e106: Tamiya Grasshopper - The Buyers Guide Series 

It was my first RC car in 1985. Who cares how good it was? To me it had screws to turn and nuts to remove and work on all day long. I even filled the gearbox with oil and then had to clean it all up when it leaked out over night! (remember that it had a cover that said "oil") I was the king of the neighborhood since I had the only "real" RC car. I got an RC-10 the next Christmas, but that grasshopper was like my first kiss.

I had one of these back in the mid-late 80's. It was my first RC. Still have nostalgic feelings about it. I was stationed in Korea at the time and we raced these on a small dirt track on base. Had a heck of a lot of fun with them every weekend.

I got one for Christmas in 1984. I raced it competitively, though a heavily modded one. Beautiful little car...love it.

Hi, I won Rosset and Wrexham off road electric 1985 with a grasshopper, I did upgrade the battery to a Tamiya racing pack, rs 540 black sprint motor, and I stiffend the suspension by putting washers on top of the springs, was on a low budget but it worked 👍👍👍👍👍

My first real RC car 33 years ago in 1985. $108 at Hobbyco in Sydney Australia. I went down to the shop to look at the box and sneak a look inside for many months before I managed to convince my parents to stump up the cash for it for Christmas. In the end I got it. A year or so later a mate managed to rustle up enough money to get his hands on a frog. I rebuilt my grasshopper for the 100th time, loving oiled it and readied it to take on my new competitor. It got absolutely smoked. A much bigger motor lol. A few years later I stuck a gold motor in my grasshopper and it was like it was fired out of a gun. It would have dusted the frog which had gone by the wayside (gear box problems). It wasn't a car for seven year olds 30 odd years ago. It was bloody expensive all in all and the only thing I had. a hope of getting my hands on. Great memories.

In the 1980's many young boys including myself flipped through the Sears and JC Penny Catalogues picking out our Christmas gifts, every year the Grasshopper made that catalogue. I ended up with the Striker as a child even though every Christmas i wanted that grasshopper. Well at age 41 i just bought a ready built grasshopper kit and like you said, i was all smiles driving my new Grasshopper, couldn't be more happier now that i have the Grasshopper. Thanks for the video.

My first car was a Tamiya Grasshopper 2 in 1991. It was like a dream come true getting one! It began a life long obsession with all things RC and real cars and Rally Driving became an obsession too! Shaped my entire life buying this one single RC Car! As Chris Smith states, it was like my first kiss, i was hooked!! haha!

The thing I love about the Grasshopper and the Hornet is that they look similar to the rc car from Toy Story with a small bit of modification

I upgraded my original grasshopper with a 540 motor, bearings and wide tyres on the front. I also installed a rear suspension upgrade which kind of gave it independent rear suspension which I have never seen since.

This car is very special to me! It's where it started to get fast and even better i could take it apart and do some maintenance :D Early nineties i got one second hand and had such great time with it! Need to buy it, just for the great feeling and memories!

1985 American Hobby Center in Manhattan. I was 20 and that store was on my courier route. I bought it with the 2 channel stick radio and put it together and even fashioned a charging adapter to charge the battery off my motorcycle battery. Long live the Grasshopper!

I always loved the way the grasshopper looks. It’s a little slow basically a slower hornet 🐝 but I think it’s better looking and love the sand paddle tires.

Yep hd 1 ovr 20yrs ago,my son found 1 online,brings out alot of Memories, hey I'm 54 yrs old just ordered it frm California, shld be here in 2wks only because its on back order, for me I leave it all original, no aftermarket etcc,cant wait 2 get it,Thx for the video my friend 👍

Answered all my questions because I have been wanting one. Good video!

I had the Hornet!!! Loved that thing!! Can't believe you can still get them - also can't believe 8 year old me managed to build that thing....

This was my 1st hobby grade rc car as it was for so many. I restored one right before they re-released it and no it sits on the shelf. I think i told yo this before but one of my fondest memories was going to the hobby shop and seeing people racing grasshoppers back in the day. I use to want to do all those "home made modifications" back then. That got me in trouble more then once.

I love your video,everything you are saying is on point.I still have mine that i bought in 82,still have the box,and drive it from time to time..Thanks.

I had one of these in 1985. It took me almost a year to save up for the kit and the radio, batteries. And charger. It ran until i was almost 30 until it just fell apart

Fantastic video!! Looking forward to the grasshopper 2 vid and Rising fighter. I have them both. Great cars!! Keep up the great work!!👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

You say it's not a good idea to give this to a kid but being a kid right now and absolutely LOVING every bit of my Grasshopper I say it really depends on the individual. I personally love vintage things and also quite enjoy how it drives! I've got mine very muddy without even putting a body on it because my new paint isn't dry. Love this car! You should buy it!

Great review, I’ve decided I need one. That awesome 80’s vibe I can’t get from my vastly superior Traxxas is reason enough🤷🏻‍♂️

Really enjoyed it. 💜

My God Midnight Pumpkin. Cannot believe you said that lol. What a blast from the past. I grew up in the late 80's early 90's. I also had the Lunchbox lol

Mines sitting waiting to be built along with my rere Monster Beetle... The 2 very RC's that rocked my world in 86. Great vid. Subbed 👍

Had 1 in 1985 in Detroit. All new bearings and Black Diamond motor Still have some parts for grasshopper, RC-10 and Ford pick up truck. Now 83 to.

I love this car! I will always recommend this buggy ❤️

I should mention I won the 1992 IFMAR Worlds with a Grasshopper.

Just finished our shiny Pumpkin and we got a Hopper en route. So bad and so, so good. We'll see how the Hopper likes the 540 and tires from the Pumpkin. Tamiya kits are great fun!

Was just given an original one from a friend. Looking forward to learning something new.

Great video… And I absolutely agree that the grasshopper is best left alone !! People talk about souping it up, but that’s not what the car is designed for ! As it is, it’s a great affordable * fun * car ! It’s faults are what gives it its charm ! It really bounces around like a grasshopper 🦗 😂

I have the re release one in my collection. My little brother had the original, but was sold in 1990. It did make us laugh and was fun for an 8 year old.

My friend had the Grasshopper. Of all the Tamiya cars I've always felt that it was the most pleasing on the eye. Some of the more expensive ones were a bit ugly.

A great classic! :)

I still have my original grasshopper all original bought it at tower hobbies as a combo kit back in the early 80's came with a airtronics 2 stick radio and a 700 mah battery pack and a flight test charger it has a thorp diff (remember them) rear oil shocks still have everything to this day those were great times I think I paid like 130.00 total for the whole combo was neat to see yours run I'm thinking of taking mine out of retirement now for one last time and then passing it on to my grandson when he gets older

I had the hornet myself as a kid. I had all the hop ups on it. Back then in the 80s early 90s there was one company that made waffle tires for the rear, I ran those tires and they were awesome. I wish you could still get those waffles, they might have been prolines? I ran my hornet almost always on pavement and I had the Kyosho 240st motor - NOBODY could beat my car in a drag race. LOL Fond memories. That trademark sound of the grassshopper rear tires on pavement grabbing, it's burned in my memory.

I've got the original 27hz one of these, bought new when I was around 17 or 18.

I still have my dads old grasshopper from 1981. It has a MSC and has the servo with the little contacts on the servo that you have to blow them off after each drive and it runs on AA batteries. It’s better than my Brushless Slash 4x4.

looking forward to the hopper2 !

Good point on aftermarket support, good thing is most mainstream Tamiya re-release cars have a lot of aftermarket options that vary in expense.

Nice coincidence, there is a one of the green Grasshopper kits on ebay for a good price and I was thinking of grabbing it. Always wanted one.

love it , did four papers , got close never owned,

Yes the 2005 re release got the Tamiya 101BK ESC I believe. Yes the bodyshell is easy to break (esp tail if you crash land) but easier for youngsters to build - no cutting or spraying. With a sport tuned 540 and an ESC you get plenty of speed. I had a 14 turn LRP in mine for a while - killer. Its a Grass Hopper - so called because of its un damped ride! It literally bounces (hops) along. It actually performs better on sand or rough ground. Plugging the battery in (just finding the socket even) can be fiddly as. It has a differential, which given the 3 point suspension, is interesting🤓

I’m with you on the “leave the Grasshopper alone” (other than ball bearings) idea but I ad a wrinkle. Grasshoppers should have 380s…but… I have two hoppers, one is basically stock, box art, but the motor is a LRP Fusion HT modified 380 motor, and the Tamiya ESC. It’s very quick and is a blast to run on a flat dirt surface like a baseball diamond. The other one has those aluminum oil shocks from China (front and rear, but the rear is still a solid axle/pivot), a Duratrax VR3 modified 380 motor and, oddly enough, the mechanical speed controller for that old-school feel. It’s also very quick and is a fun beater/basher. The tires and wheels are from a Fast-Attack. I gave it a fun, oddball paint job and sticker job to use up old stuff.

My first rc car.

had a hornet as a kid. Just bought my first kit in 30 years. Got a hopper for my wife and myself. I was worried I would be let down. They are still awsome. For some reason I always wanted a grasshopper even though I had a hornet. The hopper is way better for kids even though the hornet is better value overall. I constantly crashed my hornet. The 380 is perfect. The only thing ill do to mine is sport tune 380 and maybe tires for different terrain. Modern-day controls and esc makes these even more fun.

There was another front shock upgrade that was made for them by CRP. You would cut off the plastic spring mounts from the body and install an aluminum plate. Of course the oil filled shocks it came with barely worked.

Great post! Pure nostalgia. Unfortunately I 've disposed it before the 3D printing age... 😥

The Atari analogy is perfect. I really like the way you are extremely realistic about all these rose-tinted nostalgic feelings we have about these (let's face it) P.O.S. tamiya cars of our youth. And don't get me wrong, I LOVE them too... but they're crap :D

Have this still from when they first came out have put a 540 brushless motor and esc with a 2s lip battery have bearings through out also changed rear shocks to oil fill honet rear shocks also modified the front shocks to oil filled internal springs works very well much faster and even more fun

I have one of these it the original one I bought when I was a kid I have altered it to brushless oil shocks front and back sway bars and working led lights I could do with the battery door for it thou that's what I will be buying next mine works really well with what I have done and it's fun and fast but not competition buggy but it's brings back memories for me

Great info, cheers!

Love it!!

Great video

I just ordered one since my main aim is to modify the hard body, and the Grasshopper II does not have those great light buckets.

Thanks for this great video. I never had one in the 80´s when I was a kid. So I build a rere when it came out and had so much fun. It felt like I was 10yrs again. Btw, I dont wanna be a smart ass, but may it possible that the rear right tire is mounted in the wrong direction?

i still own mine from the 90s and it has Akkad the upgrades like the oil shocks the 540 motor and the upftaded bearings and whatever else was available then the only thing else i would add is that after all those years it still runs like crazy fast and the kids in the neighborhoood are always begging to race their new Radio Shack Christmas gifts that the old Hornet kicks their asses on pavement or dirt the irony is even though I'm much older now my driving skills came back very easily so its funny to watch the kids be suprised that the old guy Can whip them and watch them being entertained by something they never saw before I crack up when the parents call me asking questions like where can the get one like mine i laugh because i was a adult in the 80s and had a real job that i could afford fun toys I actually have always taken good care of things so luckily that was one of those items. I even have the original box and paperwork I'm glad i watched your video i didnt know about the re releases they put out over the years but i may have to look into it. Ar my local shops And online although i always buy RC at a local shop to support the advice and support they give you although my Wife did buy some airplane gear from Tower. One time years ago like spare engines and misc other stuff no biggie as it was things i wanted as spares and back ups for mock ups anyway i guess my original. Reason for commenting about the cars was for the Money. I personally thought they were good values for fun reality of they provided me and freinds over 30 years of Playing without rally any major. Issues or replacement parts needed other than tires and minor maintenance items mine did have pins with a clevis clip to attach the body instead of screws ? And i honestly do not remember that being a upgrade or aftermarket. Item but it could have been Because i did Hang out in a shop and bought. Anything they had for them at the time and i did race in some local events with a few buddies That were also grown men

Same here, as many here, my first RC. Beat the crap out of it and loved it. broke a few things, fixed it with zip ties and other screws and it kept on trucking I will buy myself another one soon and do what I always wanted to do but could not afford, put a 540 motor and bearings, buahahahahhaha.

I had a Grasshopper my neighbor gave me. I put the 540 from my Falcon in it. Could hardly control it. Was wicked fast

I love your videos. I just picked up a king cab Finally that was my first rc in 1990. I'm having trouble finding the stealth conversion parts you did. Is their a web site for it?

Another Great Vid keep it up XD btw as a Turbo hopper fan i was looking to buy a retro Re-release of a hobby grade buggy so i can have the charm of the turbo hopper with proportional steering and throttle, something like a scorpion, hornet, or grass hopper what would you say is the biggest differences between the hornet and the grass hopper

This car started it all

my first hobbygrade rc

I still have mine hehe looking at getting it running again age 42 lol 👌🏻

Will the Roadrunner/Rockbuster sway bars fit a GH? i think it would be help the handling alot if I could find one somewhere.

Nice clip thanks.

I paid $59.99 for my Futaba MC112B and I still have it, it wasn't too bad for me to afford in 1990. I was a sophmore in HS. It was one of the few that had R on it. There was no way I was getting a Novak or Tekin without a R.

I'm gonna get one of the original Tamiya buggies! Not sure which one but probably whatever's cheap on eBay,

Will you do a buyer's guide for the Associated RC10? What about the Tamiya Frog?

Does it pre date the hornet when it was originally released?. One thing i love about early tamiya is the looks they look so much cooler than modern rc and i love the attention to detail and the scale looks

Legendary RC sidewalk

Excellent video! You got the Mrs. filming while you run? Lucky you :-) Love how you explain why Tamiya ESC’s do not have LiPo cut offs ;-) I’m not too sure if a DT-02/03 will be a good choice for a 5-8 year old. A bit too fast? The C-hubs and knuckle arms will break just by looking at a curb. Well, anyway, here in Europe they actually cost less than a GH so there will be 30 left, just enough for some aluminium :-) I think a ‘versus’ some day will ve interesting. Not like a competition, but like a comparison of the differences and the similarities.

I just bought one of these and am wondering how I can restore it and make it look nice. Can I fix a big chip in the body with Bondo or something? and how do I clean it? Will sanding the plastic help with huge gouges in it? And what paint do I use on the wheels? They look faded and I want it to look like new.

Are those Masterpiece Ironhide and Trailbreaker in the backgrounds? lol I'm asking because I'm going to a toy show this weekend

I have a few traxxas xl-5/550 titan 12t motors and esc's laying around, I wonder how this would handle that setup.

Great video... of the various cars and trucks what would you recommend for introducing RC to kids? Here's the list of RC's I'm considering: Lunchbox, Comical Grasshopper, Grasshopper, Wild WIlly 2, Blackfoot and Hornet. I want a kit car that we can build together so any RTR car is out.

I moved to Japan in 1985 when I was 11 and I remember if you owned a grasshopper, you were a nerd because it only had a '360' motor - You were cool if you owned a Boomerang, because it had a '540' motor, but I remember something about how you can upgrade the grasshopper motor to '540' - Good times -

Do you know of any changes made to the Grasshopper throughout the time it was produced? I want to know how old mine is.

do you recommend upgrading to a 14 or 12 shift 540? or is it a lot of wear for the differential and crown pinion? If I run it at 22 mph, will the gears wear out quickly? 

Do you make an upgrade that will stop it from flipping over when I hop bumps and roots? The front end takes it nicely and gets a little air, but the back end flies up and the car does a face plate. IDK if it's because of how the car is weighted or if it's the rebound of the rear shocks. Please help I don't want to scratch my newly painted bodyshell.

I have a question but I hope you can answer it for me is there any way to make the turning radius better than to be a grasshopper and what do they make for the shocks you can point me in the right direction I would greatly appreciate buddy thank you

Wow, I upgraded to a Tamiya sport tuned 540 brushed and I forgot how slow grasshoppers are.

Hi, i want to put a brushless motor an upgraded esc with 3s lipo. What motor/esc combo can i put?

I'll be getting another grasshopper on the 30th, and will be installing bearings and a 540 Super Stock RZ motor. Any advice as far as maintaining the car? i wrecked my old one beyond repair :(

Why would I need an adapter to put different tires couldn't I just put upgraded tires on the stock GH wheels?

Would this be a good cheap car to buy about eight of for adults to have a race on a beach vacation?

I just ordered a Grasshopper 2 for a child & you must understand that I had a grasshopper as a child & I have not been in the R/C world much since. I need all the help I can get! 1st off, where do I get all of the internal electronics(transmitter/controller, servo,receiver, battery pack & charger? I looked online last night & found 2 different setup's for around $72-75. Tho, they did Not inclue the battery & charger.also, about upgrading the battery door?? Where do I order that??? Most importantly, The 580 motor & the 10 ballbearings. WHERE DO I ORDER THEM FROM & WHERE DO THEY GO? I am eager to open the box & pre-assemble this kit but, I must wait for the child to be here!!! I would like to get it running reliably & also order the upgraded motor & ball bearings to increase both speed & function!!!!

Great video bud. Have you ever done anything with a Tamiya Fox?

Tip: the rear suspension is WAY to stiff you can actually remove one of the rear shock and only run it with one and it will be a lot better.

Do a video on the sand viper please :)

Can I modify it so I can use body clips instead of screws? It takes a long time to get it on or off.

Where do you get the bearings? And will they work for other Tamiya cars, or did they change sizes alot

Is there a nice hobby grade/race version of this style of tamyia buggy? I just love this body style of buggy!

What is the part number for the headlights? I'd like to put some on my other cars

My first car was a frog . My older brother got me a grass hopper in original box. It was a birthday present. 2019. The car was from the 80s. Need to up grade electric's

Just wondering, my brother has a stock traxxas bandit and I have been researching for awhile for a car to build so I can race with him, and bash in the sand, I am coming to the realization that I should just get a bandit because none of the old kits could probably catch up with it, what is your opinion on the matter? FYI: it is just a small backyard track that we have fun on in the backyard.

Just ordered me a rere for my Tamiya collection... But do you make any dt03 spares dude?

reasonable grasshopper appreciators, unite ✊

There’s actually a Chinese company selling bolt on oil shocks for the front and rear of grasshoppers and hornets on eBay

Do the Hornet and the G/H use the same chassis or do I need to buy a new one to turn my Grasshopper into a Hornet? Also are body mounts sold separately if I want to put a Lexan body on it?

I am thinking about using a cheap Traxxas Titan 18T 380 in my frankenbuild.