Tamiya reissue classic 'The Frog' RC Car

[iGav]

Hot on the wheels of 'The Hornet', 'The Grasshopper' and 'The Lunchbox' reissues, Tamiya recently announced that 'The Frog' is to be re-released later this year.

Considering how 'The Hornet', 'The Grasshopper' and the 'The Lunchbox' all part shared, then it's possible that the pattern might repeat itself with 'The Frog' being reissued, we might see both the 'Blackfoot' and 'Monster Beetle' being reissued in the not too distant future as they share essentially the same platform.

Superb... I feel like such a kid again got one of each so far, shrinkwrapped and future proofed. I'll have to start doubling up soon too.

Keep 'em coming Tamiya.

Rinky dink link

Pinky dink link

Oh... and this one's for evoluzione.

 

[Don't panic]

Oh... and this one's for evoluzione.

I had one of those, r(e)ally.

 

[Mr. Anderson]

Those are nice, but I saw one of these and this kicks ass.

Off road at 40+ MPH is just nuts, its really quite amazing.

D

 

[katchow]

holy cow, i had a frog . My was riddled with suspension probs. My older brother had the hornet which actually held up better. I custom sprayed a cover for mine, picked up some swiss bearings, and dropped in a souped up motor (i wanna say yamamoto, but its been years). Course none of these held a candle to the RC-10.

 

[iGav]

So... as I'm on a quiet day, I decide to trawl the interweb trying to find out some more info about possible future Tamiya reissues, and I stumble upon a post on the TamiyaClub forums...

And I'm glad I did... not only has the 'The Frog' been reissued, but so has the 'Thundershot', the 'Manta Ray', and the 'Top-Force'. (on top of the Frog I'll take 2 each of the Thundershot and Top-Force please )

However... the really interesting bit, is in this post

Note the coffee cans on the left...they are very interesting
to Tamiya's business plan

And indeed they are... another picture features 10 named buggies and one 'Secret'. interestingly out of those 10 buggies, 6 of them have already been officially announced.

The remaining buggies are the 'Rough Rider', 'Hot Shot', The Boomerang' and the 'Astute'. (I'll take 2 each of the Rough Rider, Hot Shot, The Boomerang, and maybe an Astute).

And what's that blacked out 'secret' silhouette???

That people.. happens to be the mighty Avante

 

[Sedulous]

Indeed, I have an Avente that has never been used. Very cool and over-engineered.

And what's that blacked out 'secret' silhouette???

That people.. happens to be the mighty Avante

 

[iGav]

Indeed, I have an Avente that has never been used. Very cool and over-engineered.

T'was a GREAT car...

I've had... *counts fingers* 4 of them (I think) in my time.

Up until recently, I had 3 of them... one NIB, still shrink wrapped, 1 that was built, painted and decalled as the instructions and the 3rd was a runner.

Sold them for a mint... (especially the NIB one) not all that long ago.

Fate so it seems is finally on my side. I'll take 4 Avante's if they reissue those bad boys.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

The remaining buggies are the 'Rough Rider', 'Hot Shot', The Boomerang' and the 'Astute'. (I'll take 2 each of the Rough Rider, Hot Shot, The Boomerang, and maybe an Astute).

This hobby is going to cost you as much as a crack habit.

 

[Sedulous]

This hobby is going to cost you as much as a crack habit.

True, but in all honesty of all the "toys" I've ever had, these build-it-yourself kits taught me a lot. Because parts were always so expensive, you have to really research what you buy, how best to assemble, and when you could improvise. Really good stuff.

 

[aquajet]

Wow, that's cool. My brother still has his Frog, but the suspension is messed up and the gearbox is toast.

 

[fistful]

I currently have a Baja Champ however I rarely use it as it likes to run away and I don't want it taking a jump in our pond. I actually had more fun putting it together than driving it anyways.

 

[barneygumble]

I only buy kyosho, much better quality than Tamiya, have a nitro NSX and dad has a really suped up inferno nitro, runs on rocket fuel and man does it fly

 

[AlBDamned]

Any sign of the Ninja? My brother and used to beat the living daylights out of each other's cars (he had a grasshopper)... Those were the days!

 

[iGav]

This hobby is going to cost you as much as a crack habit.

And the perverse thing is, I'm not even buying them to build them...

Any sign of the Ninja?

Ninja... now that rings a bell. Who made that again?

 

[AlBDamned]

Ninja... now that rings a bell. Who made that again?

Marui apparently, though I couldn't have told you that without looking. It was a beast of a car.

Just found this pic. It looked slicker in real life though.

 

[Guitarius]

I had one like that a long time ago when I was little. But then some bastard child of a priest and a prostitute who was angry at the world stepped on it. I think he's in jail now for 2nd degree murder.

 

[katchow]

wasn't the 'Hot Shot' Tamiya's attempt at Team Associated's 'RC-10'?

maybe just cosmetically...this thread's bringing back some memories

 

[Sedulous]

I only buy kyosho, much better quality than Tamiya, have a nitro NSX and dad has a really suped up inferno nitro, runs on rocket fuel and man does it fly

Tamiya never really successfully made the transition to "professional" grade racers. However, their kits were perfect for novices. Kyosho kits are more difficult to construct, and in my experience, not of terribly high quality either (but better than Tamiya... who seems to like using the cheapest plastic money can buy). Associated (of RC-10 fame) made the best kits by far when I was interested in these things.

 

[petej]

Time to educate the kid on how much fun the boomerang was when I was a kid. Sure she can barley walk but I just know she will chase it everywhere. Just have to dig it out of a corner of my parents loft and see if it still goes. Think I might need a new battery

 

[katchow]

there used to be a an offroader that had dual steering (not sure of the technical term). Both the front and back tires would turn simultaneously. I'm almost positive the company had a japanese name. The same company made motors that we would swap w/ our stock tamiya's.

BTW, did anyone race? We had a local organization that held races on the weekends. Prize money and all.

 

[iGav]

Marui apparently, though I couldn't have told you that without looking. It was a beast of a car.

Didn't they make a kit version of that car? the one in the pic is an FD (Fast Drive?) which if memory serves was a ready to run car, to compete with Tamiya's QD (Quick Drive) range.

wasn't the 'Hot Shot' Tamiya's attempt at Team Associated's 'RC-10'?

Nope... the 'Hot Shot' was a 4WD car, the RC10 was 2WD.

The big 4WD car of that period was the Yokomo Dogfighter, Kyosho also had success with the Optima Mid and Lazer ZX-R (which was massively popular at the club I used to race at). In the UK we had Schumacher with the CAT family.

Tamiya never really successfully made the transition to "professional" grade racers.

They came far too late to the party, that was Tamiya's problem. The Avante was a great car (freakishly adjustable as well ) but never got the driver or the race development it deserved... it was sooooooo expensive as well.

Even then by the time you'd pony'd up the extra $$$ on the graphite chassis, titanium screw set and light weight wheels... you essentially ended up with an Egress anyway

An American driver raced an Avante with reasonable success, and later Jamie Booth raced a TRF Egress hybrid in the British Nationals.

I raced an Avante for several seasons and found it to be more than competitive with the Dogfighters and Lazers, and would handily cane them on loose gravel because of the traction the 3-diffs would offer up.

there used to be a an offroader that had dual steering (not sure of the technical term). Both the front and back tires would turn simultaneously.

That was a Kyosho car, the Progressive, or Progression... something like that, 4WD and 4WS, they also had the clever idea of producing a FWD car but it's name escapes me. I remember really wanting one at the time, until I drove one.

 

[katchow]

Nope... the 'Hot Shot' was a 4WD car, the RC10 was 2WD.

The big 4WD car of that period was the Yokomo Dogfighter, Kyosho also had success with the Optima Mid and Lazer ZX-R (which was massively popular at the club I used to race at).

thats it! Yokomo is the name i've been straining to remember (i called it yamamoto earlier ). Never owned one of their cars, but the motors were prevelant in my area.

could have sworn they made a 4-wheel steering dealie too. memory fails me often

 

[AlBDamned]

Didn't they make a kit version of that car? the one in the pic is an FD (Fast Drive?) which if memory serves was a ready to run car, to compete with Tamiya's QD (Quick Drive) range.

Yep, mine was a kit though my older brother had to build it for me as I was about 8 years old and it was slightly too technical! I had a proper controller too, not one of those crappy hand grip ones.

 

[katchow]

Yep, mine was a kit though my older brother had to build it for me as I was about 8 years old and it was slightly too technical! I had a proper controller too, not one of those crappy hand grip ones.

you mean the 2 stick controllers? We scoffed at those. Gimmee a wheel

 

[AlBDamned]

you mean the 2 stick controllers? We scoffed at those. Gimmee a wheel

in the words of John MacEnroe: U cannot be serious!

I never got on with the wheel/handgrip controllers.

Did anyone progress from cars to planes, helicopters etc etc. That was always something I wanted to do but it was just too pricey.I wasn't an enthusiast like it sounds some of you guys are/were, but RC was always awesome fun.