A 'Real" Sand Scorcher Alternative!!!

[Supershot]

All of you guys are raving on about the Sandscorcher but have you ever wondered if there might be something better if you took the nostalga out of it?

I didn't think so until I saw the "Monster Beetle" recently on e-bay in nib form!This car really looks great!I'd say rivaling or beating the Sand Scorcher!I'v seen one of these cars in Myer Melbourne back in 1987 and they were the spectacle of all the built cars there-they looked great!(Huge in size too!)

It's as easy as looking at the member rides at this site,TAKE YOUR TIME PLEASE!!!!!You will be really,really,really SUPRISED!

All in all the Monster Beetle is great looking as well as being vintage as well as a perfect Sand Scorcher alternative!Please take a look!(Members rides a must)!Do any of you own one and agree????

[netsmithUK]

I don't think you can take the nostalga out of it that is the point.

I don't think any of us that have bought sand scorchers because we have always loved them (as opposed to buying one because 'you must have one in your collection') would ever try and argue they are the greatest car ever in terms of speed or handling. We buy them because of a personal connection with them. Other people will have other connections with different cars.

Its the same with any collectable item - Take rare stamps, I'm not an expert but in the UK the 'penny black' is a pretty rare stamp. Its black and has the queens head on it and that about it. Its certainly not the most colourful or attractive and you can't you can't even use it these days but people are still desperate to have them.

Collecting is not a logical thing when you strip it down to a basic parts.

Basically people should buy what they like and not what they 'think they should have'

[BeetleMeister]

I'm with supershot on this one. The Monster Beetle is great. If you look at it in relation to other Tamiyas, it has a realy interesting chassis and design. I know it shares this with a few other models, but generaly it is a very diffrent beast to the other cars and trucks of that time. It is fast, very responsive, dramatic to watch, as well as being very easy on the eye (sure a lot of you scorcher fans will agree). Its the kind of car that you can pic up, whatever mood your in and feel better for doing it. If your angree you can give it some real grief and it loves it. If your happy, just mess about and do tricks and just play. It loves that too! Historicaly it was one of the earliest trucks too. It used to realy jump off the shelf at you when you went in to the model shop. So aside from nostalgia, its also a great vehicle...now be honest...i dont think the scorcher can realy be described as a great car...despite the fact that can skip through puddles! I think most of you guys who didnt have a scorcher as a child will defend it to the ground...most probably to ease your guilt at the great big fat wad of cash youve spent on it!...But hey...each to their own. If you love it...you love it....if you dont....you dont!

[netsmithUK]

I really can't see where this thread is going...

If it is a thread about which car is the most liked or 'greatest' then it can never be answered - we all like different things.

If its a thread about which is most collectable (in terms of investment) then I don't think there is much argument there either. For what ever reasons its the Sand Scorcher. You can't change it - that is just what it has become.

If its a thread about what cars are the best and most fun cars to drive then I don't think it is either - it would probably be a much newer model (I'll leave that to a seperate debate)

As for money - I don't need to justify the cash I spent on mine - it was £45.00 []

[Supershot]

Hello from Supershot!

Thanks for agreeing BettleMeister!The monsterBeetele is just a great all round car as well as being one of the greatest looking Tamiya's ever built!Or perhaps the greatest ever when it comes to looks!

I discovered it on e-bay and it brought back a distant memory of seeing it fully built in a Department store with people around it a little awed,completely forgetting the other 20+ Tamiya cars on display!I remember a very happy 40 year old business man with a huge smile on his face carrying one of these away!As well as talking to a high school friend a week later telling me if I saw the display and oddly enough the thing he noticed most was the Monster Beetle!

People just love the Sandscorcher which by the way shares the same chassis as the R/R,Ford 150 as well as the Superchamp and all of these are so much cheaper than the S/S!

I think it makes a great S/S alternative to someone who can't afford the S/S as well as loves those looks!Go to the reader rides and you will be suprised!!!!!

[Big Al(2)]

WOW! I remember going to the department store and seeing a brand new "Red Rider BB Gun" in the window. All of us kids crowded around it and were in awe! haha! Reading Supershot's last post reminded me of the movie "A Christmas Story". You seem a little strange SuperShot! Do you own a Monster Beetle or do you just dream about it? I admit that the Monster Beetle is a great car and it looks great too. But it is not an alternative to the Sand Scorcher, because they are 2 totally different cars. To each is own Supershot! I like em both, but I will never own a Sand Scorcher, due to the high price that it fetches!

-Big Al

[DJTheo]

Also don't understand where the topic is going at, a Sand Scorcher is a Sand Scorcher and a Monster Beetle is a Monster Beetle, both nice cars but if someone like the first he buys the first or vise versa. And as different things you cannot compare them, I personally enjoy driving both, each in the terrain where the car "fits" better.

quote:but generaly it is a very diffrent beast to the other cars and trucks of that time.

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I think now you put nostalgia in it, it as similar to the Blackfoot as the Ranger to the SS []

quote:I think it makes a great S/S alternative to someone who can't afford the S/S as well as loves those looks!Go to the reader rides and you will be suprised!!!!!

---

id="quote">id="quote">

In my humble opinion the Blitzer Beetles make a better SS alternative as they are more "buggy", while the MB more a monster truck and the best they are still available, which means less than half the price of a MB.

Anyway, the MB is a fun classic collectable Tamiya, which has his its own value and shouldn't be understimated by using it as a SS substitude, although personally I like the Blackfoot more, IMHO the Beetle body looks too little on it, as just put on a huge car.

[J3cubfan]

It all boils down to taste. Collect what you like. If you don't like, don't buy one. Simple as that. I have an SS because I always wanted one and can remember seeing these vividly in my LHS back in the town where I grew up in Ohio. I had a friend that had one but ended up trashing it. I never got to drive it but always admired the SS anyway...

[Shodog]

As others have said, the Monster Beetle is a totally different car and from a Sand Scorcher and a different genre of vehicle. Other than having similar bodies, There really is no comparison between the two.

The Monster Beetle being better? Not likely, it just had a different set of problems. While the Monster Beetle was an improvement over the Blackfoot, It still had it's fair share of faults. The rear differentials were prone to failure. The hex drive shafts rounded out in no time. The gold plating would flake off of the wheels and Monster trucks and detailed hard plastic bodies don't work well together. The Body would be demolished in short order.

The Sand Scorcher is more desired for many reasons other than nostalgia. It lookes and workes like the 1:1 scal baja bug. the Monster beetle looks and drives like a toy.

I have both because I used to have them as a kid. My Monster Beetle is new built and will never get run, same for my Sand Scorcher. If I am feeling nostalgic I can alway bust out with my Rough Rider

Jim

[mr_lister999.]

err, basically the original question is this then:

quote:All of you guys are raving on about the Sandscorcher but have you ever wondered if there might be something better if you took the nostalga out of it?

id="quote">id="quote">

Better - certainly on a performance scale. Loads of cars now to choose from. you just have to buy a chassis, slap on a body type of your choice and there it is.

looks - personal taste really.

nostalga - defeats the purpose of this hobby really as its not about money for a collector.

my 2 cents.