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RCvet

Period correct ESC's 1989-1992

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Relatively new to Tamiya collecting, but not vintage RC by any means.  My "golden years" on the track were 1989-1992 roughly.  Curious what everyone in Europe would have been running in competition in Top Forces, Dynastorms of the time or anything for that matter.  


When building replica RC10's and Losi's over here it was almost always some form of a Novak and then Tekin.  


Futaba, LRP?  Specific models?  Did Tamiya make any?

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Strange you should ask that, as someone on eBay has just listed a number of working period ESCs.

I had a succession of low-ampage Futaba ESCs which blew up with disappointing frequency. I eventually replaced them with one of these, a Speedmaster Turbo Silver Star, which was seemingly built out of iron girders and armour plate, with a size and weight to match. Speedmaster was a British company and although their tech was pretty basic and chunky, their products were cheap and reliable.

eBay link here.

I also later had a Gold Star, which was their FWD only ESC. This was followed by a Tekin 410K, which was infinitely better and which I still have.

If you look at the eBay link above, you should be able to click through to this seller's other products, including the other ESCs.

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Not quite an answer to the question, but a somewhat period-correct anecdote nevertheless: My father was an electronics engineer, so when I got my first Tamiya kit in 1986, he found the idea of an MSC inacceptable, and got me an ESC, which as far as I remember, was about as expensive as the kit (a Tamiya 959) itself. I'll never forget that moment. He thought the kit (bought with my, um, life savings) was outrageously expensive, but he found the idea of an MSC so offensive that he didn't even flinch when he was told the ESC's price.

Even though the car still exists, I've long forgotten the brand of that ESC, but it could have been a Futaba, and it survived any and all abuse that I threw at it. Talk about being over-equipped for the car park track...

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As you asked about the 89-92 period, here's what I know:

  • Tamiya had their CPR units. The PF-100 and 160 could handle some modified motors but they were never competition grade.. 
  • Futaba had their MC110, MC111, MC112. The later was pretty common but only good for standard silver can. The other two could handle some hotter motors but I'm not sure they were that common at high level competition
  • KO Propo had their CX-1 and CX-2. The first one won some world championships. The ZX400 and ZX500 might have appeared during that period but I'm not sure if they were used in competition.
  • Novak released their  "410" series ESC around '91. Good stuff.

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MTroniks released some good ‘no limit’ ESC’s during the early 90’s, though they were still a fledgling company at that point so were focussed on performance rather than looks meaning most ESC’s didn’t have a case & were covered in branded shrink-wrap!

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I ran a Tekin at the time, but Novak was the clear favorite around here at the time.  Was not aware of the KO Propo or Mtroniks.  

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In 1989 I had an MC110 for my Brat which was converted to Frog and upgraded to MC116 in 1991 for my new Astute kit. Then bought an MC112 for my FF01 in 1996.

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Novak and Tekin were the main stream here in the states. If I recall correctly alot of the sponsored Tamiya guys were running KoPropo stuff.

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