What Tamiya kit/car have you regretted purchasing?

[moffman 5752]

21 hours ago, Juhunio said:

So far, only one; the Monster Beetle

Just didn't enjoy the agricultural build, the 'whim and a prayer' gearbox assembly, the lack of choice of wheel options. Most builds I feel a bit sad when they're finished, this thing I had to keep pushing myself to get it done. But in the end I got so fed up with it I haven't even got around to painting Albert to finish it yet . 

It's the only one that I think I will probably get rid of. Just a whole load of 'meh'

That's a cool looking beetle! I love building the hard body tamiya's and my favourite part is when I've done the chassis and the body isn't done! Again no idea why (just like the super astute........strange🙄!)

[jonboy1 2943]

I know I'm liable to get a lot of grief off a lot of people for saying this (epsecially @ThunderDragonCy  ) but the Terra Scorcher. (ducks as many non-standard size tires are lobbed at me! )

And you know, that was part of the problem for me - back when I was a kid the internet wasn't around, so any parts had to come from the LHS - which in my case, wasn't especially well stocked. So when my tyres got worn it was basically impossible for me to get some replacements as they were a funky size. So I kinda fell out of love with it. The chassis was very fragile on them too, but I did manage to get a replacement for that, but by then I was regretting not saving up a bit longer to get the Vanquish instead.

Ironically, fast forward to a year or so ago and I bought another one as a resto project to try and rekindle the love for it. This was before it was re-released and everything was either unobtainable or rediculously expensive, so I gave up. So I was thwarted both times by parts availability!!  

[TurnipJF 9192]

On 11/28/2020 at 11:36 PM, markbt73 said:

The M03 was OK, but it felt top-heavy, and it was too light in the tail. Made it unpredictable. And the M04 was just all over the place, it oversteered like crazy. Never could figure out how to make it run right.

I built an M05 and an M06, and... I don't know. I just hated how they felt in my hands. Cheap, and toylike. But I have the same complaint about most inexpensive modern (designed within the last 15-20 years) Tamiya chassis.

I daresay I was similarly unimpressed with the feel of the M-05 and M-06, both of which feature plenty of hard plastics which put me in mind of the brittle stuff which plagued (and still plagues) vehicles of Hotshot vintage for example. However experience with the kits in question has shown that while similar in feel, the newer M-chassis stuff is a lot hardier and less prone to cracking. While initially hesitant to push them, I now happily take my M-05 and M-06 through rally stages, over jumps, etc, with no breakages so far.

[slimleeroy 241]

None

[slimleeroy 241]

On 11/27/2020 at 9:31 PM, BuggyGuy said:

TT-02B - it's just not a good buggy.

At all.

In any way. 

I've found ours to be quite the opposite. A few hop ups and metal diffs and it's a beast for handling hot motors and is really durable

[slimleeroy 241]

On 11/28/2020 at 12:13 AM, Saito2 said:

Cars I could let go if someone would buy them:

Egress, bought a second one for a runner since these were the tops when I was young. Never ran it. I became too paranoid about Tamiya's lackluster spares support and there's always the danger of meeting ones heroes. I was primed to sell it but knew I'd take a beating on it, even new-built. It will be converted to a Avante 2001-esque shelfer,

Madcap, brought used with a melted chassis. I replaced the chassis but never ran it. Later, no one would buy it so it collects dust. Maybe in the distant future, If I track down red shocks, I'll make it a Saint Dragon shelfer, or it will continue to sit.

Grasshopper 2, bought recently to recreate my old Super G my folks tossed in the trash while I was at college. Somehow, it just wasn't the same. Never ran it and it just sits because I couldn't even get $40 for it, new, unused.

M05RA Alpine A110, the body was beautiful, but I have no where to run a rally car and on-road does nothing for me. Again, probably worthless at this point, so it sits in a box.

TRF201, I bought 2 of these cheap on Tamiya USA with the crazy idea I'd go to a track. I'm far too introverted for that so I have no idea what I was thinking, sold both of them on.

CC01, bought a Pajero years back but had to sell it for money before driving it. Bought the Unimog version only to discover it wasn't my thing so off it went. I just can't understand the allure but that's all on me.

TA02T, looked neat but rolled constantly. I'm too stuck with how buggies react to change I guess.

Twin Detonator, debated putting this on here because I did have fun with it until it became very boring for me. I've narrowed down what irks me about its geometry that affects its nature of running at least. The worst part is I was dirt poor when I bought it around the great recession and stupidly sold off my RC10T to fund it thinking I's strictly be a Tamiya collector. That was well over 10 years ago and my taste have grown far past Tamiya. Maybe that's why I have 8 RC10s to make up for my utter idiocy of letting the 10T go.

Super Astute, planned to make this a runner but was not pleased with all the shortcomings the buggy still had in it. I see-sawed about plowing the extra money into it for alloy shocks (let alone the ability to bottom out the front end) and a chassis that wasn't a springboard but gave up and let it be a shelfer. I'm grateful to Tamiya for the experience to be able to build it but it didn't live up to expectations. Debate about the car on the forum got very heated which didn't make me love it anymore, culminating with a member calling me a clueless idiot. I am an idiot, but I don't need it pointed out to me, lol. My Ultima filled its position in my 2wd line up and its great.

 

Is the madcap still for sale?

[TurnipJF 9192]

13 minutes ago, slimleeroy said:

I've found ours to be quite the opposite. A few hop ups and metal diffs and it's a beast for handling hot motors and is really durable

Agreed. It even handles really well once the rubbery stock shock towers have been upgraded. I think this is one of its charms - it can be a cheap bouncy rubbery kid's toy or a tough, powerful and tight-handling model that may not be full race-grade but is very much deserving of hobby-grade status, depending on how you choose to modify it.

[Grotty Otty 868]

Controversially my Monster Beetle. It has a mip ball diff so no transmission issues but I'm always so nervous of tipping it and scrapping the body that I don't use it... Think I ought to get another shell to bash with! 

[ralphee 293]

2 hours ago, moffman said:

I'm finding reading this thread very interesting then I came across your car you regretted and as I was reading I was thinking "my super astute is one rc car I really not so much regret buying but it wouldn't bother me if I didn't have it" but I honestly don't know why I fell like that towards it? It's a great buggy pretty easy to build and looks cool! It just doesn't do anything for me? 

Its a weird one for me buddy. Dont get me wrong, its very nice, but, yeah lacking, i know its frowned upon, by purists, but id have liked a few improvements, mainly in the fragile front end, i mean, a hollow thin plastic pivot block/shock tower mount just, doesn't get my fire going. I enjoyed the build, even gave it a run with an 11t, and it got me smiling, but i had to take it so easy as, i just knew anything heavy would result in a breakage.

[BuggyGuy 1106]

6 hours ago, slimleeroy said:

I've found ours to be quite the opposite. A few hop ups and metal diffs and it's a beast for handling hot motors and is really durable

There's 2-3 things that can't be easily fixed that make the **** thing useless at most tracks:

No front kick up / to low / no slipper clutch / short wheelbase

Fine for a car park racer - but I'll be converting mine to a rally car as soon as I finish my XV-01 build. I think it might be better fit for rally with its on-road origins.

 

[Avante2001R 305]

If I had bought a TT-02 standard version I probably would have binned it. I got the SR but gave away the crappy excess of non used plastic parts. I have seen one up close and it is such a crude kit. 

[slimleeroy 241]

5 hours ago, BuggyGuy said:

There's 2-3 things that can't be easily fixed that make the **** thing useless at most tracks:

No front kick up / to low / no slipper clutch / short wheelbase

Fine for a car park racer - but I'll be converting mine to a rally car as soon as I finish my XV-01 build. I think it might be better fit for rally with its on-road origins.

 

To be fair, there are lots of 4wd buggies with no kick up. I agree though, it's too low although this can be remedied with longer dampers

[Killajb 1546]

Interesting to see which vehicles give some people a case of the regrets.  Some I can relate to because I also own them such as the Monster Beetle/ ORV family of cars.  I don't have any regrets because I knew what I was getting into when I purchased them.  I have in turn, tried to do extensive research on any of my future purchases to avoid any regrets.  For instance, I've opted against purchasing an Avante (yet) because I preferred to buy a car I can enjoy building and actually run with confidence on occasion.  For the amount of money involved to get a NIB Avante, it will mostly be a display item.  While I absolutely love the build process, I'm not yet willing to pony up for this model as opposed to say.. a Turbo Optima.

I was tempted to list my Rising Storm (DF-02 chassis) as a regret here, but I won't.  While I wish it was possible to improve areas of loose tolerance such as the front suspension arms without hassle, I finally just accepted it for what it is: and entry-level 4wd buggy intended for romping around, not a track star or road king of any sort.

[Baja500 93]

I don't regret it fully owing a Terra Crusher, it was a present in 2004, my 1st ever nitro rc.

I just had alot of problems with it or not experiencd enough with nitro, out of the box brand new it went ok. The hobby shop never tuned it for me. It was slipping at times and never hit 2nd gear hardly at all. I still loved it...was a beast of a rig. But it never ran full on like hotcakes, as in the terra crusher promotional video above from the hobby store. I sold it.

[Kowalski86 3031]

This is my list:

Vintage Monster Beetle: Old brittle plastics, bodyshells are extremely overpriced, fun to drive but it cracked or broke something every run.

M05 NSU TT: Nice shell, not a fun chassis on tiny 50D wheels, of course there's nothing "scale" about a FWD NSU TT.

Used TT02D aka "budget build": It was just a bit worn out in some areas, all the gamble of buying used.

TT-02 Type S: Nice to drive, too many extra shims/spacers/hacks/littlebitstodrop to worry about when adjusting the a-arms.

TT-02B: It handled well, but I prefer RWD buggies. My Frog was noticeably quicker with a similar motor setup.

[alvinlwh 5894]

1. Frog

2. MF-01X

3. M-06

[bRIBEGuy 3044]

This is a tough one, as the "bad" in Tamiya often still brings with it some level of endearment.  That being said, the two that definitely pop to my mind are:

1. Ford F-150 Ranger:
   When I was big into the "SRB" cars, this was a bit of a grail vehicle for me, as they just didn't come up often, and when they did they were pretty beat down.  I finally managed to get my hands on a nice one and was slapped in the face with the fact that it really just looked like a POS.  Don't get me wrong, I loved the body, but the VW style trailing front arm suspension, the wacky camber in the back, and the L-O-O-O-O-N-G front body mount just gave the car...er, truck a crappy "tossed together" feel.  I tried for quite a while to convince myself I liked it (or that it "completed" my SRB collection), but in reality it was trash, and eventually it got sold.
2. DT-03:
   This one never caught my eye, but I kept hearing how great they were for a budget car, and how much fun they were to build.  Eventually I broke down when I found a good local deal on a NIB NeoFighter, and I went to town devising my own version of the popular "Neo Frog" build.  I spent some $$$ on upgrades, but luckily talked myself out of a full option build, as quite frankly, I now think the car kinda sucks.  The build wasn't much fun, the plastic felt cheap, the fit and finish was poor, and the space for electronics is oddly tight.  Honestly the only part I really had fun with was making it match my OG Frog, and adding a driver to it.  My plan was to run it, but by the time I was done with it... I was kinda just done with it.

[Sogogi 3217]

MF-01x

[Fish Slice 35]

Sonic Fighter. I don't even know why I did it, I think it must have been cheap!

Just to top it off, the first time I ran it someone else had a go, hit something and split the chassis across the front. So after months of waiting for a replacement chassis I then got rid of it, hardly used.

Other than that, dare I say the Clod? I bought one built, and think I never massively got on with it I think because I didn't build it. I think this is why I don't like the idea of RTR.

[Fish Slice 35]

On 11/28/2020 at 4:13 PM, Rb4276 said:

I totally agree with the clod, i built one during the lockdown and it was terrible out of the box. Literally sold it 2 days later. 

Glad it's not just me on the Cloud. 😂

[Avante2001R 305]

Trying to remove myself from the notification on this thread lol 

[ADRay1000 235]

hate to say it, but the Monster Beelte rerelease. my first new kit in almost 20 years and was really afraid that Tamiya quality had taken a nose dive. More often than not, driving it ends with something coming loose or breaking. Just yesterday I had it out and the diff started chatting (not in the normal way), put a note on it and shelved it indefinitely.

Still looks cool though 😬

[RC_FunLand 167]

I’ve only owned maybe 8 or 9 Tamiyas thus far? I’m still a “kid” in most respects; I’m 17. I’ve noticed that my favorite cars are all built by ME, not purchased secondhand and/or built.

 

Least Favorite

1. Toyota Tundra Hi-Lift. I bought this car secondhand from the Larry Zobolotny auction. It just p-worded me off in almost every way. I mean, it was my fault that I didn’t do my due diligence before purchasing; I hadn’t the slightest idea it was a shelfer. I mean being a scale replica of the Tundra I understand now, but I was 14 or 15 at the time. I tried so very hard to love it; I put larger tires on it, customized the light and sound kit that it came with, etc., etc., but it still had issues. First off, it came with a crystal radio. I believe it was a Hitec product; all was good minus the fact that I had to recharge the transmitter batteries every other day. Sometimes I would pick up my remote to go bashing, only to find the batteries dead. Also, the motor loved cutting out with no rhyme or reason. Sometimes I would be driving and the motor would just stop (not roll, but engage brakes) for a minute or two, then continue. Top that all off with very lackluster performance on any terrain, I knew it was time to sell it. I wound up trading it for a used Sand Scorcher + $200 bucks. I bought the vehicle for $325 at auction. What I think was the biggest mistake of them all was buying this already built. I feel like that’s why I never felt its charm.

2. TL-01 Stadium Raider. I bought this kit NIB vintage from the same auction as above some time back. The build was alright, but I had some issues from the getgo, such as clicking diffs and a complete and utter inability to seat a proper gear mesh. Top these issues off (no pun intended) with an extremely top-heavy car that would roll any time I even remotely turned, and the fact that I absolutely butchered the body shell. I’ve given up on it now. Tried selling on FB marketplace but only got lowballers asking to trade for a Big Mac + $5.

 

3. DT-03 Racing Fighter. This was my first car, loved it then, hate it now. As many people have previously mentioned, it’s brittle and it feels like a New Bright RC toy. I’ve broken almost every single part on it over my three years of actually running it. The chassis, the entire gearbox, the diff, the spur, the pinion, the A-arms, the shock towers, you name it. After breaking some of these parts a multitude of times, I decided to spend some money on hopping the car up. I bought the Ball Diff, carbon shock towers, stabilizing sets, reinforced plastic bumpers and undercarriage, red (soft) shock springs, new front and rear tires, etc., etc., yet no matter how much money I’ve thrown at this problem child, I still can’t get any enjoyment out of it. And if I were to sell this, I likely wouldn’t even break even with the kit value.

 

Favorite

1. Hotshot

2. CC-02 Ford Bronco (with tons of hopups + massive crawler tires)

3. TT-02 Type-S with diff lockers installed

4. WR-01 Twin Detonator

5. Sand scorcher in NON-BEACH setups

[Kowalski86 3031]

2 hours ago, RC_FunLand said:

2. TL-01 Stadium Raider.  I’ve given up on it now. Tried selling on FB marketplace but only got lowballers asking to trade for a Big Mac + $5.

 

3. DT-03 Racing Fighter.  no matter how much money I’ve thrown at this problem child, I still can’t get any enjoyment out of it. And if I were to sell this, I likely wouldn’t even break even with the kit value.

If you still want to unload that Raider PM me, maybe I'll trade you a Big Mac AND Fries!

My DT-02 never gave me confidence in terms of its durability, it felt like Tamiya had copied the typical "low ground scraper" design of other 2WD buggies, but forgot that those buggies are usually made from better plastic.

[RC_FunLand 167]

8 hours ago, Kowalski86 said:

If you still want to unload that Raider PM me, maybe I'll trade you a Big Mac AND Fries!

I’ll consider it sold if you add on a chocolate shake .