Your first new Tamiya experience

[Saito2 6677]

I'm sure we've covered this before but with new members coming along, its always great to hear these stories. This was probably a pivotal moment for many of us and one likely burned into our memories. What was your first new Tamiya RC buying experience like? My dream Tamiya was the Monster Beetle. It was the one that got me hooked. The Lunch Box was my second favorite (and the Clod Buster my third, but aside from bank-robbing, that wasn't going to happen). Fortunately, the Lunch Box was the most affordable Tamiya monster, so I set my sights on that. My parents were unbelievably astounded at the price of RC models back then. What they knew were Tyco Turbo Hoppers from TV ads and Nikko products which I got for past Christmases. "You mean it cost how much and you have to buy the transmitter separate?" "Its that expensive and its not even assembled?" "What is this business about a battery pack? Whats a battery pack? It doesn't take AA batteries and a 9 volt?" Needless to say after answering these questions for them, there was no chance of getting one for Christmas or a birthday, at first. I was on my own. Back then Lunchies ran about $89.99 or so in magazines or about $100 flat at one of my LHS, Allied Hobbies. $100 is all the money in the world at that age so after a very very long time of lawn mowing, car washing, chores and saving money, I finally had the money for the kit alone. I give them credit, it certainly taught me to save my money. It was hard being that tight with pocket money for so long at that age. My father must have been impressed with my determination because he chipped in and got me an Airtronics stick transmitter so I wouldn't have to wait even longer. I still vividly remember the young store clerk taking it off the high shelf behind the glass counter at the LHS. He seemed pretty enthusiastic which added to the positive buying experience. The box seemed so big sitting in front of me. I remember never taking my eyes off it (peaking out of the top of the bag) on the ride home.

My father and I assembled it together. It was the first and only kit I got help with, partially because I think my dad had become slightly curious about kit building. I still remember the day we switched it on in the house. We goosed the throttle and it pulled a wheelie, promptly launching into a piece of furniture. Once more safely outside, I cautiously began driving it as my dad looked on. At that age it was blindingly fast. The kids in the neighborhood were blown away by its huge size and incredible speed. To put it in context, no one in my neighborhood had seen anything faster or bigger than a 1/16 Tyco Turbo Hopper so even Tamiya's smallest monster at the time, seemed big. It was a proud moment and one which started a long love affair with Tamiya products...What's your story?

[speedy_w_beans 4272]

Grew up poor; no money for RC...

Went to college extremely focused on grades and work; no time or money for RC...

Got married and started a family; definitely no time or money for RC!!

Finally my son was turning 10 and he loved building Legos, it felt like the right moment for the two of us to try something together.  Bought a DF03 Dark Impact and the Tower Hobbies starter package (NiMH battery, basic charger, Futaba 2PL AM transmitter w/ S3003 servo, Duratrax Intellispeed ESC) for about $250.  We built it, drove it, crashed it, fixed it, took it to the track, upgraded it, and finally retired it.  He lost interest but got me hooked!!  He has a fully rebuilt Dark Impact sitting on the shelf in his bedroom, along with a TT01E we modified for rally.   Down the rabbit hole I went...  Good times!

 

[SupraChrgd82 1425]

At about 9 years old - One day in October I was in my room building Legos and watching the 3 Stooges.  Out my open bedroom window I could hear what sounded like a tiny chainsaw.  The "eeeeeEEEEEEEEeeeee, eeeeeeeee, EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE, eeeeeeee, EEEEEEEEeeeeee" sound went on for a good full episode of the Stooges, over shadowing the TV volume.

Finally annoyed enough, I went to the front yard to see who was making the racket.  As I looked down the street, I saw a nitro dragster without a body darting around 3 houses away.  I stood on the curb for the last 30 seconds of the fuel tank before a neighbor picked it up and walked back to his garage.  

Dad was doing yardwork out front watching too.  I pestered him with questions, "what was it, how fast, gasoline, how much money, can I get one.....?"  Dad tells me "I don't know, you saw the same thing I did."

I spent the next 2 months, every evening, staring at the RC cars in the Sears and JC Penny catalogs.  I watched the mail for new catalogs and new pictures, wishing for a buggy that looked like a Rough Rider copy.  I didn't know it was a copy at the time, it was just a dune buggy that looked like it had real suspension springs and would jump over the small incline by the pool deck in the backyard.

Christmas came, and I got some great Technic kits and the obligatory ugly sweaters.  After dinner dad opened the closet door in the family room and pulled out a Hornet box.  Unwrapped, of course, he's an engineer incapable of cooking or following customs such as wrapping presents.  Then he pulled out another box of Hornet followed by 2 Futaba Magnum radios.

"I went over budget" he told mom, "I got one for myself, too."

Again, my dad's an engineer.  It took him 3 weeeks of evenings alone in the back room of building, measuring, trimming, bleeding shocks, rechecking the instructions....

In mid-January, he emerged with 2 bodyless Hornets.  At this point I had forgotten we had RC's and gave up on the idea.

He handed one to me with a clear body and some bottles of black, green, silver, and yellow paint.  "I had enough, you paint it however you want."

Paint took all of 10 minutes for mine.  It took him another week to paint his.  He wasn't about to give me a battery until his was done, though.  Finally, he finished painting.  We had black bodies, silver roof supports, his with a yellow roof, mine with a green roof.

We headed to the local school for the maiden voyages, servo EPA's fixed to limit speed to the first step of the MSC's until we learned to drive. Wow, they were fast in our inexperienced hands!

After several weeks, we worked up to the 3rd step in the MSC's.  Hornets went everywhere with us that summer, to parking lots, vacation in the mountains, amd zooming around the front yard.  

Eventually dad got bored of his, but I put hundreds of miles on mine over the next 4 years. His is still sitting in the back room in near mint condition, mine just got it's second makeover this month.

That year began my addiction. I've bought and sold over 60 cars and have 25 throughout the house on display, in closets, by the fireplace, on the family room floor half-built, and the wife and kids have at least 3 each. Jeez, I'm so irresponsible with my income.....

[Nicadraus 6195]

My first Tamiya experience was the mini-4wd Ford Ranger and Chevy pick up trucks. Then I was handed down a Subaru Brat RC from my brother and Ford Ranger F150 XLT RC from my dad. Both were overly used but still ok. I got hooked with RC ever since. Then it was an "on and off" thing. From 1986 - 1991, then 1996-1999, then 2005 - 2007. Then RC heli in 2014 and back to RC car in 2018 to present. I had/have other hobbies in between but I just keep coming back to RC.

[J@mes 2326]

These are great stories 👍

[TwistedxSlayer 1290]

Always been in to tinkering of some description. 1st Tamiya was a Impreza QD. Did the job nicely but discovered I could change the wheels like i wanted to or much else. The following Christmas I asked my parents for one that I could build and play with. Much deliberation later they agreed I could. We went to the LHS and picked out the latest rally car model which was a Ford Focus TB01 and opted for a rather new ESC as that what was recommended by the staff there. Me and my Dad built it after Christmas but ended up taking it back to the store as we had built it wrong with the steering arms and they pointed us in the right direction. (Literally. Lol)

I used it for a couple of years and had all different bodies for it and bought a few hop ups for it now and then. And the life happened and it got stored. Fast forward a few years. I've still got that same car and a few others now.

[moffman 5747]

My first experience with buying a new tamiya was with the Ford ranger the rough rider and sand scorcher had already been released and I was just blown away with these two rc cars after the relentless use of woolworths branded toy rc cars!........then one Saturday going to the local city centre with my mum (God rest her soul)  she would let me go into Beattie's while she trotted off to do the important family stuff as I walked into Beattie's the poster on the door was the Ford ranger with the slogan on the top of it "now in stock" well that was it my life was not complete until I had that rc truck! I showed my mum and she was a person who would never dash any of our (me and my sisters) dreams and she knew very well what made me tick more than what I did actually! I remember her saying to me "well if that is what you really want the newsagent down the road need paper boys" so with the tamiya video and that poster and seeing the actual model all fresh in my little head we got off the bus and I didn't even go home I signed up for a paper round and Sunday morning paper round £3.20 a week and £1.20 Sunday and I did that for what seemed like an eternity (when your a kid)probably a good 8 months and cleaning the car, keeping my bedroom spotless etc etc!

Then again one particular Saturday going to the town centre my mum unexpectedly came in to Beattie's with me and "where is this truck you haven't shut up about for the last year?" And I pointed and she then asked the woman behind the counter "can we have that truck in one of the Beattie's deals please" which anyone remembers Beattie's included the kit acoms rc gear a battery and charger and a blue and white Beattie's rc buggy carrying bag! OMG I couldn't believe it my life was complete at the age of 13 and we couldn't get the bus home because it was to big to carry so my dad (in the triumph dolomite) had to pick us up but he had been on a night shift so we had to wait for him in a cafe while we waited I was the cat who definitely had the cream and my mum said remember to give dad your savings when we get home (but that never actually happened) I think they just wanted me to have some responsibility and looking back I think they were impressed with me off my own back getting a job and saving because I carried on saving and bought a new bike and an extra battery for my ranger which I used to death!

[SuperChamp82 743]

Another cracking thread @Saito2 👍

My Dad was an engineer who worked his way up a couple of big companies in the 70s / 80s, before retiring early 90s 

At the back end of 76 my Dad came back from a business trip to Japan with a NIB Tamiya Porsche 934 with RC / paint stashed in a box of other work bits in the aircraft hold as my Christmas present 

I could turn tools and follow basic instructions back then but he ‘helped’ build almost all of it - prompting a number of wry glances and comments from my Mum over Christmas 😂

We ran it together on New Years Day 1977 and I was utterly hooked. Not least because it had snowed and was easy to turn doughnuts !

Fast forward a further four 70s cars built with Dad and in 82 and the Superchamp was my first fully solo build 

It was an utter mess but ran almost every day - with the scarcity of Tamiya parts forcing it to end life as a ghetto fix horror 😂

I loved that first 934 but often wish my parents hadn’t put the Champ in the bin 👍

[Hobgoblin 1059]

I really like reading these stories, super pure and wholesome. 

My experience with Tamiya is perhaps less relevent as I came to Tamiya RC very late (I was 20 when I built my first kit - total man child I know!) But I'll stick my oar in anyway. 

The first Tamiya product I had was actually one of the twin motor gearboxes when I was maybe ten or eleven years old. I had been trying to make small robots out of toy cars and random bits from Maplin. I was slowly coming up to the hurdle of gearing, I just wasn't able to get enough torque out of small toy motors to move the chassis I made. Ad hoc arrangements with rubber bands and Lego pulleys just didn't cut it.

 

And then this changed things! During one of my first real searches online (I was very late to the internet, this would have been around 2008) I managed to find the answer to all my problems at pocket money prices! I bought this and some wheels and was over the moon!

I had such a happy time opening up the beautiful boxes with all the drawings and artwork and neat little instructions. It felt so alien and exciting, being the first thing I'd ever had ordered online, this was probably helped by the Japanese text! I can't say I've ever been a proper "tire sniffer" but this is as close bad I've ever got. 

After a while I had outgrown little plastic gearboxes and gotten more serious with robotics and the name of Tamiya just became synonymous with a fairly rubbish form of connector. This was until the RC bug bit after seeing the Trailfinder 2 and Traxxas Stampede of my then boss and I began looking at what to buy for myself. I had a few false starts but when I finally discovered the Tamiya catalogue...

WOW. 

The variety and the heart of all the models was incredible. So much weirdness on display! Loads of different ideas and chassis and an absolute ton of gears  I was so taken with the colour and overall fun of the Blitzer Beetle. Watching reviews on YouTube seemed to show the chassis was fairly capable too. I had a very happy time on my day off building the thing, day drinking and watching Mad Max. Everything went together like a dream even while being half cut! Running the thing was excellent. At work we used to rag our cars around the car park during smoke and lunch breaks - great fun! Super easy to drive and very strong. I miss those days! Still have it a few years down the line and I would never ever see it go! 

[Wooders28 4719]

Had an RC for as long as I can remember, from the ,wired controlled cars, then a radio controlled from Tandy.

The Tandy was a Porsche, one wheel drive, slow as anything, then a saw a black car in a school car park, a Tamiya Hornet, it was the fasted car I'd seen I'm life.

Asked Santa for a Tamiya Frog (looked the same...) and he kind of delivered, a 2nd hand one, without controller battery or anything!! But hey, saved up and bought the ,Acoms Techniplus, and absolutley loved it, well, until the gearbox broke, then the driveshafts.......🤬

Tried my hand at racing, and although slow, it was great to be surrounded by RC people (family?)

1987 arrived, with the release of the Ultima, worked 3 jobs ,before school, after school, and a Saturday job, and bought it, brand new.

Never looked back.😁

[Dakratfink 965]

11 hours ago, J@mes said:

These are great stories 👍

I agree so much. I feel like I’m a doin  a disservice by not individually liking every one .

[xzenonuk 79]

other than having shots with dads original grass hopper and seeing him crash his wild one loads when i was a kid, the first tamiya i actually bought and built my self was the sandviper 10+ years ago and now i have a whole fleet and a fair number of tamiya's and the tamiyas get a lot of use 

[moffman 5747]

To add to my comment earlier I was desperate to find myself an original Ford ranger (purely for nostalgia) and I managed to get a one which was in very good shape just needed a good clean and  fresh paint and decals which I did but the strange thing is after I completed it I felt nothing for it? Maybe it was because it wasn't my actual ranger I just didn't know why?

[xzenonuk 79]

1 minute ago, moffman said:

To add to my comment earlier I was desperate to find myself an original Ford ranger (purely for nostalgia) and I managed to get a one which was in very good shape just needed a good clean and  fresh paint and decals which I did but the strange thing is after I completed it I felt nothing for it? Maybe it was because it wasn't my actual ranger I just didn't know why?

yeh maybe as you say because its not the orginal one you had, does look pretty awesome though good job on it 

[moffman 5747]

36 minutes ago, xzenonuk said:

yeh maybe as you say because its not the orginal one you had, does look pretty awesome though good job on it 

I sold it to a guy (ebay) who said it was not to the standard he was looking for? It was a perfect example considering it was 30+ years old but I just knew i was going to have trouble with him the moment he emailed me before I had even sent it off with the ultimate snotty email saying "it better be as good as the photos in the listing" and "I'm expecting that you are going to pack it appropriately so it doesn't get damaged"......if only I could have emailed my hand to him so I could have put around his throat   it seriously was a good example!

[xzenonuk 79]

6 minutes ago, moffman said:

I sold it to a guy (ebay) who said it was not to the standard he was looking for? It was a perfect example considering it was 30+ years old but I just knew i was going to have trouble with him the moment he emailed me before I had even sent it off with the ultimate snotty email saying "it better be as good as the photos in the listing" and "I'm expecting that you are going to pack it appropriately so it doesn't get damaged"......if only I could have emailed my hand to him so I could have put around his throat   it seriously was a good example!

ouch that really sucks m8, so many chancers (can't use what id actually say) on flea bay

 

[Dakratfink 965]

Strangely enough my first New and first ever Tamiya RC is my M06 Eunos/Miata roadster. I never had any Tamiyas back in my first RC run in the 80s Kyosho , Yokomo , Associated, but no Tamiya. 

That’s not to say I didn’t always want one. The ClodBuster was always a unicorn to me, ( more like a Rhino, lol ) .

 

[Super ally 412]

I was 17 and in a model plane club in 1988 and one of the members brought his tamiya buggy one day,it was the fox.When i saw him running it i was impressed by how fast it was and how good it looked.My dad said he would like one for my younger brother so he would have something to keep him busy.The guy said he knew someone who was selling one and it was the falcon so my brother got it.I used the falcon as well but i wanted the fox so i asked the guy would he sell me it and he said ok.Then not long after my dad got me my first kit to build,the hornet.I remember the hornet battery cover falling off when running and the battery would fall out quite a lot.The next kit i built was the black foot,my dad got a video tape with a lot of promo films for the tamiya cars and the blackfoot was one of them so i got that.Still have all four of them but need restored now to run again.Got back into tamiya about 2 years ago looking on ebay and bought a re re hotshot ready to run then bought a never run fox a few months ago.My next plan is to buy a re re hornet to build as it was first kit i built back in 1988.Always remember having to charge the batteries on my dads car battery and only getting 10 mins running time 😃

[xzenonuk 79]

2 hours ago, Dakratfink said:

Strangely enough my first New and first ever Tamiya RC is my M06 Eunos/Miata roadster. I never had any Tamiyas back in my first RC run in the 80s Kyosho , Yokomo , Associated, but no Tamiya. 

That’s not to say I didn’t always want one. The ClodBuster was always a unicorn to me, ( more like a Rhino, lol ) .

 

sorry not tamiya.

aye i had a kyosho tracker i got one christmas when i was in primary 6, but i had to save up and include all my christmas money i got from all my relatives that year to afford it, it was over 220 quid for the truck and all the radio gear and battery and charger etc, dad had put a deposit down on it a few months before and on boxing day i was on the phone trying to get my lhs to answer, i had utter joy when the day after boxing day i phoned and some one answered, i was like err its me i reserved a tracker can i come and get it, the guy was like yeh sure 

que me running up and jumping on dads bed all hyper saying lets go lets go at about 8am 

watched in fasination as dad built it and by the next day i was driving it.

i loved that truck but sold it to an idiot after i got my first nitro so i could buy gran turismo 3 and he trashed it lol

 

im interested in the clod busters, something about dual motors that grabs me

 

https://www.rcscrapyard.net/kyosho-tracker.htm

had mine metallic blue with sparkly silver tones

[Morinstal 170]

I was born in 1983, so ive passed tamiya rc golden age unknowingly XD.

In 90s, tamiya is booming here with its mini4wd line supported by translated manga and dubbed anime. My first tamiya experience is actually with Avante mini4wds, my dad bought 2 for me, Avante black special and avante gold , because i have good grades in school, i still remember that XD.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsaWkegDcbI&list=PLm4KQkn-IWCqU35mRO1DeJIXQzDyYadp7

 

From that manga and anime, then i know that this minis have bigger brother>> the RC line, and in that moment i want one, especially AVANTE. My first RC experience (in 90s) is actually with Nikkos. Its nikkos everywhere and no tamiya rcs. I saved my meager lunchschool money to buy that, but then behold came one of the most legendary console in history >> SNES. Its between Nikko and SNES, and i pick SNES happily XD.

Life goes on, school, college, console/net gaming, jobs, one of my childhood dreams buried with IRL priorities & problems, like every other human experienced. Now im 37, single, have job. Few months ago, while browsing utube, suddenly i've stumbled Matteos rc channel with his boomerang video. And boom, the burried rc childhood dream resurrected. Glenns rc channel fueled it more. Searching local emarket, and my rational mind says wait !!! Thats not cheap!! Ur wasting ur money. But another mind speaks whats the purpose of ur money if it cant bring u happiness. U can always find money, but maybe u wont live till tomorow to fulfill ur dream. So YOLO and live for today, and i rationally admit to that.

I think u guys know the rest of the story XD. Cheers !!

Oh , and u guys should watch the anime i linked, theres a epic opening act between Clodbuster RC vs boomerang mini XD.

[xzenonuk 79]

36 minutes ago, Morinstal said:

I was born in 1983, so ive passed tamiya rc golden age unknowingly XD.

In 90s, tamiya is booming here with its mini4wd line supported by translated manga and dubbed anime. My first tamiya experience is actually with Avante mini4wds, my dad bought 2 for me, Avante black special and avante gold , because i have good grades in school, i still remember that XD.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsaWkegDcbI&list=PLm4KQkn-IWCqU35mRO1DeJIXQzDyYadp7

 

From that manga and anime, then i know that this minis have bigger brother>> the RC line, and in that moment i want one, especially AVANTE. My first RC experience (in 90s) is actually with Nikkos. Its nikkos everywhere and no tamiya rcs. I saved my meager lunchschool money to buy that, but then behold came one of the most legendary console in history >> SNES. Its between Nikko and SNES, and i pick SNES happily XD.

Life goes on, school, college, console/net gaming, jobs, one of my childhood dreams buried with IRL priorities & problems, like every other human experienced. Now im 37, single, have job. Few months ago, while browsing utube, suddenly i've stumbled Matteos rc channel with his boomerang video. And boom, the burried rc childhood dream resurrected. Glenns rc channel fueled it more. Searching local emarket, and my rational mind says wait !!! Thats not cheap!! Ur wasting ur money. But another mind speaks whats the purpose of ur money if it cant bring u happiness. U can always find money, but maybe u wont live till tomorow to fulfill ur dream. So YOLO and live for today, and i rationally admit to that.

I think u guys know the rest of the story XD. Cheers !!

Oh , and u guys should watch the anime i linked, theres a epic opening act between Clodbuster RC vs boomerang mini XD.

oh i love anime and im also born the same year i will give it a watch, i still play starwing on my snes mini which also has 32gig of storage attatched to it, i was naughty with my mini snes but i also have the original one in the attic

[Juggular 4961]

6 hours ago, Hobgoblin said:

I really like reading these stories, super pure and wholesome. 

My experience with Tamiya is perhaps less relevent as I came to Tamiya RC very late (I was 20 when I built my first kit - total man child I know!) But I'll stick my oar in anyway. 

The first Tamiya product I had was actually one of the twin motor gearboxes when I was maybe ten or eleven years old. I had been trying to make small robots out of toy cars and random bits from Maplin. I was slowly coming up to the hurdle of gearing, I just wasn't able to get enough torque out of small toy motors to move the chassis I made. Ad hoc arrangements with rubber bands and Lego pulleys just didn't cut it.

 

And then this changed things! During one of my first real searches online (I was very late to the internet, this would have been around 2008) I managed to find the answer to all my problems at pocket money prices! I bought this and some wheels and was over the moon!

I had such a happy time opening up the beautiful boxes with all the drawings and artwork and neat little instructions. It felt so alien and exciting, being the first thing I'd ever had ordered online, this was probably helped by the Japanese text! I can't say I've ever been a proper "tire sniffer" but this is as close bad I've ever got. 

After a while I had outgrown little plastic gearboxes and gotten more serious with robotics and the name of Tamiya just became synonymous with a fairly rubbish form of connector. This was until the RC bug bit after seeing the Trailfinder 2 and Traxxas Stampede of my then boss and I began looking at what to buy for myself. I had a few false starts but when I finally discovered the Tamiya catalogue...

WOW. 

The variety and the heart of all the models was incredible. So much weirdness on display! Loads of different ideas and chassis and an absolute ton of gears  I was so taken with the colour and overall fun of the Blitzer Beetle. Watching reviews on YouTube seemed to show the chassis was fairly capable too. I had a very happy time on my day off building the thing, day drinking and watching Mad Max. Everything went together like a dream even while being half cut! Running the thing was excellent. At work we used to rag our cars around the car park during smoke and lunch breaks - great fun! Super easy to drive and very strong. I miss those days! Still have it a few years down the line and I would never ever see it go! 

 

The first RC I've seen was like that.  One of the older kids in the neighborhood built it.  A gearbox designed for 3v wired cars, crude mechanical on-off switch, 2 servos, 2 batteries for power and 4 batteries for receiver.  I was about 11 years old.  I can't even describe what it looked like. 4 wheels. No shell. It was a hunk of black plastic pieces made to go and turn. Slow. But it was the coolest thing I've seen.  

I had built wired cars before.  I thought I could duplicate. (I overestimated)  The day I got the Futaba set was happiest day of my life.  My dad was willing to get me a car too. But frankly it felt like a trap.  A gruff Vietnam war veteran who was in the army for 8 years suddenly telling me to get what I want?  And I wanted build something of my own.  By this time, I might have been 12 but I still remember the disappointed look of the sales clerk.  What kind of a kid refuses willing parents? But I was keenly aware that this was the biggest gift by that time, I felt bad asking for more. (I was fooled into thinking that we were poor because my parents didn't spend. They were just frugal)  

Naturally, I was unable to build my own machine like that older kid. (and he had moved away)  So it took about a year until I got my first RC car, Porsche 959. Grasshopper soon after that.  Until I got my hands on my first real RC car, oh man, Tamiya catalog was the most glorious thing I've ever seen. 

In 2001 or so, I bought a used Grasshopper.  I suppose one of the reasons why I don't fix my one-eyed Grasshopper is because my 80's Grasshopper was somewhat like this.  I never kept my 80's cars pristine.  It was always dusty and I think it had a crack somewhere at the back.  A shelf queen would feel rather strange. (even though I have an unbuilt shell slowly yellowing somewhere)  

 

[Killajb 1546]

First new Tamiya..   

 

Well, first Tamiya was a used Falcon.  Purchased without a radio from another kid in middle school when I was 12 years old.  Mowed lawns and washed dishes throughout my teenage years to purchase other used  rc's as they were all I could afford.  Oddly enough, they weren't Tamiya.  An old Team Associated RC12 pan car..  An AYK Pro Radiant (why on earth did I ever let that go!!!) were very used and abused when I bought them.

Finished high school, and headed for the military and at 19 years of age found myself in Japan.  I went to the local shopping mall on my first break from duty and saw kids racing mini 4wd around a track and immediately bought one, assembled it on site and had a go.  Dead last finish on my first race!!  I was the only foreigner (and only adult for that matter) racing and all the kids came to help me, digging around in their parts boxes to donate foam tires, old bearings, and using plastic cutters to cut unnecessary pieces out of the frame to lighten it up.  I was amazed at not only how bright these young lads were, but how they all worked together to help a big oaf like me so readily.  Went back to race and still got spanked.. but not by nearly as much that time.  I didn't understand a word of Japanese back then but had so much fun.  

The first Tamiya RC kit I could afford new from the shop was actually purchased as a gift for someone else.  A Stadium Raider.  He's not an rc guy at all , but I think he still has it actually.

 

 

 

[Dakratfink 965]

2 hours ago, xzenonuk said:

sorry not tamiya.

aye i had a kyosho tracker i got one christmas when i was in primary 6, but i had to save up and include all my christmas money i got from all my relatives that year to afford it, it was over 220 quid for the truck and all the radio gear and battery and charger etc, dad had put a deposit down on it a few months before and on boxing day i was on the phone trying to get my lhs to answer, i had utter joy when the day after boxing day i phoned and some one answered, i was like err its me i reserved a tracker can i come and get it, the guy was like yeh sure 

que me running up and jumping on dads bed all hyper saying lets go lets go at about 8am 

watched in fasination as dad built it and by the next day i was driving it.

i loved that truck but sold it to an idiot after i got my first nitro so i could buy gran turismo 3 and he trashed it lol

 

im interested in the clod busters, something about dual motors that grabs me

 

https://www.rcscrapyard.net/kyosho-tracker.htm

had mine metallic blue with sparkly silver tones

My first Hobby grade was Also a Kyosho . I Got a Nikko Turbo  Panther One year for Christmas. Later that spring even the oversized bumper it had wasn’t enough to protect a front suspension arm. 
This lead to my dad ( a mechanic and tinkerer) to get an Optima Mid at our LHS. At the time it was “our “ car. Not mine ... he insisted he preferred being the Team Owner and crew chief and I was his driver. 
Off track neighborhood bashing and practice was always VERY supervised and I never abused it ( or later RCs I got ) 

we later added a Kyosho Hi Rider Vette to the stable ( this one was considered “my” RC and the 4wd race buggy was Dad’s ) 

When I raced MonsteR truck class at my track I was exposed to Blackfoot. That was mostly what people ran in that class before buggy converted stadium trucks became the rage . 

[Re-Bugged 10100]

Well, a few firsts could fall into this category really, the the No1 experience so to speak was seeing the Super Champ & Rough Rider in my mums home shopping catalogue as a kid in the early to mid 80’s.
    There probably wasn’t a day that passed that I didn’t flick through the glossy pages with eyes on stalks in amazement trying to  comprehend what I was actually looking at. I worked out that it would of taken about 5 years to save up for one on the pocket money I was on so I was ever hopeful that I’d been good enough for Santa to drop one in my stocking. But no.

I did get a motorised Suzuki Jeep (can’t remember if it was a Tamiya or not though?) one year as a sweetener, being as the real RC versions were out of my Folks reach too. 
      Anyway a while later I did get a Toy grade RC Dune Buggy that was fantastic to me and got heavy used until I cartwheeled it down the stairs by accident that made the steering all glitchy. Sad day.
     To my amazement I phoned my father recently who dug it out the loft put some batteries in it fixed the servo wire that was hooked up somewhere on the chassis and is now driving it around their garden 40 years on!!

   My first physical experience with a Tamiya RC was a friend in the street 2 years older than me saved enough to by the Grasshopper kit. I still remember very well to this day when he invited me to look through the box with him while he opened it. That’s when it cemented in my mind Tamiya RC’s were everything I’d hope they would be, the other great first here was the addictive aroma of those tyres!! 
    Sadly that kit never got built as my friend (probably persuaded by his parents) that it was going to be near impossible to ever get the funds together for the radio gear and electronics and reluctantly returned it to the shop. Man I felt for him.
    I was into static kits by Matchbox, Arfix and the like at the time, but with the impression the unboxing of the GH had had on me, my next round of pocket money was spent on a Tamiya Suzuki RM 250 Motocross static kit. Wow that smell again!!! And the quantity of it was simply on another level to what I was used to.

   Now for the reeeeally exciting first.

   A school mate who actually had a Subaru Brat. Built and running. Geez that thing was a work of art to look at and to see running. Couldn’t not believe how utterly brilliant it was compared to anything I’d had a go of previously. We had many a happy day driving it and flattening the battery on his mums 1:1 car re-juicing the Brat with a car fast charger.

   About 15/20 years later I bought a cheap Nitro buggy to rekindle the RC interest, but was fraught with problems (but still enjoyed it) as you would expect, one being that the clutch springs were broken from the start that didn’t help.

  Talking to some work colleagues one day it transpired that one had a Kyosho Subaru car and another had a Blackfoot, and it was decided that it would be a great idea to run some cars in lunch break and/or after work. Which leads to my next Tamiya RC first. Not wanting to faff around with Nitro in the short time we had to run I found a New Built hardly used King Blackfoot with radio and batteries in the local classified’s. Perfect 👍🏻 That was to be my very first owned, run and maintained by me.

     Up until a couple of years ago I was still missing that buying, building running experience, which at long last you must be thinking by now brings me to my final Tamiya RC first.

    I discovered one day that a Hobby Shop around the corner from my BIL happened to stock Tamiya RC, so looking into there website there was the Subaru Brat!! Doing some research on the big wide web as you can these days, even though I had every intention of purchasing the Brat, I did wonder if it would be as good as was with the Rose Tinted Glasses of my youth?

  Chatting with the very friendly and helpful staff I decided that although I had a strong feeling towards the Brat I opted for the Stadium Blitzer instead as I felt even though it’s probably not the build experience of the Brat it would invariably make for a better runner. So money changed hands and I came away with my first whole Tamiya RC experience. Super chuffed and has been a great trial and error training ground with learning all about the magic of Tamiya RC and the electronics that give them life.
  About a year or so later I went back to the same shop and picked up the Brat too 😁

Needless to say it has lead to a few more..