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So ... keeping it short. I have decided after some time of thinking that I don't have the love for Tamiya or RC any longer. I have been selling my collection but will keep a few. I'm sure I will continue to dip into this community but its time to look at other things. I'm sure many of you have been in the same position so if your still about, I would be interested to hear what has happened. 

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I have been on and off with RC the last 40+ years.   But I've always loved cars so that has and will never change.  I'm more a 1:1 scale car enthusiast in the warmer months and RC/music hobbist in the winter.  

I've never lost the love for Tamiya though, been a long time Tamiya fan (scale models, odd-ball project kits, and RC) and probably will be till the day I die.  I made a RC lounge/shop where I spend time listening to music and relaxing when I'm not digging into RC work so that my RC becomes a display and conversation piece rather than going to waste in a closet or storage while I'm off the hobby.

Good luck to you and hope to see you again in 5-10 years.

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8 hours ago, Hairyjon313 said:

So ... keeping it short. I have decided after some time of thinking that I don't have the love for Tamiya or RC any longer. I have been selling my collection but will keep a few. I'm sure I will continue to dip into this community but its time to look at other things. I'm sure many of you have been in the same position so if your still about, I would be interested to hear what has happened. 

I know how you feel. I've been teetering on the brink for the past 4-6 months, even though I've only recently gotten back into the hobby. I think I pushed too hard (as most do at first) and it's caused burn-out, so I'm just sitting it out for a while with my cars stored away in a safe place until I figure things out. 

My only advice is to hold on to your favorites, so that if/when you get the urge, you don't feel too much regret.

This is a hobby at the end of the day, and not a job, so if it's no longer fun, then it's not serving its purpose. Enjoy the spare disposible income that will inevitably appear once you stop spending on RC! :lol:

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I have seen 2 breaks in my lifetime. Caught the bug in secondary school back in '86. Stopped when I moved to Australia in 1990 to further my studies. Picked it up again after getting married & waiting on my first child in 2001. Tapered off again 7-8 years ago due to work. Picked it up again in the last 3 years. It will never go away. Keep some of the good / significant stuff. Otherwise, when the next wave hits, u will regret selling.

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Ebbs and flows for me too, I'm recently back in after another hiatus. Late 80's, early 90's, seven or eight year break, early 2000's, five or six year break, early 2010's then perhaps another 5 years and a 1 year dip back in in 17/18, back now in '21, let see for how long! 😂

As above, don't sell your prized possessions, you're very likely to be back.

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Not too dissimilar to me right now, I have increasingly thought about selling off either most or all of the 9 I have left.

My focus and time need to be elsewhere for the foreseeable future, not sad or unhappy just need to be concentrating on the bigger picture for the next 2-3 years.

I’ll start to pick the models off 1 by 1 as they come out of storage keeping a 2 or 3 back is my thinking right now.

 

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It’s a familiar story, I get through hobbies & each one usually hold my interest for a few years until the next one. If the stuff holds it’s value it’s easy to flit from one thing to the next & not be too out of pocket. If I had the funds & the space I’d keep it all, especially the cars, most of them have shot up in value in the last 20 years.

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I cycle through all my hobbies every few years.  I was hands-off for about a year now, doing other things.  I might re-start where I left off.  Or I might start something new.  One thing for sure is that I cycle back again. 

It's a hobby. You are absolutely free to do what you want. There should be no obligation, no guilt.  If you pressure yourself to think, "well, I have this NIB kit I meant to build this weekend...," it becomes a chore, rather than a fun thing you enjoy. (I've fallen into that trap many times)  

When you don't feel like it, just put them in a box. Prop up the chassis so the tires wouldn't get squished permanently. Keep the batteries in a safe place separately, so you can recharge them once in a while.  When you feel like, "oh yeah, I used to have fun with Tamiya..." then you can re-start again. Who cares if it's the next year or 10 years from now?  I may have to make latte and mow the lawn when my wife wants it done, but RC is one thing I can control.  You should do what feels natural to you. 

 

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2 hours ago, Juggular said:

It's a hobby. You are absolutely free to do what you want. There should be no obligation, no guilt.  If you pressure yourself to think, "well, I have this NIB kit I meant to build this weekend...," it becomes a chore, rather than a fun thing you enjoy. (I've fallen into that trap many times) 

This 👆

I got back into rc 11 years ago and starting building and competing with comp crawlers. Which was great. Also did a little short course racing. Recently (last 2 years) started buying tamiya kits with the intention of satisfying my love of building and making them my own. However I don't seem to have done that much driving over the last year or two. I've decided that this year I'm going to change that. 'Build less, drive more'. I thought I wanted to have a collection of cars sat on the shelf, but I don't. 

So, I'm selling off a load of parts I've accumulated and some kits to get my collection down to 4 or 5 cars that just get driven. 

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15 minutes ago, toyolien said:

This 👆

I got back into rc 11 years ago and starting building and competing with comp crawlers. Which was great. Also did a little short course racing. Recently (last 2 years) started buying tamiya kits with the intention of satisfying my love of building and making them my own. However I don't seem to have done that much driving over the last year or two. I've decided that this year I'm going to change that. 'Build less, drive more'. I thought I wanted to have a collection of cars sat on the shelf, but I don't. 

So, I'm selling off a load of parts I've accumulated and some kits to get my collection down to 4 or 5 cars that just get driven. 

You dont have a fox drive shaft by any chance.

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Nope, sorry. Most M-07 & WR-02 parts, hardware, brushed motors and spares, and a few other things. Sold most stuff now though.

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I did the same ten years ago, and got rid of loads of stuff I should have kept :( If you can, just put all your best stuff to one side and in a few years the bug will come back :)

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Perfectly normal, I think we've all had a break at some point.

My mistake ,was selling off equipment and cars that I now miss, I'm thinking you've got a few cars you will hold on to and some that done really light your fire?

It was cars like, my first frog, I got fed up having to replace the gearbox parts, so figured I wouldn't miss it. Turns out it's the memories attached to the things that makes certain cars special, not their monetary value.

So, If you financially or spatially don't need to, I'd hold off getting rid.

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15 minutes ago, Wooders28 said:

Perfectly normal, I think we've all had a break at some point.

My mistake ,was selling off equipment and cars that I now miss, I'm thinking you've got a few cars you will hold on to and some that done really light your fire?

It was cars like, my first frog, I got fed up having to replace the gearbox parts, so figured I wouldn't miss it. Turns out it's the memories attached to the things that makes certain cars special, not their monetary value.

So, If you financially or spatially don't need to, I'd hold off getting rid.

I think your bang on! Over the years I've fell out of favour with my rc's quite a few times and I've parted with cars which I've then regretted! Now if I get that feeling I just walk away from them! the last time that happened was when I built my schumacher laydown and it took me quite a long time to build not because it was a difficult build or anything but I was busy at work etc so by time I finished it I'd had enough so I just left it and didn't even think about anything rc for weeks/months! But that feeling in my stomach did and always has come back!

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10 hours ago, Wooders28 said:

Turns out it's the memories attached to the things that makes certain cars special

That's the thing, definitely.  My first car was so fun because my buddy down the street also got one, and we ran together.  As time went on, new hobbies came up and new friends came along.  The memories of running that car in the backyard are what pulled me back...

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I’ve definitely slowed down on the lively stuff but not fallen out of love - a bit like sex after your marry 😇

Lockdowns have also created a pricing bubble - so a great time to sell, lousy time to buy and no real plans for either !

As ever, I agree with @Juggular - do what feels right + everything / everyone will most likely still be here if (or when) the bug bites again 👍

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I sold all of my cars some years back due to divorce etc . I restarted my collection when things were right . I've come to the point where I like what cars I have , maybe too many to give enough time to , but I'm more into modifying , experimenting with cars , bodies etc right now . I have loads of projects to get finished , but I regularly sell some off,  then , buy something else because I have an itch to scratch , hence why I have a lot of modded LB's and such . I guess while you can enjoy the RC world it is addictive , if life throws a curved ball it could tail off for a time and then possibly resurge , ebb and flow like the tides

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I walked away from the hobby initially when I went to university in the early 90s

After my dad passed in 2011it took a few years after that to take my dad’s/my old kits out of storage in my mom’s garage. 
The Yokomo YZ10( the US version of the 870 dog fighter )  I raced in the late 80s and our Associated 12l Pan car were still around but I didn’t really touch them for a couple of years after retrieving them. 
Now here’s the funny part. There was a circa ‘94 era Traxxas Stampede roller among the parts. Funny because Dad and I never had one of those at the time we stopped racing together . He must have acquired it later but probably never drove it. 
After I got back into the hobby in the 20teens I Resto-modded it and still drive occasionally. 
Since I have been back in the hobby my time for builds/ and or just driving has ebbed and flowed. 1:1 motorcycle, fisihing or just outdoor time with the wife have pushed RC projects aside, but it’s a hobby I always come back to.

The long, cold , dark North Dakota winters have inspired me to seek out mini crawler and the Tamiya Dual rider trike I could drive indoors ) 

The one aspect of the hobby I did almost walk away from was Nitro. But, I recently reacquired an old T Maxx I once owned and have gotten the bug to to “ Braaaaap “ again. 
as long as you have fun with it and keep your budget to what you can afford to spend, I say enjoy it and have fun. If you have projects and maintenance that seem like “work” you might want to scale back, but then again some people thrive on the type of pressure and that’s what floats their boat. 

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I switch a fair bit, rc cars, helis and bikes, vintage computing, VR gaming and recently went fishing a few times again. Never really did understand the big “I’m off statements” but this thread has thrown up a good discussion. I truly believe it’s in the blood, once you’ve enjoyed RC then there really is no leaving, just a few breaks here and there. Never really had that much stuff  in comparison to many on here but certainly got more than my wife thinks I should have :-)

I look forward to welcoming you back Bon voyage.

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10 minutes ago, hedge said:

I switch a fair bit, rc cars, helis and bikes, vintage computing, VR gaming and recently went fishing a few times again. Never really did understand the big “I’m off statements” but this thread has thrown up a good discussion. I truly believe it’s in the blood, once you’ve enjoyed RC then there really is no leaving, just a few breaks here and there. Never really had that much stuff  in comparison to many on here but certainly got more than my wife thinks I should have :-)

I look forward to welcoming you back Bon voyage.

I can really relate to your "once you've enjoyed RC then there really is no leaving. Very well said.

In my  case I was obsessed with RC airplanes starting when I was 11years old (lucky kid...), back when everything was nitro... except for some folks experimenting with electrics in Germany, so we would read in the magazines. I did have an overpriced Nikko Dictator that I hugely enjoyed driving around the house and I did drive the badword out of it until tires would be slick and there would be slop in every moving part. I also wanted a nitro buggy and inquired at the one LHS that had them. I went there with my mom :) and our jaws dropped when we were patiently explained how everything was so expensive and needed to be bought again, could not be re-used from airplanes. Engines were car engines, and more expensive (0.21, 1/8 scale at the time). I needed a special starter, special glow socket, car servo etc etc. They quoted 4000fr (it was in France) which is around 1000$, in 1992 money OUCH! That is money! So that never happened and I kept that idea that I wanted to get into proper RC cars in the back of my head.

Then at 18 I had to leave the house and our small town to go study. I would only fly RC when I go back to visit my parents. The Nikko buggy was still functional and seeing very little use.

In my early twenties I moved overseas and RC helicopters were becoming electric, practical and within budget of normal folks. I still had RC cars on my mind, but heli's were just a massive itch I had to scratch.

Then 1:1 airplanes, 1:1 gliders and eventually 1:1 helicopters took over and so did mountain biking. Still I remember every winter I would think, "**** do I miss RC..." but it just seemed out of place and I did not go out of my way to get back into it. I did get an amazing micro RC indoor helicopter that still flies great 12years later.

Life has many turns and I found myself having to move to Japan 3 years ago. Flying RC was nearly impossible and transportation to a flying field or the exam (in Japanese...lol) to operate a transmitter were just too many hurdles. I then attended a classic car show and saw that a few wealthy Japanese guys actually own Ferrari's, Porsche's and so on. I saw a 911 and that very night I bought a Tamiya kit. I then found out about a track from talking to work colleagues and I was totally hooked, going there 3 or 4 times a week. The track was highly technical with unforgiving walls so I would drive 10min during the beginner slot and use the intermediate and expert slots to buy and fix what I had broken, much to the amusement of the (very friendly) experts in question!

Back in the US I found myself without an on-road track :( I got into 1:27 scale and build my own indoor track but found it very frustrating as there never seem to be enough space to make the most of the insane speed and performance of these little cars, even with a very understanding wife; I had literally half the living area covered in rubber tiles for that track.

When we had our first child I would tinker a little bit everyday to upgrade and get the car to my liking; the hobby would keep grounded and was a huge help in difficult sleep-deprived times. But then I realized that having nowhere to run it anymore other than slippery/cracked parking lots was just discouraging. I once did a trip to Seattle and went to the outdoor track they have there, just drove the TT-02 for 90min straight. You have a lot of run time with the stock motor and a 6000mah lipo :) Upon returning home in eastern WA I was so bummed I considered selling everything and just forgetting about the hobby.

After Covid and moving to AZ I thought I wanted a collection of my bucket list Tamiya cars on a shelf, but I think I was wrong. I had a schedule of what I wanted to build (in the desert heat I can only spray paint from November to April now :D), 3 kits on the list and increasing. I felt like I was just spending too much money for a collection of something that did not really have enough meaning to me.

Recently I have started running my car again thanks to the Postal Racing here on TC and this has brought "A New Hope" ;) for me in the hobby.

I have always thought RC was awesome and 30 years after getting started I still have RC goals I need to knock down at some point, and I know I will. RC submarines, RC tanks, RC sailboats for example. That will happen and there is no rush. RC cars were just a dream from a 12 years old boy and it felt awesome when I fulfilled it decades later.

 

 

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I havent lost the love but I have been RC'ing less and less due to time and lockdown etc.. and have sold a lot of my cars, im still keeping my favs and runners and will do new Tamiya Models when ones I want come along. I just figured whats the point of having loads of RCs that are on display doing nothing when I can sell them and get the money.

 

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Tamiya for me comes and goes. Life gets in the way and I have time away and pick things up again. No regrets and as mentioned its just a hobby.

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All the best mate, thanks for you help on my projects and it's been a pleasure helping you with yours. Take care, have a break and see you soon!

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