Another Fine Re-Introduction...
Status: NIB
Date: 6-May-2008
Comments: 7
Love it or hate it, Tamiya has really been milking the 'old' designs as of late. Personally I'm in the 'love it' category, and picked up a couple of these from Jason's.
Yeah, it's missing a few details from the original release: No white lettering on the tires, and obviously no blister pack. Mine is the Japanese version of course, so no ESC included either. Other small differences I noticed --The motor is a Chinese made Mabuchi that has a silver endbell rather than black. Also, the chassis tub has a 'rotating parts' and recycling decal neatly pre-applied. (Maybe hinting at a XB release?) After digging deeper I discovered the 'supplemental screw bag' (part #11054511) that contained the head light stays. The auxiliary light stay is made of pressed metal, which I'm not sure if this is different from the original or not. Wasn't the original made of FRP?
The biggest difference from the original is of course the fact that the re-re is mostly made and packaged in the Phillipines. I'm sure the quality will be no less than the typical stellar Tamiya precision we've come to expect, but I still shed a tear every time I see another model get farmed out. Welcome to the global economy I guess...
Anyhow, still very happy to have these in my hands. As prices of the original XCs are began to skyrocket, it was looking less and less like I would be owning an example, much less one that I could actually enjoy using. Not sure how 'limited' these will ultimately be, but at the nice price I got them at I'll probably build one for the shelf and one as a runner. If there's bunch of these around for a while, (not so limited) I just may get another to keep as a backup for when they decide to discontinue the ol' XC forever!!
If you liked those pictures, you should see these...
My first XC
Comments
Wyoming
Nice kit Steve, I suspect I'll be getting a few of these for projects soon
pagedm_f350
Cool, on my shopping list for sure. Great description too, thanks for sharing
OCD
Thanks! The description is evolving as I dig further into the box...
bimmerfan8
From what I have heard from the Japanese side, TAMIYA will produce one run only...not sure if they change their minds after though. I felt that in the case of the Mercedes 'C' cars, they were supposed to be Limited Edition as well but I could find many more even after a year of its release.
OCD
Based on the 'rough' quality of the manual, (references to discontinued and non-existent parts) I'm guessing that this particular release will be short lived. On the other hand, the fate of the XC chassis itself is really anyone's guess... I would love to see an updated version of it (think CC02) but, with the CR-01 and High Lift chassis in the 'off road' line up, there doesn't seem to be much room for such a thing.
Steve T
The headlight stay is also pressed metal on the original car, not FRP. I think Tamiya made plenty of them. It is just as 'limited' as the 49400 Porsche that you can still buy but stocks will dry up eventually. The Top Force re-re has increased in value already and are becoming sought after kits.
OCD
Ah, I see - Thanks for the info! Not sure why I thought the stay was made of FRP.. Maybe I'm thinking of a different model? Anyhow, the new piece has a black coating similar to the Semi and High Lift parts, so they don't appear to be old stock. (Hopefully I can order another to complete my Jeep body set! )
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