How many years have you been into RC?

[CustomCarbon]

I’ve been in for 25 years….im sure I don’t have the most time in. How long have the rest of you been in the RC hobby? Also, fun follow up…favorite RC? My favorite changes, but right now it’s the Losi Promoto. Tomorrow it will be different I’m sure.

[Toaster]

Good question. Off and on going on around 35 years for me. Started with a Marui Big Bear for Christmas from my folks (I asked for a Ninja but who’s counting) and then a heavy addiction into anything and everything Yokomo related starting with an 89 YZ10 and ending with a 92’ which was around the time I discovered girls and then took quite a hiatus. Was directed to this site by a forum member after selling my unused backup 91 on eBay years later and was worried he had made an error in his bid and reached out and we got chatting. Months later the bug bite me and I have been back in ever since.

[R6cowboy]

Got back into RC early 2019 to relive a childhood pastime. But was first into RC as a youngster circa 1990 for a few years until about '94-'95, when BMX took over, followed by aggressive inline rollerblading.

[Lowgear]

For me it depends on how you want to look at it. If you mean R/C as a whole, then I've been into it since somewhere in the '80s. I'm thinking the mid '80s as a starting point with all the toy grade stuff which lasted until the early '90s when I got my first hobby grade R/C. During that toy grade period, my parents took me to watch a few local races, I'd routinely see others driving hobby grade models at parks and whatnot, and I'd wear out every issue of RC Car Action and Tower Hobbies just dreaming about the day I could get a "real" R/C.

For hobby grade R/C, I've been into it continuously since 92-93. What I mean by that is I've partaken in it every single year since then without any breaks. As time progressed though after the '90s were over with, I became increasingly disinterested in the direction of things, and mainly stuck with the earlier stuff... which brings us to this place.

[TRX-1-3]

Can you ever really be "out of RC"? If your stuff went into a box at some point but you still had it, you're into it, just on pause. 1987-2000, pause, 2010ish -present. Newest thing owned was a 1/18 Slash. Fun for about 7 minutes, buyer's regret set in and I went right back to the older stuff. The last really cool kit I bought when it was new and hot was the T3 Team kit.

[Dadio]

Think I was 11 or 12 when I got my first a Tamiya Sand Rover , I'm 54 now so 42-43 years , took the usual break then it was micro helicopters that got me back into RC about 19 or 20 years ago , then a fairly modern ish brushless RTR by Team C got me back into cars and I was astounded by the performance of Brushless motors and lipo battery's , after that I started finding parts for a Yokomo Dogfighter 834b and it's all been great history since .

[1911Colt]

I was probably 10 or so when I got my first real RC- a BoLink. I had RC cars all the way up until ~2004/5. I started flying planes in 2008 and have had some combination of planes, helicopters, tanks, cars, trucks, and boats since then.

So that is 44 years and counting, but with a small break in the middle.

[Coelacanth]

I'm almost 56. For some of us who've been into RC most of our lives, "RC" includes "remote control" and not just "radio control". That's how you know you've been into it a looooong time. My earliest memories are battery-operated tethered remote-control toy-grade cars that would go straight forward, and turn while reversing in one direction. That's gotta go back to the 70's sometime.

[jwscab]

I'm right there with you Coelacanth. Pretty much trigger click remote controls from a young age.... Call it 45 yrs give or take if I got one at 5 yrs old?

[Lowgear]

The wired remote control stuff I remember having in the '80s were New Bright construction equipment (loader and bulldozer), a demolition derby set, Radio Shack skateboarder, and a (Remco?) van I drove on a beach in Florida. Also a Digger Dan crane if that counts!

The turn in reverse R/C stuff was really annoying but commonplace back then. Getting something fully proportional felt like such a big deal.

[Russ Winn]

I first got into RC in 1985, when I stumbled upon a toy store selling kits (Tamiya). Building has always been the biggest appeal to me. Since then, I've built, bashed and raced most types of cars. I usually go through it in waves, sometimes going 5-6 years without touching them, then getting hot and heavy for a few years. In fact, right now I have the most fully functional vehicles I've ever owned at one time - 6.

[R6cowboy]

My first remote control experience (besides those toy grade turn in reverse units) would've been slot cars. My brother and I had an oval slot car track sometime around 1987-'88, and also got a Tyco Super Duper Double Looper track with the two Lamborghini Countach slot cars, that thing was a huge deal back then. Suppose my first real RC would've been a Tyco 9.6V Turbo Fast Traxx pick-up I got for Christmas of 1991 or '92.

[dldiaz]

I got a Tamiya Frog for Christmas when it was the newest thing, so 1983.
But I had many toy-grade R/Cs before that (I was born in 1973).

I got into racing around 1986, then did not pay much attention to R/C from roughly 1991 to 2001.

[Lowgear]

My first remote control experience (besides those toy grade turn in reverse units) would've been slot cars. My brother and I had an oval slot car track sometime around 1987-'88, and also got a Tyco Super Duper Double Looper track with the two Lamborghini Countach slot cars, that thing was a huge deal back then. Suppose my first real RC would've been a Tyco 9.6V Turbo Fast Traxx pick-up I got for Christmas of 1991 or '92.

Every Christmas for a number of years I was gifted a Tyco slot car track. My father would put it together after I went to bed Christmas eve. Then he'd surprise me with it after opening presents as it would be down in the rec room (den). Some I remember are Racin' Hoppers, Twin Turbo Trains, Transformers, and a few Nite-Glow tracks.

I got the Turbo Fast Traxx pick-up for Christmas too!

[TRX-1-3]

My first remote control experience (besides those toy grade turn in reverse units) would've been slot cars. My brother and I had an oval slot car track sometime around 1987-'88, and also got a Tyco Super Duper Double Looper track with the two Lamborghini Countach slot cars, that thing was a huge deal back then. Suppose my first real RC would've been a Tyco 9.6V Turbo Fast Traxx pick-up I got for Christmas of 1991 or '92.

Every Christmas for a number of years I was gifted a Tyco slot car track. My father would put it together after I went to bed Christmas eve. Then he'd surprise me with it after opening presents as it would be down in the rec room (den). Some I remember are Racin' Hoppers, Twin Turbo Trains, Transformers, and a few Nite-Glow tracks.

I got the Turbo Fast Traxx pick-up for Christmas too!

My brother got the Tyco slot cars/track! He would get more track here and there as funds allowed, build it out. Nothing crazy. Those little copper shoes. We would roach those things and until we could go to the hobby/toy shop to get spares, we would head out to the shed and solder the holes over and sand them down. HazMat? Very delicate procedure. I mostly just watched. My brother's secret weapon was lay a penny across your lane to stall you out and jam you up. The whine of the cars and the smell of electrons. Thanks for the memory!