souless tamiya ever?

[Vrooom666]

I bought this neo fighter dt-03 buggy cos it was cheap And I can't get on with this car, the overall design is generic, same for any newer tamiya. On the spec sheet it sound good....

But it lacks souls from older kit like wild willy, lunchbox, mini, sand sorchers, even mad bull...

Anyone think new tamiya lacks souls?

[Truck Norris]

It seems to take around 20-30 years for inanimate objects to develop soul. Also the first of anything's kind is remembered more fondly than later incarnations, usually because of what at the time are referred to as faults but later become "quirks".

If you look at real cars, people in 1984 said the Ford Sierra was too modern and bland and lacked the soul of the old Cortina, fast forward now and people says the exact same thing about the Focus and Mondeo, while gushing over the "classic" Sierra. Case in point: http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/ford/sierra/ford-sierra-2-0-rs-cosworth-500-3dr/4431971

Another thing is we have stronger feelings for things that we experienced when young, which is why each generation will state a different era of music as being the best.

Going back to Tamiya, the good news for you is that you can get any of the kits you mention as well as the more modern technically advanced and better value cars. Back in the day you only had the early stuff!

[Klausen]

No experience with the dt03. But I am quite happy with my DB02 Leonis and DF03MS. I agree I like the old ones as well, but I am quite satisfied with some of the new ones as well.

DT03 is an entre level buggy, and back in the day I wasn't happy about the Grasshopper/Hornet and Striker as well. Ofcourse I like these old buggies now

[B.M.T.]

I think the TRF cars (Yay, for once I'm not kicking the Mad Cap).

The closer you get to high performance, the less character a model seems to be endeared with.

[Nitomor]

That's a pretty good psycho analysis TN lol, and very true. That said I agree with Vrooom666, I can't get excited by any new Tamiya's, call it nostalgia but I'd rather spend three times as much getting a re re kit to perform than buy some of the latest offerings. If I were purely looking for modern day performance, I'd be knocking straight at HPI's door for a brushless Savage or Baja 5 or any number of HPI kits. I just don't think Tamiya's latest offerings sufficiently reflect the way the market has moved forward and none of them particularly calls out to me. There's not much in the way of market leading innovation or genuine creativity something which they excelled at in their past and insufficient progression from the kits of old. That said, the spares backup and longevity always makes them a pretty safe bet and selling them as kits which clearly caters for a dying breed judging by the sheer amount of rtr's on the market is Tamiya through and through

The new Tamiya stuff for me unfortunately smacks of cheap production processes and lean techniques, with the exception of maybe the Agrios/Vajra (neither of which have much in the way of detail), what new top end stuff do they really make now? I'd like to see more of that, kits with much more metal and less plastic.

At the expense of upsetting some, the dark impact/neo fighter has the most ridiculously positioned front shock towers from a vulnerability and an aesthetic perspective which totally rules it out for me. It looks completely slap dash and uncaring in its application/execution, there really are no redeeming or endearing features/quirks in the way the old stuff has, except maybe the rear wing on the dark impact! The small details in the models have also all but disappeared, where is the driver on the DF03 buggies, or cabin details, or spot lights or anything? It's bland and uninspiring imho, a missed opportunity because a little more attention to detail would have made a lot of difference.

Building the old kits, you can see just how much passion the engineers/designers had, it's everywhere in the details, the way things go together, the attention to detail with rollcages, drivers, spot lights, decals wih crazy slogans, box art, manual illustrations, odd bits of aluminium, precision engineered components. The passion seems to be missing in the new kits in my view, something Pintopower vividly picked up on in the latest willy's wheeler re re.

Thank Tamiya for the Re-releases though, to keep people like me happy and away from HPI lol. Just to contradict myself however, I am actually tempted with an XV01 chassis and the CC01 custom landcruiser but I've yet to plump for either.

The Tamiya logo has faded over time. Reinjection of Passion and precision required or just re re it lol!

[Nitomor]

The Japanese say that you give the things you make a soul.

It's all about what you bring to the object.

Dorvack.

I want to like this about three times!!

[qatmix]

Dorvack is spot on. The whole soul thing is simply something you project onto an inanimate object. The SRB's have no more soul than a DT03. They are all originally produced as a commercial product to make cash. Personally I am a fan of a wide range of cars including the TRF series, the detail, thought and design is superb. There is so much character in them, and seeing the changes is fascinating, along with the main association of the other guys and girls who I meet when I race them.

Tamiya has probably it's strongest most varied line-up that it's ever had at the moment. I can buy top of the line racing cars, scale crawlers, drift cars, rally cars, F1 cars, tanks, trucks, scalers, bashers and even a Bear on a tractor!

When I started this hobby I can tell you that no-one was excited about a badly proportioned Opel on a frog chassis or thought it had 'Soul', but we bought them because there was not much else to compete. RC has developed and the cars now are great! My son will have just as many great memories about his new cars that he builds with me, as I do about the ones I built with my dad.

[Vrooom666]

Ok. which you rather have to build, customize, and have fun...

or

[Nobbi1977]

So you want expense, poor handling and fragility?

[markbt73]

Well, one is about 1/4 the price of the other... you can buy a lot of "soul" for that.

[Grumpy pants]

Ok. which you rather have to build, customize, and have fun...

or

These two models are to far removed from each other on age and price to be comparable.

I love my Scorchers, but my runner is a pain to own as it breaks everytime I use it and then it spends a lot of time on the bench being fixed or waiting on parts.

On the other hand our DT02 which was 1/4 of the price gives us much more fun with no lost time on repairs or waiting on replacement parts, so the DT02 has become a fond member of the clan for me!

I think the DT03 is a really well specced, really cheap, tear the back side out of it runner.

[XV Pilot]

The Japanese say that you give the things you make a soul.

It's all about what you bring to the object.

Dorvack.

I agree completely.

All of the vehicles in my fleet are special to me - all have what I suppose you could call "soul". And yes, I do believe it is a function of the work that went into them.

Some cars, such as my Hotshot, had soul from the outset, due to the complexity of the build and the effort that went into getting it spot-on. Others, such as my TT-01s, developed it over time with much running, breaking, fixing and modding.

I think it is also true that different cars have "soul" to different people. Take a modern TRF for example - some may say it is a clinical tool, highly efficient but devoid of soul. Others might see a great deal of soul in it, by virtue of the care with which it was designed and refined, the precision with which it was built and set up, and the exhilaration of driving something so pure and focussed.

[Wandy]

£120,000 for that Sierra. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

P.S. There is nothing wrong with the Neo Fighter. It's the modern day Frog, and has loads of character/charm/soul.

[Nobbi1977]

It is the same in all walks of life and what makes life interesting. This site is well spread from collectors, builders and bashers who coexist in one place.

I own a Ducati and a '56 Ariel in my 1:1 life and both have soul but they are both pigs at times. I used to do a lot of track days on two Japanese 600, some would say soulless but they let me experience things I could only dream of in total reliability and predictability.

Horses for courses depending what you want to put in and get out of a hobby.

[speedy_w_beans]

The Japanese say that you give the things you make a soul.

It's all about what you bring to the object.

Dorvack.

Agreed. From another perspective -- if you study my vehicles, you will learn something about me.

[XV Pilot]

T

Agreed. From another perspective -- if you study my vehicles, you will learn something about me.

Interesting idea. I wonder which of their vehicle(s) people would put forward for study if they wanted to make a good impression, and which they would hide in the closet? Sounds like an idea for a thread...

[volvotech]

Dorvack was spot on. I'm about a third through my neo fighter build and I'm really enjoying it. I take my time with my builds, really take in the construction with each step - appreciating the design as I go along. This to me is where my models really become "mine".

[Grastens]

Another vote here for Dorvack's comment: it is what you bring to it. Honestly, I thought the DT-03 Neo Fighter had more character than other releases. In addition, 'soul' seems to be a quality that can only be rewarded retroactively - a subjective quality based on personal nostalgia and certain distinguishing qualities that appear either unique or relatable to the person.

So certainly a DT-03 lacks 'soul' to you right now, but can we say that in however many years it takes for nostalgia to set in? Can we say that across the board? Personally, I agree, but I feel in a different way than you do. The DT-03 does not have much 'soul' in the sense that nobody can really contemplate upon it given the passage of time. It may develop one after we have sufficient experience with it; it may not. But now is not the time to assess that.

The opinion of the original poster suggests that the proper word sought here is bland. There, I am inclined to disagree; however I have yet to see one in person...

[Nitomor]

I've been harsh on the DT03 given that it is entry level, akin to the GH or Hornet, however without that front strut mount it could be a really good looking buggy, granted it looks like it would work well, and perhaps it will earn its place in history through performance, the DF01's and 02's were grest runners and the geometry of this suggests it'll be even better.

Dorvack's comments I interpreted (perhaps incorrectly) as relating to the engineers/designers of the kits in the first instance and what they have brought to the process to impart this soul onto the project. Indeed this same comment can apply in general to anything in life so I agree it is also what the builder contributes to the process but the soul referred to by the OP is surely one the kit has from the outset. I do think the little things make a big difference.

In 30 years time, I hope those who have one of these look on it as fondly as we look at Hornets, I'm sure they probably will. A direct competitor for this on price is something like Dorvacks SandMaster, that is full of character and details and crucially for me, it looks plausible as a 1:10 of what a really buggy would look like. The DT-03 looks like a toy as opposed to a plausible 1:10 scale of a real version (which is what Tamiya earned it's name with...scale realism), maybe that is what really bothers me about the front strut lol.

if you were a kid and had a choice of which one you could have... ^ certainly it would seem a lot more effort has gone into the Kyosho. Little details everywhere, like the beadlock rims, cage, driver, cockpit.

That said, i wonder if the DF03 is the more competent runner?!?

[GregM]

That said, i wonder if the DF03 is the more competent runner?!?

If you meant DT-03, then I can frankly say, yes it is the more competent runner in so many ways. The Sandmaster is oriented more on the threshold between toy RC and hobby RC, while the DT-03 is a proper hobby class RC car. If you hold both cars in your hands, you can even feel it just by the quality of how well the parts fit together. Running on loose sand, I dare to predict even my Hornet would outclass my Sandmaster.

[Nitomor]

Getting my F's and T's mixed up lol! Thanks for the feedback, good to know that Tamiya still rule in the quality stakes!

[GregM]

The Sandmaster can still be fun if you accept its flaws (or quirks) which were thoroughly discussed in its own thread. It is just that I personally even after 2 years of owning and driving this vehicle have a hard time liking it. But that could be just me, since others enjoy their Sandmasters more than me.

[kontemax]

I strongly believe that the Neo Fighter buggy is one of the ugliest Tamiya's job.

It was only needed so few modifications to have a better look model such as a better wing, a driver inside, a couple of head lights, a better decal design but Tamiya didn't do them. The worst thing is this fake front windshield that I already never understood onto the Frog, can you believe in these 2014 model?

Max

I bought this neo fighter dt-03 buggy cos it was cheap And I can't get on with this car, the overall design is generic, same for any newer tamiya. On the spec sheet it sound good....

But it lacks souls from older kit like wild willy, lunchbox, mini, sand sorchers, even mad bull...

Anyone think new tamiya lacks souls?

[volvotech]

I think that's what's so great about an entry level buggy. You can do whatever you want without any guilt about straying from box art. And with CVA's and tble-02s included in the box, it's a great bargain.

[Nobbi1977]

I think that's what's so great about an entry level buggy. You can do whatever you want without any guilt about straying from box art. And with CVA's and tble-02s included in the box, it's a great bargain.

Less than £60 delivered with a £20 ESC and £10 worth of CVA's make it a badword of a car for £30. That's not taking in to account the torque tuned motor, that must be worth £1 over the normal silvercan