Tamiya Rough Rider re-release.
Discussion
So........
I blame both my folks and eBay. Some history; I'm not an rc geek, so some of this may not be entirely accurate. Feel free to correct me where required. Back in 1979 Tamiya started the whole electric rc off-road buggy thang with the sand-rail lookalike Rough Rider kit. This was followed up a year or so later with the Baja Beetle bodied Sand Scorcher on the same chassis. I built my first model (Airfix Red Arrow's Gnat) in 1975 at the age of four and loved the hobby. By the early eighties I was becoming more and more interested in machines and speed (I'm now a Gallardo and Westfield XI owning airline pilot).
By 1982 I was saving like crazy for the Rough Rider. If I managed to save for the kit, then my grandmother had promised me the radio gear for Christmas. But at the same time, I went from living with my grandmother to my uncle and aunt and their young family. Suddenly my rather staid and steady accountant uncle went from being parent to a three-year old and a toddler, to having a pre-teenager in the household. My spending a considerable sum of money on a "toy" was not going to happen, no matter how hard I kicked and railed. I bought a rather worn Sand Scorcher a couple of years later from a senior boy at school (no doubt to fund his fags and booze) but it wasn't the same. I'd always disliked the styling of the Beetle and anyway, I hadn't got to build it. Tamiya might well have supplied all the parts as spares, but could they be bought by a thirteen-year old in rural Leicestershire in the mid eighties? So I made my own, card(!) Rough Rider body (with the much taller Sand Scorcher front mounting post sticking up through the bonnet. And then the rather fragile, pot metal front suspension cracked and broke and that was that....
Tamiya re-released the Rough Rider (with some changes; more later) for the thirtieth anniversary in 2009, followed shortly after by the Sand Scorcher rere. And I foolishly failed to buy either!
Then, a few weeks ago, I found myself (slightly squiffy) one Sunday evening, trawling eBay in my hotel room. I "won" the bnib Rough Rider rere for only a few pounds more than the 2009 price. There are examples out there for nearly twice the original price!
But of course, that's only the start of it! Had I been allowed the original in 1982, I'd have built it out of the box, oblivious to all of the hop-up parts available. Not now!! This has, in no particular order; a Radshape RC (British) aluminium chassis (with "wings"), RC-Channel (Taiwanese) front and rear roll cages / bumpers, Fast Eddie (USA) ceramic bearings, a full stainless steel fastenings kit (also from the US) and a Tamiya Sport Tuned motor.
The rere also has a few subtle differences from the original. Firstly, it's not called the Rough Rider. The original box proclaimed it to be the "Racing Buggy, Rough Rider". But there must now be some licensing issue over the name as the rere is called "Racing Buggy, Buggy Champ". Similarly, Tamiya obviously didn't want to pay the licensing fees for the original stickers, which were for real automotive products, so the rere uses made-up companies on pre-coloured backgrounds, negating the need to mask and spray the two-tone original finish.
Here is the original box art:
And here's the re-release:
Can somebody tutor me on how to invert thumb snap photos on an iPad. If I post the original, it's upside-down. If I edit the original by 90°, Thumbsnap posts it at 90°. If I edit the original by another 90° so that it's now inverted, Thumbsnap posts it upside-down, just like the original!!!
I'll post pictures of the build and the finished article just as soon as I discover how to post photos the right way up!
I blame both my folks and eBay. Some history; I'm not an rc geek, so some of this may not be entirely accurate. Feel free to correct me where required. Back in 1979 Tamiya started the whole electric rc off-road buggy thang with the sand-rail lookalike Rough Rider kit. This was followed up a year or so later with the Baja Beetle bodied Sand Scorcher on the same chassis. I built my first model (Airfix Red Arrow's Gnat) in 1975 at the age of four and loved the hobby. By the early eighties I was becoming more and more interested in machines and speed (I'm now a Gallardo and Westfield XI owning airline pilot).
By 1982 I was saving like crazy for the Rough Rider. If I managed to save for the kit, then my grandmother had promised me the radio gear for Christmas. But at the same time, I went from living with my grandmother to my uncle and aunt and their young family. Suddenly my rather staid and steady accountant uncle went from being parent to a three-year old and a toddler, to having a pre-teenager in the household. My spending a considerable sum of money on a "toy" was not going to happen, no matter how hard I kicked and railed. I bought a rather worn Sand Scorcher a couple of years later from a senior boy at school (no doubt to fund his fags and booze) but it wasn't the same. I'd always disliked the styling of the Beetle and anyway, I hadn't got to build it. Tamiya might well have supplied all the parts as spares, but could they be bought by a thirteen-year old in rural Leicestershire in the mid eighties? So I made my own, card(!) Rough Rider body (with the much taller Sand Scorcher front mounting post sticking up through the bonnet. And then the rather fragile, pot metal front suspension cracked and broke and that was that....
Tamiya re-released the Rough Rider (with some changes; more later) for the thirtieth anniversary in 2009, followed shortly after by the Sand Scorcher rere. And I foolishly failed to buy either!
Then, a few weeks ago, I found myself (slightly squiffy) one Sunday evening, trawling eBay in my hotel room. I "won" the bnib Rough Rider rere for only a few pounds more than the 2009 price. There are examples out there for nearly twice the original price!
But of course, that's only the start of it! Had I been allowed the original in 1982, I'd have built it out of the box, oblivious to all of the hop-up parts available. Not now!! This has, in no particular order; a Radshape RC (British) aluminium chassis (with "wings"), RC-Channel (Taiwanese) front and rear roll cages / bumpers, Fast Eddie (USA) ceramic bearings, a full stainless steel fastenings kit (also from the US) and a Tamiya Sport Tuned motor.
The rere also has a few subtle differences from the original. Firstly, it's not called the Rough Rider. The original box proclaimed it to be the "Racing Buggy, Rough Rider". But there must now be some licensing issue over the name as the rere is called "Racing Buggy, Buggy Champ". Similarly, Tamiya obviously didn't want to pay the licensing fees for the original stickers, which were for real automotive products, so the rere uses made-up companies on pre-coloured backgrounds, negating the need to mask and spray the two-tone original finish.
Here is the original box art:
And here's the re-release:
Can somebody tutor me on how to invert thumb snap photos on an iPad. If I post the original, it's upside-down. If I edit the original by 90°, Thumbsnap posts it at 90°. If I edit the original by another 90° so that it's now inverted, Thumbsnap posts it upside-down, just like the original!!!
I'll post pictures of the build and the finished article just as soon as I discover how to post photos the right way up!
Looks nice, and a fun build.
It was originally called Buggy Champ in Japanese. Same as the Super Champ was originally called the Fighting Buggy in Japanese.
The names Rough Rider and Super Champ were only used for non-domestic markets. I believe copyright for Rough Rider is now owned by a condom
manufacturer....
Lots of people complain about the sponsor decals. I don't. Personally I think charging for what is effectively free advertising is taking the mick a tad.
They would not have paid for it in the eighties, so the fact they don't want to now doesn't suprise me. Repro decals are available on the net if you
want them. tho' with varying quality.
Anyway, enjoy. Nice kit.
It was originally called Buggy Champ in Japanese. Same as the Super Champ was originally called the Fighting Buggy in Japanese.
The names Rough Rider and Super Champ were only used for non-domestic markets. I believe copyright for Rough Rider is now owned by a condom
manufacturer....
Lots of people complain about the sponsor decals. I don't. Personally I think charging for what is effectively free advertising is taking the mick a tad.
They would not have paid for it in the eighties, so the fact they don't want to now doesn't suprise me. Repro decals are available on the net if you
want them. tho' with varying quality.
Anyway, enjoy. Nice kit.
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