Turbo Optima Mid Special Annouced!

[Frankentruck]

if someone wants to use a nimh saddle pack you could just cut off the lipo battery mounts and file the slots to shape.

Modifying the chassis to make the slots usable would just be too much of a hack job final product. Kyosho makes nice kits, but this is a bone head screw up from them. But whatever. If I was going to buy one of these, I know I could get a nicer replacement chassis made. It's just disappointing that Kyosho would get this detail so wrong.
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[Jirka]

There's two target markets for the re-release cars. There's us old timers who were around back in the day and would want it to be as original as possible. But there's the much bigger market of people who have only been into the hobby for a few years and get a nostalgia kick for the old cars but have no intention of ever owning a car you can't buy in a shop. Look at how many "vintage rc" youtubers went wild over the 4wd RC10 even though you've been able to put one together a Ten4 yourself for the last 10 years, then discovered it was an old school style build that didn't drop together like a Tamiya. They are going wild over the TOMS, even though all the factors that makes an original TOMS a special kit (limited numbers, rare upgrades, extra tyres) are missing.

Supplying it with no holes in the chassis they will complain it doesn't look the same, add proper saddle pack slots and they are going to complain they can't fit their lipos in there. having battery mounts protrude into the battery slots is what Kyosho did with the seventh slot in the Lazer, and you were expected to file the nubs away if you wanted to use it. Same here, if someone wants to use a nimh saddle pack you could just cut off the lipo battery mounts and file the slots to shape.

Are You talking about that "rc-hits" guy?

Jirka

[cas22]

Must admit I'm a little underwhelmed,

Other than the LWB Chassis, radio plate and belt/covers, its no different to my original RERE.
I appreciate its not a clone, and its a representation, still they have parts in their catalogue they could of included.
It doesn't have sway bars OTW135
No Ball differentials mentioned OTW101C
Alloy gearbox brace (why not G10?) OTW138
Single piece wheels (they must still have the tooling as these were produced in black for the "rock force")
Unlimited production run "Unlike the original, this is not a limited edition but a permanent addition to Kyosho’s catalog."

I'm a big Kyosho enthusiast but I feel they missed something here.

They were a showcase of the best bits they could produce from the factory, this just seems like another opportunity to upsell aftermarket hop ups.
Bit like Thunder Tiger /AE, just with much better tolerances and tooling.

There are still 1986 TOMS (3138) around, and not complete unicorns even today, even in NZ, if you want to pay.
Put a few of these parts in your order beside the kit, and you're comfortably over $650USD for a rolling chassis.

That's getting up there for an unlimited production run, or am I just missing something here?

[cas22]

Terry.sc and Frankentruck make valid points about the chassis, You cant even buy saddle pack LiPos any more, but velcro? really? seems very crude.
Surely the engineers could come up with a better clamp, either low profile or normal square profile.
The original chassis has allowances for the 6 and 7 cell options, but yes you had grind the bits away (urghh)
There was also a conversion kit for the chassis back in the day, but I don't think it included the ball differentials or sway bars

https://www.overrc.com/vintage/documentation/archives-de-mike/Optima%20Mid%20LWB%20Conversion.pdf

I found some once from Shapeways that I think were from Neo Vintage?, haven't found them since Shapeways went under, but they were excellent, wish id bought more.
https://www.neovintage-rc.com/post/project-kyosho-optima

[terry.sc]

No Ball differentials mentioned OTW101C

It comes with the ball differentials, and the steering centre link is the HD metal one. Although a lot of people have replaced the ball diffs in other models for the much more durable gear diffs.
As for retaining the battery, coming from on road racing I'm used to using battery strapping tape and it's what I use to hold the lipo in my Optima as I wouldn't trust a velcro strap.

[cas22]

Thanks Terry, I couldn't see that on the sales page, just said optional extras, ?
And I agree, velcro tape just seems cheap

[RogueIV]

I want to point out that it's a rerelease not an exact copy of the original with some things changed around to deal with modern conditions. There are some weird choices for sure, like that chassis hole layout. The ball diffs are a curious choice but they also still supply all of their offroad rere models with tires suited for loose dirt

As far as it not being a limited run like the OG? Why would they? Personally, as a person that likes driving his cars, I hate limited releases. I'm not well off enough where I can buy every release when it happens so being able to buy something after release for non inflated prices is a godsend. No one is getting rich of RC investments and why would Kyosho want to limit how much money they can make?