How do Tamiya do it/get away with it?

[RJJ]

The majority of people who start out in RC from a young age will do with a Tamiya, no doubting that at all!

Whether you have one car or then become a RC enthusiast, your 1st RC will always have fond memories and the tinkering that went into it, it is priceless.

What do Tamiya do well, better than any other brand in RC?

1) They introduce people into the hobby with a very wide selection of models, there is something for everybody.

2) Beautiful box art, clear instructions and also, everything is nicely bagged and labelled.

3) Models which are simple to complex tanks, rigs, tamiya bruiser, plus beautiful body shells.

4) Realistic models, have you seen some of the static stuff, no one comes close.

5) Lastly FUN, FUN and more FUN, that is worth its weight in gold!

They started RC way back with Kyosho etc and help pioneer the hobby to what it is today.

Just look at videos of their HQ and the Tamiya Stores, wow an RC paradise dedicated to the cause.

No other RC brand has specific stores, the way Tamiya does it.

Also way back they did quality models, look at the Tamiya Bruiser but it was at a cost. But boy was the bruiser cool, 3 speed gearbox, metal parts, realism at its best and look how long ago that was.

They can develop models with high end plastics, carbon, aluminium etc and race which the TRF line does and they also have a big following not as much in the UK but go to the Far East and Tamiya is everywhere.

Plenty of upgrades, dedicated forums with huge traffic, plus the vintage stuff is collectable, says it all really.

They have a successful formula and a very loyal fan base.

imo they are not getting away with anything.

I am in if we are going to build brushless tamiyas

Noj come up with a cheap esc and brushless motor spec please and lets have a limit on kit price, and choose your weapon, then all meet up.

The indoor race posted above is brilliant and it would be a Blue Lunchbox for me as well.

Can you imagine if they built something for you that was high end plastics, carbon, fully ball raced, big brushless power, they would do a damn good job from their R&D department which is huge, but it would be at a Tamiya price as their name is on it and they see their name as a powerhouse in RC, which it is.

Edited December 15, 2013 by RJJ

[Noj]

Rav, like your thinking...I shall give it some thought...rc is about fun, as any hobby. Tamiya provide fun. Simple

[chewbacca]

Should we start a Tamiya owners thread? Be interesting to see how many of the members on here have one or more Tams in their fleet.

[atom3624]

I've 2 tanks - built 13 years ago and still going strong!

Al.

[Si Coe]

I refute that first car theory.

My first car was a Tamiya (a Falcon) like a lot of other people. Yes I was seduced by the box art, and the fact they ran the fancy ads in the model magazines showing cars splashing through puddles, and the video versions of the same at the model shop. I wanted a Tamiya - I knew nothing about RC cars, but I knew what a Tamiya was and I wanted one.

I loved my Falcon for a whole week, until my dad bought a Kyosho (Progress). It cost the same as the Falcon, but instead of a load of cheap flimsy plastic it had proper metal driveshafts and motor plate, it was 4wd and 4ws - chain drive cos this was the 80's! Basically it made my Falcon look like a heap of junk, and whilst the instruction manual wasn't as good as the Tamiya one the screws were better quality and the holes pre-tapped so building was actually easier.

All the more shameful was that the Falcon was Tamiya's latest car, whilst the Progress was an older model Kyosho were replacing. Tamiya's best was outclassed by an outdated Kyosho.

I learnt an important lesson with that Falcon - the big well known brand with lots of advertising does not always mean the best product. Big brands can successfully sell a mediocre product and rely on sheer size to sell it. I have on my drive my mother in laws old Vauxhall Astra that proves this - its a dull, uninventive car that sold well just because everyone knows what a Vauxhall is. 

 

But what do I know, I've only been doing this 27 years......

Edited December 15, 2013 by Si Coe

[Gaz!]

each to there own at the end of the day, if we all bought the same, it would make this forum dull to say the least.........

 

im always going to be a tamiya fanboy, dont care, i buy a rc because i want it to be fun not how fast it will corner or how tunable it will be.

 

my lad is 6 and he has had a few cars in is time already, his favourite being his axial scx10 but he wanted a tamiya rc for christmas so santa will be delivering a holiday buggy for him, with his and my sand viper and street  rover that will make 3 dt02 chassis that to be honest go together easily enough and loads about so will prove cheap for us.

 

i do understand the 5th scale addiction and the fast brushless but it is just not for me (been there and done that a few times)

 

all i want from this hobby is for me and the lad to have some fun. thats all......

[300bhp/ton]

each to there own at the end of the day, if we all bought the same, it would make this forum dull to say the least.........

 

im always going to be a tamiya fanboy, dont care, i buy a rc because i want it to be fun not how fast it will corner or how tunable it will be.

 

my lad is 6 and he has had a few cars in is time already, his favourite being his axial scx10 but he wanted a tamiya rc for christmas so santa will be delivering a holiday buggy for him, with his and my sand viper and street  rover that will make 3 dt02 chassis that to be honest go together easily enough and loads about so will prove cheap for us.

 

i do understand the 5th scale addiction and the fast brushless but it is just not for me (been there and done that a few times)

 

all i want from this hobby is for me and the lad to have some fun. thats all......

Just curious, but as a Tamiya fanboy, have you owned many other high end RC's and raced any?

 

People seem to go on about the Tamiya manuals being so great, but I honestly don't recall them being any better than my Losi XXT CR or Traxxas SRT, both which were kits and required building.

[Gaz!]

just off the top of my head,

 

hong nor scrt10, hpi savage 4.6 ss, hpi savage flux hp, hpi savage xs flux, 3x traxxas slash, 2x 1/16th ken block vxl rally, merv, 2x 1/16th slash, rustler vxl, losi strike, losi desert truck, hpi blitz, 2x axial ridgecrest, axial wraith, 7x axial scx10, 3x axial ax10, axial exo terra buggy, a few losi micros, ansmann virus brushless, hobao pirate mt, schumacher mi3.5, traxxas stampede 4x4 vxl, traxxas stampede xl5 2wd, mardave v12 banger, mardave mini stock, mardave 3 wheeler

 

cant think of any more from memory but will double check, just bought a kyosho blizzard though.....

 

when i raced i used a associated rc10 b4 (well 2 of them but one was a spare)

[4WheelRC]

I'm another Tamiya 'fan boy', but just for their re-release buggies (I love the look of their tanks but how much

[chewbacca]

DT-02 is a cracking chassis with only one major flaw, this being the limitation on gearing. I've had mine getting on two years and so far I've only broken a body mount. This doesn't include the light pods on the Holiday Buggy which were inevitable casualties of an over exuberant noob. 

[qatmix]

TRF's are the most succesful world championship team in onroad, and scored second in the off road worlds. Their top end stuff is superb.

I have raced / owned many cars and brands in my 30 years of RC yet i still get hooked into going back to Tamiya

Regarding entry level kits, the TT02 / TT02B are good 4wd cars for around

[Noj]

Put down an ebadger or the 5ive Te, stick a 2s in a dt02 or vintage blackfoot and bash away whilst the big stuff cools....fun, fun, fun...sublime to the ridiculous...awesome.

[Nitroholic]

Tamiya is certainly a word to trigger extreme reactions.

 

Marmite cars.

 

People seem to love them or hate them .... or like me ...just not get the level of emotion.

 

If you look at them in pure black and white terms, stripping away the childhood reminiscence, the 'first car' syndrome and all that, and look at what you actually get in the box for your money you have to accept a few hard truths.

 

1) Manual ... yes, they provide a decent one to build by. So do HPI...and so should ANY manufacturer selling a self assembly kit. Even without a good manual, though, most mechanically minded hobbyists would be able to put the thing together.

 

2) Spares backup ... yes, they have a decent amount of spares out there. Considering the length of production for the bulk of their range, and the number of variants on the same chassis, there ought to be really. Look for parts from other makers with products that are similarly long lived, and the same is true. Never had problems getting parts for a Savage or the kids Stampede....

 

3) Performance ... pretty poor. Out of the box, they are not fast cars. The old stuff handles badly too, but then it's tech that is so dated, it's no wonder.

 

4) Durability ... Not really had any first hand experience, but all the kids I knew who had them back in the day broke them pretty often. I could never afford one then, so I don't know if it was purely down to abuse or what. My ownership was limited to onroad and I never hit anything....so that's no measure.

 

5) Nostalgia ... yea...stacks of this ... but it's not what it used to be.

 

6) Value ... tricky one this. I hated the cross head screws, the brass/plastic bushings, and the complete reliance on soft plastic gears or soft alloy. I hated the friction damped springs. All these things are easily updated...but Tamiya don;t bother. That smacks of laziness and complacency. The body shells are great though. They get a 'look' that is so much better than most. Their tourers looks spot on and the offroad stuff looks good too. Shame it looks better than it goes though. I don;t think they are exctly 'bad' value for money...but I think they are close to it!

 

So...why do people buy them? Judging by the responses, it's 'fun'. I don't know what causes it or why people find it in a Tamiya rather than anywhere else, but I suspect it's purely becuase thay ARE poor cars. I swapped an MCD for a Baja because the MCD was too good, and as a result...to easy to drive. The Baja is a handful...and that makes it fun. It's also the reason I don't fancy a Losi 5 ... becuase that's too clinical to be fun. Perhaps that's also why things like the Lunchbox and Wild Willy attract so many fans. They are so awful, unstable and bouncy, you cannot take them seriously...and that makes them fun.

 

And that's the paradox. If you try to examine, dissect and evaluate, you miss the point. If you accept them as they are...you can have fun. I don't have any desire to add one to my collection now, but I can see why poeple do.

 

p.s. Still think Tamiya need to pull their socks up, fit bearings to ALL the kits they release, and fit proper hex headed hardware. It won;t lose them any fans...but it might gain them a few, and shouldn't put the price up any. Just a thought

[Pistonhead]

All this talk is making me want to give a lunchbox or midnight pumpkin a try lol

[oodboo]

I really don't understand the issue people have with cross headed screws.

[chewbacca]

 

 

p.s. Still think Tamiya need to pull their socks up, fit bearings to ALL the kits they release, and fit proper hex headed hardware. It won;t lose them any fans...but it might gain them a few, and shouldn't put the price up any. Just a thought

I agree about the bearings and the pogo sticks but I can't buy into the hex head love affair, maybe cos I've got better screwdrivers than hexdrivers. As I said before, out of three 1/10 cars the only one that gave me grief was the hex equipped Carnage.

[chewbacca]

All this talk is making me want to give a lunchbox or midnight pumpkin a try lol

The Lunchbox is one of the Gadget Show competition prizes I wouldn't stick on fleabay lol

[qatmix]

Only a few Tamiya's have friction shocks, most now also come with bearings.

Hex headed screws are not ideal for entry / mid level kits. Just ask anyone who is not fully into this hobby if they have a set of hex drivers and be prepared for a blank expression.

At our club, we have kids come down with higher speced RTR kits, and they are too fast, and break, usually with bad parts support.

We have some TT01's we hire out and they have been very abused but without fail every week they run and run. That's the quality you pay for, that's the reason Tamiya are still popular, and why we recommend new starters get a TT02 /01

Plus their choice of anodised blue is the best

Edited December 16, 2013 by qatmix

[300bhp/ton]

I really don't understand the issue people have with cross headed screws.

It's not an issue, until you have one round on you. While this is true of any screw head, Phillips head ones are generally easier for this to happen too, even more so once old or slightly rusty. Also it is a "cheap" screw to use. Which sort of hints at a company scrimping somewhat. But Tamyia aren't alone on this, all of my Schumacher RC's have been Phillips head, although I do admit they have been the cause of much swearing on those kits.

Edited December 16, 2013 by 300bhp/ton

[300bhp/ton]

 

 

p.s. Still think Tamiya need to pull their socks up, fit bearings to ALL the kits they release, and fit proper hex headed hardware. It won;t lose them any fans...but it might gain them a few, and shouldn't put the price up any. Just a thought

This sort of sums it up for me. I think I am going to get a Lunchbox, but only because it's

[Pistonhead]

The Lunchbox is one of the Gadget Show competition prizes I wouldn't stick on fleabay lol

I'm really feeling the black and the blue versions! Late xmas pressy to myself i think, before i get an scte lol

[Tug]

Just ordered a Mad Bull for our 12 yr old, not for the car as such, but more for the build experience. Hope he enjoys it!

[atom3624]

You ordered it for who?  ................

Now tell you won't be using it - of course I believe you!!

 

Al.

[Noj]

Tug won't use it, falls short of the magic 30mph hobby grade speed.... I am doing my best to convert him to seeing the fun at 25mph ;-p

[Nitroholic]

I look at a Lunchbox and wonder where the sarnies would fit

 

My issue with phillips head is the ease of rounding. You have to have a decent screwdriver, and one the right size and profile. Hex heads either fit or not....and it's hard to use a wrong sized one. As far as Carnage ones rounding ... cheese is cheese no matter what shape you stamp it. Good quality in a fastener is just as important as the shape

 

Mind you...when I look at a bottom end Tamiya kit, I look at it from the point of view of a modder.... I just wonder if I bought a Lunchbox, could I throw away the horrid gearbox/engine layout, bin the wibbly tub chassis and turn it into a proper car.

Could I buy a Hornet or Rising Fighter... rip out the drivetrain and bolt in, say, a Stampede or Firestorm diff/motor assembly and then bolt a brushless motor in. Would be a challenge to fit it in.....but.... deep down, I know it would never be worth the money.