Getting back into "it"

[Boomstick]

Whatever "it" is...

You've probably heard or wrote this story or at least parts of it.

Back in the 80's, I saw a frog at price club right before birthmas (my bday and Xmas are one week apart, hence "birthmas"). I begged my mom and dad to get it for me and in typical fashion, I got something else, a tyco mini hopper. I wore it out in a matter of days. The next year I asked for a Blackfoot, I got some Nikko monster truck. I wore it out in a couple of days. The next year, I asked for a Blackfoot again. I got a Tyco bandit and, you guessed it, I wore it out in a couple of days, actually I trashed the gears in it. 

We weren't poor by any stretch of the imagination but a friend of mine down the street was "dirt floor poor", and he got a Blackfoot for Christmas!!! By this time I had a job and was riding my bike 3 miles to Wendy's for work. I had a all chrome Mongoose BMX at the time and bought a cheap mountain bike at the flea market to make my commute easier. Anyway, my financially challenged friend didn't have a "cool" bike, but he had a Blackfoot. I went to his house one day and he was running it around the yard and I immediately fell in love with it. So I rode my bike to the local hobby shop looking to buy a Blackfoot. At $4.25 an hour, the $550 price tag for everything to get started was WAY out of my range. I asked my parents for a loan, they told me no. I think they must have been down to their last million dollars... Did I mention we weren't poor? Oh and I'm an only child. Anyway, a few weeks later I dug out my old Tyco Bandit and took it to the hobby shop looking to buy new gears for it. The nice lady at the counter told me there really was no way to fix it or any of the other rc cars I had. They had a layaway plan but it would take me almost a year to pay it off. So I left.

On my way home I stopped by my friends house. I asked him about the blackfoot he got for Christmas and he says "I don't play with that thing anymore". 

Here's my chance! I offered to trade my Mongoose for his Blackfoot and I walked 3 miles home carrying a well thrashed (trashed) Blackfoot and a bag of parts. I don't remember what all was broken on it but I do remember I loved that truck no matter how bad of condition it was. I didn't get a body with it so I took the bandit apart, drilled holes in it and mounted it on the Blackfoot. It cost me a fortune to rebuild and looked ridiculous with that bandit body, but I loved that truck.

I loved that truck so much, when it was time to buy my first new car, I bought a brand new, black, 1994 Nissan hardbody. But that's another story.

I raced that blackfoot for years, upgraded to the thorp diff and dog bones, monster mash motor, novak 410 speed controller, aluminium wheels, etc. I eventually bought a king cab body for it and painted it black. I had gotten so good racing it, they kicked me out of blackfoot class and made me race in king cab class. I still won most of my races. 

For my 17th birthmas I asked everyone for a king cab and my grandfather bought me a Hilux (no one in my family ever gets it right). I built that truck with pretty much the exact same gear I ran my blackfoot with (yes I know, monster mash motors are wrong for the KC/Hilux). I dominated KC class to the point where they threw me in with the stadium trucks (jrxt, rc10t) and I still won most races. The middle of that summer two sales guys from Losi were at the local hobby shop and heard about me. They came to the track that weekend. 

"Hey kid, do you want a real racing truck?"

Me, "ok"

"Tell ya what, wear this shirt, hat and jacket and you can have this new truck to race"

They handed me a JrT kit and a revolution motor. Yes, Junior T... Really???

So I immediately built the truck when I got home and started upgrading it, first was bearings (it came with bushings) shocks and mini pin rear tires, a novak speed controller and futaba magnum sport radio and a king cab body. I dominated with that truck so much, I got kicked out of electric and into gas truck class. I still won many races.

Then I met Tara... She became the new love of my life. The "toys" got put away and i became a man...

That was about 30 years ago... Tara is a distant memory and the trucks have all been lost to time. I'm now 46 and probably going through a midlife crisis.

Ive been getting weird and thought about things and remember how much fun I had racing and thrashing my rc trucks. I decided I want to get back into it again. I thought about buying another Blackfoot and went to one of the local hobby shops and did some inquiring. Boy haven't things changed!!! 6000mAH batteries!!! No swapping crystals!!! Brushless motors!!!! Traxxas is now the trucks to own?!?!?!?!?! WHAT!!!!???? They were nothing more than toys when I raced!

Anyway, I was told the Blackfoot would never handle the new motors and is not compatible with the new electronics which didn't seem right to me, but what do I know anymore?

Well, a couple of weeks ago I bought a Traxxas slash unassembled kit and paint, batteries etc... For some reason, fully assembled RTR cars just don't seem right to me. After spending 7 hours building that truck, I understand the RTR thing. I still don't want RTR though. Strangely, the very next day after I bought and finished my slash, I picked up a king cab at the local hobby shop that was part of a collection a guy sold that very morning due to a divorce! I plan on restoring it eventually and maybe even taking it to the track. It's cool and brought back memories, but something was missing. My slash is a blast to drive and thrash. It has amazing speed, great handling, jumps great and is all around an awesome truck. But still, something is missing...

 

 

Last night I ordered a NIB 2016 Blackfoot...

 

 

[Frog Jumper]

Great story!  Welcome to the club!

Terry

[Exit13]

Boomstick you are the man!  And much like myself 46 and (previously) a serious RC racer!  Welcome to the club.  I was hoping the story ended with you getting a blackfoot and it did!  Now all we need to do if find you an 80's Mongoose.. What model was it?  I'll start looking for you.

[El Gecko]

The force is strong with this one!

Blackfoots (Blackfeet?) rock

And so do Mongoose BMX!

[Frog Jumper]

Yes they do rock!

https://i.imgur.com/QLWPLop.jpg?s=sms

[Boomstick]

On 2/8/2021 at 12:26 PM, Exit13 said:

Boomstick you are the man!  And much like myself 46 and (previously) a serious RC racer!  Welcome to the club.  I was hoping the story ended with you getting a blackfoot and it did!  Now all we need to do if find you an 80's Mongoose.. What model was it?  I'll start looking for you.

No need or want for a bicycle, I have 2 cars and a Jeep...lol... I don't remember what model it was. It was one of their trick bikes with the pegs and neck you could spin around without the brake cables getting twisted up, not the racing ones. I traded something for it, I don't remember what though. It wasn't very practical.

 

Those weren't my only rc "toys", I built an airplane. I can't remember the brand, it was wood with a 40 engine, mylar skin and a black eagle logo. I crashed it about .001 seconds after take off. I used the engine to build a big swamp buggy air boat which almost got me arrested when I hit a duck with it. The prop hit the duck in the tail and sent feathers everywhere... I still crack up remembering it... Maryland DNR officer Praley didn't find it quite as funny as I did. The boat sank to the bottom of lake waterford. DNR confiscated the radio.

 

I raced an rc10l for a short time, owned a super blackfoot and a gas usa1. My mother thinks my first Blackfoot is stored at her house somewhere... I hope she actually goes looking for it, but I doubt she will...

[markbt73]

Welcome back! You're right; a lot has changed, but a lot hasn't, and the fun is still there.

I'm also a huge fan of the Blackfoot, and also Nissan trucks: I drove a 1983 720 4x4 in college, and had a used '91 Pathfinder that my wife finally made me give up on at 365,000 miles (I still say I could have gotten it to 400k), and her current vehicle is an Infiniti QX4. I was looking for a D21 Hardbody pickup before I bought my Chevy, but that's yet another story.

As far as the Blackfoot goes, you find a lot of fans of it on here, and it's still worth having. My restored (slight resto-mod) original is still one of my favorites. In fact, here's a little tribute I wrote to it, if you're interested...

https://drivetribe.com/p/the-king-of-the-cul-de-sac-S5BzWQbbQYetMn_9o62kaQ?iid=ABa0zGfuRcazYbkOXnNMOw

[Boomstick]

1 hour ago, markbt73 said:

Welcome back! You're right; a lot has changed, but a lot hasn't, and the fun is still there.

I'm also a huge fan of the Blackfoot, and also Nissan trucks: I drove a 1983 720 4x4 in college, and had a used '91 Pathfinder that my wife finally made me give up on at 365,000 miles (I still say I could have gotten it to 400k), and her current vehicle is an Infiniti QX4. I was looking for a D21 Hardbody pickup before I bought my Chevy, but that's yet another story.

As far as the Blackfoot goes, you find a lot of fans of it on here, and it's still worth having. My restored (slight resto-mod) original is still one of my favorites. In fact, here's a little tribute I wrote to it, if you're interested...

https://drivetribe.com/p/the-king-of-the-cul-de-sac-S5BzWQbbQYetMn_9o62kaQ?iid=ABa0zGfuRcazYbkOXnNMOw

Awesome article! 

I feel like a kid waiting for Christmas! Ups says my Blackfoot will be here Wednesday. I haven't been this excited for anything since I was a kid! 

[Boomstick]

So the seller advertised shipping via UPS, and shipped it FedEx... Now it won't be here until Monday...

 

Errrrr I hate waiting for new toys!!!!

[Boomstick]

Well...

The Blackfoot showed up yesterday and I'm going to start putting it together tonight after my 12 hour shift is over... 

[Boomstick]

Just in case anyone is still following this thread, here she is after 10 hours of assembly!!!

Building it was like hugging an old friend. Boy did I miss that truck...

[john24]

On 2/8/2021 at 10:03 AM, Boomstick said:

No need or want for a bicycle, I have 2 cars and a Jeep...lol... I don't remember what model it was. It was one of their trick bikes with the pegs and neck you could spin around without the brake cables getting twisted up, not the racing ones. I traded something for it, I don't remember what though. It wasn't very practical.

 

Those weren't my only rc "toys", I built an airplane. I can't remember the brand, it was wood with a 40 engine, mylar skin and a black eagle logo. I crashed it about .001 seconds after take off. I used the engine to build a big swamp buggy air boat which almost got me arrested when I hit a duck with it. The prop hit the duck in the tail and sent feathers everywhere... I still crack up remembering it... Maryland DNR officer Praley didn't find it quite as funny as I did. The boat sank to the bottom of lake waterford. DNR confiscated the radio.

 

I raced an rc10l for a short time, owned a super blackfoot and a gas usa1. My mother thinks my first Blackfoot is stored at her house somewhere... I hope she actually goes looking for it, but I doubt she will...

 

wow I am impressed with your creativity:) Can you tell with experience which kind of trick bike is good ?
I'm totally confused where to start. I ma checking out different websites

https://www.bikethesites.com/best-bmx-bikes-under-300/
I'm a total beginner, I tried to do bunny hops, wheelies as a kid on my shopping bike, always fancied a BMX instead.

 

 

[Exit13]

4 hours ago, john24 said:

 

wow I am impressed with your creativity:) Can you tell with experience which kind of trick bike is good ?
I'm totally confused where to start. I ma checking out different websites

https://www.bikethesites.com/best-bmx-bikes-under-300/
I'm a total beginner, I tried to do bunny hops, wheelies as a kid on my shopping bike, always fancied a BMX instead.

 

 

You are going to want to head over to BMXMUSEUM.COM with this question. Ask me how I know?