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Mechanic AH

Most $£¥ money you spent and what you regretted not buying?

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So I have subconsciously decided to cap what I spend for the year on the hobby because there's a point when I think it's just pure impulsiveness (and being irresponsible)—but I think the fluctuating supply is what makes me impulsive. 

I think I have about 70% of kits and items (including leftovers from 2020) that will keep me pre-occupied in 2021. But, there are still a few things like parts and a kit that I might look into.

Sometimes I struggle when I have to purchase parts (or kits), because lately, it seems that if you wait too long or think about it too much, the part or kit becomes completely unavailable (at least here in the US). I feel like the window to decide for newly released kits and re-res is about 1 month or two before it dries up. Parts vary but can be equally frustrating especially if it's a coveted part, re-issue, or vintage. I feel like some of these parts can disappear within a week or even hours (auction). I remember when I was kid, you can wait for a year and decide on a kit and it will still be available. Nowadays, I find it tough to resist when I see a discontinued NIB kit, I feel like I have to go for it because it will rarely come back and I'm going to regret it. But with limited funds, I can't just keep buying these things.

However, there are things that I probably have spent more on. And it really upsets me because I've seen some of these things pre pandemic and I've ignored them. As an example, I've always wanted an RC10 #6001 gold pan re-issue for nostalgic reasons. I've seen it since its re-release and for longest time at its selling price (around $250 US) and kept putting it aside. Then when it was gone, it was going for $350 to $400+ US on fleabay. I kept ignoring it because it was abundant. Then the pandemic hit and I could see every week fewer and fewer kits are being sold and prices are going up, and I ended just going for one NIB and paid just under $700 US. It's a lot for me and not the smartest move at least but I know I would regret if I didn't get tp build it. Today, I looked at fleabay and surprised to see less than a handful and the prices are in between $850 to $1500 US. In the future, I don't how far I can go to get something coveted during my childhood.

One big regret I've had is ignoring the Acto TRF motor and even the Pink Acto. For a while it was easy to get them at a decent price. I remember even early last year seeing some TRF for $70 US new or mint, and even $50+ for a used one. The fall of last year it was peaking at $100 to $125 US. And now it's above that and not easy to find. I've even seen someone from Japan selling a mint NIP for $450 US! 

 

Sorry for the long post, but what have you spent on the most in this hobby? Something that some might seem unreasonable to some, or made you feel guilty, but your heart just told you to go for it? And what do you regret to this day not buying?

And, how far would you go if you really want something? What's your thought behind spending? Or holding back?

 

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Most expensive single kit, Sheridan tank and Finespec radio. All in just under a grand!!! Regrets I wish I’d bought either of these,  SRB Ford Ranger & Mini Cooper. 

Edited by Busdriver
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this isnt that expensive but i already have 17 Gundam kits (3 1/00 scales and the rest 144). most of these kits cost from $35 to $60 and since im a sucker for a certain model i try to get most scales and i dropped $75 for a master grade kit but im just glad it doesnt have a Perfect grade, those can easily break $150 without a sweat. i put a fair amount of money into this already and havent regretted any even though i have a 3-4 kit backlog.

the slash 2wd and TT02d are the most expensive kits i got and i dont regret them, still waiting for the slash to come in... i havent been into RC for long enough for it to get as far as my other hobbies yet. currently around $1,200 combined so far. now why did i feel so compelled to calculate all that?? i wish i never did that just now.

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I really don't want to calculate what I've spent on this hobby over the past 12  months; I'm sure it would cause extreme feelings of regret and even a little nausea lol.

That being said, the single most expensive hop-up I've bought so far (and hopefully ever) is the discontinued DF03 graphite chassis from an ebay seller whom I think was indeed selling the last NIP set in existence. He didn't say this, but I haven't been able to find another one for the past 9 months or so, ebay or otherwise. It's meant to retail at around USD 85, but I plonked down USD 200 + shipping. I must say I do regret buying it in a way: along with all the other shiny bits I've put on my DF03, I can't drive it any more for fear of scratching or damaging something I can't replace.

One thing I regret not buying is an Egress when they were still being sold NIB last year. Even if they do release another batch soon, I have a feeling it will cost more than last time.

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I'm wasn't going to buy any kits, the way things are atm,  but tried to buy an XLS with upgraded transmission a few weeks back, as there was a rumour we'd get a wee bonus for working through the lockdowns. Checked stock on the Sunday night- in stock, got a letter Monday to say we'd get it a bonus, tried to order Monday night - out of stock!!?! 🤦‍♂️

My single most expensive purchase has been a Sanwa Exzes ZZ, at just under £500. It was during the first lockdown, when prices for stuff went mental on eBay, so sold most of my old Core RC radio gear and micro receivers, which more than covered it.

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I take tabs to what i spend, thats one of the way so i can hold splurge spending. Last year i spend $1,000 for starting this hobby, bought a futaba 3pv tx, a lipo charger, 2 2s lipo batt,  and 2 tamiya kit: a rere Boomerang and a DB02 with all its tidbits. I dont regret it, Im having fun with my boomerang, tinkering and racing it. Not yet building DB02, dont have time right now.

Have the urge to build a tt01e rally but still waiting for some extra cash. I do have the fund, but with the covid still going strong, i need to take some measure.

One of my regrets is,  im thinking too long when theres a Terra Scocher available, 3 days thinking, but then the 1 and only Terra Scorcher in my local  emarket just gone >.<. Hopefully with the new Fire Dragon release, there will be some availabe with reasonable price.

Im holding back from buying Avante, i think with my financial condition, its wasting money to buy it just for a ($500) shelf queen. I know when i have it, im not gonna racing it, better to buy 2 or 3 other kit that have its full purpose (play and display).

 

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The most spent in one go was just about £3000 on a collection i purchased. I have since sold a few of the models.

There's lots of stuff i regret not buying, but i look forward to the next opportunity, i dont dwell on what has passed.

J

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I’m only just back into RC having just refurbished my original Frog from the 1980s so haven’t got carried away ...yet!

There are some scary prices out there - watched a M-05Ra Renault 5 sell on eBay for £199 last week, and a M-03 chassis with bent body mounts, bald / perished tyres and no speed controller sold for £80 odd - you can get a M-05 kit with ESC for £99!

There are a couple of Mini Coopers on eBay at the moment - would love to get one but they are going to be v expensive!

I am struggling to decide between TT-02 Audi Quattro and M-05 MX-5 (plan to pick up a mini bodyshell in the future). Then, in the back of my mind is a Sand Scorcher plus Rough Rider body for nostalgic reasons - that does get expensive!

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The most spent was £530 on a never run fox with acoms radio gear installed and ready to run.I have never run it yet as im scared because of how much i spent on it so its really a shelf queen.I wish i had bought a wild one re re when they were plenty for sale,now they are going for over £300 on ebay.

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Most I spent at one time was $2k buying 26 cars from Skottoman. No regrets there. 

Biggest regret is selling a new in the bag MIP 4wd kit for $1200. Jackarse pestered me for a month to sell it to him and how he always wanted one. Couple of months later he sells it on eBay for $2400. 

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I spent $750 (I’m slightly guessing, could have been a bit more) on an HPI Baja when they came out in 2007. Lord only knows how much more in hop up parts in the last 13 years was spent. I still have it and run it a few times a year. Couldn’t dream of getting rid of it though.  

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Or there’s the least expensive, although I fear it may increase with time🥸E126FB3B-A7A9-4751-BA9E-524E6C5C7A41.jpeg.73d38828aa930e39a740ceb0c6bfd60c.jpeg

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The most expensive rc I've bought today has to be my losi rockrey and an absolute fortune again on stupidly expensive hop-ups for it including alloy wheels and tyres then a custom made shell! Even now it makes my eyes water on how much you can spend on one car? But all was not lost I took it to the local model shop the owner fell in love with it! As I was looking at the newly arrived turbo optima long story short we did a deal I got the optima savox servo and brushed speed controller in exchange for the rockrey......I was very happy!

The worst buy has to be my latest! My super hotshot no way was it a bargain I think the guy who bought it originally got it to make a bit of money from it parting out the gold wheels and metal roof plate etc then muggins here after a few glasses of the red stuff comes along and buys the left overs🤦‍♂️.......but it's back to its original state although I could have bought 2 for what I've spent on it! But it's good looking buggy👍

20190209_130846.jpg

20190713_222544.jpg

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About ten years ago, I came across a big lot of RC10s and parts for sale. The seller was asking $500, but after I talked to him I found out that what he really wanted was just a Slash 4x4 to bash around with. So I bought him a Slash and an extra battery and traded him, and got the lot for $420. Total of five cars, including an original Worlds car, a new-built CE, a new-in-box CE, and two nice 10Ts, and a ton of parts. Absolutely worth it, and I enjoyed fixing them up, and gradually sold them off one at a time and essentially doubled my money.

And then I dropped $400 of it on an RC4WD Trailfinder 2. I had buyer's remorse halfway through the build. Quality of the hardware, and the fit and finish was, let's say, lacking. Sold it at a big loss after having a day of fun spoiled by two broken driveshafts. So yeah, I regret that. Looking back, I'd rather have kept a couple of the RC10s (although I do still have three others).

Things I regret not buying? Pretty much the entire contents of the "Clearance" rack at my local hobby shop back in Minnesota between 1996 and 2005. Yokomo YZ10 and  touring car kits for $100 each. A couple of Associated DS Team kits for $120. A Losi Junior Two with dust on the box for $60. Tamiya TA03 Lancias? They had three, blowing them out for $129 each. I boguht a Clozilla chassis instead. (Was racing Clods at the time.) All of it just old unwanted junk back then. Would love to have any of them now. I did manage to pull a Kyosho Nostalgic Series MGB off that rack for $159, and had a lot of fun with it, so that's something.

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4 hours ago, Shodog said:

Most I spent at one time was $2k buying 26 cars from Skottoman. No regrets there. 

Biggest regret is selling a new in the bag MIP 4wd kit for $1200. Jackarse pestered me for a month to sell it to him and how he always wanted one. Couple of months later he sells it on eBay for $2400. 

wow, what a douche move on jackarse's part. i understand buying something to run or become a display item if you dont get around to building/running it. scamming his way into a $1200 pay day is such a D move.

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Havent made expensive purchases really...

especially now in the pandemic.

 

my price I paid for cars goes from 50-80€ and thats it.

 

the most expensive I bought was a new M05 that was with the Abarth 1000TCR body just somewhat above 200€. Including lot of hop ups and mo5ver conversion parts.

the second expensive was alltogether the F103, 50€ chassis, 200€ new chassis in parts, 100€ electronics... most expensive model I have.

there was a time I got back into hobby, while I was home with a broken leg. Spent in that 4 months about 1200€ on 11 cars including the F103 rebuild. That was the craziest irresponsible thing I did. 

Now I am back at 4 cars and I am pretty sure I am at a loss in terms of monay.

 

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3 hours ago, moffman said:

The most expensive rc I've bought today has to be my losi rockrey and an absolute fortune again on stupidly expensive hop-ups for it including alloy wheels and tyres then a custom made shell! Even now it makes my eyes water on how much you can spend on one car? But all was not lost I took it to the local model shop the owner fell in love with it! As I was looking at the newly arrived turbo optima long story short we did a deal I got the optima savox servo and brushed speed controller in exchange for the rockrey......I was very happy!

The worst buy has to be my latest! My super hotshot no way was it a bargain I think the guy who bought it originally got it to make a bit of money from it parting out the gold wheels and metal roof plate etc then muggins here after a few glasses of the red stuff comes along and buys the left overs🤦‍♂️.......but it's back to its original state although I could have bought 2 for what I've spent on it! But it's good looking buggy👍

20190209_130846.jpg

20190713_222544.jpg

That Optima is LUSH !! - excellent

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19 hours ago, Mechanic AH said: I feel like some of these parts can disappear within a week or even hours (auction). I remember when I was kid, you can wait for a year and decide on a kit and it will still be available. Nowadays, I find it tough to resist when I see a discontinued NIB kit, I feel like I have to go for it because it will rarely come back and I'm going to regret it.

Mechhanic AH we are getting older so times flies much faster than we’re kids lol

 

4 hours ago, moffman said:

The most expensive rc I've bought today has to be my losi rockrey and an absolute fortune again on stupidly expensive hop-ups for it including alloy wheels and tyres then a custom made shell! Even now it makes my eyes water on how much you can spend on one car?

Hoffman, I totally I agree with you, if not carefully you can drop a fortune in hop up and after market parts. I spend 5x the value of my Traxxas TRX-6 on scale and hop ups. Regrets no, but only one problem. Too nice to run and expensive if you crash however minor so now I”m considering getting another TRX-6 as runner with only few carefully chosen necessary hop ups 😁

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8 minutes ago, KEV THE REV said:

That Optima is LUSH !! - excellent

Cheers thanks a lot👍 it was one of those times when you should go and buy a lottery ticket aswell, If you can (because it's a expensive kit) get the chance to buy on I would highly recommend it because it's a stunning buggy its definitely up there for quality with the avante/egress probably (sorry tamiya) a little better?

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19 minutes ago, JYCM3 said:

Mechhanic AH we are getting older so times flies much faster than we’re kids lol

 

Hoffman, I totally I agree with you, if not carefully you can drop a fortune in hop up and after market parts. I spend 5x the value of my Traxxas TRX-6 on scale and hop ups. Regrets no, but only one problem. Too nice to run and expensive if you crash however minor so now I”m considering getting another TRX-6 as runner with only few carefully chosen necessary hop ups 😁

hop ups arent the only excuse not to run a RC. even a nice paint job can have that same effect... i know that personally.

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Now I don't feel as bad about my purchases :lol:. Sounds like everyone is almost in the same boat. But sometimes I wish I wasn't exposed to or aware of the RC hobby.

10 hours ago, markbt73 said:

About ten years ago, I came across a big lot of RC10s and parts for sale. The seller was asking $500, but after I talked to him I found out that what he really wanted was just a Slash 4x4 to bash around with. So I bought him a Slash and an extra battery and traded him, and got the lot for $420. Total of five cars, including an original Worlds car, a new-built CE, a new-in-box CE, and two nice 10Ts, and a ton of parts.

Man, when am I going to get that lucky? I keep seeing people even today finding deals, lots, and, etc. for cheap. I saw on an FB group a guy who bought a gold pan RC10 from a kid for $20. Kid had no idea what he had. The buyer made the quick deal, rushed away. Was kinda boasting and giddy about it. I don't know if I can do that kind of purchase.

10 hours ago, markbt73 said:

Things I regret not buying? Pretty much the entire contents of the "Clearance" rack at my local hobby shop back in Minnesota between 1996 and 2005. Yokomo YZ10 and  touring car kits for $100 each. A couple of Associated DS Team kits for $120. A Losi Junior Two with dust on the box for $60. Tamiya TA03 Lancias? They had three, blowing them out for $129 each.

Ok, this I will regret if it happened to me. The Yokomos, AE, and Losi especially.

13 hours ago, Shodog said:

Biggest regret is selling a new in the bag MIP 4wd kit for $1200. Jackarse pestered me for a month to sell it to him and how he always wanted one. Couple of months later he sells it on eBay for $2400. 

****, that's harsh. Will make me think now before I sell to desperate/pushy folks.

8 hours ago, Fabia130vRS said:

Spent in that 4 months about 1200€ on 11 cars including the F103 rebuild.

I don't feel as bad now but that seems like a good deal for 11 cars. 

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I think the most I spent in one go was my MAN TGX full-option kit, which I got NIB in a deal on here.  We had got married, bought a house, and the next big journey was parenthood, so I thought I'd do the one RC thing I hadn't done before.  The TGX came up on here just as I started looking, so it felt like fate.  That rig has since had a fair amount spent on it and it may go up this year if I can find the cash for a Beier conversion.

Regrets on not buying - not that many, I think?  Some stuff I bought cheap then sold on because I didn't have the time / space / money to finish, and now they're like gold dust.  I had an NIB Kyosho Cup Racer 240z for ages which I bought for next to nothing, I sold it before I moved house for around the same, a short while later I regretted it and wanted another, couldn't find one for love nor money.

I was planning on buying a Top Cat re-release in 2020, almost every month I looked at it and thought 'nah, maybe next month', then suddenly they're discontinued right when I had no money to get one of the last ones.  Actually there is one out there now for not crazy money but things have changed financially so I can't really justify another NIB on top of all the other projects I have to finish.

I sort of regret not getting black clod in 2020 too, I hoped they'd be around for longer (I think technically they're still in production but not in the UK right now, although it looks like prices have gone up a bit since last year).  But I'm still not 100% sure I can justify another clod in 2021 anyway.

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It’s has always been the Blazing Blazers that have cost the most money to buy for me, I peaked @ 3 then over the last 5 years wound back down to just 1. 
 

I had 6 Toyota Hilux at one stage which collectively owed me more than the BB’s but again I am now thankfully back down to one. 
 

With the models I have kept I have a good idea what they owe me, but I tend to stop counting or spending when I hit about £300 in overall costs, no doubt there is some element of denial in there.

No massive regrets, some purchases have stung, some sales have gone well.

There’s some models I’d still like but between lack of time and massive overheads there is little chance of much there ever being any real chance if realising them.

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The single largest initial purchase cost was, until recently, my TXT-2. 

I regretted not picking up an Axial SCX10iii when it was on sale last year and that would have been my most expensive purchase.

When it came up on sale again before Christmas I bought one! I reckon I saved the cost of the 2spd and dig servoes to go in it.

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