Thinking of selling them...

[kwkenuf]

So I have my Hornet and Frog running.  What I have come to find out is that these are terrible to drive in my yard.  Yeah,  my yard may not be the best manicured in the area,  but holy cow do these buggies bounce all around.  I can't even hold a straight line with them.  Sometimes they will even hit bumps right and flip on their lids going (or at least trying to go) straight.

I enjoy my Stampede a whole lot more than these.  So does my oldest daughter,  she is the only one that has really been driving them with me on a regular basis.  So I am at the point that I want to remove all the new components I have put into the Hornet/Frog so I can build a couple more Stampedes or something like that,  and sell these vintage buggies and all the extra parts I have for them to help fund the new builds.  I have all parts for someone to make them go,  sans the radio.  My question is this...  what kind of a price do these vintage vehicles command?  If these things don't really bring that much,  I will simply keep them.  Truthfully I am only going down the selling road because I promised my wife I would.  I have aluminum nerf bars for both.  The Hornet has a torsion bar set-up also.  Aftermarket shocks for both.  Working MSC and motor for both.  Multiple wheel/tire sets for both.  Here is a picture I had posted in my first post on this site...

Kind of just talking out loud here seeing what others may say and suggest.

[WillyChang]

Used Frog & Hornet aren't worth much I'm afraid, "giveaway cheap" is about the going rate 

T rereleased them 15yrs ago and have kept pumping out an endless supply of these 2 unlike some of the other later reres, 1st batch of which soldout quick and they didn't keep making more.

Market is saturated with used examples, mostly only slightly used as ppl buy the kit with nostalgic intentions, build them then discover they handle in "true vintage" style  hey these 35yo designs are akin Ford Model-A, it ain't a Raptor! 

[kwkenuf]

Pretty much what I figured.  I was able to do a little more research on what they have been going for on eBay and the like.  Just as you said, not much.  Oh well.  If they aren't worth much I will keep them.  Didn't really want to sell them, but I thought if I could get a certain number out of them I would.  Might make them into sand runners and take them to the beach.  We will see what the future holds!

[WillyChang]

btw what electrics are you running them with?

Vintage Hornet & Frog were designed back when they had to carry a big heavy 6cell humppack, 4xAA receiver battery and RX & 2 servos weighing 100g+.

If you've lost much of that ballast by using modern 7g RX with BEC, 1 servo and lipo pack at half the weight & 5x the power... the suspension won't have enough weight to make it work. 

Modern tyres (or at least fresh rubber!) also makes a huge difference.

In any event, no amt of tinkering is gunna make them match a latemodel Traxxas for durability & ease of use though.

[kwkenuf]

Lol!  Exactly what you just described!  Tiny Rx, light ESC (HW 1060), and a 6-cell NIMH pack.  These things are extremely fun on the street though!  They fly with the Sport Tuned motor I put in them, at least they are fast for what I am used to.  They would be awesome on a decently smooth dirt surface too.

I made some mounting surfaces out of .060 aluminum for both of them.  May e I will try finding some stainless steel to make them out of just to get some additional weight in them and see how they do.

I guess since I am probably keeping them I can follow through with new wheels/tires I wanted to get earlier.  Them stupid cheap ones on eBay keep drawing me back in.

[Frog Jumper]

Let me know if you'll sell the decals separately...  I'd like to get those, especially the Frog ones...

Thanks,

Terry

 

[Hibernaculum]

Owning and running vintage R/C cars isn't for everyone, and needs to be done with a bit of a "vintage mindset" in my humble view - in other words, try to set your expectations to that of a 10 year old, in 1984  No, these cars will never handle as well as some characterless chinese RTR you can buy today. But vintage R/C cars should never be looked at purely in terms of performance. Just as with full sized cars. You have to love them for their style, their legend, and the era they represent - warts and all.

Yes, you should run them with 4xAA cells, for the extra bit of weight, as Willy says.

As for resale, the keys to the best price are (in my opinion):

• Good photos on a white background.
• Cleanliness (make the effort to clean the car!).
• 100% Working (make the effort to test the car!).
• Honesty and detail.
• Do not list for bidding. Set your price and wait.

Most people on eBay make very little effort with their listings. They list filthy, busted cars, with no description, for bidding, and get nothing for them. But buyers are happy to pay much more for things that are clean and usable. So whenever people ask me "how much is my car worth?", I usually say "how much time are you willing to spend on it?". The difference can easily be $100, or a lot more.

All used vintage R/C prices are governed by the value of vintage NIB prices (ie. a used vintage car can never be worth more than a vintage NIB example).

Things are worth what people are prepared to pay. NIB vintage Hornet and Frog are worth about AU$500 and AU$600 under buy-it-now. Which is at least triple the value of the remake kits, which first appeared in 2005. There's no reason why used vintage examples can't maintain that value ratio, relative to used remake examples. It's all about condition, presentation, explanation, originality etc.

And never list anything for bidding. eBay was good (for sellers) for bidding wars back in the early days when tons of people were fighting over limited listings, but not anymore. Today, eBay is vastly overstocked in every category. Bidding is generally weak, and this applies to everything, not just R/C. Of course, this makes it a boon for buyers, but I am writing here for the point of view of sellers  And for sellers, bidding is absolutely terrible. And the weak bidding has nothing to do with the proliferation of the Tamiya remakes.

Do your research, set your price, present the item really well, and wait. That's my advice for sellers.

All just IMO. 

H.

 

 

 

[racer1]

I feel where you are coming from. The "Unique" handling of a vintage buggy is hit or miss for some folks. I personally love the different handling quirks of the various Tamiya models but that's just me. If you are going from Something like a Stampede to a Hornet you are not going to be happy. I buddy of mine a few years back was accustomed to running his Slash then decided to buy a Brat. Needless to say I was about to pick up a very nice lightly used Brat for almost nothing a week after he was finished building it as it didn't compare to the Slash. 

In all honestly the last Hornet I bought off Ebay was about a year ago but it I picked it up for almost nothing. I'd need to look it up but I want to say it was around $30 USD with a pretty nice clear body and a brand new set of re-re decals, wheels and tires running and ready to go. Haven't bought a Frog in a while but a quick look at Ebay shows them sold anywhere from $30 to $60 for used examples with new builds brings a little more. 

Like someone else said, Tamiya flooded the market with these so there just isn't a market for them right now. 

[Cplus]

I beg to differ on the comments about no value. 

I cleaned up a frog a little while back and fixed the few broken parts it had and sold it for around $300AU of memory serves me correct. 

Also, items such as the original Brat Rubber, Hump Battery and spare sticker sheet etc all netted some more good coin on top. 

Present it well, and sell somewhere like eBay - as opposed here where the vultures want you to pay them to take the items away pretty much - and you will get a tidy sum. 

[Hibernaculum]

Yep, that is exactly the way to do it CPlus. 

I regularly sell vintage RTR models (so called "toy grade") for more than most people get for their vintage Tamiyas. Admittedly, there are different factors involved in this - many of those models are harder to find in decent condition than hobby models, due to their RTR nature and the fact so few brand new or lightly used examples remain in existence.

But still, on the face of it, there is something odd about the fact that I can routinely sell a used vintage Taiyo buggy (originally worth half that of a typical Tamiya back in the day), for $200-$300, while many are letting Hornets and Frogs go for $50-$100.

But a big part of the reason is I typically enjoy spending hours on each car - pulling it apart, cleaning, testing and photographing everything. I do this because I just enjoy the act of bringing old toys back to life... its relaxing! And not a chore.

There is something about R/C culture for many people though, where many (most?) sellers just seem to find the old car in the shed, and chuck it on eBay, with zero effort or care factor. The "vintage" side of this hobby is still very young and many average Joes out there seem to have little appreciation for toys from the 1980s, as they consider them "not that old". Whereas if you were talking about say, toys from the 1940s, even a casual seller would probably treat it with a degree of respect and care, and perhaps even clean it up before selling it  

Ultimately, you get out of this hobby what you put into it  

H. 

[NWarty]

I just sold a diecast 1/72 fighter jet on ebay for $70 more than any other example in the last six months ($200 all in with shipping). It was used and displayed but had the original box. I guarantee you that it sold for that much because I included 10 photos with a white background, detailed description and disclosed any flaws, and told a great story about it. Boom. Surprised the heck out of me.  

Every other completed listing had a single sentence in the description and one or two photos. This is how I've bought Tamiyas on the cheap on ebay. 

There's currently a vintage Hotshot that has a wonderful description and many photos which is already up over $200.