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Cool ride reminds me of the hopper.

Very interesting Dan. But are you absolutely certain the Panda Cyclone and Mugen Manx are independently manufactured cars?
Or was the Panda Cyclone actually a rebranding/repackaging of the same kit, with some bits different (like decals)?

i.e. Panda Cyclone


If significant molded parts, like gearbox, chassis etc are different, then I'm with you - they are different (one being an approximation, or clone, of the other) and it was not a rebranding exercise.

But a similar problem exists with the Mugen Mercury Xi-4 vs Academy Mercury Xi-4.
Is the Academy a clone of the Mugen, or a rebranding? If it's a clone, it's a little strange they even used the same name.

Mugen


Academy


I always had the feeling that the Academy and Panda releases were about another brand taking over the production or the design rights to the car, given that Mugen quit electric R/C in about 1990, and change their name from Mugen Engineering Co to Mugen Seiki.

Panda (aka Thunder Tiger) were Taiwanese. They now own Team Associated as everyone knows.
Academy were Korean, and better known for plastic model kits. Both were not above copying other brands, but cloning... I am less certain of this, since both had lines of their own legit products dating back to 1979 and 1969 respectively.

Happy to be proven wrong of course, it would simply be nice to get to the bottom of it

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Sorry for commenting on such an old post, but I find it interesting that both Panda and Mugen cloned the Air Supply "Ran.co One" body for the Cyclone and Manx.

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Great info Dan, I love this stuff!

Here is the original "Ran.co-One" body, designed by Tadashi Kurihara of Proto Design Co. for Air Supply. Tadashi Kurihara also designed most (maybe all?) of the Marui cars, as well as the Kyosho Sand Skipper series, Mr. & Miss Wheelie and the body for Kogawas Beetle.

hibernaculum wrote: ↑Tue Apr 19, 2016 12:00 am
Panda (aka Thunder Tiger) were Taiwanese. They now own Team Associated as everyone knows.
Academy were Korean, and better known for plastic model kits. Both were not above copying other brands, but cloning... I am less certain of this, since both had lines of their own legit products dating back to 1979 and 1969 respectively.

It's likely they exploited loopholes in their respective countries' copyright laws to produce cheaper copies of Japanese products. I once built a Academy model kit that clearly was a bootleg of a Gunze Sangyo model kit, including all the telltale marks that showed it had been reverse-engineered from an existing kit (tolerance issues with part fit, softened detail, copied decal sheet and instructions with the original copyright removed). In other cases, Korean companies produced products that looked like copies, but were actually licensed, despite the use of inferior materials.

Let's name a couple more buggies with designs that lean heavily toward the hornet/grasshopper design. I'll start with the Academy Roadrunner, Roadrunner2 and Lazer. They also had a military vehicle, I think a hummer, with the same base but monsterbeetle tires. And then there's Nikko with the 1/10 Bison (if I recall correctly).
I'm not sure, but the Ishipla Monster might be another one in the list. Graupner Pinto for sure.

All this to clone a bloody hornet

some great connoisseur's info in this thread - thanks Dan and folks

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I only know the Beagle. Which other clones are out there of the optima?

The Beagle was a pretty decent looking copy. The only other one I know is the Bluebird Baja/growler which had more of a Tamiya style suspension.

tamiyadan wrote: ↑Tue May 30, 2017 11:02 pm Tamiya Grasshopper and kyosho optima were the most cloned buggies of the era.

Basically they followed the money.

Well at least by copying the Optima they got their inspiration from something that actually worked on the track

Mr. ED wrote: ↑Tue May 30, 2017 4:04 pm I'm not sure, but the Ishipla Monster might be another one in the list. Graupner Pinto for sure.

Nah, I wouldn't classify the Ishipla Monster as a clone. Ishipla borrowed elements from other cars but put them together to make their own unique design. Front arms from a Grasshopper mated to an Ayk Buffalo rear end with Scorpion shock towers. Also had some class threaded shocks and other aluminum bits instead of just the fantastic plastic.

Also the Pinto was Graupner doing European sales for Panda's other Grasshopper clone: "The Panda"...which got "improved" with a ball joint rear suspension. You could also get The Panda with a Monte Carlo body as the Stocker or a truck body as the Danny Thompson Stadium Racer.