Jump to content
Mokei Kagaku

The Saint Dragon is back, but with a twist

Recommended Posts

47459 Saint Dragon 4WD

Needless to say, it's on the Fire Dragon chassis. I however think it's more interesting that Tamiya has opted for the regular blue Saint Dragon livery and not the red Saint Dragon Ricky's Special livery of 58083.

 

image.png.22bf921b3a2e8ab34ff81767f2b2c26f.png

  • Like 6
  • Haha 1
  • Confused 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I saw the title of this thread and thought the twist would be that Tamiya were going to release it on the Super Astute chassis.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

At least we can look forward to more Dragon spare parts…

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I really dislike this trend of no longer including an ESC and/or motor.  I get they want to keep the price of the kit down but I'd argue any kit above the $175 price point should absolutely include an ESC at the minimum.  I think the last 4 kits I got lacked an ESC and 2 or 3 of them lacked a motor, and these were not cheap kits by any stretch.  The tble-02s is a fine ESC.  Maybe it doesn't cut it for hardcore racers but for 90% of us doesn't it work fine?  Yeah the Hobbywing ESCs are cheap but I prefer going all Tamiya and really wish they'd put the **** ESC in the kit. 

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
9 minutes ago, A-Baum said:

I think the last 4 kits I got lacked an ESC and 2 or 3 of them lacked a motor, and these were not cheap kits by any stretch.  The tble-02s is a fine ESC.

I think that’s down to the individual distributors? I have bought the latest Thunder and Fire Dragon kits here in Sydney and both have ESCs included.

Personally I find it more annoying that they still don’t include a full set of metal ball bearings in every kit.

  • Like 3
  • Thanks 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
1 minute ago, kiasukid said:

I think that’s down to the individual distributors? I have bought the latest Thunder and Fire Dragon kits here in Sydney and both have ESCs included.

Is it?  I thought the required electronics was printed on the box which I believe is not tailored toward distribution market.  You may be right though, I believe my Super Hotshot had a sticker on the shrink wrap that said it included an ESC.  So maybe they threw it in before shrink wrapping, which I know is not how the kits leave the manufacturing location. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
19 minutes ago, A-Baum said:

So maybe they threw it in before shrink wrapping, which I know is not how the kits leave the manufacturing location.

As far as I’m aware, the R/C kits aren’t sold shrinkwrapped in Japan. They aren’t shrinkwrapped in Aust either, but certain distributors like Dickie do.

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
3 minutes ago, kiasukid said:

As far as I’m aware, the R/C kits aren’t sold shrinkwrapped in Japan. They aren’t shrinkwrapped in Aust either, but certain distributors like Dickie do.

They are shrink wrapped here in the US and Canada.  Well hopefully the US distributor throws in an ESC. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
35 minutes ago, ThunderDragonCy said:

Nice. I really like the Saint Dragon shell and that livery

Yeah, I think it’s my favorite of the Dragon bodyshells and the blue decals are incredibly rare (I have a red bodyset).

Hope they sell the body separately.

Wonder if they’ll reissue the Dash-1 Emperor or Thundershot?

  • Like 2

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Living in the US I had NO idea that kits in other parts of the world were sold un-shrinkwrapped. That's really surprising. For those of you on the other side of the world, what kits are not including motors/ESCs?

In the last year I've build a Super Astute, Lunch Box, Brat, and Nova Fox and they all came with.

I agree that it's more than a little lame that Tamiya isn't including ball bearings. If they don't learn to innovate somehow, I'm not sure how much longer Tamiya will live off nostalgia...

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
1 minute ago, kiasukid said:

Yeah, I think it’s my favorite of the Dragon bodyshells and the blue decals are incredibly rare (I have a red bodyset).

Hope they sell the body separately.

Wonder if they’ll reissue the Dash-1 Emperor or Thundershot?

Who the heck knows. There seems to be no logic or methodology to how Tamiya decides which kits to re-re, except maybe terra scorcher and thunder/fire/saint dragons.  Once they made the chassis, it was "cheap" to re-re the other similar kits.  

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
2 minutes ago, Unknown Driver said:

Living in the US I had NO idea that kits in other parts of the world were sold un-shrinkwrapped. That's really surprising. For those of you on the other side of the world, what kits are not including motors/ESCs?

Same here.  I ordered a kit from Asiatees last year and it came unshrinkwrapped.  I was a bit disappointed. It felt "used" to me at that point, even though I was building it immediately.  Then I found out Tamiya doesn't ship them shrink wrapped.  Definitely weird. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
1 minute ago, A-Baum said:

I ordered a kit from Asiatees last year and it came unshrinkwrapped.

Yup, Tamiya R/C kits aren’t typically shrinkwrapped in Hong Kong either.

5 minutes ago, Unknown Driver said:

Living in the US I had NO idea that kits in other parts of the world were sold un-shrinkwrapped. That's really surprising. For those of you on the other side of the world, what kits are not including motors/ESCs?

In the last year I've build a Super Astute, Lunch Box, Brat, and Nova Fox and they all came with.

From memory, my Super Astute re-re has no motor or ESC, and my Avante Black Special has no ESC. Haven’t built either yet.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

You know, I never paid much attention to these "Dragon" cars, but now they're kinda growing on me. But in a weird way - I don't necessarily want them to build right away. I'm starting to think I want a NIB kit or two to squirrel away for (much) later, and I think maybe one of the 4WD Dragons and that Honret-based Super Dragon might be good ones. Especially since I have already built both chassis, so there's no "I need to see how this goes together" pressure.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

 

19 minutes ago, markbt73 said:

I'm starting to think I want a NIB kit or two to squirrel away for (much) later, and I think maybe one of the 4WD Dragons and that Honret-based Super Dragon might be good ones.

I grew up with mini-4WDs so I’ve been fond of the Dragons for that reason, even though I’ve never read the comics.

I bought the 2008 re-re Fire Dragon, built it but never ran it as the gears were badly moulded and the drivetrain made a racket. I’m yet to build the new Fire and Thunder Dragons but based on other threads in this forum, that problem may still exist today.
 

Altogether I’ve collected over the years an original and re-re Super Dragon, original Thundershot NIB, 2008 and 2020 Fire Dragons, 2021 Thunder Dragon, and NIB Saint Dragon and Dash-1 Emperor bodysets. I think I’ll have to draw the line somewhere as that’s more than enough squirreled away…

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
20 minutes ago, markbt73 said:

You know, I never paid much attention to these "Dragon" cars, but now they're kinda growing on me. But in a weird way - I don't necessarily want them to build right away. I'm starting to think I want a NIB kit or two to squirrel away for (much) later, and I think maybe one of the 4WD Dragons and that Honret-based Super Dragon might be good ones. Especially since I have already built both chassis, so there's no "I need to see how this goes together" pressure.

I do recommend it if you have the means.  I have 4 NIB kits right now waiting to build.  I like having a small inventory available to pick from.  And if I can find a sale or closeout I'll grab it and throw it on the pile.  I usually just build in the winter when it's dark early and kids aren't outside after dinner.  I currently have a Novafox, Wild One, Egress, and Aqroshot sitting NIB.  I hope to add a Super Avante and maybe one of the Dragons. Maybe... 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
3 hours ago, kiasukid said:

I grew up with mini-4WDs so I’ve been fond of the Dragons for that reason, even though I’ve never read the comics.

Same here. One of my earliest Tamiya catalogs had the Super Dragon Jr and Thunder Dragon Jr in it (the Fire Dragon Jr wasn't out yet) and for that reason I made/got 1/10 versions for my collection. With the blue decals of this SD version, I may grab the bodyset if possible. I have a Madcap I can't seem to give away and the blue decals will go well with the blue shocks. Of course then I'll be pushed to get a Fire Dragon of some sort to complete the Dragon series...and down the rabbit hole I went again...

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

If you zoom into the picture it looks like tamiya has changed the shocks to CVA type 2?????

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

This is bad news for those of us hoping for a madcap re-release. Not sure how it affects the prospects of an astute or even king cab release but it certainly doesn't help.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
8 minutes ago, didcos said:

This is bad news for those of us hoping for a madcap re-release. Not sure how it affects the prospects of an astute or even king cab release but it certainly doesn't help.

There likely will be- they are making money off of all these 30 year old or so kits while they can. Drip feed them in, we buy a few ones we remember. It’s easy money.

I quite like this one but think I’ll get a few more different chassis (like a king cab) since it’s just another body on a thunder shot series. Likely see it too again after a while.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
1 hour ago, taffer said:

If you zoom into the picture it looks like tamiya has changed the shocks to CVA type 2?????

Well spotted! Not sure if I like that. The original CVAs were a better design IMO. Any chance of some new boxart Tamiya? Please...

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
2 hours ago, Alangt4 said:

it’s just another body on a thunder shot series

It’s been mentioned elsewhere on this site but the Saint Dragon body apparently fits the DF-01 Manta Ray chassis. I’d like to get the body for that reason.

It fits the Hornet and GHII chassis too but the front needs to be trimmed differently, and may not look as good as a result.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
5 hours ago, Saito2 said:

I have a Madcap I can't seem to give away and the blue decals will go well with the blue shocks.

Here an example I had (now sold) using a repro body:

Madcap & SD

  • Like 2

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

×
×
  • Create New...