Where do you live and how long have you been into Tamiya?

[Guest]

Weybridge, Surrey, UK - Got my first tamiya (Clodbuster) when I was about 15 and still have it. Left the hobby for some years and returned recently. Have brought a lot in that time, but now trying to settle into M chassis and TA chassis cars. There really is nothing quite as satisfying as completing a build and painting it as you imagined. 

[Grumpy pants]

This reads like an AA meeting....

Surbiton in Surrey is home and I bought my 1st Tamiya in 1985 as a 15 year old, a Toyota Hilux 3 speed. 

My best friend got a Sand Scorcher the year before and that got my interest going. 

That was it until 2008 when the recession hit and I wanted a cheap Homebased hobby that my young family might enjoy with me.

Then I really got hooked about 5 years later buying as many models as possible, it did get a bit out of hand tbh. 

I now have  9 which I enjoy owning but they rarely see receive any attention, but the interest is still there and I hope to find the time to tinker and run them soon.

[TwistedxSlayer]

Bolton, England. Been into Tamiya since 1999, got my 1st Tamiya which was an Impreza QD, then in 2001 got my 1st kit which was a TB01.

[Parkesy]

Mornington Peninsula, Melbourne, Australia. I started in late 80’s when my  Dad and i built a fox (still running). Over the next few years there were frequent trips to the local bmx tracks and parks, meeting and chatting with other Tamiya kids and parents. I was obsessed with the catalogues and would just stare at them dreaming about the different cars I wanted. By mid teens I lost interest and got into skateboarding and underage drinking 😆 

Now I’ve got a 5 year old son and he took a liking to rc cars. A few cheap Kmart ones got trashed then I thought “why don’t I get him a Tamiya like I used to have!?” So I got my old fox back, him a grasshopper and then the obsession was reborn. I’ve got too many hobbies and not enough time or money for another but I can’t fight it off! 😂

[JeffSpicoli]

Amazed at all the people we have in the UK and Australia!   Gotta be a lot of BRAT owners down under?

[skinned]

im from way north Indiana u.s.a.  got the brat when it first came out(seen it in a magazine ad)....gonna buy a Tamiya in a few days...

 

[InsaneJim69]

I am from Aberdeen, Scotland. Got my first Tamiya quite late actually ☹️🙄, I was 16 and worked with my dad painting and decorating and got enough saved up to buy a TL01 Subaru Impreza WRC from my local Beatties (god I miss that store) . But always remember when I was younger looking through my mum's catalogues Littlewoods and Great Universal and seeing the Tamiya Clod Buster etc in them, also in the Beatties catalogue that came in the mail etc too. Again loved just drooling over the pics of all the cars and vehicles etc.

Now I have a 4 year old son and a 16 month old son along with another son that is due to be born in 3 weeks time (so basically any day now) . And so far my 4 year old has shown a very keen interest, so I rebuilt an old Grasshopper I bought on here for him and fitted a madbull body (still needs painted) so no doubt there will be many many birthdays and christmas filled with Tamiya and R/C in general.👍😁

James.

[Juggular]

2 hours ago, InsaneJim69 said:

I am from Aberdeen, Scotland. 　[SELECTIVE EDITING]

 I have a .... son that is due to be born in 3 weeks time (so basically any day now) . ... has shown a very keen interest, so I .... filled with Tamiya and R/C in general.👍😁

James.

sorry... I couldn't help it.  That's how I read it.  lol...  I just cut out some phrases to what you wrote, and you became a perfect RC dad!  

I wanna be your son!  I hope you don't take offense at editing...   

 

 

[WillyChang]

5 hours ago, JeffSpicoli said:

Amazed at all the people we have in the UK and Australia!   Gotta be a lot of BRAT owners down under?

Tamiya's earliest export agents were Oz (toyTraders) & UK (RichardKonstam aka RIKO) then they went MRC for USA. Hence high % of early 1970s product landed there, with good local marketing efforts.

Conversely they were a pretty exotic rare brand around SEAsia until late 80s as distribution was scattered & inconsistent, unless one visited HongKong or Singapore for shopping regularly.

[JeffSpicoli]

54 minutes ago, WillyChang said:

Tamiya's earliest export agents were Oz (toyTraders) & UK (RichardKonstam aka RIKO) then they went MRC for USA. Hence high % of early 1970s product landed there, with good local marketing efforts.

Conversely they were a pretty exotic rare brand around SEAsia until late 80s as distribution was scattered & inconsistent, unless one visited HongKong or Singapore for shopping regularly.

ah yes I remember Model Rectifier Corporation.

[racer1]

I live in Des Plaines IL. USA. About 15 mins outside of Chicago.  I got started with Tamiya at 11 yrs old.  My first car was a Grasshopper which I built over the course of about 6 months as I saved u money to buy the radio, battery, charger etc.  I ran that car silly for the first two years. I finally had the chance to restore the old Grasshopper back to showroom condition last year.  Yes I still own the first car I every bought. At 13 my mother bought me an AristoCraft Kangaroo for my Birthday which surprisingly turned out to be a great car. 

A year or so later came a Brusier then eventually a King Cab.  I took a short break from RC from about 18 to 21 then got back into it with an HPI RS4 Lamborghini.  From there I decided that Tamiya and Kyosho was the brands I wanted to focus on.  At one point i worked for a local hobby shop in the RC department then moved on to doing repair work myself at home. As my career grew so did my collection. I can't even begin to count the number of cars that have been bought, sold, traded, built, restored, etc etc.   

I took a quick inventory back in Dec. of  lastyear for insurance and couldn't 335 cars total with about 75% being Tamiya but there is a little bit of everything mixed in there 

 

 

[Shodog]

I live in San Jose California, right in the heart of sillycon valley. I’ve been into Tamiya for about a year now and well probably the prior year too.  Pretty much the other previous 36 years I was into Tamiya also. I saw a sand scorcher when I was 12 and I was hooked. I got a Tamiya Frog for my 13th birthday which started my love affair with R/C cars. 

[Pauli330]

I come from lower Austria and started with a Lunchbox in the 80s. Came back to RC in 2013 due to a christmas present (Schnitzer M3) from my wife and since then the building queue is growing constantly. 

[JeffSpicoli]

16 hours ago, racer1 said:

I live in Des Plaines IL. USA. About 15 mins outside of Chicago.  I got started with Tamiya at 11 yrs old.  My first car was a Grasshopper which I built over the course of about 6 months as I saved u money to buy the radio, battery, charger etc.  I ran that car silly for the first two years. I finally had the chance to restore the old Grasshopper back to showroom condition last year.  Yes I still own the first car I every bought. At 13 my mother bought me an AristoCraft Kangaroo for my Birthday which surprisingly turned out to be a great car. 

A year or so later came a Brusier then eventually a King Cab.  I took a short break from RC from about 18 to 21 then got back into it with an HPI RS4 Lamborghini.  From there I decided that Tamiya and Kyosho was the brands I wanted to focus on.  At one point i worked for a local hobby shop in the RC department then moved on to doing repair work myself at home. As my career grew so did my collection. I can't even begin to count the number of cars that have been bought, sold, traded, built, restored, etc etc.   

I took a quick inventory back in Dec. of  lastyear for insurance and couldn't 335 cars total with about 75% being Tamiya but there is a little bit of everything mixed in there 

 

 

Is that "Dess Planes" or "Dah-Planes" IL?

[ukfox]

Ottershaw Surrey UK,

Got my first tamiya at 18, a 2nd hand Monster beetle.

Couldn't afford proper  Rc cars as a kid.

[LeftyAl]

Live: Sydney, Australia

 

A Super Hornet was my first real RC car, got it around 1995. Since then have had a few breaks from the hobby. Back into it well an truly now with 28 ( I think) cars.

When I was a lad, there used to be ads on the TV by Uncle Pete's Toys and I would drool over a Hornet, Frog or Hotshot. But never managed to get one. I think I am now over compensating for missing out