RE: 1:1 Scale Sand Scorcher Celebrates Tamiya Re-issue

[DeadMeat_UK]

k-ink said:

garethj said:

The Grasshopper I had later was better in every way than the Sand Scorcher, even with a rear axle that was half the car's weight. And a Mardave Meteor was better still.

[/anorak on]

Agreed. I had a few Tamiya's back in the 80's. They were all utter crap at handling! They used to blast off in a straight line and fall over at the first corner. The desire for them now is purely based upon nostalgia, not due to any real capabilities or craft man-ship. The coolest thing about them as said above, was the box art, looks and branding.

Now if your talking cool, what about the old Kyosho Optima Turbo. That went even better than it looked. Or even better, the 1/8th Kyosho Burns Turbo. Every modern 1/8th buggy stole the design of this model. Nothing has moved on very much at all since this showed the way. Everything since has been nothing more than a subtle variation or tweek. Much respect to Kyosho

I think they were actually more fun though. I had a SS, and later a grasshopper, and the latter cars surefootedness made it less of a hoot to just muck around with in my opinion.

Maybe that's why I drive an old 911

[plenty]

Kyosho were always the knowing-man's high-performance alternative to the mainstream Tamiyas. I had a Scorpion:

[RV8]

A friend of mine had the Kyosho Texaco Sierra Cosworth when I was a young, man was I envious!

[k-ink]

Did anyone else move onto 1/8th nitro cars after electric 1/10th?

[Athlon]

I had to own this, had loads of fun building it and it is a hoot to use, far better than the early version as it has a far better speed controller and the battery is much better, great fun indeed

[kiwifraser]

plenty said:

Kyosho were always the knowing-man's high-performance alternative to the mainstream Tamiyas. I had a Scorpion:

That looks like an Ultima?, although I haven't heard of a Scorpion so could be well wrong.

This thread brings back memories. I still have an original Kyosho Ultima, and the first model Tamiya Avante stored away

[Roop]

k-ink said:

Unlucky for all the spanners who paid thousands of pounds for the old plastic kits. Tamiya is re-releasing everything now.

Prices of originals aren't affected. Tamiya aren't stupid, they make the new ones subtely different so that the originals hold their value. Remember, collectors want the original because it's an original, not because it's all new and shiny.

[Roop]

RichardD said:

k-ink said:

Now if your talking cool, what about the old Kyosho Optima Turbo. That went even better than it looked.

Mmm, gold anodised dampers



I need to look now to see what I have that has been gathering dust for the last 23 years. It is definitely an Optima, but with a mid motor and a carbon fibre chassis.

Optima Mid. Replaced the Optima. Massively improved car. I have a Turbo Optima Mid sat here on the shelf next to me as I type

[Roop]

k-ink said:

RichardD said:

k-ink said:

Now if your talking cool, what about the old Kyosho Optima Turbo. That went even better than it looked.

Mmm, gold anodised dampers



I need to look now to see what I have that has been gathering dust for the last 23 years. It is definitely an Optima, but with a mid motor and a carbon fibre chassis.

That is awesome. The best 10th car at the time, by quite some margin. By the time I could afford one it had been replaced by the Optima Mid Turbo, which I went for instead. The only thing I would have preferred was shaft drive instead of fiddly belts. But that was the fad at the time for some reason.

I had one too. In reality they were pretty awful, not least because it was in fact a CHAIN drive, not belt. There was a belt drive conversion kit for them though...

[Roop]

plenty said:

Kyosho were always the knowing-man's high-performance alternative to the mainstream Tamiyas. I had a Scorpion:

The Scorpion and Turbo Scorpion are lovely old cars. Very old-school. Kyosho really stepped it up in 1987 with the Ultima...

[Roop]

mattminiman said:

My first R/C car was a Tamiya Holiday Buggy, anyone else remember these? I seem to recall it had a driver who looked a bit like Burt Reynolds in his Smokey & the Bandit days! I think it had a 360 motor rather than the 540 that most had but as an 11 year old it still provided me with hours of entertainment! Last year bought an RC glider and sailing yacht; I am not too sure the wife would be too pleased if I came home with a R/C car as well. There's a slot car club near me I am tempted to join, they're small enough for me to hide without her knowing! I know most guys hide their porn but I am sad I know!

Yes, Holiday Buggy. Super low cost easy built kit. No diff, 380 motor, ABS bathtub chassis, no dampers, single trailing arm from and swing arm rear. And yes, Burt Reynolds doing the driving complete with hat...!!!

[k-ink]

Roop, I had the Mid - belt drive!

[Roop]

k-ink said:

Roop, I had the Mid - belt drive!

Yep, massively better. The Original Optimas were awful. I'm looking at my Turbo Mid right now and thinking of treating it to a new body and decals...

[Overhaul]

Fantastic !

Wanted one of these when I was a nipper, that and the Rough Rider.

Now I can add it to the Rough Rider Tamiya re-released last year.

[Ray Luxury-Yacht]

You sods, I'm going shopping tomorrow now becasue of you. Well, I'm sure my missus has spent 300 quid on shoes lately so I'm definitely due a new Tamiya kit.

I got rid of all my old R/C - started with a Marui Hunter, then had a Tamiya Hotshot, to which I upgraded the suspension to Supershot spec then went onto an Optima mid. Wish I'd kept them, although I do have a Nikko r/c motorbike which is quite good.

[Overhaul]

Know what you mean. The only one I really want is an original gold chassis Associated RC10. Rarer than hens teeth now........!

Anyway, my Sand Scorcher is reserved at my local model emporium and will be here soon !

[k-ink]

You do see the gold tubs on USA ebay now and again, just do a worldwide search. Then be prepared to pay way over the odds!

I hope Kyosho copy Tamiya's lead and bring out the older Optima Mids again

[SCREWBOY]

Cant belive how many people out there are loving this!!!! im glad im not the only one!! soon as i saw the headline i got thinking about my old cars, i had a Frog, then a Hornet, always wanted a Sand Scorcher but never got round to it. Have to say even though im 38 years young, im stupidly tempted to go out and buy one!!!!

[RV8]

In truth blokes don't grow up, our toys just get more expensive. I'm 30 and would love to be 12 again so that I can race an RC car around on the local streets like I used to without looking daft. Nothing used to beat the feeling of getting the car out for the first time and ripping down the road, there was always the anticipation waiting for the batteries to charge up.
I never had the 'proper' Tamiya models, I had a QD (quick drive) Monster Beetle which still a Tamiya but a more basic toy, prior to this I had Nikko and RC cars bought from Tandy (i anyone remembers those stores) I used to set up ramps and rip around everywhere with my cars, even though the richer kids had their much quicker cars I was happy enough with the basic cars I had! If I ever have kids I'm going to get them into RC cars just so I can have a go.

[Overhaul]

k-ink said:

You do see the gold tubs on USA ebay now and again, just do a worldwide search. Then be prepared to pay way over the odds!

I hope Kyosho copy Tamiya's lead and bring out the older Optima Mids again

Yeah, most of them are pretty tatty, but there's the occasional good one.

However, I'm after a virgin one in kit form, never opened or built. Money no object....!

I statred 1/10th off road racing over 25 years ago just when the rough rider came out. I look back now over all the cars I've had through the years, Tamiya (Frog and Hotsoht etc), Kyosho (Scorpion, Optima, Mid, Ultima),Yokomo (Dog Fighter), Associated (god knows how many RC10's) and would dearly love to collect them all again.

Got the re-release of the Frog, but along way to go me thinks...!

When associated were bought out and they moved factories they destroyed all the molds for the original RC10....Doh...!
Apparently they could sell 1000's of them if they hadn't !