RC10Talk - The Net's Largest Vintage R/C Community

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So, veering off topic a bit since your knowledge goes back a ways...would you care to draw any parallels between the RC hobby (or perhaps the racing end of it) and the earlier slot car craze? I remember RCCA constantly comparing the two hobbies and (speaking ominously) about how "we" don't want RC to go down the path that killed slot car racing. Granted, catering to the RC hobby, they were concerned about saving their own butts as RC was their bread and butter (which also gave us wonderfully biased reviews as well).

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That was some great informative reading. I am amazed at the work in those videos. How could slotless not catch on? (if better developed over time, anyway). My god, that looks great! It literally addresses the two main points that kept me out of slot cars, 1. The cars don't change lanes (unless a kid is too trigger happy and sends it off track into a wall, ) which gets boring and 2. I can make out what the cars look like. At my age watching those little slot cars zip around at insane speeds give me neck problems just trying to follow them . These slotless solve both these isuses and are cool as heck as well. Awesome job.

Its interesting being on the other side of the downswing now, to admit times change, hobbies level out, growth eventually tapers off. I'm a little bit into comic books and that industry would love to see the sales numbers they had back in the heyday. Even with the recent comic book movies, nothing will reverse things to those old days (especially at 3.99 to 4.99 a book! ) Air Age was all about combating the eventual change in peoples taste. I remember the closer we got to '93, the more they cautioned about making things cheaper, getting kids interested and not letting "big money" and adults ruin everything as they claimed was the fate of the slot car industry. I remember in one brief interview the staff crowing about Losi's great cheap new mold matrix composite chassis and how it was replacing graphite chassis to combat high cost. In retrospect, that was bull. the team racers would have simply used whatever gave them the advantage, not to save money for cheaper kit sales. Associated did the same by going back to the aluminum tub. They probably did it because it worked better.

As far a hobbies and family recognition, I hear you. I restore antique cars at a restoration shop for a living. Nobody cares I worked on a '31 Cad V12 or just how rare a '49 VW is or a 1925 Rickenbacker. My family doesn't give a hoot about my Nova I built or my Corvette and they're down right embarrassed by my RC obsession (my wife isn't, she actually runs with me from time to time.) But, you know, heck with that. If you enjoy something, do it and have a good time at it too. Life's short, have fun and make it count.

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Well this looks like it would have been an interesting thread once upon a time!

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Saito wrote: ↑Wed Aug 02, 2017 5:29 pm Great info. I always found my Super Shot to be pretty rugged but never got quite the same feel from my Vanquish back in the day. Out of curiousity, did the Thundershot series ever see track duty? They seem like a slightly more modern/streamlined version of the Hot Shot design but nobody ever speaks of them. My guess was that the Thundershot came out just before the Avante which then stole the spotlight. I do remember old MRC/Tamiya ads touting the Thundershot as capable against Optimas and Radiants.

It was 1990 at Hobby Haven Livermore raceway and a locally sponsored guy (battery and motors) was driving a Thundershot / Terrascorcher in stock class at a ROAR event. It was fast and capable and I remember being blown away that someone could make that chassis so competitive. Better balanced, lighter, and a rare high grip track. Meanwhile, I was driving my Tamiya Egress, and went home early lol. I landed on a jump and gears all chewed up inside (torque limiter would have been better).