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S-PCS

Time Capsule

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About 25 years ago I left home to see the world. You know, go to Australia and find out what that is all about, that sort of stuff, only I ended up in Alaska, where it is much colder, and Moose roam the streets. But that is very much besides the point.

Before I went, I packed up my belongings (including my RC cars) and stored them in a corner of the basement of my father's house, figuring I wouldn't be returning for quite some time. Turns out I really didn't, because the world is a pretty big place even if you don't count Australia and Alaska, and when I returned some five years later, I wasn't all that interested in the stuff I had left behind all these years ago. 

For most of the following 20 years, I simply assumed that my father at some point just threw out my boxes from the early nineties. Didn't care, didn't ask, and over time, simply forgot. 

Well, HE didn't. Throw anything out I mean, and apparently he didn't forget, either. We spoke about childhood memories the other day, and I guess he figured that now was a good time to return some of his son's stuff. Didn't say a word, just turned up a few days later with a trunk full of boxes, MY boxes, some of them at least, untouched, unopened, exactly like I left them behind in 1995. 

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As lousy as it is my parents (and others' parents as well) tossed out some of my RCs when I went to college, just seeing and hearing about this almost makes up for it. That is a pretty cool dad you have there. I see some home spun modifications in those cars, especially the one Grasshopper 2. Care to share? I love that ingenuity from back in the day.

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Good stuff man , 

recently only opened up boxes of a little over 10 years ago as capsules :)   indeed, amazing what you total forget about !

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Wow. That really is a time capsule! A Mini M-01 was the first RC car I ever built from the ground up, and my brother had a Grasshopper 2. Amazing scoop!

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I lost both my parents as a kid - so boxes etc inevitably went astray.

And tbh I’m slightly envious of this chat !

The hobby came back to me 30 years later with my own family - and I’d love to show my girls the mess I made of 1970s Tamiya genius :) 

If nothing else to show its ok to get stuff wrong - and let them create w/o worrying where it ends up.

You’re a lucky chap @S-PCS !

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I love a good time capsule story. As I am lucky enough to have kept almost every Tamiya item I've owned (including childhood items) that meant something to me, the idea of forgetting you had all that stuff (or thinking it was long gone) - only to have it turn up again, must have felt like Christmas @S-PCS ?

And I feel sorry for those whose parents split, or whose parents tossed all their RC stuff...

My parents were always fairly sentimental. My Dad was the type who had a large garage full of workshop tools and materials, and he rarely threw anything away. Some time in the early 1990s, I discovered to my amazement, that he had even kept every Tandy Electronics or Dick Smith electronics catalogue he had ever had. These were just free annual or sale catalogues... but he kept them all. Today many of them are unobtainium (nobody kept that stuff!)... but having them, later helped kick off my research into vintage/retro R/C cars and toys.

.:. It's great when parents are sentimental and keep stuff you didn't expect. It's terrible when they throw stuff away. :P

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The thing that really blew me away is this: Every single car came with a small labeled box containing its bits and pieces, body clips, battery doors, outside mirrors, that sort of stuff, and every car was stored on a small stand with all tires up off the ground, and they were all sealed in nearly airtight. The Minis and the 959 even have some brand new parts on them - from repairs performed just before they were boxed up. And they're all very clean. 

I can't help but feel rather proud of 17-year-old me, putting these away with great care and astonishing foresight. 

What you see in the pictures is about half of my old RC boxes. I'm now pretty sure the rest is still there, too. 

As for the home spun mods, @Saito2 - my brother and I had a, um, portable track made from PVC pipes for those Minis. We'd lay out the pipes in the street, and they would form a track, you get the idea. We'd also bring out a garden hose, and aim it at one of the turns, call it simulated rain if you will. I think that's what the home made cover inside the blue Mini was for. 

I'm not too sure about the GH2 though. It has a transverse leaf spring setup under the front end, made from a bit of thick springy wire and lots of tape. I can't remember why, but I think this was meant as some sort of onroad suspension mod. Goes well with the 'street' slicks on the rear end. I think these were fabricated from standard GH2 tires by means of a drill and... sandpaper. 

 

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I love all of this :wub: and thank you for sharing. I have a soft spot for GHII's and just picked up my first M01 Rover Mini (all original) this past week. 

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