What's the future vintage?

[Coelacanth]

I have to disagree with some of you. There's a common misconception that "there won't be anything good today that'll be sought after, like the old days". If history has shown anything, it's shown us that this is patently untrue. There was a time when nobody wanted a 1970 Charger, it was all about the '68/'69. Then, the next generation Chargers. Later on, it was the Aspen R/T, for example. So on, and so on. There will ALWAYS be something made that only sells to a small niche that's frowned on at the time, but decades later, the combination of rareness and uniqueness makes it desireable to collectors.

I don't even know why RC10's are so desireable, they were everywhere then and they're everywhere now, too. The only ones that command big dough are the new-builts, NIB, and rare special-edition offerings...no big surprise there. 5.0L Mustangs were a dime-a-dozen back then, from the late 70's to early 90's it was practically the same car. Are any of those truly collectible? Nope. A Taurus SHO or supercharged T-bird from the same era, much moreso.

Something that will become collectible in the future isn't always easy to predict, but rarity, pristine condition & originality/innovation usually play big roles. I can practically guarantee what WON'T be collectible: Anything that's a truggy. They're just way too commonplace. It would need to be something really odd and special-edition to be collectible 2 or 3 decades from now.

EDIT: I'd like to add that anything that survives several decades will become vintage. "Vintage" simply means anything old that's survived the ages. It doesn't always mean collectible or desireable. I always say "vintage crap is still crap".

[arf]

I believe the Kyosho Blizzard is still available new. I'll take two of these please.

[Coelacanth]

I believe the Kyosho Blizzard is still available new. I'll take two of these please.

Excellent example. Another thing that came to mind is those RC motorcycles. Very few people seem to buy those...imagine what they might be worth in 25 years?

[CNA75]

Personally, I agree with Retro R/C and Lowgear in that I believe RC has had its golden era - i.e. the 80s and the early 90s - and it will be the cars from that era that will mainly remain the desirable ones in the future as the hobby gradually becomes more and more discreet. There was a boom during that period in RC because it was the fairly advanced as a hobby for its time then. Now, however, the digital age (as I like to call it...am I getting old?) is the dominant feature in many hobbies and the developments in the RC world are passing many by - the market is considerably smaller now than it was and I suspect that over time that shrinkage will continue to a point.

So, in short, I imagine that what is "vintage" now will always be the most desirable products from those enthusiasts who desire vintage rc items. My personal view is that the cars that were produced in the 80s and very early 90s have a lot more character in their appearance than the cars of today. Not only do they look more "authentic" (as opposed to just being a rather non-descript racing machine - obviously there are exceptions to that rule) but the leaps made in terms of innovation in technological design seem to be more significant then given that RC racing as a whole was a lot more nascent during that period. Just my view, and I appreciate that many may take me to task on it.....

[LTO_Dave]

I think that it really depends on the individual, for the most part, as to what will become desireable/collectable in the future. If a 10-year old boy/girl wants a Traxxas Slash now but can't afford one, he/she may pay top dollar 20 years from now because that particular vehicle was what they wanted growing up.

I know many of us here, myself included, have been trying to find parts/kits we wanted growing up as kids but never could afford. Some of these parts/kits may not be all that rare to some people, but they are to us as individuals. Vintage is what we make of it.

[CNA75]

I agree. I would just observe that RC today is not what is was back in the 80s/90s boom and, therefore, the number of people likely to want to purchase all those cars, etc, which they couldn't afford when they were little is likely to be considerable reduced. The knock-on effect of that would be that in 20 years the demand for today's RC cars is likely to be a lot less than the demand for the RC cars of the 80s and 90s. Eventually, demand for vintage RC cars will become very niche (even more so than it is now)....

[Dirtdiver]

I agree that in the future today's kids will want to buy some of the items they never had as kids, but I think most of these items will be vintage cell phones, vintage gaming stations or 1st generation i-pads.

Unfortunately, I do not see a mass following of collectors in the future for rc cars, 1:1 cars, or much less anything else. Today's generations aren't interested in collecting (based on my observations from my nephews, attending 1:1 car shows, antique auctions, etc). Over the last 10 years, I've attended numerous shows, auctions, rc races, etc and the one thing that has been missing is young people.

[Lonestar]

Darryn worded my thoughts perfectly as usual - modern cars are so perfect that they've become bland (this should only sound slightly derogatory), really... no more breakthroughs year after year, so nothing to really capture modern kids' imagination, in a hobby that isn't really a hot topic anymore for 2011 teens...

The vintage stuff that might be sought after 20yrs from now will likely be the same as the one today (rc10, first tamiyas, ayk, optimas and all) - only more expensive

Paul

[YZ-10]

If you were a kid in the 80's like me.. I mean who didn't have an r/c car or want one after they saw their friend with one, how many kids do you see these days playing in the street with r/c's? I certainly think there will be a lot less interest in years to come.

Another point if you had a lottery win or something would you go out buying r/c cars currently on the market? or would you buy all the vintage ones you've been after for ages? I can think of many vintage cars I'd like but maybe 1 or 2 at a push current models.

[Bimdapogs]

Tamiya's 501X, 511X, Yoke's MR4-BX, DEX410, the new Shueys!

I couldn't afford these right now. One day, I might be able to afford them and if I did have money to burn - I'll take 2 of each. You know the drill.

[Lonestar]

Tamiya's 501X, 511X, Yoke's MR4-BX, DEX410, the new Shueys!

I agree these are the top-of-the-line racers from today... I still can't see them generating interest 20yrs from now... still too mainstream. Even everyone has a durango now!

I think maybe tamiya 49400 (the 415-based porsche) is one to bank on. VLB Gold Ed, Wild Willy / Blitzer Beetle Chrome Special. Some othe re-re's too, like TopForce, or Dynastorm... All these cars are already highly sought after

Paul

[Mindwarp]

Nice to see that this question generated some great discussions!

I have to agree with one point, it seems that when-ever I go to my LHS it's mainly adults that are in there. Perhaps the rc market has a more mature clientel than it did 25 years ago and perhaps that will affect what is sought after 25 years from now.

[Coelacanth]

Nice to see that this question generated some great discussions!

I have to agree with one point, it seems that when-ever I go to my LHS it's mainly adults that are in there. Perhaps the rc market has a more mature clientel than it did 25 years ago and perhaps that will affect what is sought after 25 years from now.

Not really, I think the resurgence of RC could possibly be due to most of us not being able to afford the cars we desired most, back in the 80's--and now we can. So, there's a large market of people looking to buy up and collect all the cars we wished we could've had, back in the day. Most of the people who can afford these $300+ "toys" are adults with paying jobs.

The same thing will happen with EVERY generation, not just ours.

This phenomenon isn't limited to RC cars, it happens with everything. Cars, houses, drums, you name it. Old desireable stuff just becomes MORE desireable, while newer things that weren't desireable before, become desireable.

[MelvinsArmy]

I have to disagree with a lot of you. Look at nearly any activity in the past century. 20 or 30 years after something is popular, it gets a second run. Cars, toys, movies, fashion, r/c cars, music, whatever. I don't know how many times I heard Hall and Oats in the past year, but I'm pretty sure in the past 12 months I've heard more of their songs than I've heard in the past 20 years. I'd almost bet on that one. I thought that music was crap then and I think it's crap now. Somebody likes it though.

The Buick Grand National is a computer car, it's as collectible as a 1969 GS.

As for the current r/c situation. R/C seems like it's as big as ever to me. In the 80s and 90s we didn't have this whole internet community. Tower's catalog was no where near as vast as it is now.

As for kids getting involved, this has always been a hobby that was more popular with adults than it was with kids. At least in my experience. When I was in high school, there was me and about 5 other teenagers at my r/c club, the rest were adults. I think only myself and 1 other kid didn't have parents that also raced. I really don't think very many 12 year olds were building Bruisers or MIP RC10s. This hobby would have stopped existing years ago if it relied mostly on paper routes, allowances and lawn mowing money.

[arf]

Lets ask this guy:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Titor

I think he's after vintage parts.