JamesMember since:12-January-2003

My main interest is competitive RC racing, but Tamiya collecting is right up there too! I’ve been a long time Tamiya fan since a young age and marvelled at the Tamiya Standard in all their kits (1:35th Military, Mini 4WD and RC!) – but it always came with a hefty price tag for a small kid! I always thought Tamiya RC kits were the pinnacle of modelling (!) and so now that I’m a bit older, with my own income – well, you can guess where it’s going!




I got hooked on Tamiya’s through the fantastic craze of Mini 4WD’s. These were HUGE in Japan/USA, but unfortunately never really took off here in the UK. One reason for this was the Japanese cartoon on which the later cars were based, was never Aired/Imported to UK. I got a wide variety of Mini 4WD cars (I’ll put them in my ‘Showroom’ for those interested) and even got the ‘Holy Grail’ of the Mini 4WD Range – the enormous 3-lane Track! It’s still NIB (ish!) and was imported from the USA for me. Sadly, in the mid-1990’s RIKO (the then UK Tamiya Importers in Hemel Hempstead) stopped importing the range, due (I *think*) to new EU regulations! Grrrrr!




When I took up RC and eventually moved from Buggies to Touring Cars, I tried out the now ultra-popular, and surprisingly good, TLO1 in the guise of the Celica, but later upgraded to a more competitive Kyosho touring car. However, now that I’d started to buy the Tamiya RC’s for real, I’m not looking to stop!




My ‘wants’ list consists mainly of nostalgic icons for me and includes: Marui Samurai, Tamiya ‘Vanessa’s Lunchbox’ (My favourites – see my showroom for ‘why’!) Tamiya Midnight Pumpkin, Tamiya Terra Scorcher and Tamiya Dyna Storm. I’m currently looking to buy or restore these particular models. So chassis, bodysets, parts, Instruction Manuals and ESPECIALLY BOXES - are all welcome. If you have any up for sale/trade, drop me an e-mail.