Tamiya Hornet & 80s Childhood Dreams 

My friend next door had one of these when we were kids, back in the 80s. It was so much fun. We lived right next to a field, and when the farmer had plowed the field, we would make a track with jumps, and ripped around with the Hornet. We drove it unil the tires were all worn out, and didn't have a hobby shop near us, so he never got new tires for it. A real shame. It was way more fun than my Nikko Quattro, which I still have. The Nikko hasn't run since the 80s, when the electronics stopped working. May have to install some upgraded electronics in it, and try to run it, 30-40 years after it last ran. :D

My buddy and I both asked for RC cars for Christmas in 1985/86. I got a toy RC car, he got a Hornet. Thankfully he let me use it often enough that it sparked my full-on interest, and I ended up getting an RC-10 not long afterwards.

Born in 77, a mate down the end of my road had one, it was soo cool.

There's no mistaking the sound of a hornet is there 😊

Tamiya Hornet must be the most famous RC car of all time followed by the Hotshot, I have this memory from school of some guy in grade 6 that had a Hornet out, I'll never forget the huge transmitter he had and the fact that one of the front wheels was broken so he was just running it in circles, that was almost 40 years ago.....great channel buddy, glad I came across it, well done.

Ah yes. I was 13 back in 1986 when i had finally delivered enough papers, mowed enough lawns & washed enough cars to be able to afford this (my dad went halves) fantastic 'Hornet'. I loved it. I've recently gotten back into RC cars again. With an 8s exb Outcast, a TLR Typhon, a Felony (wish I'd got the infraction instead) and an FMS 1/18 Landcruiser. And holy sh!t, have RC's come a long way. Those Arrma's scared the heck outta me when i first hit that throttle. But i really want to get into the realistic stuff. And RTR is great, as well as the paint job, building it yourself makes it even more personal i think. Besides wanting to get that elusive 200mph, and a 1/10 Hilux crawler, i really want a couple of TAMIYA'S. Probably on TT02 chassi's. I watched Talbot build his TT01 racing truck and instantly caught the bug. And TAMIYA have so many awesome bodies for these platforms. That along with being priced really well, I'll have to get at least a few.

Everyone should have a hornet or a grasshopper in their collection. I’ve got an original from 87 with the old futaba gear and msc.

I'm an '82 baby. My first RC buggy that I got with all my Christmas money was a Nikko. Can't remember which model, but it was black, had 2 speeds and the horrible 1 piece pivot suspension like you showed here. I think it got thrown away after I left the batteries in too long and rotted out the transmitter. The tires were also worn to nothing and Radio Shack didn't sell replacements. The hobby has come a long way since we were kids, that's for sure.

Was my dream. Too. 😄😄😄

There's something so nostalgic about these old Tamiya cars, and it's where my RC journey started. As soon as I had my first proper job, I bought a King Cab, and then a Manta Ray. Both got built and run, and both modified (not an easy thing to do without the interweb, back in 1990!!), and then put away. My kids found them in the loft during lockdown, and they were restored, and run again. The King Cab went to a friend, to be put back to stock, as a shelf queen, but I still have the Manta Ray. My son had a Blitzer Beetle for Christmas a couple of years ago, and he built almost everything. That's been hopped up, and run, and he now has the bug. In my opinion, Tamiya kits give you such a great understanding of how a car goes together, and therefore, how to take it apart. They're not too expensive, and can be upgraded. I've not had the Hornet experience yet, but it might go on my Christmas list. They're all about having fun, and for me, that's what the hobby is all about. Thank you. 😎👍🏻

I still have the original grasshopper I bought when I was a kid,I have upgraded it over the decades it still brings a smile to my face every time,it's more of a shelf queen these days but I still drive it now and then

grew up in the 80s but these things along with the commodore64 were seen by dad as an extravagance - however we did eventually get the Amiga 500. I do remember though getting a Hornet mini non RC car. It had 2xAA batteries. Also remember the 'AnytimeBaby' decal on its wing - whatever that brand was....

Stumbled onto your video. Nicely done Craig :) I worked at the local Hobby Shop in mid 80's while in college. I assembled Grasshoppers and Hornets to be sold RTR for the Hobby Shop. I probably built 100 of them. Saw re-release when it came out and picked one up. I think you have motivated me to build it. Got your Window webbing, which is awesome! Thank you again from a non-car guy and lifelong RC airplane guy :) :)

Oh, the good old days. I had a handful of RC's, not quite hobby grade, that I sure wish I had now as shelf queens. A tyco Fast Traxx, an RC Honda ATC 3-wheeler, a Nikko buggy, and some front wheel drive Firebird/trans am, that could do donuts and drift before drifting was actually a thing. Back in the days of "Knight Rider". Where does time go?

My bro and i wanted hornets because the rich kid nextdoor had one.We got jethoppers instead but good times still!!

love that you still are in touch with the inner kid n that you cover things most others don't.. and revisit what might otherwise be forgotten to the annals of time!! great video n great information as always!!!

One of these days I’ll do the simple repair required on the Falcon my dad built when I was a kid. Good memories.

Looking forward to bbx build

That was fun! I wanted a Hornet when I was a young lad but it was more than my $5 a week allowance would allow for. Now that my allowance is a little larger it may be time to nurture my inner child. Thanks for fun video!! Take care!

My first was a Grasshopper. Then an Astute. And then a *really* long break between then and a few years ago.

I’ve always enjoyed your channel I was at Fish n RC but now I’ve been using Casitas Crawlers but I pretty much have watched all your content especially because you have a lot of Crawler content & I love the test course & comparisons. So I live in Ventura California & today FMS had a free festival 0:01 so it was like 20 min away from where I live the owner was there & I had a chance to speak with him & had heard there would be new models shown so I saw a little micro buggy & a weird little camera car that holds a camera on the top. Little did I know the bomb was about to be dropped & out came two 1:10 scale crawlers that look just like the 1:24 scale Chevy Blazer one orange & white & one black with removable top & roll bar with lights just like the mini. So I went over & the guys at FMS went over with me a few questions I had bu put the the chassis is a TRX 4 killer that old platform just became old news. This new FMS has all the features of the TRX & then some & a light set up with magnets I’ve never seen clipless type body mounts similar to the 1:24 version. But I’m blown away by the chassis it looks like one of the most thought out RTR chassis I’ve ever seen & that body WOW I’m going to hate to get the first scratches because it’s beautiful. I did get pictures of them & the chassis & I’ve posted some all on Instagram at Fish n RC. I spent the day on the mini crawler courses & FMS provided free lunch & some nice gifts much thanks to them for growing the sport. But mostly for officially knocking the so called best RTR the TRX4 off it’s podium 😂 👍

Looking forward to your views on that BBX thinking of getting one of them myself.

This is a good look at a blast from the past. Back in the day these and the Grasshopper were a lot of fun and gave excellent run time. If you stayed away from curbs, trees and mailbox posts they were durable. It's been decades since I built one. If they have the same wheels as the Grasshopper they can be a challenge. Thanks for sharing.

Back in the 80s my neighbour had a grasshopper always wanted one then eventually i got hornet i remember the 1st time i took it out and went forward and the thing took of it was rapid i had it out on the local bmx track in all weathers great fun it took i good thrashing it was the tyres that never lasted i think ESC were different then i remember it had kind of rubber balloon to cover it i always wanted an avante

Go the Grass Hopper 🤣🤣🤣 It all started for me with the Frog & it was a race winner 🤟😎 With stick controls

Way cool!

I honestly think the Pixar studio were inspired on the Hornet to make their RC car for the first movie. Love an old of these to be featured. Cheers!

My first ❤ with RC cars. Thxs for sharing 🖖

I had one back in the early 80's. I did race with it. Just built a rerelease and put aluminum wheels and full aluminum chassis on it. n Dynamite tazer 2 in 1 brushless motor.

It's slow, handles poorly because of the live rear axle, and the battery door makes installing a battery a complete nightmare - but it's still the most fun RC car ever made as far as I'm concerned.

Brilliant trip down memory lane! 😊 I had a Grasshopper as a Christmas present back in the day, loved that thing. Like most of my childhood ‘toys’ they got lost over the years, but I did buy a Grasshopper re-issue a couple of years back with the upgraded motor. I also stuck a bearing kit on it, but the first run had me smiling just the same as over 35 years previous! I like the look of the new BBX kit, might go on my Xmas list thinking about it! 😂

Very cool‼️👍👍🦾🦾🤘🤘

This and the Grasshopper were the first basher have fun class rc, the gearboxes can take brushless 3s but you'll need a wheelie bar and to reduce the punch level in the ESC as it will do standing back flips otherwise 😂 I've got 9 of them total 😂 and one is my original from 84 when I was 12 and still runs, funnily enough my original one didn't have the bounce problem like my rere does maybe it was because it carried an extra servo and separate batteries for the servos with the old school radio gear 🤷‍♂️ I think Tamiya might have changed the gearing on them for the rere as my original seemed to be somewhat faster on the stock silver can motor too.

You also could use a shorty packets 4000 milliamps with sponge behind it and there's a company called gartpot that makes lithium polymer that will fit there cars and it also is 4000 milliamps.

I’ve also got a red arrow and it’s big brother the golden arrow

The hornet has character personality and that's why Tamiya cars are fun.

Haven't had a Hornet for a long time but remember it was fun for what it was. I do really like the more modern cheap Tamiya DT03 fighter buggy. Had mine running on a dirt bmx track and it handles great , great fun cheap buggy

What kind of run time you getting on the Hornet? Looking forward to the BBX. Very curious about that little car. Lotsa folks saying it's great. But I've heard some bad stuff to. All i know is it looks great.

Ohhh BBX

The bbx is a 2023 release my first hobby grade car was the and my second one was the super hot shot and I have that one again I run mine with a 3800 brushless system on my super hot shot my horn it runs on gt tuned Tamiya motor.

i still run my kyosho's from 1983 2 are all stock 2 optima's with the first esc ever sold , at least servo driven esc you could replace the contact board.

Did you glue your tyres. Do you glue tamiya tyres? I have hears acetone discolves tamiya rims?

My first buggy was a Cox dune buggy gas powered, no remote, you just pointed the tires in the direction you wanted. Nice review!

I had a Tamiya Frog in 1986. I mowed yards all summer to save up for it. Biggest disappointment of all time. It was fun when it worked but gears stripped a lot and it was always breaking down. I finally got tired of fixing it and just gave up my rc dreams. I don’t know why anyone would buy these re-releases they’re crap.