What is it about Tamiya?

[Juggular 4964]

17 hours ago, Juls1 said:

a modest collection of about 30

lol... "modest" isn't how I describe 30 cars.  You are too modest.  Last time you introduced me to Zahhak, now I'm looking into Vaterra Glamis. I wonder if Glamis Uno is as good as Fear?  

[Juls1 1661]

3 hours ago, Juggular said:

lol... "modest" isn't how I describe 30 cars.  You are too modest.  Last time you introduced me to Zahhak, now I'm looking into Vaterra Glamis. I wonder if Glamis Uno is as good as Fear?  

They are both good. Comes down to your preferred look, I think handling is pretty similar, I have a fear my friend bought the uno same day. We both love those cars. The vaterra limited slip diff is total magic, it makes the car in many ways. I just wish all RC cars could have access to that diff.

It’s a shame vaterra discontinued all the good cars and the only ones they still sell are just $&@?!:/$)&@.  I think the glamis got overlooked by so many people, one drive of a glamis and it’s just like OMG!  Especially with those vaterra paddle tyres with the big gaps in the paddles on the beach, 2 metre rooster tails out the back and a thunk thunk thunk thunk noise as each paddle bites the sand. Then you launch the thing off a 3 metre high sand dune and it just glides through the air and effortlessly back on its feet. 

Actually vaterra are as$@!?es for discontinuing it, and it’s parts.

i still love my tamiyas though, I don’t think I’d buy another vaterra ever, unless they got there stuff together.

[Chicken Man 32]

All those memories of going to the big hobby shops with dad seeing the tamiya's, could never afford one until into my teen years. Got a second hand super hornet and thrashed the guts out of it for years then moved on to "bigger and better". The super hornet much to my shame ended up in the bin because I mean who would want to drive that with all these awesome modern cars. Anyway years later I see a tamiya wild one brand new going dirt cheap, building that just opened my eyes to something I didn't even know I was missing. Added more tamiya's to my collection since but am yet to bag a super hornet.

 

[Mahjik 197]

First post, but not new to RC...  (long time lurker, new member)...

 

I believe it has to do with Tamiya's original business model of making something that resembles (for the most part) what you see in real life.  The Buggy Champ is a great example of that...  Looks like something right out of a 80's baja event!  While the cars were never really "race" focused, they were basically a controllable "scale model" which is what lured many people towards Tamiya.

 

Also, I think Tamiya's strategy with marketing was a huge gamble but paid off..  I'm referring to their box art.  I still remember staring at the Grasshopper and Frog boxes in the hobby store as a kid.  Regardless of what else a hobby store would offer, the artistic way they represented their RC vehicles on the boxes was going to visually out-shine anything else..  If you knew nothing about RC equipment, a Tamiya box would make you not even think about any other vendor.

[Swarm 242]

Childhood memories.

Quality kits.

Those 2 little Stars on each box.

Hunting for that elusive old school kit with that blister pack goodness.

Value for money.

Because my heart skips a beat when I find that kit that I have yearned for.

😍

 

[Juggular 4964]

3 hours ago, Mahjik said:

First post, but not new to RC...  (long time lurker, new member)...

.....basically a controllable "scale model".....

..... box art.  ..... the artistic way they represented their RC vehicles on the boxes was going to visually out-shine anything else..  

1

Welcome, and well-said.  

[Parkesy 103]

Mostly nostalgia for me. That’s what everyone was running when I was a kid and it was a great time to be young in the late 80’s/early 90’s. We’d take ours down the bmx track or other places where cars were popular and everyone would swap info and let each other drive their cars. And it was pretty much all Tamiya in Melbourne Australia back then. Not sure what the rest of the world was doing but if there were any other brands getting around we didn’t wanna know about them! 

The way they looked on the box, all the plastic parts on the trees and knowing you were going to spend several nights sitting down with Dad or your brother building them and fixing them was awesome. They just had so much character and it brings back such happy times. I’ve even got Dad a Hornet for his upcoming 70th and I reckon he’ll be just as stoked seeing that box art and building it as we were 30 years ago!

[Saito2 6686]

Back in the day, before we thought about questions like this, Tamiya had a lot going for them. The boxart is dynamic and iconic. That and the cars themselves, all had personality, even if you never owned one. Few outside of Marui, came close to this. The RC10 is great and all, but in the end, which has more character, the alphanumeric "RC10" or the Grasshopper, Hornet, Frog, Fox etc.? Those names, the looks, all added up to character. The guidebooks cast the cars in an almost "adult" professional manner. Beautiful photography. The mere fact that they had such a range of cars meant you could find a Tamiya you liked. People tend to forget just how terrible some cars were. Tamiya's weren't flawless but their manuals were. Manuals form other manufactures, even Kyosho, could have errors. Tamiyas also rarely had any missing pieces. 

So, you buy a Tamiya kit because they looked so cool in the hobby shop or in the guidebook. You put it together and the manual is correct, all the pieces are there and all the pieces fit. Then you drive the daylights out of it as a kid and love every minute of it. You built it, you run it, you invest it with soul which is easy because it had soul to begin with. The other side of the coin is the kid who got one of the dozens of lesser manufacturers kits (who are long gone now). The instructions are infuriating and confusing AND wrong. Parts are missing and it breaks on the maiden voyage. Spares are non existent because that company didn't care because they already got your money. So the car goes in the trash and that kid forgets about RC. Now see why we come back to Tamiya?

Tamiya is not out for a quick buck. Sure, they are a business and they want to make money BUT they care about what they do. Twin stars. Red and Blue. Passion and precision, built into every product. It shows, and we pick up on that as customers. If you read about the drive and passion Fumito Taki had to get Tamiya into RC (Tamiya already being passionate model makers themselves starting with Shunsaku Tamiya himself) it's inspiring. It shows to this day. 

They have given me so much in life and though I have ups and downs with them at times, I'm a Tamiya diehard forever. If I'm not fiddling around with a Tamiya of some sort, I'm probably dead.

[Juggular 4964]

Well, Saito2, that was brilliant.  I had to agree with every word.  

[Saito2 6686]

Thank you Juggular. Sorry for the long post. I tend to be passionate about Tamiya.

[Re-Bugged 10150]

A Tamiya can become an extension of ones own character too.

You seem to enter into a more complete experience from deciding which kit to go for, ordering it, or picking it up from from your LHS. Then the opening of the box to reveal the contents is all your Christmas’s in one hit. Then you make it yours buy finishing the blank canvas Tamiya started for you 

Just luv’ em. 

[Driveforfun 69]

I think it's a good question,  you've got "budget" RCs like redcat that have stout drivetrains and are quick out of the box, but certainly nowhere near as cool and satisfying as a slower, plastic gear Tamiya you built yourself, decalled, etc. Ive not yet traded or sold any of my Tamiyas yet. 

As a musician, reminds me of a guitar Ive sweat on so much on stage , I have special bond with it.

[Palfertronic 74]

I agree with a lot of what is being said here, For me, its the spares support, especially the Grasshopper, Hornet, GH2 Dt02/03...you could make a whole car from the just spares..(although it would be an expensive way to do it!)

For the younger drivers out there, having that level of spares support keeps then from getting bored, waiting for parts..

Plus the best written manuals on the market...anyone can build a Tamiya!

[novicelad 787]

19 minutes ago, Palfertronic said:

 

Plus the best written manuals on the market...anyone can build a Tamiya!

Yeah but don't tell anyone 'cos normal people think your really clever! 

[Jonathon Gillham 4606]

20 hours ago, novicelad said:

Yeah but don't tell anyone 'cos normal people think your really clever! 

Haha this is so true!