Setting the way-back machine for 2005(?)

[Saito2 6686]

Its hard to imagine 2005 was 16 years ago now. While Tamiya was not new to the re-release game then, we had no idea how much was to come. Current times have made me nostalgic for those easier days. My late 20's were somewhat kinder to me than my mid 40's have been thus far . But, as often the case, we don't realize how good times were until we reflect back on them later. This is a Frog I built from ORV spares, some Ebay parts and some generosity from @Frog Jumper . The re-re Frog very much represents those poorer yet somehow easier times for me.

I was divorced back then and money was very tight as I had a home mortgage to carry by myself. The first classic car restoration shop I worked for closed up (no more driving Corvettes and muscle cars every week) and I needing a job immediately, I took a position with much less pay (eventually learning the ways of CNC machines, new territory for me). I wanted these first Tamiya re-res quite badly but was also quite broke. I settled on at least attempting to procure the Frog, as I never had an ORV up till that point and I remembered it be very popular at the track before the onslaught of the first gold tub RC10s.

The company I worked had bought yet another old factory as they expanded. Since this was to be the "main building" it would house the offices and thus would need air conditioning installed for the white collar workers unaccustomed to the heat endured by us blue collar folk. I was offered overtime to help with the AC installation. I still remember whistling that strange tune that played during the old Tamiya Frog promo to myself as I laid ductwork on Saturdays and late into the night on weekdays. Eventually, the job was done and I got my re-re Frog, assembling it on a card table in my living room. I still remember being so surprised at its performance on the first run. It was almost closer to the Hornet than the Fox in handling on the rougher ground.

As time went on I got a re-re Hornet for Christmas. One of the past times I had in those days was to take the Frog and Hornet with my girlfriend at the time and head out to ballfields for a run. The two Tamiya classics were often in the backseat, ready for some fun. Times were simpler and the collection far smaller. The girlfriend is long gone (but I eventually gained a loving wife who I could not live without) but the Frog saw action for years before being retired with honors to the shelf.

I had a notion to recapture a little of that feeling by putting together another Frog. It has the body from my original re-re as I was never happy with how I botched the paint job (for some inexplicable reason I made the pink section far too small). There's something about buggies like the Frog that just scream "the good old days of the 1980s" even if my Frog times were the mid 2000s. 

[Willy iine 18806]

The smell of Tamiya's blue Thread-locker takes me right back to the early 80's when I started RC (real RC).   Frog is definitely cool and legendary.  I was always more a car/truck guy, but I owned an original Frog at one time along with the original Grasshopper I later modified into a Hornet.  I call them 'the trio'.. the 3 must-have cars of the time.  I have the comical trio these days.

I had a lightly used 2nd hand HotShot my buddy's dad sold me that was my last car before I went on my first hiatus from RC for 5-6 years.  I am a musician (hobbyist) so moved onto playing music.

In 2006 I was busy raising my kids.. I only had a WildWilly2 at the time as I sold most of my RC after 2000..   I still own that WildWilly2 that I bought in 2000, in fact I drove it today. 

 

[Ryz82 160]

I've mentioned in the past, The Frog is the big reason I'm into the hobby.

I remember way back in the those glorious 80s, as little tacker, going to the store with my dad as he picked up this new "toy", and sat patiently at the dinning table as he built it.

I put that car through badword and back growing up (though she never skipped a beat or broke), often running solo until the mid 90s when my cousin got a Bear Hawk, and gave me something to run against.

Initially my foray back into the hobby was when the Tam-Tech Frog was released, I'll admit it was more the novelty factor back then, and nothing too serious, as I still had the OG Frog, and money wasn't something I had just laying around.

Fast forward to the early 2010s and my dad passed away, and in need of something to help with the loss, I made the decision to pickup the Re-Re Frog and try to re-kindle some of those memories and good old times/days.

Subsequent Re-Re Hotshot and Fox were purchased as both were also close to me growing up; Hotshot was "the" 4WD buggy to have, and the Fox was owned by my grand parents neighbour, so I got to see it quite often also.

More recently, as I move into my 40s, the shift has been made to more on-road kits, mostly because the modern buggies do nothing for me, and I missed the opportunity, either stock or more so cost  to pickup some of the other Re-Re like the Boomerang, Super Hotshot and Egress.

I still have the OG Frog as seen in a post in the Vintage Forum

 

[bavee 1032]

10 hours ago, Saito2 said:

But, as often the case, we don't realize how good times were until we reflect back on them later.

Another great post Saito2. Thank you. If only we could change the above...

[DeadMeat666 1675]

Fantastic post.

I've always defined "good times" to be the following:

1. Having less worries than my mind can handle

2. Earning more money than my lifestyle needs

I am very thankful that the above two conditions are currently being met, and every day I remind myself that THESE are good times for me, and that I should cherish each and every second.

After all, the only constant in life is change.

 

Thank you, @Saito2, for reminding me once more. 

[NWarty 1325]

On 10/16/2021 at 5:07 PM, Willy iine said:

The smell of Tamiya's blue Thread-locker takes me right back to the early 80's when I started RC (real RC).  

Oh the glorious scent of blue Tam thread locker. Boy, that's a good one.

 

This is the very first thread I posted here. Although it's from 2004, I raced that Midnight Pumpkin into the very early months of 2005.

 

 

[Saito2 6686]

Had my freshly pieced together Frog out for its maiden run today. Other than a weird radio glitch period where the throttle input went dead at the trigger, but would work simultaneously with the steering (perils of using vintage radio gear I guess), running went well. I even took it back to the ballfield where I ran my original re-re all those years back. I theorize that some of us (I know I did for a time) push forward, buying more and more cars, perhaps on some level, trying to recreate the excitement we felt as kids over this stuff. As adults, this "rush" doesn't last as long as it did when we were kids so we buy more to recapture it. Having greater spending power as adults doesn't help matters. Obviously, this doesn't hold true for everyone and may only be one piece to a larger puzzle even if it is true in some cases. So, instead of looking forward the things like the upcoming Super Avante (which, I admit, tempts me) I went backwards to re-experience to simpler pleasures of my younger days. Calming down and slowing down to savor what got me hooked on driving these old Tamiya buggies goes a long way toward creating balance.

 

 

 

[Willy iine 18806]

@Saito2 Awesome!!  

Agreed, nothing like the first time trying something.  

Thus I have been trying something new by building one-offs lately.   It's fun, refreshing, and requires some thinking (challenging at times) which is all good.  

Enjoy your Frog!

[Doglover 27]

I remember August 1982 - my birthday is end July - and guess what I got! There I was - 14 years old and confronted with a Tamiya Rough Rider! At that time - and age - I had no idea what shock absorbers or gearboxes were, never mind what they did. Who else remembers waiting hours for the hump back battery to re-charge? Then girls, life, university, career, divorce, re-marriage, kids, emigration to Australia - life got complicated. But somehow that Rough Rider stayed with me - even though it was in a dusty box in the garage somewhere. 

Fast forward 26 years and my son is now 6 and interested in cars and scalextric, so its off to the hobby shop for a scalextric set. But - it's Friday night and they are racing RC Cars! Sudden change in interest and plans - we bought two Associated 18R's to race indoors. I remember many magic hours spent with my son teaching him how to use the radio, accelerate, brake and steer - not easy for a 6 year old to grasp. Fast forward three years and my son is club champion and now racing a 1/5 scale 4 wheel drive Mini with a 26c petrol engine and doing well. His reward - let's go Karting - where things are really expensive. Ten years later I'm still paying off the karting expenses. My son is now a qualified commercial pilot - where he gets to play with really expensive toys!

And I came across my old Rough Rider in a box when clearing out my garage.

It is now restored / rebuilt and in prime position on a shelf in my study - and I have forty other rc cars - from a Tamiya Hilux 3 speed to SCX 10 crawlers and custom drift cars. And every time I work on, build or modify one of my rc cars I am transported back to that time at the dining room table in 1982 - trying to figure out how to put my Rough Rider together - before caving in and asking my Dad for help.

And I can't help smiling.

My Dad and I then went on to rebuild and customise a beautiful Karmann Ghia as my first car - and the car bug was firmly set.

Yes - cars and RC cars are definitely a part of my life - and responsible for some of my best memories.

Along the way I have also built hundreds of plastic model kits (both cars and planes) and collected nearly 8000 (EIGHT THOUSAND) die cast cars and trucks - all on display in my house - which my long suffering wife calls the Toy Shop!

And I will never part with my Rough Rider.