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MadInventor

A new 'old' idea.

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Some of you will know I've been having a bit of a clear out of the model car stuff recently, and whilst digging through the Hotshot stash I found this

SAM_2739.jpg

and it got me thinking (Dangerous I know.... :) )

This was produced (I'm assuming) sometime after the supershot was released, so that hotshot owners could update their hotshots suspension.

It was an acknowledgement that:

1. the customer existed beyond the point of sale

2. There was room for improvement in a released model.

3. That it was possible to get more money out of an existing customer without selling them a whole new kit.

4. That is was possible to put parts into an upgrade kit without including the entire parts bag the bit originally came in,

Now I think this was a great idea, and that more of the same now makes a lot of sense. Everybody must have notice that demand has shot through the roof since COVID, and it's getting harder and harder to source parts. The rumour mill on here has been saying that T. is running at reduced production, which let me to the following thought:

If you have a limited production capability, you could produce several upgrade kits for the same capacity as making a single kit, and you could ship a lot more conversion kits than actual kits in a given space in a shipping container.

To give an example, The Hotshot II hasn't been re-released yet. There's a lot of original hotshot owners out there, and a fairly steady stream of hotshots appearing on Ebay. So rather than re-release a Hotshot II kit, why not just release the parts in a kit that you need to convert a re-re Hotshot to a Hotshot II ? I've had a look at the manual, and all of the hotshot II specific bits needed to go Hotshot I -> hotshot II are on 1 sprue, apart from the red rear uprights, which could be reproduced on a single sprue. Throw in 3 CVA shocks absorbers and you're there apart from the bodyshell and decals, which could be another separate kit. I'm sure this would appeal to a lot of people. As a hotshot owner for many years, I'd quite like the idea of picking up a second hand re-re hotshot, and then making my own hotshot II. Tamiya could even package it as a green range, encouraging people to find a second hand car to re-use. 

I think there's also a lot of scope for chasing the market for upgrades for older kits. Take the TXT-1/2, juggernaut 2, and the Clod Busters. There's a lot of products out there for rear steering lockout kits for the clod buster, and the TXT-1 comes as standard as a 2 wheel steer kit. So why not produce an upgrade kit to create proper fixed axle ? Just redesign the axle tubes to be longer so the steering hub is no longer required, and package 2 drive shafts that run all the way from the diff to the hub. It provides a much sturdier axle with no need for steering lockout and track rods, and is a huge improvement from a design point of view over using a steerable axle and just locking out the steering. There's no dogbone and drive cup to wear for a start, and the axle has 2 less roller bearings in it. Another would be a kit to make the track wider for Clod Busters (Just TXT axles and some revised hubs).  Come on Tamiya, it's not rocket science...

So what do you all think ?

 

 

 

 

 

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I think this could well be the best piece of business advice Tamiya could have, if done correctly it could be a literal goldmine, so many upgrades and versions, so many hop ups , so many vehicles in the lineup, the only issue is the Tamiya parts network, Tamiya should have their own EBay store,         License to print money

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I think it's a genius idea, and to be honest it's just an extension of the extensive hop up options and suspension packs you can buy for on road models. It's also considerably less wasteful amd environmentally frirndly in ways, although you end up with a lot of hot shot suspension parts in the recycling. 

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A King Blackfoot  front and rear conversion for ORV chassis would be a winner I’m sure. 

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Thanks guys,

Here's a prototype I prepared earlier for the straight axle TXT-1 conversion, combined with the wide track upgrade, here you go tamiya, no charge for the design effort... ;) 

New-Parts.jpg

Just waiting on the longer axles tubes to be released:

Fitted-into-axle-TXT-1.jpg

It's so few parts............

6 hours ago, Snappy1 said:

I think this could well be the best piece of business advice Tamiya could have, if done correctly it could be a literal goldmine, so many upgrades and versions, so many hop ups , so many vehicles in the lineup, the only issue is the Tamiya parts network, Tamiya should have their own EBay store,         License to print money

Now Tamiya having their own Ebay store, that is genius. To be able to order parts direct from them would be great.

1 hour ago, ThunderDragonCy said:

I think it's a genius idea, and to be honest it's just an extension of the extensive hop up options and suspension packs you can buy for on road models. It's also considerably less wasteful amd environmentally frirndly in ways, although you end up with a lot of hot shot suspension parts in the recycling. 

This was my thought process as well. With selling kits, you've got find either a collector that wants stuff just because it's tamiya, or a new customer that prefers tamiya over other manufacturers products and that involves competing with other manufacturers. But upgrade kits are a captive audience, and especially for those owners that only want to put tamiya products onto their models. Also with a lot of models it's becoming very difficult to source spare parts, and addressing some of the these foibles could be very lucrative. With regards to recycling the hotshot monoshock bits, Tamiya could always print a return label on the upgrade box and you could send the bits directly back to them for recycling. A lot of models end up on shelves in as new condition, so why not send the bits back to be re-used ?

If you look at the brass drive shafts used on the TXT and Juggernaut models, I've replaced all of mine with traxxas drive shafts. They're far more robust, and being plastic must be cheaper to produce (They were certainly a lot cheaper to buy last time I bought some, £12 a pair versus £40 a pair for the soft brass option). So rather than keep putting expensive to manufacture shafts out there that are rubbish anyway, why not bring out your own version of the traxxas shafts and release them as an update.

Having applied lots of polish to the crystal ball, I can see another issue looming on the horizon. Covid has been eye wateringly expensive for the government here, and I'm assuming for most governments around the world. They're going to want to claw cash back in somehow. There's also a lot of pressure to deal with plastic pollution. How long before someone in government suggests a tax on plastic production / imports ? It makes David Attenborough happy and makes money for the taxman. It's bound to happen sooner or later,  (GCHQ will have passed this to the chancellor within 24hours of me posting this ). It would be better to be ahead of the curve rather than behind it when this happens. I couldn't believe the amount of redundant plastic I got in my Konghead kit I bought last year. All that effort to find the oil, get it refined, injection mould it into a product, package it (In more plastic bags), then transport it from it's country of manufacture to the UK, then deliver it to me, then I put it straight into the loft, until I can be bothered to advertise it on here, and then post it on to someone else. What a waste of effort and resources, multiplied hundreds of times over, when a bit more effort in designing sprues specific for the kit would have cut out all that waste. 

And that HP kit from the 80s came in a cardboard box, which can be easily recycled..................

 

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There can be a lot of questioning with regards to Tamiya's business logic.  I think offering accessory kits as the OP mentioned is an awesome idea and should be re-introduced.  Why create atrocities such as the "MudMad" when you can utilize those employee resources to repackage NOS items which would undoubtedly sell more.  I think Tamiya is having a bit of an identity crisis as well as lacking the proper business acumen to compete successfully in these modern times.  Here's to hoping someone over there in charge can figure things out.

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8 hours ago, Killajb said:

There can be a lot of questioning with regards to Tamiya's business logic.  I think offering accessory kits as the OP mentioned is an awesome idea and should be re-introduced.  Why create atrocities such as the "MudMad" when you can utilize those employee resources to repackage NOS items which would undoubtedly sell more.  I think Tamiya is having a bit of an identity crisis as well as lacking the proper business acumen to compete successfully in these modern times.  Here's to hoping someone over there in charge can figure things out.

I think the doors in the sub basement of Tamiya HQ marked 'Innovation' and 'customer support' have been hidden behind a pile of old empty hotshot and avante boxes. They should really put the drawbridge back in over the crocodile moat surrounding them and disconnect the tripwires connected to the booby traps as well. :ph34r::D

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It is a very good idea to re-introduce the official upgrade kits. I don't like to buy new kits at this moment but if, well designed, upgrade kits were available I certainly buy them. Think about the possibilities for a CC01 upgrade kit containing a new steering unit and other upgrade parts. Or re-introduction of the TL01 LAsuspension upgrade kit (this is easy because this set was already available years ago). 

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@MadInventor  You also need rear arms off Boomarang to make hs2 . So you need red parts tree and red shocks and rear arms 

and the body of course . Then your good to go .  Would be good if they started making upgrade , like above .

Hi-cap packs , shock upgrade ( as above )  Body upgrades ( winger body is one i would like ) , ball diffs would be great and

i'm sure theres more . 

Good idea .

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On 10/14/2020 at 10:57 PM, matman said:

@MadInventor  You also need rear arms off Boomarang to make hs2 . So you need red parts tree and red shocks and rear arms 

and the body of course . Then your good to go .  Would be good if they started making upgrade , like above .

Hi-cap packs , shock upgrade ( as above )  Body upgrades ( winger body is one i would like ) , ball diffs would be great and

i'm sure theres more . 

Good idea .

Rear arms are all on one sprue with no excess unwanted parts so they're ideal to package into a kit like this. I'd suggested not throwing in the whole red parts tree in but just mould the rear uprights onto their separate sprue (Cut's down on plastic waste, see my previous rant about this in my Konghead kit ;) , Tamiya have got to stop putting a sprue in a kit just because you need one or 2 bits from it. It makes it expensive for us and bad for plastic consumption). Body parts kit could be a separate kit. That way if you can't afford the whole thing you can choose between the suspension upgrade, or just changing the bodyshell, or buy one then save up for the next one. Remember we got into this hobby when we were kids on a limited budget......

Yes, a Winger bodykit would be nice for the boomerang owners as well. 

And that's just one car. There's loads of potential for the vintage kits to have upgrades (look at the massive Clod buster after market updates market), plus the straight axle conversion I mentioned here which no-ones doing at the moment. 

 

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On 10/13/2020 at 12:53 AM, Re-Bugged said:

A King Blackfoot  front and rear conversion for ORV chassis would be a winner I’m sure. 

AMEN TO THAT!!!!!!!!! 😊👏👏👏👏👏👏🍻🍻

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I'll just keep humming my mantra

"Super Champ / Fighting Buggy; Super Champ / Fighting Buggy; Super Champ / Fighting Buggy; Super Champ / Fighting Buggy;"

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