Taiyo Jet Hopper / Tyco Turbo Hopper
The Jet Hopper was my first 'offroad' R/C car back in the day (around 1986). I remember to have the black version back then, but today the red version comes up more often. In 2004 I purchased a red one from ebay, but something apart from the colour was wrong. I wanted to have the car exactly as I remember it from the early days and the tires were different. Research on internet forums brought up different rear tires and I remember mine to have the balloon 'Hornet' style tires like the two cars in the pictures. But there was also something wrong with the front tires. Mine (in 1986) had the high profile tires shown on the boxart, but all cars on ebay had the low profile tires. I decided to wait until one with 'my' original tires will come up and it took a whopping 6 years until that happened. This is the black car you see in the pictures, which has the - for me - correct wheels front and rear. Unfortunately the US seller won't ship to overseas, but with the help of one of our great TC members 'Old_RC_Lover' it made its way over the pond.
Please note: in the pictures below I painted the outer edge of front tires of the runner black so they match more the look of the deep profile tires of the shelfer. Just to make it more confusing ;)
manual:
http://www.rc-rally.de/pub/Jet_Hopper_manual.pdf
3
black version with deep profile front tires
and balloon 'Hornet style' rear tires
1
2
gearbox with S/F switch
body off pic
left: shelfer / right: runner
If you liked those pictures, you should see these...
Jet Hopper modifications
Comments
Wyoming
I always liked the look of these old Hoppers, nice find!
supergreg
thanks. I already started working on the shelfer
Addicted2blue
I've always loved the red one, they really drive so well and also pretty fast too.
Volksrod
Looks like a Grasshopper drove into the back of a Rough Rider! Potential for a nice pretty scale car with the right wheels, lower back end, and nice paint.
mynameisneo
I had an old Dickie Golf GTI but a friend got the red Jet Hopper and was many times faster than my Rabbit. I envied him a lot. Nice duo!!
rizzo rat
I remember these, very nice two cars worth the wait.
Hibernaculum
FYI, the Jet Hopper was never manufactured as early as 1983. Outside Japan, it was released in 1986/1987. Inside Japan, even the Taiyo website history lists it as being released in 1986. See here - [Click here]
And yes there were a few variations of it. The earlier ones had the fatter tyres.
supergreg
thanks für the great info Hibernaculum! the link is quite helpful.
Mattb-12778
WOW that brings back memories, had the red one as a kid
Live Steam Mad
Well I never knew that! So there two versions of this Jet Hopper with the balloon rear tyres, i.e. one with low profile (later) front tyres, and one with early front tyres (high profile). That's cool. I never saw the early one before now, I have 2 red and 1 black JH, but all use balloon rears with low profile fronts! I was lucky last X'mas to pick up 8 pairs of rear balloon tyres for JH NIP (new old stock) from Australia, cost me 4.50 GBP a pair, shipping was reasonable, I now have enough to last for life (not for sale! sorry! (do you blame me LOL) but I would like to repro' the tyres at some point, if only I knew how. I think as a kid I saw only the low profile front / balloon rear variant in Toy & Hobby in St.Helens where I live. Must have been in about 1987/8 (I was 13 or 14) I guess when I was in that shop - it's Cloe's Cafe now 8-( It was prominently displayed in the shop. Wish I could have had one. But had to make do with getting one when I was 35 (now 36) LOL. I've done the steering mod' (now proportional, using standard servo) but not done the other mod's yet. Thanks for sharing. Cheers, Alistair G.
Addicted2blue
These vintage rc models look awesome, yesterday was my lucky day to find a red and a black version. Both NIB's and they have different front tires, even the remote control is different. The black one is even 2Km/u faster (when using the turbo function) then the red one. I even bought 2 NIB mini hoppers, they are a little bit smaller then these jet hoppers but great to see how wmall they are compared to these jet hoppers. I even have 2 NIB jet fighters from taiyo, they are a copy of the boomerang, but they are a bit bigger then these jet hoppers. And then i also bought 1 used and 1 abused red jet hopper aswell, a total of 6 NIB's and 2 used taiyo rc cars. I will add some pictures later on this evening.
supergreg
looks like you are seriously addicted lol
Hibernaculum
Some more info for you. Your example on the left here is a rare Taiyo Jet Hopper Mk1 - the very first type.
As you say, the other one has painted wheels to make the tyres look taller. It's 'Turbo Hopper' rear wing suggests it is a Tyco/Taiyo Turbo Hopper Mk1 from the USA.
I've done some lengthy research over time, so you might enjoy my article about the Taiyo Jet Hopper...
[Click here]
And also, the article about the Tyco/Taiyo Turbo Hopper:
[Click here]
Hello to whomever can help. I’ve own a tyco turbo hopper (027-red) since 1986. I would like to give it to my grandson but unfortunately the front tires (I guess they were foam?) deteriorated by just having it on the shelf. I can’t seem to find them anywhere. Does anyone know where I can find these? please email me if there’s hope. Thank you
supergreg
I'm sorry to say you won' t find those anywhere, apart from another used hopper from ebay.
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