put a price on love .

Stuart.

I thought the aussie $$ was pretty strong at moment, i think we now only get 1.56 AUD to the 1 GBP £, i remember 8-9 years back singing "we get 3 to the pound" at the rugby Lions tour LMAO

[Percymon]

Whether £450 - 500 is value for money all depends on your own perspective, but given we are now at 29 pages on this thread, you can bet Tamiya won;t have too much difficulty selling whatever number they want to sell (controlling supply to demand no doubt).

Like any hobby you can spend a little or a lot - i baulked at spending £800 on a camera lens, but plenty of people will happily spend £5000 or more on one. Photography is maybe a little different, as plenty of people sell ont heir images to fund their habit.

[GTodd]

...death by brushless, hahahaha I like that phrase, my Avante will be given that treatment

[Origineelreclamebord]

Care to elaborate since I'm an ex-pat in NL and have no idea what you mean?

Blonde guinea-pig-wig people (Geert Wilders - maybe you've heard of the name), they cal him right-winged - I think he's just shouting out phrases that will get him votes - and ones that will point the attention his way - if that means one 'opinion' is close to racism, the other one right-winged and then he comes with a socialist statement... He will do it.

There are many small rules, regulations etc. that don't make sense. On the front of RC's that means people nagging that RC cars pollute the environment extremely, environmentalists and Hippies are crawling about your LHS and there is no permission to get a track near the town where I currently live - yeah that bothers me Especially when they come and brag to everyone how environmentally sound their Prius is (especially their batteries). If they'd just use a bicycle in this dwarfishly small country...

Oh, and another thing: Because of the economical situation, the Dutch government wants to reduce their expenditure - so they cut money on investments in the future society - the phenomenon called education.

In short, this country is as inefficient as *** and those who can actually see that, are too stubborn to admit it.

There we go, 2 minutes of complaining and throwing dirt I didn't intend to hurt anyone's feelings here, but I just felt the urge to be subtle about everything

PS: On topic stuff!! Has anyone seen yet that there is an RCCA review on TamiyaUSA about the original Avante?

[TWINSET]

PS: On topic stuff!! Has anyone seen yet that there is an RCCA review on TamiyaUSA about the original Avante?

Shame the last page is missing and replaced with something about oval racing

Perhaps the summary was too critical to allow on Tamiya.com (although that'd be a first for RCCA )

http://www.tamiyausa.com/product/item.php?product-id=58489 (link at bottom of page)

[Origineelreclamebord]

Shame the last page is missing and replaced with something about oval racing

Perhaps the summary was too critical to allow on Tamiya.com (although that'd be a first for RCCA )

http://www.tamiyausa.com/product/item.php?product-id=58489 (link at bottom of page)

I noticed that as well I suspect that is the reason, as the end of the story as we can read it suggests there will be some criticism or comments on the car Perhaps Tamiya is trying to convince RCCA to make an alternate ending 23 years after the article was written?

[mobias]

Whether £450 - 500 is value for money all depends on your own perspective, but given we are now at 29 pages on this thread, you can bet Tamiya won;t have too much difficulty selling whatever number they want to sell

Dunno about that, I think it'll sell the least well out of all the re-re's so far but Tamiya probably know they're deliberately aiming it at a specialist area (collectors with money) of an already specialist market. What I don't quite understand is that Tamiya must know a fair few people like to buy two of any given re-re, one to have on the shelf and one to have as a runner. Surely if they priced the Avante at £250 instead of £450 then a lot more people might get one? Or alot more people might even just buy one. Tamiya must have done their sums but in this economic climate I think they're making a brave move. I would have thought a cheaper sought after re-re like the Fox or Wild One, or the Monster Beetle or Supershot (both of which have a lot of their parts already in manufacture) would have been a far better bet at the moment in terms of sales. It'll be interesting to see how the Avante does sell though.

I agree completely with MadInventor. You can by yourself an awful lot of radio controlled fun in one form or another for £450. Its just way too much for a car that looks amazing but that's about it.

[djmcnz]

I agree completely with MadInventor. You can by yourself an awful lot of radio controlled fun in one form or another for £450. Its just way too much for a car that looks amazing but that's about it.

Yeah, like a full on 511, arguably the best 4WD 1:10 ever made.

[terry.sc]

Shame the last page is missing and replaced with something about oval racing

Perhaps the summary was too critical to allow on Tamiya.com (although that'd be a first for RCCA )

Got a hard copy of the magazine.

The text on the final page is:

It's design is excellent, but aluminum is used at these stress points, and the results of my track test perhaps indicate that a stronger alloy should be used.

There's no doubt that the Avante is the product of endless planning and design work. Tamiya is finally forcing the top competition to stop and take notice!

[djmcnz]

...forcing the top...

I wonder if that's where they got the inspiration for the next generation name... first thing that came to my mind...

[pigme1000000]

does anyone no if the "hop up options" will be available for this re re avante?

[TenzoR]

does anyone no if the "hop up options" will be available for this re re avante?

No one really knows what Tamiya has in store

[terry.sc]

does anyone no if the "hop up options" will be available for this re re avante?

Based on every other rerelease, no Tamiya won't be releasing any hop up parts that aren't included in the kit.

The only hop up parts released have been the hex drives for the Frog, Hornet, Grasshopper and UJ axles for the Frog.

[mobias]

does anyone no if the "hop up options" will be available for this re re avante?

For £450 you would kind of hope it wouldn't really need many....

[BeetleLover]

We've seen it all before where the initial asking price drops to less than half the RRP. So the question is how soon do you want the Avante 2011? I'm sure Tamiya's calculation is fully based on x @ full price, x @ 75% full price etc etc. Their wholesale price probably adjusts dependant on how fast the initial sales are. That as well as resellers parting with some of their markup will probably add to making this car affordable in months to come... Perhaps we should all hold off on buying one and hold Tamiya to ransom until they drop the price to our across the board agreed price If I'd been Tamiya I'd have made this a limited edition item with a numbered plaque like the black 934 and perhaps etched some of the parts so you could identify them as such. I then would have kept the price at it's initial entry. I would have estimated a 1000 exclusive kits would have easily been absorbed amongst collectors and those who remembered the original, altho the real headache is even at full price would that have been enough kits to recoup tooling and manufacturing costs? I'd love to know how many of these will be produced in the end.

James

[terry.sc]

As TamiyaUSA is posting RCCA articles about the Avante I thought I'd post RCCAs 4wd buggy shootout from the December 1988 issue in it's own thread.

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=60482

Notice the prices, the Avante was $415 back then in 1988!

[Origineelreclamebord]

Based on every other rerelease, no Tamiya won't be releasing any hop up parts that aren't included in the kit.

The only hop up parts released have been the hex drives for the Frog, Hornet, Grasshopper and UJ axles for the Frog.

Buggy Champ ball diff could be considered a hopup too I guess - but you have a point about the hopups. Ah well, it leaves room for aftermarket manufacturers to come with something nice

$415 back in '88 was a lot! That is, if you look at the lower end cars of which the prices are mentioned in the magazine - in '88 I was minus 3 years, so I guess I can't say much about the numbers relative to the average income and costs of more primary supplies in life back then

[terry.sc]

Buggy Champ ball diff could be considered a hopup too I guess - but you have a point about the hopups. Ah well, it leaves room for aftermarket manufacturers to come with something nice

Missed that one, but I have been out of r/c for the last year.

$415 back in '88 was a lot! That is, if you look at the lower end cars of which the prices are mentioned in the magazine - in '88 I was minus 3 years, so I guess I can't say much about the numbers relative to the average income and costs of more primary supplies in life back then

$415 back then was the equivalent of around $800 today, so the rerelease is a bit of a bargain relative to the original.

[TenzoR]

Maybe they'll bring back slipper diff with changable spur gears and ball diff? Hard Joint cup (unless the ones that come with it are the hard joint cups). Maybe a spool or torque splitter. Who really knows. I am only hoping the new front gear box is re-inforced somehow ...

The price will have an affect on people buying them. I can only speak for myself but for me what Pigme is saying is right - it is prohibitively expensive.

When this was announced I thought to myself that I would like to buy one but at the price that has been announced I have changed my mind and won't be getting one, so that's an affect right there.

I'd be interested to hear from people who originally announced that they'll "definitely be buying one or three" to see if they have revised their plans.

(And yes, I know about buying from abroad, I am well experienced in buying from the Far East but I still won't be getting one.)

I am planning to buy one. Just not sure if I want the Japanese Release or Oversea release. Probably cost similiar after all the shipping. I may get a second one after it goes on sale a few months. I saw a Buggy Champ going for $250CAD during Christmas

If I order the Avante, I would order a couple spares, e.g. body, wheels, tires, a-parts tree, d parts tree, and some misc stuff that will break.

[GTodd]

Buggy Champ ball diff could be considered a hopup too I guess - but you have a point about the hopups. Ah well, it leaves room for aftermarket manufacturers to come with something nice

$415 back in '88 was a lot! That is, if you look at the lower end cars of which the prices are mentioned in the magazine - in '88 I was minus 3 years, so I guess I can't say much about the numbers relative to the average income and costs of more primary supplies in life back then

Or you could purchase the factory as I did for 59 dollars US on fleabay. I also have an extra set of the titanium rods.

PS

The car didnt handle all that bad, it was the fragility that didnt make the car so great. Hopefuly modern manufacturing techniqes have cured that issue.

[HunterZero]

The handling was apparently quite twitchy. The weight disadvantage against other top tier buggies of the day and inability to land jumps well due to poor suspension travel were the biggest issues for the Avante.

- James

[Taman]

It was heavy and fragile, fun to drive but dont go over very big jumps. I'll be interested to see if the A Parts break like they used to for me, the front shock upright would snap clean off pretty regularly so I'm surprised they didnt fix this in the release, maybe it was a me thing only.

When I sold my original Avante I never thought I would have the opportunity to buy one again, its great that Tamiya have provided the option to have another one.

[Origineelreclamebord]

It was heavy and fragile, fun to drive but dont go over very big jumps. I'll be interested to see if the A Parts break like they used to for me, the front shock upright would snap clean off pretty regularly so I'm surprised they didnt fix this in the release, maybe it was a me thing only.

When I sold my original Avante I never thought I would have the opportunity to buy one again, its great that Tamiya have provided the option to have another one.

I think you'll find out within 2-3 weeks from the release if they have improved on the A Parts, as that's when the fanatics already built their cars, tested it for the first time and after a week they decided it was time for a vintage meet - a bashing weekend - or trying jumping it