Vintage Parts: Spares vs Hoarding ...thoughts?

[beefmuffin 1156]

I'm curious what other people's approach to vintage spare parts is. For a long time I'd have to say honestly my approach was to scoop up any good-to-decent deals I could find on NOS parts for my main models of interest. Basically, hoarding them instinctively, often ending up with enough parts for 2+ new built models, and being my favorites, usually I'd already have a shelfer and runner to boot.

A few months ago I decided to clean house a bit and sell off the bulk of these parts for models I either already had 1 or more built examples of, or that I didn't really care that much about. Sold loads - many to members of the TC family plus a dozen or so ebay auctions... at least. It worked to start uncluttering my home office where most of it had taken over the space. Usually though, especially if I have a vintage runner, I'd keep a certain amount of spares in anticipation of future repairs, etc, when parts will likely be even harder to find. Things like gear bags, suspension arms, chassis in some cases, etc.

But sometimes I see a really good deal on parts and can't help but snatch them up. Sometimes I avoid the urge by letting other people know about the deals and at least I did something to satisfy the impulse to pounce on rare parts for low prices. One example that has been a particular focus of my hoarding is vintage Fox parts. I have a great vintage shelfer, runner and had accumulated parts for at least 2 new builds. I sold and traded away every last Fox part I had. Then I spotted a great deal on NIP NOS rear suspension arms - a long coveted item that not too long ago could sell for $80 easily. The thing is though that although the lower rear arms are notorious for cracking, that would only be a problem on my runner... but actually my runner has Hot Trick rear lower arms that will never crack.

Recently I saw a good deal on a NIP NOS complete Fox chassis. I couldn't help myself. I'm well on my way to having all the plastics for another vintage new build. There is a legitimate argument for keeping a cache of spares. I'm curious what others here do: do you keep a complete set of vintage parts socked away for your vintage runners? Do you only keep a few select parts? Or do you not bother having spares. What's the likelihood I'd ever actually have to replace the chassis on a lightly run vintage Fox which was new built before becoming a runner? Or is a NIP chassis basically only useful for a build?

Thoughts?

[XV Pilot 1936]

I try to base my spares count on likelihood of breakage. I like to have one spare of everything as a baseline, but as for stuff that is likely to break, I like to have 2 or 3 spares at least, more if it is a regular runner.

[Pumesta 407]

I have only started to get back into R/C after 20 odd years away so can't comment on R/C parts hording. But my motto on 1:1 stuff is better looking at it than looking for it. I don't know what way it works in the rest of the world but here if a Ford dealer orders in a part they only have so long to sell it, and if they don't the price gets reduced to next to nothing and then if it still doesn't sell it gets skipped. I have a friend that works in parts and he tips me off if there are any parts for my car going cheap. I mean a boot lid that retails at £1300 for £60 you would be mad not too

[Fruitfly01 596]

I'm a bit of a pack rat so I do the hoarding thing. I look at Ebay almost every day and if I see a spare that is going at a good price, and think it might be useful one day, I'll buy it.

Just yesterday, I bought a bag of Egress metal parts (bushings, chassis posts, etc) that seemed like a bargain, as these parts sold separately amounted to four times the cost of the entire bag.

I have no idea if the parts will ever get used, but you never know. And you never know if they'll come up for sale again, let alone at such a good price. Nabbed.

Hunting for and buying parts on Ebay is as much a hobby as collecting and restoring the cars.

[taliesin 260]

I had your same theory Beef but it seems to have merged somehow into silliness and now I'm re-evaluating my theory. I used to run different cars in different places and stocked up on spares accordingly. Then somehow it began to border on ridiculous. Now I'm really making an effort to unload.

My weak spot was buying a "spare" chassis for a donor when a good deal came along. Then key parts that might break, or hop-ups when the price was right. Then I started buying "job lots" or "junkyards" often with enough parts and upgrades to build entire cars and even to refit and restore the so-called donor cars. At one point I bought out nearly all of the Tamiya stock at ridiculously low prices from a hobby shop that was going out of business - even though I didn't have many of the models.

Then I woke up one morning in a strange city only to discover I had been grazing on grass and berries and roaming totally naked in the city park for the last year mumbling about Tamiya themed tattoos with the pigeons and squirrels, and eventually I got to meet some nice law enforcement men with comfortingly vague smiles and nets. Okay, that last part didn't actually happen. Yet. (But I did buy out a hobby shop and several enormous lots of cars and parts, and ... well, it seems like the next step might be City Park and a Tamiya tattoo.)

[mynameisdannyowens 61]

I'm a bit of a hoarder too

I think it's almost reassuring and comforting knowing you can keep your cars going if they grt wrecked once or twice

There are two key secrets to success with hoarding for me though:

1) ) don't ever ever add up what you've spent on parts!

2) ) don't let the missus know how many little packages regularly arrive!

[Scapelnz 204]

My theory is if its a good deal and is part of my main area of interest (first 100 ) then I buy it, assuming I can afford at the time of course. Its amazing what you can amass in just a few years! Ive been collecting vintage parts for a Hotshot for a while now and almost have enough for a complete car, just a few bits to find now. While surfing the bay a few weeks ago I came across a parts lot for a hotshot which was a really good price so I brought it, now I almost have enough for two complete vintage hotshots! I only wanted one originally but c'est la vie

[Scapelnz 204]

My theory is if its a good deal and is part of my main area of interest (first 100 ) then I buy it, assuming I can afford at the time of course. Its amazing what you can amass in just a few years! Ive been collecting vintage parts for a Hotshot for a while now and almost have enough for a complete car, just a few bits to find now. While surfing the bay a few weeks ago I came across a parts lot for a hotshot which was a really good price so I brought it, now I almost have enough for two complete vintage hotshots! I only wanted one originally but c'est la vie

[matman 1499]

When i 1st got into RC in the 80's , i had nothing . Milk run money went on rc & i didn't make much then .

Mum had no money , so i had to do everything my self & that was hard .

I never had spares & that got to me as a kid . I could never get head in rc to keep me running .

I got there in the end , with a rebuilt Boomerang .

So now that i do have money , i go over board with the spares i never got as a kid .

It may be hoarding ? . On my part . I do have alot of spares , i could build a few boomerangs out of parts i have alone . ( re re most )

I do have vintage parts for boomerangs as well . Motors are one thing i wanted to have spare as a kid , so i do have them now .

kyosho 480 gold , i got one new for the boomerang & wish i could have had a spare , but that took 3 months to have the money .

So i think some of the habits we have reflect of what we did as a kid or what we didn't do/have as a kid ?.

I even rebuilt a boomerang vintage to what i had in the 80's , a few years ago . Almost think RC has screwed me up ..

[chickenman242tk 266]

my biggest problem is getting those spare parts then not wanting to use them. I have a few crates full of stuff and boxes everywhere but a lot of the time ill still hunt it down just so I don't use what I have.

classic example , I just did a quick rebuild on my runner grasshopper 2 build and rather than use the 5+ nip pairs of tires I have ill be heading to the shop to pick up another set of rears for this one lol.

my traxxas stuff is worse , if I needed to order a replacement part I would always order 2 no matter what it is , that's how I've ended up with 9 carby rebuild kits lol

[JHBoom 2]

I have only started to get back into R/C after 20 odd years away so can't comment on R/C parts hording. But my motto on 1:1 stuff is better looking at it than looking for it.

^^This. Emphasis added by me.

I also like the old military saying (that has unfortunately been adopted by the extreme "preppers"): "Two is one, and one is none".

I've actually got a few vintage parts trees, bought in the late '80s/early '90s for my Clod and Blackfoot, in my box of RC stuff [Which reminds me - I need to get that stuff out of the 25+ year-old cardboard box and into a proper storage container!]. I'm sure there's an item or two missing from each of those trees, as I didn't have the money back then to just buy random parts trees without actually needing to replace something... but on the plus side, I know I have a spare OG front shock tower for my BF, and a full set of spare ladder arms for my Clod, plus some other bit-piece parts on those trees.

[Snappy1 966]

Hoarder here, I buy NOS parts for kits I don't have if I think they are a resonable price.

[MadInventor 3884]

I'm exactly the opposite. I run my cars fairly infrequently now, and as a result keep next to no spares. My main runners are a TXT-1, a clod, and a gravel hound. I can't recall breaking anything on the TXT, only wearing out the main drive shafts which I replaced with traxxas revo items, the clod only gets used on a football field or beach, so fingers crossed no damage on that yet, and I just buy spares for the gravel hound as and when I need them.

I'm also lucky that having a mill and a lathe, I can make a lot of simple stuff if it gets broken or lost. My only other 'regular' runners are my scratch built models, which have few parts on them that I haven't made myself anyway.

[Wooders28 4723]

I don't hoard RC parts as such,more whole parts cars! TBH,if Marui cars come up for sale,sometimes you're better buying them,as you can guarantee when you do need parts,you'll never get them!

1:1 stuff,I'm different,mainly due to funds and space.

[beefmuffin 1156]

LOL... well, we're all over the map it seems!

I guess maybe the happy medium is to not feel like I have to completely clear out all unused parts to control clutter... but maybe not just compulsively buy unneeded parts because I got a deal and horde them. It's just so hard to pass up the really juicy deals.

I also like the old military saying (that has unfortunately been adopted by the extreme "preppers"): "Two is one, and one is none".

I like that alot. Not sure if I'll take it to heart for something as not life-or-death as R/C... but definitely a good reminder for important stuff like emergency preparedness, etc.

[markbt73 5316]

I'm actually trying really hard not to buy parts I don't actually need for a build. I have learned my lesson after buying two huge lots of RC10 parts, building 6 or 7 good cars out of them, selling those, and now being stuck with the dregs. I have fallen too many times into the trap of "hey, I have 80% of a car left over after a rebuild! I'll just track down what I'm missing--oh look, another cheap wreck! That will be a good parts donor!" Time to break the cycle, I think.

[Crash Cramer 617]

My theory is if its a good deal and is part of my main area of interest (first 100 ) then I buy it, assuming I can afford at the time of course. Its amazing what you can amass in just a few years! Ive been collecting vintage parts for a Hotshot for a while now and almost have enough for a complete car, just a few bits to find now. While surfing the bay a few weeks ago I came across a parts lot for a hotshot which was a really good price so I brought it, now I almost have enough for two complete vintage hotshots! I only wanted one originally but c'est la vie

You and I need to talk, I can see if those few bits are sitting around here. Okay???

I'm actually trying really hard not to buy parts I don't actually need for a build. I have learned my lesson after buying two huge lots of RC10 parts, building 6 or 7 good cars out of them, selling those, and now being stuck with the dregs. I have fallen too many times into the trap of "hey, I have 80% of a car left over after a rebuild! I'll just track down what I'm missing--oh look, another cheap wreck! That will be a good parts donor!" Time to break the cycle, I think.

I have done the same thing. I believe at one time I must have had 10 TA-01 style buggies here and tore them all down as I see all the screws and chassis parts and especially the front and rear arms as they seem next to indestructable. I threw the chassis away as they were cracked or really scarred, the gearbox covers were the next most broken piece and so now I have a ton of arms and some gears here.

Now don't get me started on the Hotshot as it is a weakness I tell you. I may not have many posted up here, but I have been counting lately and I have in total 13 Hotshot cars(one is a SuperShot, but brass tacks) I have spares beyond that too, but I have to call it a day on building more and I don't want to think about breaking parts that will need spares bought for them aside from tires, which I have at least 2 sets of used tires to wear all the rest of the nubs off of, so, I should get to some running and obviously to taking group photos and posting them.

I had bought a couple of small hobby shop lots out, the one shop that closed up didn't seem to have much in the way of Tamiya parts left, just the screw boxes which I was very happy to get.

I still have some errant bits still sealed in their retail packages that belong to cars I don't have and don't have the inclination to build, but it seems they just don't move here on TC or they are so common and not needed that noone seems to contact me when I post them for sale. Maybe its me, they don't like me. I can also say that now that shipping even the little stuff across the pond has gone up, it isn't getting any easier to sell off say an F parts tree with front arms where shipping is near $10 to start.

Oh well, I don't want to hoard any more things, but it has been hard to get rid of the things I have here. Tires were my weakness at one point as I have a good number of old aftermarket tires that I lusted after and bought.