JeffSpicoli 1363 Posted July 14, 2021 I found my vintage Tamiya grail kit. It's a pancar - I won't say which one yet. The seller wants $1400. I'm willing to spend $1000 because I don't think Tamiya will ever make it again. What would you pay for your vintage grail Tamiya kit, and which one is it that you have not been able to get your hands on? I'm speaking of course, NOS, unbuilt, in box, or MIB unbuilt. I technically have a few myself, but this one I found, is really rare NIB. This should be interesting 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nel33 870 Posted July 14, 2021 Not exactly a holy trail but the super sabre has an interesting body shell I like. Finding one should be pretty rare. Scratch that, $600 is pretty expensive... aaaaannd I made a mistake of looking online for one... 1 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FoxShot 280 Posted July 14, 2021 My mate had a NIB Blazing Blazer he sold a while ago. Yours is cheap in comparison Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gazzalene 171 Posted July 14, 2021 Something is worth what you want to pay? To me I would bail out at £250, you were thinking £1000. That other guy will go upto £2000,its endless. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JeffSpicoli 1363 Posted July 14, 2021 1 hour ago, FoxShot said: My mate had a NIB Blazing Blazer he sold a while ago. Yours is cheap in comparison You aren't kidding. $3900 on Ebay! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JeffSpicoli 1363 Posted July 14, 2021 2 hours ago, nel33 said: Not exactly a holy trail but the super saner has an interesting body shell I like. Finding one should be pretty rare. Scratch that, $600 is pretty expensive... aaaaannd I made a mistake of looking online for one... I remember the Sabre, that was a pretty interesting kit. And $600 is pricey but pretty sane compared to some of these others I'm looking at in the comments. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
markbt73 5316 Posted July 14, 2021 Honestly... nothing comes to mind. There are cars I still want, sure, but I won't pay huge sums for them, and I don't need them to be new-in-box. I've already got the ones I really wanted: Blackfoot, Boomerang, Clod, and now a Bruiser, as well as two Optimas, an Ultima, a Progress, and a Cox Bandido. I've bought and sold a dozen RC10s now, and kept two nicely-beat-up runners. I've got all the re-releases I wanted. I'd still like to find another AYK 566B, but if it takes me 20 years to find one, so be it. Ditto for a Marui Big Bear. If I find them for a reasonable price, cool; if not, I can live without them. It would be fun to have a NIB kit from the '80s or early '90s on the shelf, but I don't really care what it is, and the right candidate will come along eventually, for a price I'm willing to pay. (It will be three digits, and the first one won't be higher than a 3.) 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jonathon Gillham 4606 Posted July 14, 2021 Luckily the only one I had to have was the Boomerang and I got that in the last run of rere. And they would be relatively cheap anyone, I imagine $500 or so for a NIB? I would like one with blister packs... 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hedge 314 Posted July 14, 2021 How bad do you want it and what’s your situation. That’s all you’ve got to work out what anyone else does fits their situation. To some a limit if 100k per year is, well limiting (search the main site for user Hong Kong) to others $1000 a year is dream money. Don’t starve the kids, lose the house or upset the significant other and your in the ballpark. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Juggular 4964 Posted July 14, 2021 The beauty of the market economy is that it's a personal decision. If you value it, you can pay whatever you want to. The only thing I care about is "regret." If you missed it, would you regret it, like, "I should've paid more?" Or if you paid a lot, would you regret, "maybe I paid too much?" I'm assuming it's not something that would be re-released. But in 10-20 years, it could be so obsolete, nobody may want it... like tether cars. When these gents were our age, they remembered fondly of tether cars they've seen when they were children. So they might have spent a lot of money on the models of their desire. Now that they are not fit to run these anymore? I don't know if I would pay anything for tether cars. Some of us have been unsuccessful in engaging our children with RC cars. To some of them, the Grasshopper is as ancient as tether cars to us. On the other hand... I still look at 1986 catalog and get googly eyed. All these look shiny and glorious to me. If you are looking at it with the admiration you had when you first laid your eyes on it, then the sky is the limit. 13 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Saito2 6686 Posted July 14, 2021 1 hour ago, Juggular said: If you are looking at it with the admiration you had when you first laid your eyes on it, then the sky is the limit. That picture still makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Still. 4 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nugget 412 Posted July 14, 2021 The only pan car that I can think of that maybe in that price range would be the Can Am Lola. It’s worth that all day and more. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Exit13 673 Posted July 15, 2021 How about one million dollars. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nel33 870 Posted July 15, 2021 10 hours ago, JeffSpicoli said: I remember the Sabre, that was a pretty interesting kit. And $600 is pricey but pretty sane compared to some of these others I'm looking at in the comments. the trouble is that $600 USD is minimum $720 CAD so its a bit pricey, nothing under $750 CAD. i did find some RTR vintage sabers black edition for 225 and 150 USD, complete set and the other had no radio. not clear if they actually run but they are out there. not sure if the RTR could be converted to standard kit if its not a runner ie ESC, NIMH and new transmitter. it would not make it a rare RTR kit but if it looks like it with the antenna making it look like its stock RTR. though maybe a vintage controller could be found. there is one holy grail id have, its not a super great car but very memorable. had this brand new when me and my brother were young but we never had it more than a occasional looker shelf queen and my parents gave it away to someone, likely one that appreciated it more. at most id pay $200 for a complete one but it likely wont be that much.. it hardly was easy to work on as i looked it up a few months back or logical given the new advances. now im into the hobby the sentiment for having it is to wishing we still had it... 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jonboy1 2943 Posted July 15, 2021 6 hours ago, Exit13 said: How about one million dollars. Number Two : Don't you think we should ask for *more* than a million dollars? A million dollars isn't exactly a lot of money these days. Virtucon alone makes over 9 billion dollars a year! Dr. Evil : Really? That's a lot of money. [pause] Dr. Evil : Okay then, we hold the world ransom for... Dr. Evil : One... Hundred... BILLION DOLLARS! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mtbkym01 4008 Posted July 15, 2021 I did pay AUD $1k for a NIB Fox back about 13 years ago. Don’t regret it for a second, opening the kit floods back memories of when I got my very first hobby grade kit all those years ago 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gazzalene 171 Posted July 15, 2021 Probably been said before BUT will the collectors be around in say 40yrs to buy these cars? Are todays youngsters into rc cars? Will these future adults want to collect this stuff. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DeadMeat666 1675 Posted July 15, 2021 With 1:1 cars slowly but surely going the electric route, I think RC cars as collectibles are here to stay. They are after all the precursors and grand-daddies of things like the Tesla and the Porsche Taycan... Does that make any sense or should I lay off the good stuff? 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nel33 870 Posted July 15, 2021 38 minutes ago, DeadMeat666 said: With 1:1 cars slowly but surely going the electric route, I think RC cars as collectibles are here to stay. They are after all the precursors and grand-daddies of things like the Tesla and the Porsche Taycan... Does that make any sense or should I lay off the good stuff? Has anyone yet tried to fit a tesla battery to an RC? I think it would go pretty fast with that setup. Hmmm How much do those batteries cost?... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
El Gecko 1344 Posted July 15, 2021 55 minutes ago, DeadMeat666 said: With 1:1 cars slowly but surely going the electric route, I think RC cars as collectibles are here to stay. They are after all the precursors and grand-daddies of things like the Tesla and the Porsche Taycan... Does that make any sense or should I lay off the good stuff? Makes sense to me, I definitely see the connection there. I'd guess electric RCs in general are here to stay, especially as 1:1 battery tech advances in the future. That's the nice thing about hobby-grade stuff: it can be rebuilt at any point in its lifetime with current tech vs. getting chucked in the bin or relegated to the shelf for being inoperable. As long as you can get (or make) parts that fit, it will most likely still work in a hundred years or more (depending if the plastic breaks down etc. but you get the idea). There are also the actual shelfer collectors too. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Falcon#5 594 Posted July 15, 2021 The Holy Grail for me has changed over time. 8-9yo me would've had a different answer to today. NIB Falcon would have to be the ebbing choice within the last 10 years since returning to the hobby. Could never justify the purchase initially. It was an extravagance that served no real purpose but to look at and say I have one. After collecting more cars than I desired when I was a kid, it is now back on the radar. I won't end up homeless or bankrupt for buying one, even though the price has pretty much trebled in the last 10 years. Do I bite the bullet? 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JeffSpicoli 1363 Posted July 15, 2021 1 hour ago, Falcon#5 said: The Holy Grail for me has changed over time. 8-9yo me would've had a different answer to today. NIB Falcon would have to be the ebbing choice within the last 10 years since returning to the hobby. Could never justify the purchase initially. It was an extravagance that served no real purpose but to look at and say I have one. After collecting more cars than I desired when I was a kid, it is now back on the radar. I won't end up homeless or bankrupt for buying one, even though the price has pretty much trebled in the last 10 years. Do I bite the bullet? We loved that kit as teenagers, I remember after my Hornet I was deadset on a Falcon but never bought one. I see eBay has one for a grand. I'd go for it, if I were you. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Willy iine 18806 Posted July 15, 2021 On 7/14/2021 at 10:03 AM, JeffSpicoli said: I found my vintage Tamiya grail kit. It's a pancar - I won't say which one yet. The seller wants $1400. I'm willing to spend $1000 because I don't think Tamiya will ever make it again. What would you pay for your vintage grail Tamiya kit, and which one is it that you have not been able to get your hands on? I'm speaking of course, NOS, unbuilt, in box, or MIB unbuilt. I technically have a few myself, but this one I found, is really rare NIB. This should be interesting $1400 is reasonable if it is worth it to you. The M38 Wild Willy I have displayed on my 80's wall NIB I paid about $2000 which wasn't so bad; that car has been my favorite since the very beginning. I intend to build it some day. I own a few more fully restored/newly built M38's. Buy your grail car while you can. GL! 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
djmcnz 754 Posted July 16, 2021 My big ones... NIB Vintage Egress #1: EUR500 NIB Vintage Egress #2: EUR750 😧 NIB Vintage TFE: EUR450 💪 I have all of my 'holy grail' kits now (inc. original Super Astute NIB and Dyna Storm NIB). Although I am getting into my Porsche touring cars and that can will get expensive. I have the 30th and 40th NIB already, plus 3 x Starcards, one NIB and the other two built and professionally painted/decaled (seriously, who can decal a Starcard Porsche properly!?! 😲), one of which is fully Hopped Up with period correct Tamiya parts. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
c64orinoco 667 Posted July 16, 2021 I got my holy grail this year; a Super Champ Fighting Buggy. The Super Champ was my first ever RC car, the original is long gone. An original SC is too rare (and beyond my price range) to contemplate. I missed the re-re in 2014 or so, and was absolutely stoked that Tamiya decided to release it again this year. It's not the best chassis, it's not the fastest or best handling chassis, but for me it's total nostalgia. I'm glad I got one. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
