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beefmuffin

Rc car action magazine 1986 - 1999 complete pdf archives

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Hey guys - I recently got my hands on complete scanned copies of all vintage issues of RC Car Action magazine between its launch in 1986 thru 1999.

Here is a link to the first issue! [LINK REMOVED - SEE BELOW]

All 14 years of issues can be downloaded as one ZIP file per year at this link: [LINK REMOVED - SEE BELOW]

Here's a taste... enjoy!

26577597305_4c092bfb68_o.jpg

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Looking through the 1986 mags... I remember having the Fall issue when I was a kid... I remember the cover and the "centerfold"... I think I was starting High School or it might have been 8th grade...

Too funny...

Terry

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You, sir, rule. Will snag these when I get home to my own computer tonight.

(Too bad they don't have all the old ads in them, though. That's half the fun...)

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Thank you! I have ALOT of RCCA's in my collection but never laid eyes on the first issue. Its great! Thanks again!

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Thanks guys!  I have yet to even read through more than a handful.  There's just so much goodness to explore.

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I regret selling all my issues from 86' to 90' to someone from the UK on eBay back in the early 2000s. I only kept the issue I was in

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The legality of these files is probably iffy.

If you want the complete set and stay legal, you can download them from the website with a premium subscription for $20 (or thereabouts).

This will also give you all the latest issues and a year of new issues. Quite a steal if you ask me*

*without actually stealing that is ;-)

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27 minutes ago, Yonez said:

The legality of these files is probably iffy.

If you want the complete set and stay legal, you can download them from the website with a premium subscription for $20 (or thereabouts).

This will also give you all the latest issues and a year of new issues. Quite a steal if you ask me*

*without actually stealing that is ;-)

Well, OK then.  :mellow:

Just to be clear, these were all downloaded from publicly available links and I'm sharing them with people without any kind of selling or profiting of any kind.  I didn't know there was any way to still pay for them, until now.  But, now that you've pointed this out I guess I can't ignore it and have to remove the links.

If anyone would like access to these for their own personal use, and who would never ever actually pay for them, thereby causing no negative impact whatsoever to anyone's business, send me a PM.

 

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Well, I do remember downloading these magazines on PDF back in 2008 or 2009. If they were available for free back then, then what are these guys trying to do right now?

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18 minutes ago, mongoose1983 said:

Well, I do remember downloading these magazines on PDF back in 2008 or 2009. If they were available for free back then, then what are these guys trying to do right now?

Hey Erich - well the PDFs do all seem to have been created around 2008, are all the same (high) quality, are named the same way in my files and also in a number of other places I've seen they can be downloaded, and are complete for that whole span of time.  So I'd wager these were in fact made publicly available by RCCA themselves (for free) at some point.  To me that would suggest further distributing them non-commercially should be a fair use.  But the fact that they are now charging for access to them muddies those waters.  If Yonez hadn't openly questioned the legality and pointed out they were available for-pay I don't think there would have been any problem leaving the links.  But with those points made I think it best to not have the links out in the open.

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I think they're offering these archives as part of the benefits of being a member. But they previously were officially available for free.

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Well, "legal" or not, I snagged the first few years. After that I lost interest in the magazine anyway.

Just going through the '86 and '87 issues was quite a trip down memory lane. I had forgotten how much of a DIY spirit they had back then: plans to make body mounts (and even full chassis) out of aircraft plywood, "tech tips" that involved Dixie cups as fenders... all stuff you don't see much of any more. Makes me want to go back and build some of those DIY projects now, just to see...

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Agree with you Mark, that it's a shame they don't have all the vintage ads in them, as that's some of the best stuff. And yes these PDFs were online years ago for free. Seems strange to try to "monetize" this now. 

That said, R/C Car Action was the perfect R/C magazine when it began. I have every physical issue from the beginning until somewhere in the early 1990s. In the early issues, it perfectly captured the straightforward, fun, low-barrier-to-entry nature of the world of R/C in 1986. It wasn't written by racing snobs. They even did a review of the Tyco Turbo Hopper and the Nikko Rhino. The mag was 100% devoted to getting people involved, and always had some time for "introducing" the hobby to newcomers. It's great to look back on, as it reflects exactly where many of us were at, with our level of R/C experience at that time.

By 1992, it was nothing like where it began. It was for racers only. You hardly even saw a Tamiya in it. They completely lost me in those years, and I never went back.

Today all I see when I pick up modern R/C magazines, is the odd paragraph of nostalgia over Tamiya reissues, and loads of chicks posing in bras with race winners (equal parts sad and hilarious)... it's like a gold mine waiting to be found by Jimmy Fallon or someone.

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14 hours ago, beefmuffin said:

Well, OK then.  :mellow:

Just to be clear, these were all downloaded from publicly available links and I'm sharing them with people without any kind of selling or profiting of any kind.  I didn't know there was any way to still pay for them, until now.  But, now that you've pointed this out I guess I can't ignore it and have to remove the links.

If anyone would like access to these for their own personal use, and who would never ever actually pay for them, thereby causing no negative impact whatsoever to anyone's business, send me a PM.

 

NO!! I have not been able to download them , Darn slow internet .

I did try the other day , But it was way way way did i say WAY WAY to slow .

So thanks any way Beef . 

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1 hour ago, matman said:

NO!! I have not been able to download them , Darn slow internet .

I did try the other day , But it was way way way did i say WAY WAY to slow .

So thanks any way Beef . 

No worries, Mat - sending you the link by PM.  Anyone who wants it, just PM me.

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or google search the thread title, and look at the cached version of the page for the link ;)

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EDIT: didn't refresh the tab so didn't see Percymon's reply

Search your browsers log for drive.google and it should pop right up. 

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The worst part about looking through these is they're making me want a set (or two) of Advance Mini-Mags... and I know what those things go for these days...

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If I would have known I would have downloaded all of them. I have 1989 zip file but that is it. 

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On 4/26/2016 at 8:00 PM, markbt73 said:

Just going through the '86 and '87 issues was quite a trip down memory lane. I had forgotten how much of a DIY spirit they had back then: plans to make body mounts (and even full chassis) out of aircraft plywood, "tech tips" that involved Dixie cups as fenders... all stuff you don't see much of any more. Makes me want to go back and build some of those DIY projects now, just to see...

I loved the DIY chassis article and the article on making your own NiCd packs. The things we had to do. The times have changed!

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