Cool Wall

[MadInventor]

I was just looking at the comments left for someones clod movie in the snow, someone said 'cool, no that should be freezing', and I thought, we should have a cool wall for RCs, like they have on Top Gear for full size cars. Perhaps there could be a car picked each week, and a Poll on whether it's cool, uncool, sub zero, or 'Requires it's own fridge'

Thoughts please .......

[SteelRat]

Absolutely love it ! Fantastic way to get some discussion going too. I think though, that just like TG, whether a car is cool or not should have nothing to do with whether it's any good. For example between a TXT and a Clod, although a TXT is the better truck technically, the Clod is cooler. The Monster Beetle is cool. The Blackfoot isn't. Orginality, iconic status and those kinds of things (at least imo) make something cool.

Sooo.. whens the first one ?

[MadInventor]

Absolutely love it ! Fantastic way to get some discussion going too. I think though, that just like TG, whether a car is cool or not should have nothing to do with whether it's any good. For example between a TXT and a Clod, although a TXT is the better truck technically, the Clod is cooler. The Monster Beetle is cool. The Blackfoot isn't. Orginality, iconic status and those kinds of things (at least imo) make something cool.

Sooo.. whens the first one ?

Got to agree with you on the clod vs txt. The clod is cooler.Wwe'd need a 'wall' setup to post a pic of each car on, so that you could say which car is the coolest, etc. I suppose from the poll which car gets the most votes ??? Perhaps a forum in it's own right ? Wait and see if anyone else responds to this thread.

For the first car, I'd put forward the Lunch Box.

I'm going to be controversial and say 'Uncool'. Looks 4wd on the box art but is just a glorified Hornet Pumpkin looks better, and Mad Bull Handles better. Now I'm going to dive in my foxhole before I get flamed.

[SteelRat]

Got to agree with you on the clod vs txt. The clod is cooler.Wwe'd need a 'wall' setup to post a pic of each car on, so that you could say which car is the coolest, etc. I suppose from the poll which car gets the most votes ??? Perhaps a forum in it's own right ? Wait and see if anyone else responds to this thread.

For the first car, I'd put forward the Lunch Box.

I'm going to be controversial and say 'Uncool'. Looks 4wd on the box art but is just a glorified Hornet Pumpkin looks better, and Mad Bull Handles better. Now I'm going to dive in my foxhole before I get flamed.

Gotta agree with you actually. The LunchBox is fun, sure, but it's a van, and van's aren't cool unless they're VW Campers, or Mk 1 Ford Transits. Oddly none of the alternatives you put forward are particularly cool either. The Pumpkin is uncool for the same reasons the Lunchie is, and the MadBull is just a Grasshopper on steroids. Come to think of it, the only Tamiya Monster Trucks that ARE cool are the Clod and Monster Beetle - but the MB only just gets away with it because it's a Beetle and all old style Beetles are cool irrespective of format or presentation.

Funnily enough, even after all that, the inspiration behind my Mega Monster Beetle came from me thinking what Tamiya SHOULD have done with a car with "Monster" in the title; namely 4WD.

(I should probably point out here that yes, I do happen to love VWs.. but not all of them are cool. Old Beetle; Cool. New Beetle; seriously Uncool, unless you're a girlie. Golf Mk1, MkII and Mk V GTis... all cool. Mk III and IV, Uncool. All Passats and Jettas Uncool. Bora: Cool. Old Scircco UnCool, because it's just a Golf in a posh frock, New Scirocco: Own Fridge Required)

[markbt73]

Old Scircco UnCool, because it's just a Golf in a posh frock, New Scirocco: Own Fridge Required)

Have to disagree. Old (MkI) Scirocco: arctic blast, brain-freeze cool. Quad round headlights, ItalDesign styling, three-spoke aluminum steering wheel, and so much fun to drive it should be illegal. MkII Scirocco: desperately uncool. Don't know what they were thinking. New Scirocco: uncool, because it's not available in the US, and besides, it looks just like any other dull modern bubble.

But definitely, Monster Beetle is way cooler than Blackfoot. And, to me, cooler than a Sand Scorcher as well...

[SteelRat]

Naaah disagree. The scirocco is cooler BECAUSE it's not available in the US. Ha haaah up yours yankies! Exclusivity. Cool.

New Scirocco is sufficiently different looking to a Golf to be recognised on its own, even tho it's on a Golf chassis, but the old one was just a Golf that had put on a pair of shades to try and LOOK cool. Agree about the mark II though. It's so uncool I'd completely forgotten about it.

I just had a Google of the Mark 1.. looks like the love child of an Audi 80 and an Austin Allegro.

[Wez-li]

Sorry, the original Scirocco was rubbish, my mate had one a few years back, handed down from his older brother! it was awful to drive back then, let alone now lol

The Scirocco R, based on the Golf R32 is a much cooler car

Although I used to drive a Golf 1.8T, I'm not a massive VW fan, but the old Corrado VR6 is also pretty cool car, as is the Mk1 golf gti.

Not a fan of the Beetle at all...

**dons flame suit and runs**

[Wez-li]

Back on topic!

In relation to Tamiya on the cool wall:

Off the top of my head, for personal reasons: )

Bruiser

Avante 2001

Top Force Evo

Hilux Monster Racer

All Sub Zero!

[Arcticfox]

Cool wall, neat idea.

Wonder if it would influence the vintage and re re's sold in the future too.

Kind of folk seeing what's coolest etc and jumping on the band wagon to buy em.

Guess I will go for the least cool and hope it becomes the rare one

[BeetleLover]

Could you imagine the website setup for everyone to log onto the "Cool Wall" and then move pics of the various cars around to rate them and then the site would amalgamate everyones rankings to make an official "Cool Wall"

James

[MadInventor]

Could you imagine the website setup for everyone to log onto the "Cool Wall" and then move pics of the various cars around to rate them and then the site would amalgamate everyones rankings to make an official "Cool Wall"

James

Great idea, let's hope someone is reading who can make it happen.

[Gruntfuggly]

Should be simple enough to do - might have a crack myself....

[candre23]

This could be done manually, without too much work on the part of the curator.

1. Register "tamiyacoolwall.com" or something similar

2. Create a large image of a blank cool wall (say, 5k x 2k) and host it there.

3. Create a poll thread here once per week with 4-5 models.

4. At the end of the week, add little pics of the models to the wall based on the poll results and update the image.

The only tricky bit is finding someone who wants to put in the 20-30 min every week to create the poll and update the image.

[VagabondStarJXF]

Instead of a poll hows about adding a link to the model listing on the main site? If you vote for it (cool or uncool) then it either increases or decreases its stature on the wall.

[TA-Mark]

Ultimately the 'cool wall' is how everyone spends their hard earned cash and then what they choose to show everyone else here on the main site.

The statistics of this are here. Sand Scorcher, Monster Beetle and High-Lift F-350 take out the top three positions.

[candre23]

Instead of a poll hows about adding a link to the model listing on the main site? If you vote for it (cool or uncool) then it either increases or decreases its stature on the wall.

For one, a weekly poll would make it into a discussion. On Top Gear, they'll hold up a photo, ask the crowd what they think, and then Jeremy will usually come up with some absurd reason why they're all wrong and stick it wherever he wants. The crowd interaction is half of the entertainment of the segment. It might be nice to have a running discussion about what makes that week's picks cool or uncool. Some people might even be persuaded to change their votes. Another nice thing is that it would give you something to look for every week. For those who only visit the forum occasionally (like myself), it might provide incentive to stop by at least once a week to see what's been nominated and get their vote in.

[Wez-li]

Ultimately the 'cool wall' is how everyone spends their hard earned cash and then what they choose to show everyone else here on the main site.

The statistics of this are here. Sand Scorcher, Monster Beetle and High-Lift F-350 take out the top three positions.

I must be seriously uncool then, as I don't like two of the top three!

[VagabondStarJXF]

So what's going to happen with the TC Cool Wall? Why don't we just start it up, maybe do a digital mock up of the cool wall, then every time we discuss another entry to the wall it can be added to it, placed on the digital wall where we decide it should be. Or even better would be having the TC Cool Wall shown on the TC Forum home page.

What with the re-re of the Avante now out I figured we could start the discussion with this iconic model. What do you think? I think it's cool. Like most, I think, it has been cool to me since its original release back in 1988. Yes it was built to rock the world but ultimately failed miserably... but didn't it look awesome while it was doing it? I think it is the Tamiya 1/10 equivalent of the 1/1 Lamborghini Countach (as I'm sure I'd mentioned sometime in the re-re Avante thread). It's beautiful to look at, fully deserving of the poster space on the bedroom wall, way outside the price range of all the boys who gazed at it, and not one of these kids would ever own one to find out how awe inspiringly bad it turned out to be. That being said, and I have no way of confirming this, I've read that a lot of the things that we kinda take for granted on our kits today were originally designed for this kit. That would mean its legacy is still going strong today. I don't think the Avante is Sub Zero but I do think that it should be placed in the Seriously Cool slot on the "TC Cool Wall".

That's my case for the Avante. Anyone wanna add to it, maybe pump it up a little more? Or would someone like to state their case against the Avante and move it down the wall a bit?

[MadInventor]

It deserves a place in cool purely on looks alone. Then add in the fact they managed to design a gear diff without bevel gears, which tend to be a weak point on a lot of cars. That on it's own deserves cool status. I rather like the analagy of the lambo countach. Made to look good and go fast, but not very reliable. If you wanted to go fast and scare passengers in the 80s it was much cheaper to buy a 7litre AC cobra

The avante is a cool car now, but given the choice when it was new, I suspect most people would have gone for an optima mid or a CAT

[berman]

After reading this, now I have a mental picture of "Professor Skid" dressed in a white nylon suit with blue skiddy Y fronts and a gawky 80's helmet with his cheesy grin and glasses poking through a lifted visor!

"All we know is. he's called 'The Shtig' "

[VagabondStarJXF]

"All we know is. he's called 'The Shtig' "

Now that would be an awesome addition to TC. A TamiyaClub track! Ah, I can see it now...

"We need to see how fast this model goes round the TamiyaClub track but, of course, that means handing it over to our tame RC driver..."

[SteelRat]

The Avante isn't cool. Sorry, it just isn't. It's the "Emperors New Clothes" car. Rubbish, unreliable and failed at what it was designed to do. Also one of the first of the Is It a Car or Is It a Spaceship, super powered roller skate models. Yuck. What's rather amusing is that now it's re-re'd it's not only rubbish and ugly, but over priced as well! Might as well have the hat trick

Yet everyone loves it because it was on the front of the 1987 Tamiya Catalogue and at the time hailed as the latest and greatest before everyone knew how **** it was, and so that's why everyone wants one now.

(sorry if this wee's on the proverbial bonfire of the many Avante fans, and I realise my words are a travesty, but I can't stand the things )

[SteelRat]

Now that would be an awesome addition to TC. A TamiyaClub track! Ah, I can see it now...

"We need to see how fast this model goes round the TamiyaClub track but, of course, that means handing it over to our tame RC driver..."

I thought we already had a Stig. You usually see him driving a big tyred Jeep with it's front wheels in the air