In 1985 I had a Tamiya Hornet (after having a few 'toy' cars). Moved on to a Scumacher Cat, then left the hobby. Now at 49 years old I have 6 vehicles and Im having a blast rediscovering the fun of the rc hobby. Great video, and such a nice thing to do for your friend.
My first build was the Grasshopper in '84 but soon sold it to build the Hornet. I soon upgraded to the Hot Shot! I am sharing my experiences with my sons now. Their smiles of enjoyment are priceless.
Good observations and video. But … Tamiya not doing any new models? More new models every year than most other brands … And the tool-free battery door a good idea? Until your battery falls out and is dragged along the road … common issue with the GH and Hornet 😂 … and the diff actually needs some work
I really enjoyed your video! I grew up with friends that had the grasshopper, madcap and tamiya shogun. I am 41 years old and have a a 13 year old son with adhd. Literally just brought my first ever tamiya kits lol I got my son the grasshopper and brought myself the 2022 astute. We are building them together and its so fun and because of his attention span we are doing like a page a day so its a bit of long term bonding project but with a real finished working product. It is so cool to see him excited and I am too! Cant believe it has taken me 30 years to get involved!! So glad tamiya kept the original line up ❤
😁👍The absolute best thing about these older tamiya RC cars is you can run them in sand and it don't get inside in all the gears something most all modern RC's can't do they always seem to get sand inside to bugger up the gears! My first RC kit was the tamiya Hornet such a beauty to this day!
disagree completely, i own quite a few modern and old rc cars that dont get sand in the gears, i cant believe the amount of facts this video gets wrong, the grasshopper is only loved bi many because it is dirt cheep so it ended up being so many peoples 1st rc car hence the fond memory's , its technically a terrible car compared to everything else, its certainly not years ahead of its time Team associateds RC10 was around in 1984 and is had 4 wheel independent suspension, the grasshopper is defiantly not more capable in the sand than a 4wd, it didnt come with an ESC back in 1984, also no hobby grade rc cars use screws to hold the battery door on, most hobby grade rc cars dont even use a battery door, they load from the inside.
For those of us that are 40+, and have have fortunate enough to be in this hobby have likely seen this RC car before. Most of us had it, while our cool friends had the Kyosho Ultima or the Team Associated RC10.
Kyosho Optima Mid. Right back in 87. I was 19 and not at all prepared for the speed of it. Launched it straight into a curb and broke the front A-Arm. Great Car, still have the chassis. Before that I had built a couple of rc boats in my early teen-age years. The boats was a thing for a long time at the local park/pond every sunday in the summer-time.
My first hobby grade RC was a Tamiya Frog when it came out a couple months after a friend got one, but other friends had the Hornet & Grasshopper. I got burned on the hot resistor many times & the aggravation of slow charging NiCad batteries, when quick chargers were more expensive than most kits! I had a number of Tamiya kits over the years including the original ClodBuster, a SuperShot & Porsche 956. I also had an original gold tub RC10 when those came out. It was the heyday of RC and amazing to think about how far it has come.
My first rc was a Tamiya Sand Rover, also with a mabuchi rs380. I soon swapped that motor out for a 540 and watched with dismay as running times dropped from around 15 minutes to almost 5. The transmission gears didn't last much longer but i had a lot of fun out of it. I still have (bits of) it.
Great review. I own many Tamiya models and I have mixed feelings on Tamiya. To me, the only reason of owning a Tamiya is to satisfy the nostalgia craving. Many of the kits that I own were from my childhood days, back when I couldn't afford any of them. It's more fun assembling a Tamiya kit than driving one. Fast forward to modern days, Tamiya still refuses to innovate and still lives in the past with re-re--re-release. Their kits are notoriously overpriced and are very weak in general. I see mainstream Tamiya kits as plastic models that has a motor and can be radio controlled. Tamiya TRF series are the exception, but for the insane price of TRF kits, there are much better alternatives such as Team Associated and Mugen Seiki. So, all of my Tamiya models are shelf queens. I'm having fun build then, but then store them away because their performances are awful by modern standards.
1988 first hobby grade RC was Tamiya Monster Beetle. I still have it with original parts (put aside, upgraded it with modern electronics). I couldn’t believe how much fun I had building it and playing with it!!!
So difficult holding off buying these.. Nostalgia only.... My very first was The Hornet. August 1985. I ran that thing so hard. Put one piece Wild One wheels on it...a hotter motor that gave me like 3 minutes of running lol. Had a few others like the Frog, Fox, Wild One.. I really want the original Avante but compared to modern RC's the Tamiya kits are such low performance. Imagine paying $500-$600 for a kit to do under 30mph and break because of the ABS plastics. Nah.
My first was my TAMIYA FROG. I still own it. I will be uploading that to our YT channel soon too. Upgraded with custom all metal telescoping bulletproof drivetrain and more!!
My first car was a Rockbuster, which essentially was the same car as the Grasshopper in 1988. I wanted an RC car for a while back then. My parents told me that they'll get it for me if I get all As and Bs. My next report card was all As! So they had no choice. Lol! I LOVED that car. I remember making a lot of modifications and improvements. Got aluminum bumper and nerf bars, ball bearings, 540 motor with an 8 cell battery. To avoid rolling over, I put Lunchbox wheels on it, which made the car look really cool! I can remember the mechanical speed control and burning out resistors. So much nostalgia!
A friend of mine got this from his Dad when we were kids and I always bugged him to build it. His mom never did get him the radio for it so he never built it. I couldn't afford it so I ended up with a few different radio shack cars until I was in my 20's and started carpet racing with a TL01 lol. But the Grasshopper was always the unattainable dream for me... don't know why I haven't picked one up yet!
9:45 years ahead of its time? the Team associated RC10 was around in 1984 also with 4 wheel independent suspension, the grasshopper got a lot of people into the hobby because it was cheep, my 1st rc car was a Tamiya Thunder dragon back in 1991, i still have one because i really like it but in saying that its a terrible car but still a lot better than the grass hopper, what im saying is people like the grasshopper for the same reason i like my Thunder dragon, not because its good but because of fond memories of that time.
My first hobby grade RC was a World Engines Rockbuster. Mine was the hopped up version but it was a Korean copy of a Grasshopper. Body was different but it had oil rear shocks and a 540 motor. I believe I got it in 1985 or 1986
These were extremely popular and were $120 (Australian) in 1985 (kit only). They're a good product if used as intended. I don't understand why some people criticize the re releases - they're very old now and certainly won't perform like the modern cars. You wouldn't compare a 1979 Honda Civic with a 2023 VW Golf.
7:08 yeah because lexan bodies were used instead of hard plastic for racing, lexan is lighter and wouldn't shatter on impact, also a lot of buggies use Velcro with lexan bodies
Grand Father owed a hobby shop on Redwood city in 2960's-70's. Earliest R/C cars I was exposed to were Jerobee gas cars, 1/12 with I think COX 0.49power. My first R/C kit was the Marui Big Bear. A second hand, beat down Optima that had a aftermarket chassis setup for oval racing. Of old cars right now, Custom Works Dominator the chain drive one. And a couple of Bolink cars. The Bolink cars are still around under the name R/J Speed. It's interesting to see and hear your take on these vintage cars.
Great video,my first rc car was the blackfoot and my brother had the monster beetle,we got them for Christmas in 86 or 87 and we used to race them when we were kids. So much fun and so many memories. I remember saving up to get another rc car and I bought the tamiya stryker,I wish I still had them both. Over the 35 plus years they got lost in many moves. Great times though. Eventually I will add tamiyas back into my rc collection
The Grasshopper was my first R/C. Followed by an Astute, followed by a *very* long period before getting back into R/C, and currently having so much fun.
I got the Hornet in 84 when I was 17, I have a Grasshopper & a Rising Fighter now, running brushless set ups on 7.4 & 11.1v lipos which make them a lot faster than they was back in time, and the gears hold up no problem but I do have alloy gears on the way to me
Im only halfway though your video but i'm laughing out loud and loving watching how giddy and excited you are about this RC. Definitely re living your youth right now...lol Very entertaining sir!!! 😉👍 Also... my 1st rc was a red Tyco Turbohopper
Thanks for treating this thing for what it is. Shame that I found this video first now, I recently got one for my kid who wished for a radio car, and I was sick and tired of swapping AA batteries in 30 Bucks toy cars, and figured I get him something that'll last, based only on the fact that it's a TAMIYA product (and it's the Grasshoppers 40th anniversary, and still in production so it must do something right). But the majority of reviews use modern technology and modern kits as benchmark, and then it obviously falls short in many points, and made me doubt the purchase for a bit before we put it together and used it a bit. And yes, for doing RC stuff this would probably be a weak choice, but for bashing, making donuts in dirt, and racing on surfaces no toy can manage, this car is gold. Tough as nails, super simple, updatable (I got ball bearings instead of the nylon bushings just to get more out of the battery charge), and with the 380 Motor not too fast for a kid to control. And it's just sooo thought thru, like you mention, no wing, so it won't break, all mechanisms are either enclosed, or made in a way, or out of materials that can take a beating. Fun fact, the price here, in Europe is the opposite, the green version is 15 Bucks more. I got it so we didn't have to paint it, as it will land on it's roof a lot and scratch.
Great review my first build was the tamiya grass hopper I put the 540 sport tuned motor in it and knobby tires on the rear off the frog love this thing!!
In your opening words you mentioned that for $64 it came with an ESC - is that right? My first few RCs back in the late 80s (Manta Ray, Lunchbox, etc) all came with a mechanical potentiometer type speed controller that needed a second servo to actuate them. Those things were always going wrong but ESCs didn’t seem to be an option until around the late 90s in my LHS.
I was only 4 yrs old when this came out. But I remember seeing the teenagers with jobs and money driving around with Rc's and was so jealous. My parents didn't have money for stuff like this, so I didn't get into RC until I was an adult. But my Grasshopper should be here in a day or two.
#11 bad was plastic bushings in all 4 wheels. 8 wheel bearings are $10 & usually out-last the tires. My 1st ever REAL rc car was the hitec kangaroo. Late 70's.
My 1st car was a Kyosho Raider which I received for Christmas in 1987 or 1988. Still have it and running it! I am also into the new stuff but I still love my childhood car!
Great video man. My first car was a Kyosho Icarus. My heart wanted either the Grasshopper or the Hornet but the Icarus had 4 wheel independent suspension and oil filled shocks for pretty much the same cost.
My fist car was the holiday buggy then Grasshopper, Hornet, original Clobuster all in the eighties, then an Optima, wind forward 20 years got back into rc with Hpi models but still got a re release holiday buggy, heavily modified just because I could, now have 6 other rc cars from racers to bashers and now a crawler, but it was Tamiya who got me into rc, maybe not the best racers but great to build and mess about with
Cool review,blast from the past,I still have my original grasshopper from I think 86 along with the tamaya battery charger that look like an oven timer. And believe it or not I still have my futaba 64 duel stick for it.
I watched my dad build a Falcon in 1988, a lot of guys were racing them locally, Crystal radios and resistor speed controls. I still have it, and I plan to make it run again. Needs a little repair and some updating.
7:42 i dont get what your talking about here either, most hobby grade rc cars dont use screws to hold the battery door on, most hobby grade rc cars dont even use a battery door, they load from the inside
I wanted a Tamiya RC in the early 80s, but we couldn’t afford them. My first hobby grade was a HPI Savage .25 when they were first released. I have a bunch of old Tamiya cars now. Plus numerous crawlers. I’m much more into the crawlers.
My first hobby grade was The Fox!!! It was fun to build, drive, and race with my dad. In 86 a bunch of us kids got RC's for Christmas. So much fun!!!!👍👍👍
My first RC was a World Engines Rockbuster which was a Korean knock off of a grasshopper but mine had a 540 and rear oil shocks. It was the same as the Academy Road Runner but had different decals. I got it for Christmas in 1986
The tire rubber compound is way too hard compared to the original soft tires. That is why it's so difficult to assemble the current tires. I have some original tires, and the compound is SOFT.
Grasshopper was my first (and only) RC Car! I delivered so many weekly reminder papers (the one's nobody wants - I wasn't old enough for a "real" paper route at the time) to save up for it.
Totally agree! I love the Grashopper, in the years I used so much and never need a replacement part. Naturally... slow! But if every one has the same car the race is on and don't do mistakes, you pay them a lot. Great car and may be I'll buy a new one. Mine are upgraded and a standard one is interesting as it was perfectly balanced. Ciao!!
Tamiya Hornet! Was my first real rc and I think you just pushed me over the edge to get one again. Did have a Miami Vice RC that me and my cousin played with before that.
I had a Hornet, and have just given my 8 year old son one for his birthday….reliving my childhood! He loves it and figured it out straight away….it’s still sooo fun
i have a grasshopper on order in the same candy green.. the tamiya stuff was before my time but I have already built a tt02 chassis car and gave it to a friend to sell to help him out. I really really enjoy the build process. I want to go back to the basics of tamiya and want to build a grass hopper and then do a midnight pumpkin or lunchbox and then a clod buster. I am starting to get into the buggies more. I think Tamiya has a special charm like lionel trains or lego sets. Its hard to describe but it scratches an itch for me lol. Do you have any tamiya kits in mind that you would recommend?
My first RC car was a Tamiya Thundershot! I loved it sooo much! I wanted a Nikko but the game store owner suggested we buy that instead, and he was right! Faster, better handling and better overall quality, and with the pistol grip controller it was way easier to drive it! I should buy one again too!
Great video!! First car was a Tamiya Hornet back in the 80s. Bought brown a local hobby shop which is still open and I still go there now!! I still have the hornet. It sits proudly on my shelf with not too many parts being replaced.
