Blackfoot re-release #58633

[Jeffyboy403 57]

 

I only noticed the three holes for mounting the body

[mongoose1983 3335]

49 minutes ago, Jeffyboy403 said:

I only noticed the three holes for mounting the body

Fantastic news indeed. Thanks!

 

[beefmuffin 1156]

2 hours ago, Jeffyboy403 said:

I only noticed the three holes for mounting the body

Wow... that's more than I was expecting.  So why do this -- actually making this body incompatible with other recent Tamiya releases like the BF3 -- and not do it on the Monster Beetle?  Why have officially licensed VW branding on the Monster Beetle, and no Ford branding here?  And who on earth thought it was a good idea to replace the BFGoodrich decals with "VISE CRAWLER" which means nothing or to whatever extent it could mean something, nothing appropriate to the Blackfoot? ** BANGS HEAD ON DESK **

[Jeffyboy403 57]

1 hour ago, beefmuffin said:

Wow... that's more than I was expecting.  So why do this -- actually making this body incompatible with other recent Tamiya releases like the BF3 -- and not do it on the Monster Beetle?  Why have officially licensed VW branding on the Monster Beetle, and no Ford branding here?  And who on earth thought it was a good idea to replace the BFGoodrich decals with "VISE CRAWLER" which means nothing or to whatever extent it could mean something, nothing appropriate to the Blackfoot? ** BANGS HEAD ON DESK **

I agree about the Vise crawler in big bold letters. Yes I understand that BFGoodrich is brand of tire and Vise crawler is type of Rock crawling tire from Tamiya. "Blimpie Sandwiches" would have looked better then Vise crawler TBH. 

[beefmuffin 1156]

38 minutes ago, Jeffyboy403 said:

I agree about the Vise crawler in big bold letters. Yes I understand that BFGoodrich is brand of tire and Vise crawler is type of Rock crawling tire from Tamiya. "Blimpies Sandwiches" would have looked better then Vise crawler TBH. 

Yeah - it's not like it isn't totally clear why they're replacing the logos... and they're making up their own so there's no constraint on how it can look or anything.  How far off from the BFGoodrich logo to they really have to get anyway?  It's not like they're a competitor.  No one's going to claim to have been duped by the similar logo into buying 2.2" Bruiser tires for their 1:1 vehicle.  They already have a fake sponsor "GR Racing Fuel".  Or "BFEngineering" 'BF' as in Blackfoot.  Or heck, just "Off Roader" like on the Hornet decals, but in white block text.

The "Brite" spotlight decals make my eye twitch too.  I guess maybe they'd be too afraid to replace the 'K' 'C' and 'Daylighter' with other letters arranged in the familiar smile... but even 'B' 'L' 'Britelighter' arranged like : \  as opposed to : ) would be better than the "Brite" logo perched 3x over the rollbar on the the BFT2016.

[StrokerBoy 772]

It seems to me that Tamiya can't win.  Everyone begs 'em to re-release something iconic from their childhood.  If they were able to do a 100% perfect re-release then all the owners of original vintage vehicles would be appalled.  If they release something that has a few detail changes (whether for licencing reasons or ease of production) then everyone moans about that.  There are thousands of people hoping against hope that Tamiya will re-release the 959 (etc) sometime but there's zero chance that they'll be able to do it and please everyone.

[TWINSET 1793]

14 minutes ago, StrokerBoy said:

It seems to me that Tamiya can't win.

Amen

No rerelease yet has been without criticism and any further rere won't fare any better.

The reres will sell to those who want/need them regardless of branding and those that want 100% genuine/authentic/faithful can always buy an original (if funds stop anyone from doing that then that's a shame - I'd like to drive to work everyday in a FC Land Rover or a Unimog but have to settle for a Ford Focus)

If the rereleases aren't satisfactory, stop looking at them - they'll just disappoint further. Thankfully, there's not that many 'desirable' ones left and then we can all get back to normal.

Foresight; If the 959 ever happens, it'll have 'Racing' decals - get used to it now, save a lot of crying later

[mheald 351]

26 minutes ago, TWINSET said:

Amen

No rerelease yet has been without criticism and any further rere won't fare any better.

The reres will sell to those who want/need them regardless of branding and those that want 100% genuine/authentic/faithful can always buy an original (if funds stop anyone from doing that then that's a shame - I'd like to drive to work everyday in a FC Land Rover or a Unimog but have to settle for a Ford Focus)

If the rereleases aren't satisfactory, stop looking at them - they'll just disappoint further. Thankfully, there's not that many 'desirable' ones left and then we can all get back to normal.

Foresight; If the 959 ever happens, it'll have 'Racing' decals - get used to it now, save a lot of crying later

I'm certainly in the happy camp with regards to all the re-re's so far. This Blackfoot looks stellar to me. And lets be honest, if anyone really, really wants to keep the authenticity there are ways of sorting the decals and its just a waiting game to find an original grill/rear panel to swap out.

Lets be honest too, this re-re in particular, just like the MB is almost as brittle as the originals, so they're **** authentic in my eyes lol. When me and my son take his MB out (re-re), we are almost guaranteed that something will fall off, come loose, snap, or need replacing. When he takes his newer Tamiya's out like his wheely camper or Blitzer Beetle, they can literally be driven off a quarry edge, fall 30ft and then keep going.

The vintage is strong in this one

 

 

[beefmuffin 1156]

34 minutes ago, StrokerBoy said:

It seems to me that Tamiya can't win.

I knew my reaction to seeing the body holes filled in would stoke people to pounce on me with that reaction.  But the whole point of my issue with some of these re-re's is that they are half-*****.  One of the things my dad really hammered into me growing up was "if something's worth doing, it's worth doing right".  So although I like seeing them make a bit more effort with one part of the whole, it also illuminates that they could easily have done more any number of times, in addition to demonstrating an inherently inconsistent effort.  None of those things apply in my opinion to the re-releases of Kyosho, Associated, (etc?)... even some number of Tamiya's re-re's are nigh indistinguishable from the original without a magnifying glass and knowing where to look.  Somehow, the phrase "meh, good enough" just doesn't fit the picture of what Tamiya stands for... you know, the "If it's Tamiya, it's right" people.  So again, while I understand the perspective - perfectly valid in its own way - that "good enough" is actually good enough.  It just isn't consistent with what has led my 30-something year old self to care about this stuff still / again.  If Tamiya had operated at a similar level of effort / attention to detail BITD I'm not sure any of us / this would even be here right now talking about any of this.

[mheald 351]

3 minutes ago, beefmuffin said:

I knew my reaction to seeing the body holes filled in would stoke people to pounce on me with that reaction.  But the whole point of my issue with some of these re-re's is that they are half-*****.  One of the things my dad really hammered into me growing up was "if something's worth doing, it's worth doing right".  So although I like seeing them make a bit more effort with one part of the whole, it also illuminates that they could easily have done more any number of times, in addition to demonstrating an inherently inconsistent effort.  None of those things apply in my opinion to the re-releases of Kyosho, Associated, (etc?)... even some number of Tamiya's re-re's are nigh indistinguishable from the original without a magnifying glass and knowing where to look.  Somehow, the phrase "meh, good enough" just doesn't fit the picture of what Tamiya stands for... you know, the "If it's Tamiya, it's right" people.  So again, while I understand the perspective - perfectly valid in its own way - that "good enough" is actually good enough.  It just isn't consistent with what has led my 30-something year old self to care about this stuff still / again.  If Tamiya had operated at a similar level of effort / attention to detail BITD I'm not sure any of us / this would even be here right now talking about any of this.

I totally get your thinking, I do. I let the small details go in the view that cost saving is a big deal for a company the size of Tamiya. If cutting a few corners saves them enough to keep feeding our habit, I'm all for it. I'd hate for them to make small profits or god forbid, a loss by making 100% perfect reproductions. As long as the re-re's they pump out are financially viable for them, it keeps them coming. As soon as they don't, they wont.

One thing I would add is that back in the day Tamiya, as far as I could see, were always somewhat heckled at as being the cheaper, less able, almost comedy cars. They always tended to be the cars you aspired to when you had a Tandy/Radioshack/Nikko knock around car, spending ours pouring over the catalogues wishing to own every one, but as soon as you ventured to any club, you soon realised that you were never going to break out of the D final with a Tamiya. It was always Schumacher, Yokomo, Losi etc that held the crowns for being the quality cars. Don't get me wrong, I'm Tamiya obsessed, my 60+ cars attest to that, but I do think my passion for them is fuelled through very rose tinted glasses

 

 

[beefmuffin 1156]

2 minutes ago, mheald said:

It was always Schumacher, Yokomo, Losi etc that held the crowns for being the quality cars.

It all depends on your priorities - and this also is where the change in Tamiya's own priorities stands out as betraying the one thing that they were always the undisputed leader in.  Tamiya was and still is, foremost, a model company.  Despite whatever efforts to remain competitive against their increasingly out-performing R/C makers, Tamiya was never willing to go beyond a certain point in order to place pure functionality above detail and originality.  At least BITD.  If making a car out of a solid plank of wood with a blob body made it a much better performer, it was anathema to their entire philosophy, and not worth shedding all of that core identity just to help a small fraction of their fan base be the cool kids at the track.  There was - and to an extent, still is - only so far they were / are willing to go placing pure function over distinctiveness / design.  Which is good because the version of Tamiya were it to have followed that path would be one we would no longer recognize, and would hardly stand out from the crowd of race-oriented companies, and potentially still failing to excel in that department would just make them mediocre in all ways.

[mheald 351]

4 minutes ago, beefmuffin said:

There was - and to an extent, still is - only so far they were / are willing to go placing pure function over distinctiveness / design.  Which is good because the version of Tamiya were it to have followed that path would be one we would no longer recognize, and would hardly stand out from the crowd of race-oriented companies, and potentially still failing to excel in that department would just make them mediocre in all ways.

Fair and valid point dude. 

[RichiPuppy 42]

I want to get one of these, and the extra holes being filled makes me want it more.  The decals being changed really doesn't bother me, although it would have been nice to get the original grill.

[Wandy 1527]

18 hours ago, Jeffyboy403 said:

 

I only noticed the three holes for mounting the body

 

Thanks for the confirmation. I actually noticed a few weeks ago, from the photos on T-USA, that the body seemed to have been de-swiss cheesed. Now we know for sure and it is great news. 

[Wandy 1527]

I think that Tamiya must allocate a certain amount of funds for being able to produce each one of these re-releases and have a financial line that cannot be crossed. And giving the Blackfoot full Ford licencing and original grille would have crossed that line. It's the only explanation that I can come up with anyway....

[spankrjs 77]

Any under body shots? Just wondering if you can still see where the original Ranger XLT body holes/cut outs where located?

Is the hole in the hood in the same place as the Ranger XLT?

I'm guessing the windows are not "clear" like the Rangers, how tinted are they? That light tint like the rere Bruiser has would be better then the dark tint ??

[Badboy 94]

Looks good!

Me like a lot!

Badboy

[berman 5315]

Proof that Tamiya is listening. Maybe the BF3 has been discontinued, who knows? Fake sponsors and a replaceable grille etc are small fry compared to leaving holes from other chassis/bodies, and giving you stickers to fill them didn't give the impression "First in quality". As easy as it is to fill a hole ourselves, it doesn't exactly make you believe you are getting 100% effort from them, so I am happy to hear they realise that it comes across to us as cutting corners, Eventhough I won't be buying one.

[fullspectrum 97]

On 7/13/2016 at 5:06 PM, Jeffyboy403 said:

 

I only noticed the three holes for mounting the body

 

Question...Where is the new Blackfoot made? The Phillipines?

 

 

 

 

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[mheald 351]

Not sure if this has already been mentioned but the UK release date has moved forward to August 10th according to Fusion Not long noooooow!

[Jeffyboy403 57]

11 hours ago, fullspectrum said:

 

Question...Where is the new Blackfoot made? The Phillipines?

 

 

 

 

.

"2016 TAMIYA MADE IN JAPAN" is printed on the box

[fullspectrum 97]

2 hours ago, Jeffyboy403 said:

"2016 TAMIYA MADE IN JAPAN" is printed on the box

Are you serious?! I thought for sure it would be made in the Phillipines...Awesome!!!  Does anyone know if the new Monster Beetle is Made In Japan?

[GregM 1109]

If so or if not, what's the difference.

[Pintopower 1456]

Folks, the grille is all done but I need your input on cost and material. Head to TC Designs when you have a sec. 

 

[Tamiya Era 778]

If i am not mistaken,  the kit is made in Japan while the body set is made in Philippines.