the big 5?

[slim_chance]

Kinda a poll on who every one thinks is the big 5 rc manufactures are. Like the big 3 car manufactures are gm chryslter and ford. And why they think so.

Mine are
Associated, of course they gave us the rc10
Kyosho, vintage rc just wouldn't be the same without them
Losi, someone had to keep Associated on there toes
Tamiya, some of the best true to scale out there
Traxxas, no basher collection should be without 1 or 2 or 3.....

Also all 5 have had winners in various racing areas and have put out very inovating stuff over the years.
This is ment to be a discussion so have at it let's here what you have to say

Edit. It doesn't have to be 5

[klavy69]

1.associated
2.associated
3.associated
4.yokomo (vintage)
5.traxxas (vintage/nothing after SRT or TCP)

just a little biased towards associated...if I wasn't I wouldn't be here

Todd

[foots]

1.associated
2.associated
3.associated
4.yokomo (vintage)
5.traxxas (vintage/nothing after SRT or TCP)

just a little biased towards associated...if I wasn't I wouldn't be here

Todd

You can't vote against the BEST

[slim_chance]

Hey I can't really argue too much there is a reason I put them in alphabetical order. I have 3 associated rc's hopefully soon 4. But I was adding the runners up too.

[slow_jun]

AE Vintage
Yokomo Vintage
Kyosho Vintage
Team Losi Vintage
Tamiya Vintage
Team Durango

[farmer]

well it all depends on what base you are making your choice on

1. money made
2. popularity
3. durability
4. contribution to the hobby
5. creativity

the list could go on and on, but ill just stay with this list
these are MY thoughts

1. money made -hands down I would say TYCO i think everyone on here has owned more than one and has had friends that have had one and everytime you go into walmart,kmart,sears,radio shack,etc etc etc
they are sold everywhere world wide i cant remember how many little tyco cars that i had when i was a kid
they where not real expensive, like a $300 dollar kit, but they had the jack in box moto i can sell a million $1.00 dollar burgers are only sale a hundred thousand $3 burgers. Tyco by far! but if you wanna say hobby quality than it would have to be tamiya, been around forever, and how many of us started with a grasshopper or a frog
second would have to go to tamiya

2. popularity- TAMIYA by for the most internationally distributed of all the major players by far!
us! as members of this site and are love for AE hold a bias. But lets be honest tamiyas out number are gold pans at least 10 to 1 sad but true,

3. Durability- wow this is a tuff one i think every major player has had the strong cars and also there weak car
example the b3 was in my experiance indestructable it was a tank , on the other hand the xxx buggy would break a front a-arm are rear hub if you looked at it cross-eyed ,you look at the old years of the gold pan and almost every race that you were in someone was bound to lose a bone are gernade a 6 gear , you could almost just point at a ultima frt bulkhead and it would break, and lets not even get into 4wd stuff, i would need 2 pieces of nicorett gum just to put my 2 cents on those. But as of now i think that Traxxis has some of the most durable stuff on the market. Of all of us that race how many of us see the rookies just bashing the cr@p out of there traxxis and the still keep going. they might not be the best race quality ,but man they can take a licking and keep ticking

4. Contribution to the hobby- ok get get ready for it,, AE! if you look at what I belive at what AE has done for the hobby with the with the main stream RACE quality model that still continues its legacy today still using the same racing theory. Almost the same tranny design for over 20 yrs, same tub style chassis that has been copied by every rc co in exixtence today. I BELIEVE and i have no stats there are more AE's racing one any givin raceday than any other Co, Losi coming in 2nd on a raceday. But as far as 2nd in the contribution it would have to go to Tamiya

5. Creativity- Tamiya no contest they have so many different models from. From the meassly grasshopper to the tamiya 3sp tranny king hauler, to tanks . Tamiya has made some really nice models like the new hi lift to the wierd ones like the mad bull to the awsome tyrell 6 wheel, they have created so many different models, that hands down makes the the top player in the creativity category

i know it sounds like im putting tamiya number 1 in alot of the categorys, but im just saying what i belive and as a racer, off and on for over 25yrs this is what i have seen
yes AE is closest to my heart . And i have won more races with AE than any other brand that i have raced
but a question was asked and well i had to put in my 2cents
farmer

[cunawarit]

Farmer is onto something here, GM, Ford, and Chrysler are huge sellers. But with the RC manufacturers it has to be a little more subtle perhaps.

I reckon:

1) Tamiya: Because they are near ubiquitous, wherever you go there will be Tamiyas for sale somewhere. Tamiya are like the GM of RC cars, and over the years they have come up with some amazingly innovative concepts. They have been flogging the same things over and over again recently, but just about everyone has a little bit of a soft spot for Tamiya. Can you blame Chevrolet for reviving the looks of the 1st Gen Camaro? No, it may not be the most original thing ever, but it is a world wide recognizable brand with its sexy Coke bottle shape and there are plenty of guys who lusted after one when they were too young to afford it and they can now have the new version. Well, same applies for Tamiya and vehicles like the Blackfoot III, Grass Hopper, and other modernized re-releases.

2) Kyosho: Every GM needs a Ford, and Kyosho is Tamiya's Ford.

3) Traxxas: Traxxas is a little bit of the oldish new kid on the block, the foreign (ie, not Japanese) brand that made Tamiya sit up and take notice. Traxxas are sort of like the Toyota of the RC world. Right now, there's no denying that Traxxas are in a very good position indeed, they may be ignoring racing, but they are providing what plenty of people crave. And quite a lot of people crave insane speeds from an RTR kit... Traxxas overall means professionalism, they provide great support for their products and overall the whole company has a slick and professional image that few in the RC world can match.

4) Associated: For their racing heritage, they are Ferrari. They mean racing, they breath racing, anything that comes of of their glorious gold gates is a mean lean racing machine that's almost the de facto choice for any aspiring racer.

5) Ansmann: That's right, I said Ansmann. Why? Well because right now they are the kings of value for money, £49.99 gets you a Mad Rat that may not be up to Associated levels of quality but that is much closer to a race buggy than anything Traxxas offers for a much higher price and Ansmann parts at least in the UK can be found anywhere! If Traxxas is Toyota, Ansmann is Hyundai. The new new kid on the block.

[Lonestar]

- Tamiya - they pretty much started the mass-appeal of the RC Car category and have the widest car product range catering to all needs and the fastest product release rate... no brand has such a cult following. No one has done re-release yet and taken it to the level Tamiya did. It's a bit different in the US, but on the other continent there isn't an RC shop with zero Tamiya product on shelf!

- AE/TT - I was told a couple of years ago by a big LHS owner (which bellied up since ) that TT is the biggest global manuf'er of RC stuff (including air and water)... and we all love AE otherwise we wouldn't be here, but obviously this isn't the same AE that made us have RC wet dreams when we were teens in the 80's. AE living and breathing racing in 2012? give me a break... They still have some of the best racecars but they've lost their edge and their RTR/entrylevel/leisure portfolio is bigger than ever...

- Traxxas - overpriced, gaudy, underperforming, 20-year-old-platform-based plastic bits that sell like hot cakes thanks to a certain flair for developing new trends towards undiscerning masses via aggressive, borderline marketing claims... On the other hand without the TMaxx and the Slash a lot of tracks and LHS would have gone under, so credits to them for saving the hobby twice the past 15yrs.

- Kyosho - like TT, one of the most versatile manufacturers, they do some of the best cars on the market both in nitro and electric, same for planes, big Heli culture, boats, they do it all, top-notch crazy expensive racing machines in all scales, entry-level soft-plastic bashers, they have a model for every kind of customer, and they've been around for ages and probably will be for a long time...


To me that's the fat 4 of RC - the others don't play in the same league, either because they don't have the same global reach, or pedigree, or for other reasons....

Paul

[cunawarit]

A bit harsh on poor'ol Traxxas there

There are some benefits to the 20 year old platform, my 15 year old Bandit still gets great support. OK, agreed it isn't going to go round beating anything else round a track other than a Grass Hopper But there aren't many other 15 year old buggies with readily available spare parts like that.

Overpriced? Probably, I'm not overly keen on the fact that you can't just buy an unassembled car only kit from Traxxas anymore.

Of course the other benefit is that the aftermarket manufacturers aren't too afraid to support Traxxas vehicles either, if they make an aluminum gearbox case for the traditional 2WD Traxxas box they know there's 20 years worth of cars out there to fit it onto. And that Traxxas is likely to continue making the same design of gearbox for the next 20 years.

The Traxxas 2WD gearbox is the small block Chevy of the RC world And it has propelled many vehicles at well over 100mph... Much like the small block Chevy is still a popular choice for hot rodders today

[jon burrows]

Kinda a poll on who every one thinks is the big 5 rc manufactures are. Like the big 3 car manufactures are gm chryslter and ford. And why they think so.

Mine are
Associated, of course they gave us the rc10
Kyosho, vintage rc just wouldn't be the same without them
Losi, someone had to keep Associated on there toes
Tamiya, some of the best true to scale out there
Traxxas, no basher collection should be without 1 or 2 or 3.....

Also all 5 have had winners in various racing areas and have put out very inovating stuff over the years.
This is ment to be a discussion so have at it let's here what you have to say

Edit. It doesn't have to be 5

It seems like your mixing apples and oranges in your question and responses. Your question relates directly to what one thinks the BIG companies are, in terms of facts though (sales, inventory, profit, et.al), but your responses are based on personal preferences, which I think is what youre trying to convey. So, without trying to sound like tool any further , I'll answer on personal preference. Ahem...

1. Associated. I've always been an associated guy and will always be an associated guy. When I was younger associated was in all the magazines top articles, won all the races and just looked waaaay cool! After I got my first rc10 in 86(?), I was hooked. The quality was far superior to any frog, hornet or srb I've had before. It was a pro buggy compared to everything else. Now it's just nostalgia! And buying everything I couldn't afford before.
2(a). Are there any other companies that make RC cars out there?
2(b). But all kidding aside, A faaaar second is Tamiya. I have no interest in their new stuff, but again, for nostalgia, it's the tamiyas I saw and owned long ago that I revisit and reminisce.
3. See 2(a) first. Vintage Yokomo! First because I like saying "yokomo" . Pure looks. Yokomo made some of the sweetest looking buggies! Set way apart from the rest. After years and years of wanting one, I am the proud owner of an 834 and I can't wait to get my hands into it and rebuild that baby to all its ever loving' glory!
4. I gotta say, the only company around today that I am drawn to is Axial. I own a wraith that I'm still putting together (started 4 months ago ). I was really happy with the quality of the one I saw prior to buying. They make some of the coolest rc's today. IMO. Not the best, but cool factor!
5.
Going to stop here. Never been a losi guy. Never had a traxxas or the like. It's always gonna be AE for me!

jb

[Lonestar]

to each his own... I love the traxxas from bitd with their Bullet, Rad, TRX1, TRX3, I have at least one of each of these, I love the Sledge too... even the bandit I think is a cool car (it's a cost-efficient TRX1)... but I despise the modern traxxas and their marketing from the masses, traxxas is to modern RC what the ipod is to the portable music (someone made that comparison on the forum a while ago and I thought it was spot-on)... but I reckon they are a major player in the hobby

Paul

[kaiser]

associated
kyosho
yokomo
losi
tamiya

[slim_chance]

My intention was to see by prefrence and opinion what y'all's ideas where on your personal opinions. Not by sales and profits of each respective companies. Ok carry on

[Phin]

Tamiya is huge but I think the largest part of their business isn't RC cars, it' models. Looking at just RC cars, truck, and buggies I would put the 5 biggest names in RC today (not 25 years ago) as:

1) Losi
2) A tie between Traxxas and HPI
3) AE
4) Kyosho

[Ivan Dobsky]

Here's mine, based on what I see the most of, therefore in terms of the amount sold I would say the following in no particular order:

1: Tamiya. There was a time when everyone I knew had a Tamiya, even if they weren't particularly interested in RC.

2: HPI. They seem to be in every shop all of a sudden, usually the Savage truck for bashers, and some of their touring cars seem to be the ones that bring new guys to the racing club.

3: Mardave. I don't know what their popularity is like outside of the UK, but due to their low cost, there seems to be a club dedicated entirely to racing Mardaves in just about every part of the UK.

4: Associated. I can't think of a racing club I've been to that doesn't have a ton of them.

5: Yokomo. Popular choice as drift cars, if nothing much else lately.

This list is based entirely on what I perceive, nothing more.