Why People Hate Tamiya RC 

I lived in Japan for 25 years and in that time I saw only one Traxxas. It was in a beat up box on the bottom shelf and never moved. This was my local hobby shop (TamTam), they know me and I asked about it once. The dude’s answer……”parts availability”. Never saw Team Associated. HPI had a descent footprint and until they fell on hard times, parts were plenty. The issues here are inverted there. If I needed a Tamiya part, I just went to TamTam and ordered it. They would call Tamiya while I was there and give me a work order that told me exactly when to come back and pick up the part. They would call me if it came in early. I spent many years buying used and/or broken cars (Tamiya, HPI, Team Yokomo and Kyosho), fixing, upgrading and reselling rc cars. I built many new kits as well and I have worked on too many cars to count. Tamiya was always the easiest to deal with because I was there and I speak Japanese. One last thing. Here in America it is rather easy to find a place for really fast and rather large rc to be run at. In Japan it is not the same at all. Tokyo is jam packed and as property is expensive, nobody can really justify having huge tracks. “Champ Advisor” stores have a few tracks around the country, but they are only off road. That’s why drift is so popular with rc fans there. Rc drift tracks can be done on much smaller scale and can be found in malls. There having the biggest and fastest is not what Tamiya shoots for.

At its heart, Tamiya has been and remains a plastic model company. Its first RC car arose out of an opportunity to do something else with the Porsche body they'd licensed. I don't think they've really changed. There was a period when they were producing competitive RC such as their TRF onroad line and a handful of competitive 4wd buggies, but now I think they've gone back to their roots. They'll sell you a very pretty and appealing plastic model that you can control remotely. I love my TT02 for the fact that it will have parts support for a long time, and it's cheap parking lot fun. Almost everything else they make today is a display kit that you can run a bit.

I agree with this list, but Tamiya has us with nostalgia, plain and simple. I’m hooked on the stuff I couldn’t get as a kid, and now I’m obsessed with collecting it all. They are basically toy grade out the box and I have to upgrade even though I basically don’t run them.

I personally think people will never be happy with what they buy weather it be a tamiya tt02 or a teaxxas xmaxx. Its a hobby guys if your not smiling whilst your bashing/racing etc your in the wrong hobby. Who cares if one rc is better than another buy what makes you happy😀

I think Tamiya's core doctrine is as a plastic model company first and rc to them is a secondary avenue. Their cars, especially the road cars, are very scale and have that model building experience much more like a traditional model kit. They are not producing race grade or basher type kits. They never have. They are more like "models that can be radio controlled". My first rc in 1987 was a Falcon. A beautiful model kit, a joy to build and paint, but a TERRIBLE race car. Fragile, always broken and wore out plastic driveline parts. I still remember corner marshals crawling around looking for dogbones every time it hit anything. So, because I was interested in racing, I sold it and got an rc10. That is a purpose built race car. But the tamiya kit was so wonderful to build and play with and for its intended purpose, it was great fun. I think people just need to remember their unique place in the market and buy those type of fun, special interest kits you just can't get from the ready to run basher stuff. I think part of problem with kit building nowadays is the ridiculous cost of the other stuff you need to finish it. After seeing you build your his/hers 73 porsche rsrs I had to have one. The kit was very well priced at around 200 bucks. However, the bearings, oil shocks, metal driveline, led lights and the damn ps paint at 13 bucks a can for silver, red, black, white and smoke ended up costing more than the kit. So now this entry level tt02 car has been quite pricey overall. Nearly as much as a race grade car. BUT, it's gorgeous, runs amazing and you just can't get a true scale looking kit like this from any other rc model company. So it's a choice. I like Tamiya for their intended purpose. Choose what makes you happy and enjoy your hobby. Cheers.

Who doesn't like tamiya ?? I've never come across a RC guy or girl that's speaks badly of tamiya, it's just nostalgia.

I think all of those points are valid. The kits haven't really changed in the 30 years since I got my first, to last Christmas when my son got his first. All that seems to have changed, is they've got more expensive, as you said. However, I would say that most people who buy Tamiya kits buy them because they're Tamiya kits, despite them not being the strongest, best performing cars!! It's a way of life, not a best car out there thing. I love them, and nothing will change that. 😎👍🏻

Love Tamiya.. that is all 😁😁😁 Ok, so there could be better kits and manufactuers out there but i take the rough with the smooth. Bring on more Tamiya kits, bearing/parts or not.... 😉😀

The bearing issue doesn't bother me. I'm from the old school where no cars except the top racing models came with bearings so I'm ok with buying bearings if I need to, what bothers me more than anything is how much Tamiya cars cost for what they are. Who wants to pay $400, $500, $600 for a car you can't even run hard and I'm not talking about sending it 20ft in the air, I've broken cars just running them thru the grass or taking a simple jump. The only bulletproof model Tamiya has is the Clodbuster and TXT series and you'd think Tamiya would've beefed up their cars by now after all these years

In quality time to money ratio, assuming you love to build the car, Tamiya are best. By far. If you disagree, please reply counter examples.

Tamiya are a brand very close to my heart and adore them despite all the niggles you mentioned. However, I own so many brands of RC and they have there niggles. I love my Traxxas cars which are quite expensive and they have had inherent issues for years that Traxxas don't address 🤷‍♂️.

If you build it yourself you appreciate it more and has more value to you (especially if you do a custom paint job)

Really sums it up nicely. Wish Tamiya would watch this. But as we know the real problem is no. 10 ☺️

I think you nailed every point. Another thing that turns me off, not Tamiya fault, but some of the fanboys refuse to acknowledge these things. That it's all great in Tamiya. Be objective, they aren't keeping up with the time on many points. They can keep their legacy vehicles but also need willing to innovative, at least keep up with the times

I love Tamiya but i prefer Team Associated RC10.. I have a Tamiya Sand Scorcher 2007 (NIB), RC10DS Nascar Truck, RC10 Buggy, Losi 8ight 3.0 E (NIB), RC4WD Rascal, FG Marder 1:6, Carson SuperAttack 1:6, Traxxas Slash 4x4 (2x), Hobbyking Desertfox Modified, Blitz Tube Chassis RC4WD Z-C0028 and a Marui Toyota Landcruiser.

I restored a trash DynaBlaster for driving, not for the shelf. It is a nightmare. 3D printed parts from Austria, parts from England and Spain, from different shops in Germany. Only to make this thing ready to rock.

The hobby is all about having fun , I have Tamiya cars that i been running since the early 90s , my OG grasshopper and my 1980's RC10 have given me actual decades of fun not by being the fastest or the biggest or even the best looking but by just being the 2 cars I absolutely adore and have fun just running them on old nimh packs in my back yard gets me more smiles than my Kraton 8s or any of my 1/5 scale stuff . Every RC car I have and the ones I no longer own have brought me a smile every time I used them , yes some more than others but remember that every RC car or truck has limitations so you have to treat them accordingly otherwise you will spend more time repairing than running .

As others said, Tamiya is a plastic model company before an RC company, that's why their bodies are more scale-like while their chassis are less bashable. They may be behind the times with the lack of bearings, oil-filled shocks and hex nuts. As for parts availability and listening to customers, it may be a regional thing. Note in South East Asia Tamiya is pretty much all there is; even Kyosho may not be immediately available in any random hobby store and like HPI has to be specially imported. I've noticed the way they repack for the US and EU and maybe UK markets are very different in terms of ESCs packed in as well as model choices offered. As for re-re abuse, hehe, molds ain't cheap and since they're licensed models they will stretch those re-releases as much as they can... they don't have the advantage of Shenzhen RC companies that don't pay licensing fees and can undercut other RC companies (although as RTR they tend to be getting expensive as well, even for clone brands).

Anlther thing: there aren‘t seem any competitive cars from Tamyia in case you would like to go racing on a track. Buggys mostly can‘t compete at all. I know there‘s touring cars and races for rookies, where you need tamyia chassis to drive there. So you‘d have a competition within the brand. What i like the most about Tamyia is that some series have really detailed cars, for example the rally cars. They move like rally cars. Also the buggys you can use more on the outdoors. Unlike competitive buggy nowadays (like xrax, tlr, ream assosiated) where you have to choose between carpet or „dirt“ setup (but dirt mostly means hard compact ground). You can do slight bashing at a beach or somewhere in the woods with a talyia and really enjoy how they behave. Here in switzerland we have a few dedicated stores, f.e. For XRay. I can get all spare and option Parts there, available all The time. Once you have the car the parts are high precision and all Alloy/carbon. These parts are even less expensive than tamyia or kyosho parts. Ators that sell Tanyia mostly also sell trains, planes, toys and a huge variety on hobby and toy grade stuff. So it‘s hard to find parts right away. You order and wait. Dedicated competitive shops have another approach. Mostly one brand, the owner is a experienced racer. Even all the tools (setup, measuring tools etc. are available. You buy once and you can go. Something breaks, i drive there and i know it‘s there, all the time. I have the tamyia xv-02 since a month. I live it! I love the scalyness, and the build was so relaxing right until the end. Plastic steering broke immediattly, so i had to order a off brand alloy spare part since tamyia didn‘t produce it yet. My next car will be a xray touring 1/8 or rally car or a buggy 1/10. can‘t decide yet

I guess the new rerelease of that Clodbuster would go under #9. Lol

To the credit of Tamiya, they apparently did not take on this new ridiculous trend of exposing the gear train and omitting a gear cover.

My problems with Tamiya are mainly Cost/Durability and Reliability. The prices for some of their kits (not talking about specialist kits like their Lorry/Tractor units, Tanks and certain Re-Re's) could easily get you something much more modern/ better performing/Durable/Reliable and better parts support. That said I do enjoy building a Tamiya no matter what it is and I think apart from having a big following of people who had/wanted years ago, it's very much the fact that they are one of the few manufacturers that still do kits that aren't designed for out and out racing/competition they are still going strong and won't be going away anytime soon.

If I want a pretty scale model I would get another Tamiya, if I want to drive it hard I will get another Arrma.

Right, you nailed it: Tamiya won’t listen at all… Next!

1. No ball bearings: Yeah, these days not putting ball bearings in the kits is a real bummer (especially with kits like the Dynahead or the Quadtrax)! For me personally it's the same with the outdated screws they put in their kits! But to be honest, not every company gives full ball bearings in their kits. For my MST CFX I had to order a few which were just bushings in the kit. 2. Parts availability: Really? Well, to this day I still found every part that I needed. At least for any contemporary kit. And I am even getting parts for my classics, but admittedly that is sometimes a question of patience. 3. Kit availability and Re-Re's: Well, you cannot blame Tamiya for having missed an issue of a kit! There are plenty of platforms where you can get information about releases. And if you wait too long it's your own fault! I've been there and done that, and I cannot blame Tamiya for that! And there are people out there, who are completely crazy about Tamiya kits. They even praised the new Avante ... which tells a lot about their mindset. Back in the late 90s and early 2000s there was one bidder on eBay who completely "killed" any Tamiya related auction. No other people could get their hands on Tamiya kits or spares when he kept an eye on it (an auction with a rim and tire set for the old Hilux 4x4 went for far over 200 bucks in 1999 or 2000). 4. No desired Re-Releases: Well, that depends on what you are waiting for. But you already pointed it out. And they released a lot of the "holy grails" (XR311, SRB's, Bruiser - even with improvements!- Monster Beetle / Blackfoot / Subaru Brat, ...). OK, I fear we will never see Re-Re's of the King-Cab-Line or the whole TA-01/02-Line (which they really exhausted, and you still get spares!). Somebody should make a list of Tamiya Re-Re's to have some reliable numbers. 5. Cost: That's a valuable point. And keeping in mind that chinese companies are pushing everywhere in the market with kits or RTR's that are becoming constantly better, this should raise some concern. But on the other hand, I only buy kits when they are offered with a special price. But yes, Tamiya is quite pricey for not being as competetive with the performance of most of their cars compared to contenders on the market. 6. Not fixing issues in Re-Re's: Yes maybe. I can only tell two instances where they did. The Bruiser I mentioned above: Better axles, better transmission (and left the long steering rod disregarded). The second was the ball diff for the SRB-line models. But to be honest, that came as a hop up part and was never part of the Re-Release itself. 7. Cost of Hop Up parts: That's why I sometimes buy parts from Yeah Racing, 3Racing or GPM for the one or other Tamiya Kit. And I get those parts not only in blue! "Blue is better" was LRP! 8. "Breakability": That's maybe something to bicker about. We had cars that we bashed with and we had no real issues. The Wild Dagger-Line for example or the Midnight Pumkin (ran mine with a Reedy Pink Dot, CVA-Shocks and full ball bearings ... a blast!). But ... Polystyrene-bodies do break when abused. That's a surprise? Not for me. Some drivers put burdens on their RC's that I cannot understand. Would you ever try to run over an obstacle three feet high with full speed with your real car? No? But many people do this to their RC's when approaching curbstones for example. I strongly believe that any RC should be run in an environment according to it's scale. When you think and act otherwise ... and you got an issue ... I give you a tissue! 9. Lazyness: Tamiya's main issue in my eyes is not being innovative as they were in their heydays. The "One-Chassis-and-1001-Body"-Practice is what you meant with lazy. On the other hand it's just economics! Sad but true. 10. Not listening to the customers: You've got to be precise: They're not listening to customers outside of Japan! Maybe in the U.S. its different, but I guess Tamiya won't listen to modelers in Europe. Ok, sorry for the long text. And when I wrote "you" several times, I did not mean RCKicks, I just used that word as in general. I started my Tamiya career in the late eighties with a Bruiser. A time, where Tamiya seemed to be quite innovative (King Cab, Astute, Porsche 959, ...). But these days have long gone. At least for RC cars. Products like the CR01, the TXT1 and the CC02 were half hearted attempts to jump on trends but came too late and were totally overengineered. And I was really disappointed, especially about the CC02. Don't get me wrong. I have a lot of Tamiya models. I love my Tamiya models. But I do not jump on every new kit they release.

Again! there is a reason your channel exist. 😊 I get that Tamiya culture evolve on nostalgia. My take on Tamiya, I believe Tamiya is a culture for the nostalgic group. If Tamiya ever change its core perception, Tamiya will just become another waste product for a hobby that keep changing because of performance issues. There are lineups for that, however the point is, like you said about value, that is what they are protecting. The time and art value they put on to create the kit is much more precious than bashers demand. I think its more of a generational issue for Tamiya to get this hatred from. 😄 Even if Tamiya creates a basher lineup with quality parts, I don't think they will waste their time creating a masterpiece for a body that will just be trashed. I think it is not what Tamiya is all about. Tamiya wants each sold kit to be valued and not just a piece of plastic to be trashed thereafter.

I'm a big Tamiya fan too. When I got a tt02 drift spec chassis I thought I'd finally got a real RC racing car. I was wrong. It wasn't until I acquired and started racing a Schumacher Atom at the local GT12 club I realised how inefficient and toy-like the Tamiya machines really are. Okay, a GT12 has a very specific job to do. You can't give them a shake down at the local empty car park - which makes them more competitive and fun, cos your development is limited to race days - but they are so much more balanced, stable and resilient than the average Tamiya kit. The tt02 is designed to look satisfying, and solid, and keep us occupied by buying bags if shiny spares and "hop-ups", and done well, they look beautiful. But they are an engineering bodge, in my opinion. I used to work in marketing, and have watched closely how Japanese brands - like Tamiya, Seiko, and others operate. We are often clouded by the Western business model thinking that everything is designed to make profit, but that's not necessarily how Japanese brand management thinks. Yes, ultimately, the business had to make a profit, but more often the goal is long-term brand strategy. RC is only one part of this huge multi-faceted modeling brand. By limiting production of certain models you're sacrificing short-medium term profit for the longer term noble objective of brand mystique. Tamiya's RC division fo this exceptionally well. This is partly why supply is often erratic. As unfrasable as it may sound, suppliers and Tamiya kit builders may one day wake up to the reality Grasshopper kit production simply fizzles out without warning, for example. I hope it doesnt happen, but we can imagine how that could only increase the desirability and cult status of the Grasshopper brand.

I love my tamiya me, but I don't like that most kits come with philips style screws.... In my opinion they make a kit look cheap hex bolts all round look so much smarter. And another thing I do not like is incorrect stance of certain cars they've re released.. Forcing the owner to go down a modding process. Bearings are a must if this is the only thing they improve in the coming years.

Point 11) Tamiya fan boys who think Tamiya are the be all and end all of RC - despite trying nothing else. Listen, don’t get me wrong, there are fantastic Legacy kits.. Hornet, Hotshot, Supershot etc. But just like the One Direction super fan needs to know - there’s some great Thrash Metal out there 🤘

I think Tamiya and Kyosho are more less in the same boat. Hard to find parts, availability, etc. Tamiya are smart to add hi-wear parts as a weak points so the end user is forced to use hop up parts.

#8 - The ABS plastic for EVERYTHING is really the reason for this. An engineered, reinforced type of plastic wouldn't be difficult to accomplish, especially today, and costs wouldn't substantially increase the prices. The upshot of their plastics is that they at least do a good job with the molding, with few issues with fitment.

Hi Gavin, this is a great list and you're breaking open doors for me. I don't really hate Tamiya. Tamiya's just Tamiya for over 40 years. My most annoying moments are: - Waiting for a nice ReRe and getting just a new version of the Clod Buster or the Tyrrell 6-wheeler every two years. Shouldn't the Falcon come out last year? - Not everyone has the finger on the pulse like you and gets informed so quick. So yes it's annoying not to get one of those limeted editions. I mean I got the SCX24 Betty one year after it was sold out. So why they don't ask the re-sellers first and wait for the community reactions before setting the production numbers? - But the one thing which makes me really angry are these sloppy moldet driver figures. Tamiya is one of the best plastic display model manufactors in the world. Their airplanes and tanks are awesome and high detailed. But the RC driver figures are a nightmare, look like they were made in the 50s, the parts fit together as bad as if they were made by Matchbox and need lots of work to get them nice. This really hasn't to be.

The main issue for me is the greed that has crept into the Hobby. The Ebay marked has become a very unfriendly place. I would like to see Tamiya get on top of this and make more things available so the Ebay crowd has no leverage to create stupid prices

01 - 1:01 - Bearings 02 - 2:30 - Parts availability 03 - 3:16 - Number of units available on release 04 - 4:24 - Tamiya not bringing out desirable rereleases 05 - 5:54 - Cost 06 - 7:09 - When they bring out a rerelease, they're not fixing any of the weaknesses or issues that were actually in the design from when it was first released 07 - 8:02 - Cost of hopup parts 08 - 9:17 - How fragile the kits are 09 - 10:00 - Lazy special editions 10 - 10:46 - Not listening to their customers Bonus -11:40 - No lipo batteries, they only do a few brushless choices and they don't do any kind of aggressive, take out, bashy kind of cars

I like the Tamiya trucks, especially the clodbuster, Juggernaut and the semi trucks.

I have always seen Tamiya as entry kits. They let you learn how to build and maintain a vehicle. TRF's are outside of this, but are very pricey. A buy them since they were to go to when I was a kid in the 80's and into the 90's. I fall on Traxxas for my daily beaters. I still have my fingers crossed for a Super Blackfoot. That was the first kit I saved up for and bought as a kid.

In the eighties, I started with Tamiya then bought several kyosho. The first thing I noticed, was kyosho was crappy everything compared to Tamiya. I've never bought another ones since. Always stuck to the best and have really enjoyed them. I have bought some crawlers and they rock. Axial. However, compared to my bruiser, they are cheap looking and feeling. The bruiser out crawls it too. Ha ha ha

Ive only been to 2 race meets. Tub screw mount points broken and the pinion gear split in half. New Tub & Rebuilt the car, went to race meet 2.. tub front screw mounts again after just 1 lap and a very light bump on the barrier. TT01E

Lockdown got me and a couple of mates back into this hobby, and we were keen to get a kit or two, build them and have a little play. Even went back to the old BMX track we used in the late 80's, early 90's. We went with newer kits rather than any old classics, just so parts would be available if/when we broke them and ended up with TT-02B's as there's not much else on offer from Tamiya that is 'new'. Personally I became quite frustrated with the kit having bling'd it to the max and not really enjoying the driving experience - it was just very bland, and while it had loads of power in a brushless set up it wasn't always possible to put that power down easily. We also discovered even with relatively new kits parts weren't always available. I gave up on Tamiya as a cars that I want to drive and instead have them as kits that I build, as I do like the build process. So like everyone else I've gone down the bland, brushless stadium truck route because that's the most fun, less likely to break and when I do break stuff parts are available. While it's nice to relive some of the old kits and build them, it's a shame Tamiya doesn't have any new kits that I would want to drive, with the exception maybe of TD2. Everything is just meh, compared to other brands. Having said that I built a Frog because I never had one as a kit and that thing is a blast to drive. I thought it was going to be similar to a Hornet, but it's way better than that. My wish would be for Tamiya to release a 1:8th buggy kit that had a similar driving experience to a Frog. 1:10 just seems way too small for brushless setups and I'd love something that had a bit of grunt that could take a bit of a bashing, but also came in kit from. Just call it something ridiculous like 'Mega Frog' and it would sell. Or do a bigger version of the Falcon, that could really drive well, that would work too.

I love tamiya and it is number one brand for me and kyosho also I like it

The best tamiya rc car i ever owned was.....the rookie rabbit. I ran it with a sports tuned motor and in the end i used a high amp nmH battery with the stock esc and it ran and ran. I couldnt break it. I still have a nissan r91cp pan car and a ta03f but these are just shelf queens and have never been run.

Had the 959 and egress back in the day. Friend borrowed the 959 and never gave it back and the egress I gave to my brother when I joined the marine corp back 93. Miss those cars.

I never bought Tamiya kits until I got my first CCO1 wrangler jeep and it was really fast imho with the standard 540 motor, my previous kits were Associated RC10 and a couple of Schumacher Cougars, but mostly RC10s, then some crawlers of which I still have my G-Made Sawback leaf sprung jeep, I’ve turned it into a WW2 Willys jeep with 2 Hunter Dan figures who are the perfect scale for it, which reminds me i must get it out for a run, i sprayed everything army green, not just the body and fitted the obligatory rifle behind the windscreen lol 😝, i freaking love it 😍 lol 😝

I often find comparing rc manufactures is alot like comparing real car manufacturers, each brand has their fans and if you love a brand for what ever reason you tend to forgive them more and give them more leeway with things. I love Tamiya but they have really tested my patience at times, the td4 😂 for example. I do think Tamiya get a lot of unfair press as well these days and a lot of us have become spoilt by what brands like Traxxas and Arrma can offer, but those brands go out their way to make hardcore bashers , and Tamiya can’t take that sort of abuse. I remember when Traxxas made buggy’s forracing Etc and they were as frog ole as anything else out there. I hear lots of comments about Tamiya’s breaking easily , I have to think some times what are people doing with them ? Ive very rarely broken them even when I’ve been racing them and you expect to break more in a racing environment . Anyway just a couple of thoughts

Cool vid. Around 2005-2007, when I was getting back into the hobby, I bought a DT-02 and a DF-03 for my boys. They both came with bearings included. Pretty sure my TRF-501 I bought a bit after that had bearings included as well, though many opted for more high performance bearings rather than kit ones. I'm not sure but I think a few years after that when Tamiya shut down TRF they announced to the world that they were not an RC company but a plastic model company that makes RC vehicles as part of their range. That could possibly be part of why they stopped providing bearings in their kits. Yeah, Japanese firms do highly value customers, but being the companies themselves have a strict internal hierarchy, they are very unlikely to listen to customers suggestions/demands. It's a cultural thing. Very little gets changed in any Japanese organization until something goes catastrophically wrong. I wish I was talking hooey.

Thank you for doing this. Here are my 3 reasons. 1. Leaving out any of the really cool on-road cars of the early era (70's and very early 80's) from their re-releases. Where are the Countach, Porsche 936, Williams Renault F1, BMW F2, Can-Am Lola, Ford C100 and so on? If you can do XR311, there are no excuses Tamiya cannot re-release those kits. 2. The newly coming out real car scale models suck (buggies do not fall under this). Who needs more WRX's or Lance Evo's? Toyota 86 and Yaris? Are you serious? We do not need cars we can drive in real lives, we need cars we can only imagine to drive. To be fair, real cars these days (even the ones that are supposed to be exotic) suck anyway. I know the license pricing got out of control, but Tamiya should be able to do a whole lot better than what they are doing today. Lotus Europa was a pleasant surprise, but the build quality of the chassis just is terrible. 3. Their love of plastic and REALLY cheap materials. It got worse these days than the 80's and 90's when they started relying heavily on the cheap materials. The build quality of Lotus Europa on M06 is so horrible compared to the Renault Alpine A110 (M01 or M02?) I built in 90's. Yes, that was a CHEAP car, but also as bullet proof as a tank! The worst of all is the fact that the cheap materials do not translate into cheap prices!!!

LunchBox is a blast at the skate park!

All very good points. I had several tamiyas and liked them all,my favorite being the sand scorcher. I don't get the hate for tamiya. In my personal opinion,if it wasn't for tamiya then I don't think we would have the scale crawler scene. They were way ahead of the game for there time when they made the og hilux,blazing blazer with locking front hubs and even the bruiser with the 3 speed transmissions. They were all real trucks with interiors etc. As for rere's I do like them but I don't like how they rere several models in a bunch of different color combos as limited editions. I doubt I'll never see it but I would love to see tamiya do a rere of the og hilux or the blazing blazer. But don't make them limited editions this way it gives everyone who wants 1 the opportunity to get 1. But knowing tamiya if they did do a rere,they'll probably charge $1,000 for it 🙄.

Some interesting points. With regard to re-releases, Tamiya has issued far too many already in my opinion. Design NEW products for the latest and future generations of RC fans, not keep looking to the past. In any other hobby, if you want something old or classic you have to search for a used example. With regard to prices, you can buy a Grasshopper II Black Edition kit in Modelsport for under 100 GBP. But on the other hand, by the time you have bought all the electronics that seems expensive compared with some of the RTR products from other manufacturers that are far more modern in design and perform much better as well. Quite a few manufacturers have seen great success with scale realistic crawlers. As Tamiya virtually invented scale realistic RC I feel as if they are being left behind. Another area is smaller scale RC vehicles. Kyosho has made a huge success of the Mini-Z at 1:27/24 scale and we see lots of other products such as the Axial SCX24, ROC Hobby at 1:18 scale, etc. All Tamiya seems to have are the cartoonish Mini 4WD products. I think that if Tamiya doesn't start to innovate, they will face a difficult future as competition is only increasing and you can't survive on nostalgia forever.

cool video Gav. my ideas about basically all the points you covered: i think that i am the target customer for Tamiya in 2022. a 43 year old man who sits there and thinks "hey back in the day i always wanted a lunchbox, now i have the cash i'm gonna treat myself, oh wait i need the bearings, ok cool, love the unboxing, love the build, first drive (seemed faster when my neighbour had one??)...few packs later... BROKEN! cool now i have to source parts and fix it.... pure nostalgic fun!..... me again, "something faster and stronger would be cool????.... before you know it my first ARRMA and first Traxxas are here.... i think the points you mentioned are what makes Tamiya what it is and more importantly what it was and has been... horses for courses.... i totally agree that the ReRe logic leaves me scratching my head, but thats good marketing, keeps us all hooked! and thats what we want if we are honest.... buying smaller kits to keep us going until our dream ReRe's finally come out. low unit numbers make every car special. if everyone can get everything all the time the whole concept looses its value. To the HopUps: yeah, TTO2B Plasma Edge, mine is stupidly full of BlueBits... completely my one choice (or fault).... even the modern Bashers can/need to be hopped up... its always our choice.... probably triggered a few people with this but hey, thats what this topic is all about right? love the channel Gav. keep up the good work. greetz from Bavaria Germany.

I think a lot of it just has to do with your age. If you grew up with Tamiya in the 80’s, they’ll always have a soft spot in your heart. Every time I build one, I’m a kid again. If you’re younger, you’ll just look at them as more rudimentary kits made with plastics that are more brittle than the new RTR performance stuff that’s out there.

My first rc was a Tamiya (tt01ed) and it was a bittersweet relationship. I was blown away for months on how cool all the mechanical parts looked and how well it drove until I bought my second rc (ae sc10), then I realized what I was missing. Nevertheless I loved that car and if I had to start all over again I'll buy it without doubt. Something I really hate about Tamiya is them using mod.6 gears... Look so similar to 48p gears until your trans is blown out and you don't know why (ask me how I know)

I love Tamiya!! . So much scope for fun, tinkering and performance upgrades. It makes you dig for the bits you want which adds to the fun

Traxxas, affordable fun right out of the box. You dont have to go far for parts and they have excellent support. If i were recommending a start up kit for someone new to the hobby i would say Traxxas. Now, do i like Tamiya, yes they have some awesome kits starting with Wild Willys jeep . I would really like to build one, but for the money i would rather buy a Traxxas.

I much enjoy these little chats you do. Who are these people that tune into RCKicks and then complain about Tamiya content? 😂

I think 1/10th scale isn`t meant for bashing. Yes i know there are other brands out there which are more "bashable"than Tamiya, but in generall 1/10 is more prone to total carnage if you bash them . For me absolute nogo. Also bashing as such is not my thing.

If someone wants to destroy rc cars on a skatepark, go get a Arrma. If you want to race or have awesome fun at low cost, get a tamiya. Me and my friends have expensive cars but at the end of the day we find it more fun racing tamiya tt-02.

Gavin touched on it in the video however their corporate communications to the western markets is non existent. If your a Tamiya fan in a Western Market how many times have you asked a retailer for info on new kits or part supply and all you hear back is “not sure, waiting to hear from the importer”. Some of their social media is ok but once again, seemingly no intent to ever translate to English. As for the eBay price gouging re-sellers not being Tamiya fault, I disagree. If Tamiya actually produced kits in sufficient numbers then there would be no market for resellers, at least when it comes to flipping new kits. I also wish that Tamiya would update their re-res in the same way that Kyosho do to allow them to easily run modern motors and batteries.

As an avid lover, builder, driver of Tamiya Semi truck RCs i can attest that parts availability is something that they struggle with. Sometimes i have to go through ebay to find stuff and honestly that doenst help sometime. I also have an issue with options kinda the same stuff outside of that new Scania that just came out that i hope to get in a few months there arent a lot of choices for american trucks especially anything new. ALso the MFC's need to be updated as well.

I truly love and appreciate Tamiya. I remember when I begged and begged when I was little and got the Hornet for Christmas. I get it today they aren’t bashers but for some reason I get joy, and calmed nerves building them and also not being able to afford anything when I was a kid and growing up broke it’s a awesome feeling being able to hop up all the cars I have why back at this point in my life I like the researching and getting all those parts . Every Tamiya car I own has lipo and brushless .. Tamiya is the show piece and my hpi and Traxxas are my bashers

Tamiya always has and always will do whatever they want, and we still buy their kits. I'd defo like to see full bearings in all their kits, it would cost them very little. And I;d agree with people about re-release kits, they really need to address and fix issues with fragile parts when they re-re any kit, as Kyosho have done. Personally I love on-road cars, I race them indoors on carpet at my local club, but Tamiya don't really do anything that either ;grabs me', or a kit that doesn't cost a small fortune. Saying that , I currently race an M07, love running that car, it's so much fun and pretyy sturdy too, and not a bad price. I also race an Xpress XQ2S that I;ve now converted to FWD, and it's way cheaper than a TA08 Pro, and at least as good if not better out of the box. OK, parts availability can be a bit awkward, but I use RC Mart, good stock, decent prices, and reasonable shipping. I'd still love another Boomerang though......😆😆

I guess my complaints would be the continued use of Philip head screws and the organization of the hardware bags. I swear I spend as much time hunting parts and hardware as I do building the kits.

I agree with those valid points, and keep staring at his Mercedez benz cap...

I think that many dont know that there are two lineups of Tamiya rc, the more toy like plastic and the more profesional TRF. I raced a Tamiya TRF 801xt some 10 years ago (still have it), and it was not fragile and parts could be bought sepratly. Many of my fellow 1/8 RC offroad racers back then said that Tamiya were more toy like than Kyosho and Assosiated RC cars. But Tamyia tried to break in to the 1/8 racing back in 2008/9 with the TRf801x and xt and it was my last season racing. Tamiya were always best at 1/10 racing and still are with there TRF420X.

If you want to drive around in the garden, then you take a Tamiya. If you want to do seriously off-road driving you will take a Traxxas, Arrma or Team Corelly. I like Tamiya because i have a lot of good memories from it when I was young.

As much as I have grown up with and love Tamiya kits , there is no way I could or world recommend them to anyone new to or returning to the hobby. You can get cheap Chinese RTR's now with brushless systems, battery, charger, radio gear, aluminum chassis, fully ball-raced, oil shocks, tough fast and handle well, for less then a bare-bones kit from Tamiya.

I like tamiya but they can learn a lot from Kyosho 😎

I am a Tamiya fan and I was ready to internet rage on this bashing of Tamiya. (Nah. Not really.) All valid points. They affect each person different depending on they type of collector, builder, runner you are. Bearings are kinda annoying but I’ve just made it a habit to buy a set of fast eddys whenever I buy a kit. Parts is a true one though. I don’t do much in the vintage stuff because I buy them to build them. I absolutely run them all though and when you can’t get parts for something as common as a TT02, that gets frustrating. At least with that one you know a restock will come or there are other manufacturers that make those parts but still. The ReRes coming out exactly as they were in the 80s without improvement, I see both sides. I have a couple of Kyosho’s Legendary kits and the changes they made to make the classics were great. I can also appreciate that when I opened my Frog ReRe recently it was exactly as it was when I opened my very first RC kit, The Frog in 1987. That was cool too. The Kyosho I bought because it was a cool kit. The Frog I bought to relive childhood. So I appreciate both sides on this one. Overall great video with valid points from an obvious fan. 👍

Yep, bearings were expensive back in the 1980s. I bought my rough rider in 1980, a four pack of bearings was $25 and you needed three packs.

Tamiya M03 Mini cooper re release . big favorite with the budget racers

I love Tamiya, but yeah, plastic bushings are always a waste of plastic. Have only found one upside to those: I ran an RC builders group at my school. I’d let the kids build with the plastic bushings because it didn’t matter if they got wet and required almost no maintenance. But most people want ball bearings. The hop-ups. Totally agree. Many hookups should just be standard in the kit. However I think if I were a kid in the hobby, I’d rather have a lower kit price than a bunch of blue aluminum parts in the kit. I typically spend more on hop-ups than I do on the kit. I always factor in hop-up prices when looking to buy a Tamiya kit, and when it comes out to more than double the original price, I start looking at other brands to see what they offer. I think if Tamiya released more MS kits, there’d be a market for them. That’s be a good solution.

I have a selection of F1 cars and I remember then paying £250 for Nigel Mansells Ferrari when it first came out. I think in Tamiya defence they were the first to launch replica cars and other models. Their strength in my opinion at the time was the instructions showing you how easy you can build a quality car out of the box and race. The hop ups was subject to availability and again in my opinion gave a level playing race. Tamiya very rare change their models because they don’t upgrade their tooling on the moulds for the models. This is because it would cost far too much money and it’s easy selling the same deal because the markets still out there and their reputation still lives on. I agree with peoples frustration try shipping from Japan /uk with post, tax ,export duty that’s my bug bare.!! Thanks for sharing your quality content 👍

I do love (& admire) your willingness to speak openly & honestly about all aspects of our hobby. For me Tamiya is like your favourite Auntie, a bit wacky & has some annoying foilbles but you still love her (& no matter what, she won't change her ways). As a racer, Tamiya has, it seems always produced R/C cars which were aimed at the more fun side of the market, cars which are perfectly capable running around in the street or your back garden, but the designs, materials used & specification out of the box means they fell short of being competitive at the race track.... even those which were obviously more aimed at the serious racer (Avante, Astute etc.) were not really up to the rigures of racing week -in, week out - there are exceptions with some of the more recent TRF cars/chassis kits, but on the whole it does feel like Tamiya are happy doing their own thing. On reviewing the TB-05 Pro touring car chassis kit for Racer Magazine (RIP :-( ) a few years back, it was interesting looking at the design & layout of the car which ultimately felt like someone had designed something just to be different for the sake of it & as a result the chassis flexed & 'tweeked' at will - not ideal for a competition car. I expect the car was aimed at the sort of mid-entry level but & trying to justify the price was hard, yes it was cheaper than a full blown competition chassis, but it was still expensive for what it was.... all that said, I do have a weird affection for it & I guess that's the 'Tamiya effect' :-D

I think the big issue with Tamiya price wise is that cars like the DT01 and TT02B are great value, but the TD2 and TD4 the seem like a complete rip off, as they are getting close to the price of a Competition buggy.

Every thing you said is about right, with all that, we are lucky to have a Tamiya around. People would really freak out if they closed.

I think it comes down to as what era of RC one grew up in. Some things you mentioned are liget. I always checked out kits before I perchused. Even before the internet. And a little common since helps.

Still remember the first tamiya kit I built, great experience and their boxes and marketing makes you want to get one. Other point best static models no doubt

They used to make "Scale model suitable for radio control". Now they can't even make a body shell suit a chassis. Fwd, rwd?, no one will notice, we did.

I think that you got these issues nailed Gavin. I absolutely agree on every point that you made. These are definitely my beefs with Tamiya! GREAT video. I would LOVE to see a re release of the Juggernaut 2 rather than yet ANOTHER re re re re re re re release of the Clod.

Although I started with Tamiya in the late 80s, I mostly did so because they were the only kits readily available in town. Everytime I fancied something else after my Grasshopper, it was gone. Ultima II? Sorry! Enter the Astute. RC10 CE? OK, give me that Manta Ray... And because I remember that they were not reliable at all, I wouldn't buy a rere kit. I would have loved a TRF buggy, but you could add the decline of this line of products as #11 to your hate list... After I was put off by a bad quality TT-01 kit with a lot of flashing in the sprues I had decided not to buy a Tamiya again. Somehow, I still bought a TT-02R afterwards, which went into the basement after running it once or twice, only to be resurrected after a couple of years, and now I really enjoy it, or rather the TT-01E because my son runs the 02 with a R32 body in our club series. The TT series truly is Tamiya's masterpiece, cheap, accessible and offering decent performance without the set-up work a modern TC requires. You can't argue with that!

Tamiya is good man build a model and you can drive it around a bit and then put it on a shelf, as a kid growing up I had tyco and nikko but I always wanted a grasshopper 2 my folks didnt know anything about em and as a child they didnt think I could handle building it and they was probably right considering the model they got me I put the wheels and tires together painted the body and put on the graphics and that's as far as I went at 7 years old. So cant blame them for not getting me one but now I'm almost 40 and I've spent my whole life building cars trucks and airplanes...real ones. So now in my older age im buying these kits I couldnt do as a child and doing them now as an adult who is looking forward to a long retirement a little travel and alot of rcing with my kids and future grandkids. Biggest thing they offer is NOSTALGIA and I dig having these driveable models on my shelves.

I'd love to see a Clod Buster 2.0, powered up and with ultra high quality materials, I'd drop X-Maxx money on it

Great vid Gavs. For me 2 most annoying things is the Bearings and using the " great names" like Avantee etc on cheap kits with no comparison at all. Kyosho does not do that all.

To be honest I’d rather by a Tamiya without bearings and just buy them myself that buy another brands budget kit for the reason of that Tamiya are by far the best for replica body’s, I’m sorry but the body’s that other budget kits have are just s**t compared to a Tamiya body. I race Tamiyas and I’m happy to by bearings and a few upgrades because I have a body that I can put on the shelf and display as there the best body’s you can get, and with racing I regularly have to renew bearings when they get old so it’s no problem for me. As far as hopups go and bearings if you want it all in one kit just buy a better version of the chassis you want, I have a tt01R and a tt02sr and they come fully hopped up ready to race, they beat other high end carbon cars on the track and yes I can prove this. I even race stock Tamiya tt01 and tt02 with very little mods, bearings, hexes, oil dampers and turnbuckles, very cheap and extremely popular class, some of the best drivers come from these classes. Personally for me I see no reason to hate Tamiya and I enjoy everything about them, I race them now and I will race them going forward. As for spares, if I have to buy a parts tree I just have extra spares I may need another time, and you get a lot of parts on a tree, also very rare to pay £20 for a tt parts tree, my local shop does the suspension parts trees for £7.99, by two of them and you have full front and rear suspension spares, I can’t see a down side to that. Sorry man but personally for me I disagree with alot of what’s said. Maybe it’s more realistic for collectors but not for us racers, can’t speak for anyone else like bashers or off road guys. Maybe you should attend a Tamiya class race one day, even just to have a watch and talk to people about the racing side of things ? Good idea I think, I’m sure you have somone asking you that ? :)

I love tamiya.... because childhood 🥰

I have owned many Tamiyas over the years. I have always enjoy the build and looking at the finished model (except for body posts!!!!) . When it comes to bashing, hot motors and track performance I usually end up disappointed. Cheap materials, loads of play in the moving parts, half hearted engineering, low durability, and slow to accept new industry standards... Almost every model I have owned would not drive straight on the straight even with good servos. There is plenty to love and plenty to hate about those tamiya cars.

Though I do not have the most experience with Tamiya I have noted that they, unlike other brands, makes kits of more unusual rc vehicles. Like the 6wd Dynahead, or the Dual Rider trike. Both of which I have built. And they do scratch that 80-nostalgia in their designs. Thus they have their place in the hobby, alongside other brands have a more narrow focus with more standard rc vehicles. And if you are into trucks/lorries and such, there are not much other options than Tamiya, at least in my part of the world. But Tamiya is of course not without flaws. The lack of bearings (ball-bearings), their design being more brushed motor oriented, and I would also say, their manuals, are things that could be improved upon. And one another gripe that I dislike about Tamiya, is their terrible naming convention as their kits go. One can go to a web-site, navigate to the Tamiya cars part, and you get a whole list to select between, like TT01, TT02, and so forth. For those into Tamiya that is probably not a problem since they probably know their chassies. But for someone just looking for a kit of a Tamiya car that they have seen, those names, like TT01 and such, do not make any sense at all.

I this whole conversation is all a bit silly to be honest, yes you’ve pointed out many valid points regarding Tamiya. But here’s my angle - Tamiya are a beginner’s entry level brand that gets you building your first RC car, they were in my opinion an entry level brand in the 1980s and still are today, I see as many Tamiya cars being raced today as I did back in the 1980s, I’m sure with bespoke mods you prob could race a Tamiya, but again winning podium titles has never been the focus of Tamiya. Tamiya open the door to the sport and hobby and that’s about it. Someone has too and that’s why everyone knows the name Tamiya!

I think 90% of people who buy there buggies will build them. And poss straight on the shelf. Its the same as collecting airfix models. Ther buggies and cars look really good on the shelf. The trucks are strong enough and get raced by a few clubs same as there touring cars. My tamiya collection is 4 and all bough purley for there looks, for racing i use the buggies i had bitd. But if a tamiya catches my eye, dont need to remortgage the house, i’ll buy it.

You have poked a hornets nest here Gav 😁.

Agree with everything you’ve stated. I feel Tamiya is not a good value proposition anymore, instead trading on heritage and memories

I agree with all of your points. Except, you have to take into account that Tamiya is walking a rather thin line with their models. Yes, they are a bit fragile (ok, a lot fragile), but Tamiya fans have come to expect a certain amount of over-engineering, it is great fun to build a Tamiya kit. Yes, they could build a basher, but then they would have to compete directly with Traxxas, Arrma and a whole slew of cheap Chinese cars (that you drive till they break and then buy a new one). Tamiya has a niche that they really only share with Kyosho (maybe one or two others I don’t know about) with retro and nostalgic cars and designs. I really can’t figure out why they still do the plastic bearing thing though. I REALLY don’t understand why they have such limited production (boost prices maybe, on a kit that is already expensive?). I totally understand why they can’t re-re everything, but they could really make a killing on a few. My biggest complaint is that, even on high-end kits, they still stick you with a basic silver can motor. Honestly, a $350 or $400 VQS with nothing more than a silver can? I don’t hate Tamiya, they just disappoint me a lot.

I think this is a great topic. I have never understood the decisions Tamiya makes. I think Tamiya is so big that they don't have to depend on their r/c models for a huge amount of their income. They sell a lot of models, paint, etc. All the criticisms you make are legitimate. I don't think they listen to many fans outside of Japan and other Asian countries. Tamiya fans are like sports teams fans whose team has been mediocre for years and thousands of people still come to their games. If people stopped buying Tamiya r/c products they might change. In the U.S, Tamiya used to be huge. But, it has declined. Several years ago Tamiya had a big office and distribution center and a beautiful r/c track. They had to move and the property was sold. Tamiya makes some great and iconic products. The TT02 is a great basic racer and is cheap (except for bearings). If you want Tamuya to listen, stopping buying their cars.

Never knew people hated Tamiya.

I had a Tamiya Volkswagen Beetle M05 and i fall to a pothole with very low speed and broke the under part of the front suspension and maybe the under suspension arm. Instantly i regret that i bought it. Also i totally totally agree about the quality of the plastics. They have this shiny toy plastic quality from the 80s and 90's, maybe is exactly the same quality from the 80's. Tamiya has very nice looking rc cars, i like their styles, very nice rims with round holes, very nice gold and white coloured rims, very nice bodies, 90's style tyres, but they are fragile literally they are fragile with the real meaning of the word. I want to buy again a Tamiya sometime but because my money are very limited, i want my rc cars to have some quality and last sometime before breake something and Tamiya doesn't have this quality. I have a rustler 4x4 vxl with a center diff which is a REAL upgrade and i haven't breake the spur gear yet. Tamiya would last about a few minutes in straight line full throttles with a brushless 4000 kv and 3s. I like the Tamiya vintage style and if i buy a new one will be the Launchbox. Lately i think very seriously to buy a Launchbox for the style. Also a serious tip for those who don't know about tamiya's, don't over tighten the screws, you will destroy the thread like you screw in a piece of cheese. Also change immediately the pinion gear wich is very fragile nylon i destroyed it in a few minutes with no hard driving. And the last complain is that you can't fit bigger batteries in physical size as you said. The conclusion is that maybe the Tamiya wants to keep the vintage style which is nice and because is business wants you to buy parts for replacement very often. What else to think ?

I love Tamiya.

Gavin, that was as Spot-on as any commentry I've ever heard! I've been yelling for a King Cab, Madcap and King Blackfoot for years. The KBF is as sturdy a RC as they've ever made! The Madcap could use some upgrades for Brushless, but was good overall. The King Cab would HAVE to have upgrades to the Gearbox, it's weakest point. Tamiya DOESN'T listen. And I hope that doesn't bite them in the ass!!

Totally agree! Missed out on the Boomerang and now I crave one sadly and what about the Hotshot 2 and the Super Sabre......where are they? Surely they would sell.......boils me blood it does but I still love my Tamiya!!

It is weird that Tamiya doesn’t do more to bring the brand closer to its customers outside of Japan. They could really do with a European RU-vid channel, the Japanese one looks decent but without subtitles it’s not much use to me. It would be great to have some channel to communicate with Tamiya reps. Even if they didn’t want to run their own RU-vid channel it wouldn’t take much to sponsor some of the bigger and better channels such as this one or even create some kind of connection (e.g inviting Gavin to have an interview and factory tour or something - just something like this to show they appreciate the community I think would go a long way). As for bashers this is really a lucrative market although it is really quite far removed from what Tamiya does. I can’t see Tamiya ever doing an RTR like a Traxxas or Arrma but I do think there’s a gap in the market for a half decent bashable car that comes as a self assembly kit. I know I’d be tempted buy that. A problem with RTR’s is that you only learn how things go together when things need to be fixed or upgraded, whereas with the kit I have complete confidence that I can strip it right down and have the instructions needed to put it all back together again.

i am new to the hobby, and i have discovered that people hate traxxas, and now i discover people hate tamiya . I cant wait to see a video of people hating the ARMA