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Purchase a vintage Super Hornet or a new Frog?

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Hello all,

I have an RC addiction problem that I am seeking member views on. I am in a bind trying to decide whether to purchase a wrecked vintage super hornet off Ebay or purchase a NIB Frog. The super hornet will require a complete rebuild i.e electrics, motor, wheels, etc with a few hop-ups (shocks). The Frog I would hop-up over time. Rebuilds are fun but I am concerned that parts could be difficult to source i.e decals can sell for $30 AUST from a store in the UK and I noticed that tyres are hard to come by even if reverting to rising fighter parts. Also, some vintage cars people want alot of money for when they are wrecks. decisions, decisions. Either project is $400 AUST give or take. Love to here member thoughts as I no their is alot of passionate fans for the vintage. For member interest my showroom is under IPLAN. If ''the way'' reads this post, thanks for your help with my Hornet.

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Personally, I'd go with the NIB Frog. New is good. Parts are tough to find and pricey on the Super Hornet, and it was never as popular as the Frog, so fewer sources I'd think.

The Super Hornet is a cool looking buggy, but if it looks like a wreck, it will be worse when you tear into it and start the restoration. Plus, aside from the parts availability and cost, I've got a Super Hornet, and the performance really is awful. I much prefer the handling of the original Hornet to the Super.

The Frog would be my choice of the two.

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:P

Pretty interesting this. A few points:

1. A NIB Super Hornet will still be under $400. Yes they have gone up in price in recent years. But don't forget they were still being manufactured and shipped for exclusive sale in Australia until as recently as about 4 years ago - later than the rest of the world. I bought one off a hobby store shelf in 2010 for $200. I bought NIP parts for one from a hobby store as recently as 1 week ago.

2. A re-release Frog, with all it's non-original parts and stickers, or at least a genuine original Super Hornet? People collect first edition books and pay tens of thousands for them for a reason. When it come to Tamiyas, and despite the enthusiasm and hysteria every time another vintage classic kit is rehashed, the differences involved are a lot greater than the words "first edition" printed on the first page of a book. Why not have fun restoring a vintage Super Hornet? It was a huge seller for Tamiya and had one of the longest production runs of any RC model.

Restoration and hunting for parts (or kits) is one of the great joys of vintage RC.

Hopefully this just gives you another perspective :)

cheers,

H.

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The Frog is an easy option - nice clean parts to build, never be an issue with parts supply, but 10 years down the line it'll be worth what you paid for it at best (even as a shelfer allowing for inflation).

The Super Hornet will end up costing more, will require lots of parts from all over the world and you may never get it 100% perfect (if a shelfer is what you want). But, theres soem enjoyment from the stripping , cleanign and sourcing parts that no NIB can give you.

Horses for course - as a shelfer 'investment' then the SH is the way to go. As a runner, go with the Frog, enjoy it, bash it, rebuild and repair it in the knowledge you can get replacement parts to your doorstep in a week or less.

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There is only one answer to this. They are toy cars (but toy's there not). You can not go wrong either way. Just stop thinking about value in 5 years, price for parts etc. (It is because I read this comment I comment- it is a major gamble to try to say somthing about a re-re frog's value in 5 years!)

Go with your feelings! Back in the days when I was a addict, (I still am but I have taken some responsebilety for my recovery) i would have gone fore the superhornet, mostly because it is more rare than a re re frog.

And it will become more rare, because most people does not bother to collect them. They are a litle like the Sonic Fighter, you have to be a litle hardcore to even know what they are. (Maybe I am wrong about the superhornet)

May I also say that in the beginning of my activ addiction I was collecting everything as a haunted man. So my god tip for you is to take it easy, take a breath, think about it. The guys that quitting the hobby or

dramatically slims down there collection will come along. Good buys are out there right now. I had a long rest away from here and when I came back I found that the hornet was back in its prime! The Hornet has been re-re'd and even before that it was not very difficult to find. I am not "with it" any more.

Save your money and get a Bruiser. It is fantastic and even better for the price of that you could fill 20 kubic meters of space with old weard out stuff, and then you have a seriously addiction problem bro. When you are living in 1/3 of your apartment because the rest is, well not excatly toy cars, but many girls would think that. Mothers with children will think they are as necessarily as nuclear waste. It is so easy to loose controll over this powerfull hoby.

- Do one project at the time.

- Document it good. Decide if you shold keep it or sell it right away.

- If you keep it, put it somewhere dust free. Be clever and know where you put it all. (I have so many ours the last years of moving and rearanging my collection.)

I am starting to feel that I am repeating myself: When you have a look at TC members showrooms you know it could always be whorse- there is always atleast two sides of a thing. And a 20 kubic meter collections has even more sides to it.

Try to sea the whole picture. Make a list over everything you wold like to do. If restoring a superhornet is somewhere in the top 5, Do It!

Cheers

Ps. This post is refering to: I have an RC addiction problem that I am seeking member views on. More than the choose between two cars.

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One simple equation:

if u r a vintage collector, then the super Hornet.

if u want to run it then the re-reFrog as many parts available + cheap price.

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Just stop thinking about value in 5 years, price for parts etc. (It is because I read this comment I comment- it is a major gamble to try to say somthing about a re-re frog's value in 5 years!)

Well the original Frog has over 400 entries in the TC showroom, the re-re over 200. Its a very popular model, listed (if not stocked) by most Tamiya dealers in the UK, USA and the Far East. there is a plentiful parts supply on eBay. Sorry but IMO its not going to be worth any more in 5-10 years time than it is today. Its an opinion, thats all.

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Well the original Frog has over 400 entries in the TC showroom, the re-re over 200. Its a very popular model, listed (if not stocked) by most Tamiya dealers in the UK, USA and the Far East. there is a plentiful parts supply on eBay. Sorry but IMO its not going to be worth any more in 5-10 years time than it is today. Its an opinion, thats all.

I did not critizise you for having that opinion. I could be, absolutely. I just tried to tell the treadstarter to not even think about the increasing of value as a argument for either this or that! Invest in fertile land, seed companies, weapon or medicine industry if you are in to financial growth. Even thoe there not exactly toys, it is not the last thing I will lay behind when the **** hits the Air Conditioning system. And even so if that never happen and we had constant growth in the modelcar market. Buy them not as a future investment. Buy them because you LOVE to look at them, fumble with them, upgrade them, restore them, wash them, pose with them, brag about them, discuss them, go alternative routs with them and drive them.

Cheers

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Passionate Tamiya members,

Thanks for your words of wisdom as I am still in training (at 40) and appreciate all your views and opinions. I decided on the vintage Super Hornet. I bought two (2) super hornets (wrecks) and a box of spares from a single collector in Windsor, Australia for $150.00AUD. He was cutting down his collection (40 cars). This guy had alot of vintage cars, some of them I had never seen before, it was impressive. Took over a double garage. What was to be just a pick-up turned into coffee and two hours of chatting. He is not a member. I intend to re-build and beautify one as a shelf queen and the other frankenstien as a runner. Lucky enough the spares collection came with another chassis and body. I will put photo's in my showroom shortly of my project and look forward to your comments as it progresses. Taking advice provided, I will endeavour to not undertake this project at full speed and will enjoy the hunting of parts I don't have and re-built with patience. I love the work you have all done with your cars and enjoy learning and reading about your collections and projects. Cheers. Jeffro / Hervey Bay Australia.

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...He is not a member.

Why not?!

Just post his address and we'll send some guys over to remedy that situation ;)

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Why not?!

Just post his address and we'll send some guys over to remedy that situation :lol:

Resistance is futile. He will be assimilated. :P

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