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So, my mind is a bit blown. I received a Circus Hobbies era JR radio today and went down the rabbit hole researching. My buddy bought some stuff while at Circus hobbies way back in the day, and mentioned it was part of Circus Circus. Found this to be true when I found this ad... Ok, so then... Circus Hobbies moves to Champaign Illinois and becomes Hobby Dynamics.... Which then merges with Horizon Hobbies, bringing along some exclusive imported brands like JR, Kalt, etc... So... if it wasn’t for Circus Circus we wouldn’t have Horizon Hobby as we know it. I found this pretty interesting and had to share.

Here is a post from another page that put it all together.

To add some missing info on Frank's post, here is Horizon's history as copied from their web site.
1985: The Beginning
Founder, Rick Stephens, along with a handful of his family and industry professionals, opened Horizon Hobby in October of 1985. Their "can do" attitude and exceptional care for the customer quickly make Horizon one of the most popular wholesale RC distributors in North America.
1986: The First Expansion
A second distribution center is opened in Paso Robles, California, allowing Horizon to service retailers west of the Rockies more quickly and efficiently.
1992: Horizon Acquires Exclusive Brands and Begins Development of its Own
Horizon purchases Hobby Dynamics and gains exclusive distribution rights to several premier RC brands. At the same time it begins development of its own RC brands.

that's an interesting story of evolution there. cool

Frank Dykes makes it seem like Hobby Dynamics (formerly Circus Hobbies) became Horizon Hobbies when it was sold in the early '90's.
However, Horizon Hobbies history says it began as a company in 1985 then acquired Hobby Dynamics in the 1990's. Horizon existed long before the merger.
The story of Horizon has mostly been about acquisition; they've become a juggernaut and it seems like they own nearly everything in the industry. I wonder what AE would be today if Horizon had purchased them as well. Today, Losi (Horizon) makes some exciting products while AE (china) seems to be fading.
I recall seeing Circus Hobbies and Hobby Dynamics ads in magazines but I don't recall ever ordering anything from them. Back then we had hobby shops in every city so it was so much easier to simply go and buy what we needed.

XLR8 wrote: ↑Fri Mar 26, 2021 10:25 am Frank Dykes makes it seem like Hobby Dynamics (formerly Circus Hobbies) became Horizon Hobbies when it was sold in the early '90's.
However, Horizon Hobbies history says it began as a company in 1985 then acquired Hobby Dynamics in the 1990's. Horizon existed long before the merger.

Yeah that’s why I added that second post that adds the Horizon side. Most of Frank’s story checks out but the part where they became Horizon is not correct

Horizon was well established, thriving and successful before the merger. Apart from bring JR radio to Horizon, what do we have Circus to thank for?
By the way and for what it's worth, the RC items that my father and myself bought via mail order came from Tower Hobbies. Everything else came from LHS. And now Horizon owns Tower so it seems that all roads are leading back to Horizon - the juggernaut.

XLR8 wrote: ↑Fri Mar 26, 2021 1:48 pm And now Horizon owns Tower so it seems that all roads are leading back to Horizon - the juggernaut.

And now, I very rarely shop at Tower. And that is kinda sad, because Tower was my go-to for decades.

Horizon may be a juggernaut but they ruined Tower. Amain gets most of my mail order business now.

On top of that, all the old Hobbico brands have nearly disappeared.

Horizon may be a juggernaut but they ruined Tower.

I have to disagree there. When I was in the hobby shop I hated talking to Horizon, the GP and HRP reps were way better but mismanagement led to GP failing- with the Traxxas issues nailing the coffin shut. Horizon simply picked up the pieces and ran with it.

As far as what Circus Hobbies did to boost Horizon, Kalt helicopters were the big player- they brought them. Saito engines, as Tower/GP had O.S. this was a big deal in the 4 stroke and especially multi cylinder airplane engine game. JR radios were huge back in the day, right up with Airtronics (sold by all distributors) and Futaba (Tower/GP exclusive). Would Horizon have failed without Circus? Not likely. However having those exclusives IMO definitely helped them grow. You are more than welcome to disagree, it’s not a contest. I just found it interesting, in a six degrees of Kevin Bacon sort of way.

The TQ10 was the greatest thing Horizon ever sold!

I buy from Amain as well but much of what they sell comes from Horizon. I'm surprised Horizon hasn't bought Amain - or attempted to buy them.
It's not good for the hobby to have a single dominate source.

coxbros1 wrote: ↑Fri Mar 26, 2021 3:32 pm The TQ10 was the greatest thing Horizon ever sold!

hahaha... And this comes from a diehard Kyosho fan.

When I say that they ruined Tower, I mean that it is only a shadow of what it used to be. For a while after Horizon took over, they were still good to shop with. But now, Tower is a joke.

They have very limited selection and a large amount of that is out of stock. No more parts saver shipping.

Short of the GP brands, Amain is pretty much what Tower used to be. AND, they manage to get along with Traxxas.

GoMachV wrote: ↑Fri Mar 26, 2021 2:56 pm

Horizon may be a juggernaut but they ruined Tower.

... as Tower/GP had O.S. this was a big deal in the 4 stroke and especially multi cylinder airplane engine game. JR radios were huge back in the day, right up with Airtronics (sold by all distributors) and Futaba (Tower/GP exclusive)...

I guess this could explain why I received Futaba radio equipment, an OS Max engine, along with an entry level plane kit, starter, fuel, etc. for Christmas sometime in the early '70's. This was our first experience with RC and everything most likely came from Tower Hobbies. I hadn't thought about it before but to this day I still run Futaba radios. Had my parents ordered everything from Circus, I might be running JR or Airtronics equipment today.

While other kids my age were enthralled with the Sears Christmas catalog, I was more interested in seeing the latest Tower Hobbies catalog. I miss them.

Interesting! Thanks for the info Jeff.