Re-releases for 05

[DJTheo 2]

Don't think they would re-release the GH, as I don't think their plan is to re-release all cars, but just from every category one "milestone", my bet would be on Rough Rider, Frog, Hot Shot, 3 speed (maybe with plastic tranny and chassis?) or XC with new shell.

Cheers

[Stevenchat2000 0]

I would be gutted if they re-released the Rough rider and not the Scorcher , may be theres just to many body parts for the Scorcher[:0]

[Lordcroker 0]

I agree with ChrisB in that Tamiya should play their strongest card, which is realism. With that in mind a re-release 3-speeder would be great, but with a new shell.

This model would be priced well above the backyard basher market (due to it's complexity etc) and appeal to collectors and more adult model makers. That said it would still be a LOT cheaper than the grossly inflated ebay prices for them.

It would be more akin to the scale tank models, so perhaps a military style body? This would broaden it's appeal immensly as there are lots of military model collectors. The Hummer has already been done but there are a number of Hummvee variants, so perhaps an ambulance or missile launcher?

But please Tamiya, finish the chassis in a hard baked black enamel this time rather than the garish and unrealistic bright silver of the old ones!

I really don't see the Scorcher being re-released because it is quite frankly horribly outdated and would only appeal to the limited collectors market. No kid in their right mind would buy one to use because they would just be laughed at by others who have Fighter buggies etc.

The Scorcher is a very cool looking car and has a retro appeal, but I'm sorry but I don't think thats a good enough reason alone to restart production [V]

The Frog would also be out for similar reasons. The chassis is excellent (although a pain to clean) but the diff and front suspenion (lack of) problems are well known. It would need the front shocks/tower of the monster beetle and a Thorpe diff as standard to be acceptable to a modern day audience.

My nominations for classic Tamiyas that can still 'cut it' today would be

1, Hornet - Already been re-released, THANK YOU TAMIYA []!!!!

2, Lunchbox - Leave the comedy suspension as it is, thats what makes it such a laugh! Stronger steering linkage would be nice tho........

3, Monster Beetle - Everybody loves these, maybe a better drivetrain like that fitted to the Bush Devil.

And to be honest thats about it. The Fox and Falcon etc were good cars but don't have that special something that makes them a desirable classic, at least not in my eyes.

The 3 cars listed above all captured the R/C buyers imagination and went down in History...those are the cars that people first think of when the word Tamiya is mentioned (as well as Scorcher).

I believe that all of those cars would be strong sellers today to a very broad range of people.

Scorcher owners shouldn't be too dismayed though...at least in 'my world' the beetle shell would be available again [8D]

As for Theos remark about a new XC bodyshel...how about a Caddy Escalade or Porsche Cayenne? [] I'd love either one of those!!

[Stevenchat2000 0]

Ok I will settle for the Mk2 Pajero , how more real looking could you want ??

[J3cubfan 0]

quote:

Originally posted by DJTheo

Don't think they would re-release the GH, as I don't think their plan is to re-release all cars, but just from every category one "milestone", my bet would be on Rough Rider, Frog, Hot Shot, 3 speed (maybe with plastic tranny and chassis?) or XC with new shell.

Cheers

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The main reason why I could see the GH being re-released is because that was one of the buggys that brought the realm of affordability into hands of so many people. I would have to agree that some of the scale types such as BRAT, Scorcher and Pajero(XC) version would be out of the question.

Here's something else to think about. There's been a roar over on this side of the pond about licensing rights. In the scale modeling world, especially in the 1/24 scale cars, the model kit makers have to pay a royality to say Ford, GM or Toyota to produce kits of these cars. Sad to say, the aircraft makers are even jumping on the bandwagon but I digress. Anyway, whatever Tamiya picks, I am sure that there will some licensing royalities that will need to be paid. I am not sure if the size or scale of the model depends on the amount of the royalites paid to automotive manufacturer. Whatever the next three speed or SRB is count on it being a World reknown vehicle. Sorry, I don't think that the Escalade will count, however I could see the Porsche Cayenne. Also count on the body being made out of lexan. Just my opinion....[)]

[pleiku68(2) 0]

Tamiya did a re-release as the Grasshopper II so to speak..It was not a big hit..The probable reason was the Avante, Vanquish and Egress came out about the same time..Along with the Astute. Some tough competaton. Everyone was into Hytech back then.I too would like to see an Original Grasshopper following the same format as the Hornet new release..Slight changes but still basicly a Hornet..

quote:

Originally posted by J3cubfan

quote:

Originally posted by DJTheo

Don't think they would re-release the GH, as I don't think their plan is to re-release all cars, but just from every category one "milestone", my bet would be on Rough Rider, Frog, Hot Shot, 3 speed (maybe with plastic tranny and chassis?) or XC with new shell.

Cheers

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id="quote">id="quote">

The main reason why I could see the GH being re-released is because that was one of the buggys that brought the realm of affordability into hands of so many people. I would have to agree that some of the scale types such as BRAT, Scorcher and Pajero(XC) version would be out of the question.

Here's something else to think about. There's been a roar over on this side of the pond about licensing rights. In the scale modeling world, especially in the 1/24 scale cars, the model kit makers have to pay a royality to say Ford, GM or Toyota to produce kits of these cars. Sad to say, the aircraft makers are even jumping on the bandwagon but I digress. Anyway, whatever Tamiya picks, I am sure that there will some licensing royalities that will need to be paid. I am not sure if the size or scale of the model depends on the amount of the royalites paid to automotive manufacturer. Whatever the next three speed or SRB is count on it being a World reknown vehicle. Sorry, I don't think that the Escalade will count, however I could see the Porsche Cayenne. Also count on the body being made out of lexan. Just my opinion....[

)]

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[PTV70R 0]

How about something along the lines of the re-release 6 wheeler, i.e. an old body (Sand Scorcher!!!) on an up to date chassis ?

I certainly like the idea of a new 3-speed with a gearbox similar to the trucks to allow changes on the move and better suspension maybe.

[J3cubfan 0]

yeah, I have to agree. It sure would be nice to have some sort of insight into what's on the drawing board.

[Voltar 1]

It may be that Tamiya is testing the waters on their re-releases. The XR-311, Lancia, Dyna Storm & 6 wheeler did not sell well. The Willy II seems to be the best selling one around here. They may be watching the Hornet numbers before doing another one. Of course they are watching the numbers. Jim

[J3cubfan 0]

quote:

Originally posted by Voltar

It may be that Tamiya is testing the waters on their re-releases. The XR-311, Lancia, Dyna Storm & 6 wheeler did not sell well. The Willy II seems to be the best selling one around here. They may be watching the Hornet numbers before doing another one. Of course they are watching the numbers. Jim

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As much as the XR-311 surely bring back some memories from those who built it back in the early 80's, it really not well known now and really if you think about it, the vehicle itself is kind of obscure. Same with Tyrell in my opinion. The Lancia if I am not mistaken was a completely different configuration then the original so maybe that answers some questions about how a Sand Scorcher would do with an up to date chassis.

[Lordcroker 0]

quote: It may be that Tamiya is testing the waters on their re-releases. The XR-311, Lancia, Dyna Storm & 6 wheeler did not sell well. The Willy II seems to be the best selling one around here. They may be watching the Hornet numbers before doing another one. Of course they are watching the numbers. Jim

id="quote">id="quote">

I am also a little confused about Tamiya's re-releases.

- XR-311

As J3 mentioned, very obscure model, but released with the military collectors in mind as well as us R/C fans like my suggested 3-speeder on my previous post above?

- WILD WILLY 2

Although not my cup of tea, it was always going to be a success! A very fun car that has broad appeal, but still different enough not to affect WW1 prices. Excellent!!

DYNA STORM

WHY? The DS was a good car, but was always a high level buggy with all of the associated (sorry about the pun lol []) costs of one. Not much collectors appeal and certainly not very appealing to a racer as parts are obsolete...plus it's old tech now and MORE expensive than an RC10/Losi!!

6-WHEELER

I love this car and the new chassis is a good improvement over the original. If it wasn't so unusable (ground clearance) I'd have one, two....five [8D]

The Scorcher shell (including colour scheme and decals) on a new chassis would be great...they so nearly did it with the Blitzer Beetle as well! A Blitzer with narrow buggy front wheels, slighly shorter wishbones and all of the body details of the Scorcher....now that would be nice []

[c_a_r_t_e_r 0]

Actually, has anyone built a Blitzer/Scorcher hybrid?! Going for the whole overall look, rather than just copying the colour scheme on the Blitzer shell.

As the Blitzer is only 2WD, surely it wouldn't be difficult to substitute front and rear suspension arms with shorter ones from another buggy/Tourer, and use re-release Hornet front wheels and tyres, with appropriate buggy rears..?

I'd certainly try and pick up one of the last NIB Blitzers if this was possible, unfortunately the kit as it stands doesn't really do it for me in terms of scale/retro appeal, even with the "right" paint job.

Tim

[Stevenchat2000 0]

I converted an old Hornet into a Sandscorcher once it was really easy , I used the standard front boddy mount andfitted the rear anti roll bar onto the hornet , if I remember there were screw holes and it just screwed on it was really easy , because of the tyres/wheels it looked identical , but drove like a modern buggy[]

[Toykid 596]

I would love to know the actual sales numbers on the Tamiya re-releases. Anyone here know what actually sold and what didn't?

I do feel that the re-releases with the Hornet are starting to hit the peak of Tamiya. This may only be from my prespective but the so call 80's hay day that I remember being in my 30's is from Sand Scorcher through to the Egress to roughly give models as mile stones. I agree with the early comments regarding the first re-releases. I think the guys that had those cars the first time round do not represent the bulk of the current 30 something collector.

I do hope that Tamiya will do a Sand Scorcher re-release of some sort and also hope that the advent of the Hornet may see many more re-releases of the cars I am most fond of.

James

[Stevenchat2000 0]

If every body on here buys a Hornet (ive just done)then we may be in for a chance of more re-releases

[cardesigner 0]

I would buy the Hornet, as a matter of fact, I would buy 2, once they become available in the states.

That said, if they re-released the 80's cars (1 to 100) I would buy them no problem. What a blast from the past! I just purchased the XR311, not really my type of vehicle but I just had to have it.

I wonder if Tamiya keeps all of their tooling? It would be great to dust off the 3-speed tooling and start running those again! Even if they charged $500+ I have no problem buying a few.

In the meantime, I anxiously wait for the Hornet.

[Toykid 596]

Hey Jun,

Welcome to the forum. Talked to Tamiya this week and they told me 4 weeks until the Hornet becomes available here in the US. Can't wait.

James

[bambam 0]

I really hope they bring back the 3 speeds, specifically the mountaineer, never really cared for the brusier body. The lunchbox would be really cool also as I just can't bring myself to paying Ebay prices.

[Toykid 596]

It does seem that the Lunchbox would be popular. With Tamiya only recently discontinuing the Midnight pumpkin, I am surprised that Tamiya never re-released the Lunchbox body set in the same way as the have the wild wheeler. Personally I would like to see a re-release Grasshopper body and sand paddle tires so that you could "sort of" convert a Hornet. Then of course Tamiya could re-release the Wild one or Hot shot. Not forgetting the Sand Scorcher!

James

[Tazkat 0]

i dont know if anyone has realized but the sand scorcher was released a year or two ago, called the bliter beetle. another rerelease is the wild willy 2,another is the midnight pumpkin, another is the extreame blackfoot. the sand scorcher will never be the same as the orignal, as tamiya is continualy advancing with new materials and technology.

quote:

Originally posted by ChrisB

I have to say my vote definitely goes for the Sand Scorcher - I love these kits although I have never owned one of them.

I'm only really into getting kits to be used as runners, and the curent SS prices plus the spares availablity means its an expensive passtime keeping a runner going [V].

I'm not really into buggies, but like the way Tamiya are going with the Hornet. Would love to see the FAV and maybe the Wild One as re-releases. The early scale Baja type buggies are really the only ones I like, and sadly they are getting too rare / expensive to have as runners these days. I might be tempted by a Hornet re-release, although the body shape doesn't quite do it for me......

I think Tamiya needs to play to their strengths, which imho are realism and detail.

They are going to have a tough time competing on the Stadium truck / touring car racing scene, so why not go more towards the scale / detail side of RC where they have excelled in the past?

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[killerkip 0]

The cars I would instantly buy, if re-released:

1. Lunch box (always wanted one: didn't have the cash when it was in stores due to being a kid, now I don't have the cash because prices are, well, ridiculous. Plus, it would be cheap to re-release since they still produce the pumpkin. In fact, if they would just re-release the body, I'd probably get a bunch of those )

2. Mountaineer... Lovely engineering...

3. Avante. Reason: see 2.

[Toykid 596]

Hi Tazkat,

Yes your right Tamiya has released kits that share parts or names with older models but I what I am talking about are the re-release "replica" kits where Tamiya has pretty much kept the entire kit the same as it was first released, examples include:

Ferrari 312T3

XR311

Tyrrel P34 six wheeler (sort of as chassis is all new)

Hornet

Tamiya's decision to release old bodies (with minor mods) with new chassis such as the Blitzer & Wild Willy2 have been very well received and due to the various updates have a much broader audience. I think what many people here get excited about it the chance to own a brand new kit pretty much exactly as it was in the 80's with out having to pay a very high price on Ebay.

James

[yannick 0]

I want a brat...just love that car []

[DJTheo 2]

quote:I would be gutted if they re-released the Rough rider and not the Scorcher , may be theres just to many body parts for the Scorcher

id="quote">id="quote">

No, I don't think that would be the reason, I said RR because I don't think they would re-release the SS to keep it legend and also not to destroy their relation with Tamiya collectors, if you check TC stats, its anyway already the most owned car, maybe also due to the fact that Beetles are too sweet to trash? Also I said RR as it was the first Tamiya buggy of all and the SS has been re-released too many times (MB, BB, BB chrome).

quote:I would have to agree that some of the scale types such as BRAT, Scorcher and Pajero(XC) version would be out of the question.

id="quote">id="quote">

Actually they re-released the Brat body last year, so a Frog re-release could make sense, as you could even convert it to a Brat.

quote:The XR-311, Lancia, Dyna Storm & 6 wheeler did not sell well.

id="quote">id="quote">

Actually we don't really know, as Tamiya doesn't give out numbers, maybe they just produced too many, btw I don't think at least the Lancia sold bad, at least in Germany.

quote:I wonder if Tamiya keeps all of their tooling?

id="quote">id="quote">

No, but they have all the tooling in CAD/CAM files, so no problem for them to reproduce anything.

Cheers

[ngbee 0]

I'd say the Frog has to be a strong contender. Shares wheels and tyres with the Hornet and the chasis design still recently in production.

Incedentally I just noticed an eBay seller in Japan sold a NIB Frog a couple of days ago and a NIB Brat just listed today on eBay from another seller in Japan. Maybe offloading old kits while theyre still worth something ?? []