the 2nd time around? longer lease on life?

[Saito2]

A common theme among us long time club members is our span of interest in the hobby. Often times the story is we get into Tamiya as kids then drop it when we get older as real cars, girls, etc. start distracting us. Later we get back into the hobby. This is part of the reason why re-releases work so well. I've noticed that my interest (now likely life-long at this point) has lasted far longer the 2nd time around than the first, despite the first time being smack in the middle of the '80s peak of the hobby. I always was aware of the hobby as a child but got hardcore into it in 1986. This ran until about 1994 or so. Nine years. I got back in at about 2002 when I randomly came across a Wild Willy 2. As the original Wild Willy was "the one that got away" (I looked EVERYWHERE in the tri-state area for one at one point), the Wild Willy 2 certainly got my attention and reeled me back in. So now its about 16 years in and still going strong.

The same seems to be true for some re-releases. How long was the original Hot Shot on the shelves? The re-re came out around '07 and is still selling. So how was your timeline of interest? Did you fade out and then come back in? Was it steady interest? Maybe you came in fresh, post 80's heyday, and have kept with it.

[howaboutme]

Nice post!

I just started my 2nd time around and I'm hoping it lasts much, much longer than the 1st. Just like you, the 1st was as a young child in the 80s. My first car was a HS2 and it was way too much for my young self to build. I ended up having to ask my LHS for help. In any case, I loved that thing and still had it up until a few years ago when my folks finally said, "Why is this thing still here in our garage?" (said NOT to me, of course! ) and threw it out. While dabbing in Tamiya, I also tried to get into rc planes....but didn't get far w/ that considering  how young I was and how disinterested (and unaware) my parents were. (Ok, I was a bit too spoiled.)

Then, like you said, life moved on! Priorities change.

Now, w/ 2 kids that are just old enough that my wife won't slap me for asking to take a few hours out of the house every once in a while, I just came back a month or so ago and built the Hot Shot re-re. (All by myself!) And from there I also got a RC10 Worlds re-re that I am about to start building into something I can learn to race and also got the new Tamiya Mercedes AMG GT3 TT-02. Needless to say, it's been addicting and I've already spent too much money....

[MadInventor]

1st time round from around 7-8 till probably around 19-20, then got back in big time when I started on Ebay in around 2005, so about the same timeframe for both, but I've still got major interest now, and have of course expanded into scratch building my own vehicles, so I think this time round It'll porbably outlast the first stint. Still primarily interested in the models from the 80's with the exception of my Juggernauts and TXT-1s, and of course the scratch built stuff.

 

 

[TurnipJF]

I don't suppose I really had a "first time around" unless you count the toy-grade car I had as a kid. That lasted until the electronics in the car failed, and of course being toy-grade there were no spares available, so that was that.

 

As an adult, I see this being a lasting interest - I have the funds to afford proper hobby-grade gear, I have friends and colleagues to race and bash with, I have a couple of clubs nearby for organised racing, and I have a partner who supports my hobby. Everything looks set for a long and happy RC "career"!

 

[speedy_w_beans]

I'm a relative newcomer to the hobby starting in 2010.  As a pre-teen and early teen I mostly built static models, a few of them Tamiya.  They always made the best model kits.  Then I got distracted with computers and cars and studied hard at university.  Once I finished school I started working, married, and was busy helping raise the kids.  Every few years I'd grab a copy of RC Car Action's annual buyer's guide, but it wasn't until my son was old enough in 2010 that we took the plunge and bought the first kit.  My interest level has gone up and down over the past 6 years, but I'm still plugging away at old projects and new projects.  I don't see any reason to stop; this hobby will probably stick with me through retirement.

[Theibault]

I have been non stop since '85. The longest break I took was 7 months, my freshman year of college. I will be doing this till the day I die. 31+ years so far. 

[Jonathon Gillham]

I suspect my story is the same, some toy cars as a kid which broke pretty quickly in the mid 80s, then a tamiya boomerang and a couple of touring cars from about 1990 onwards, the last of which i still have, but sorely miss the boomerang. The last was raced in about 1996 i think. 

 

Fast forward 20 years, i've just bought 2 tt02b kits with my 3 1/2 yr old son as justification, although not sure how he is justifying the 13.5t motor i just ordered...but anyway, this time round looks like it will be long term. We are currently in the process of leaving the city and buying a lifestyle block, so the plans for the 1/10 offroad track are well underway. Like its already been mentioned, having a reasonable income really helps!

[chevelle]

I Was in love with the hobby for 12 years (until 2001) Then I had a massive life change, I moved Countries and had to start again . RC was never far from my mind & after 2 years of hard work to re-establish myself, I got back in to the hobby & my collection has grown again from there 

[Wooders28]

Sounding familiar!

Always loved cars. I was bought a toy rc car when I was 5-6 ish, which just didn't go fast enough, so booted it to make it go quicker, and broke it. Saw a hornet running, begged for one, got a frog  (close enough).Raced it, not quick enough,late 80's got an ultima  (paper round at this point) and a mid. Raced up until the early 90's, then the cost to race shot up when transducers appeared, just as the RC mags where concentrating more on more on touring cars (not my bag for some reason).The usual, 1:1 cars, pubs,women, higher education, job , move country, mortgage.

Saw a Dark Impact in a model shop late 2000's (you can't just walk past a model shop,Something you don't get online!!!), and at the time of life where I could just buy it, and here I am! 😀