PandaBear

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Geocities == too cheap to pay for a real website host…? :dead:

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Post a pic, VR-4.

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Everybody please use some common sense before even considering this “tip”.

If anybody has had any experience with 1:1 auto “underbody sealant” spray-on materials before, ESPECIALLY TRYING TO REMOVE THE STUFF AFTERWARDS… you’ll think twice about using it on RC. (Usually the only way is a heatgun or heavyduty Nitromors stripper.)

How the heck you’re gunna access your screwheads with 6mm of the stuff lathered on is beyond me.

Plus it’ll be a darned good way to add at least a kilo to you car.

… that said, if anybody’s got a picture of an RC car with this stuff on it, I’d like to see it!! :p:p:p:dead::p

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Don’t get suckered in by the Trinity Marketing Machine now, will we? 🙂

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Still haven’t found time yet to seriously drive any 3-spd’r, and WW2 hasn’t run again since Canberra. Heaps on the “to do” list and just too few hours in the day… currently researching as to how fast electrics can go. 🙂

And oooh… eyeing the Losi Mini-T.

Unless stocks of the TLT-1 appear first! 😀

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…At 48 issues I think a nice TL01 or buggy or whatever could be had easily 😉

$15.95 X 48 + 4.95 = $770.55

That’ll get you a His & Hers PAIR of TL01B… Baja King & Queen?? :smiley2:

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Haha… yeah, that “magazine” has been out overseas many moons ago.

Yeah, you buy your RC Subaru piece by piece… and I can’t think of any more enjoyable way of doing it!! (haha… I am KIDDING!)

And I seriously doubt if that $4-95 Introductory Price will be kept like that for the remaining issues… :smiley2:

I think I’ll be saving my money… unless some certain editions can provide useful tidbits for any projects.

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The 28th is a Saturday which makes it tricky for me, but I sure as hell am interested.

Yep… its a Sat EVENING too, so we’ll have to skip the boozing. :dead:

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(I am just wondering what happens to the car in the second pic, when the cord on the hairdryer gets pulled out)

Dunno, get a longer extension? :p

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Seriously though, I am interested. I have always wondered what kind of speeds a decent brushless powered car could obtain, no doubt there will be one there on the day.

Brushless is about on par with what the best brushed 540-sized motors
can do today, so its not anything eyeopening. The main benefit is
that BL usually runs bit cooler and needs a lot less (barely any)
maintenance – ie its performance does not drop away after 2 runs.

Saw a peak of 72km/h last Sunday, but someone else has already
reported 74km/h just running a brushed motor. (these are the race
cars btw, need to run nonstop for 4 mins = ~16-20 laps not just 1)
No doubt there’ll be others going quicker again.

Hey, if you guys like we can get together and swap notes before the day! :smiley16: Either weekend is good, drop me a line.

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Lookin’ good! 🙂

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Now, now.
Surely you remember what happened to Shypo once. 👿

Best shut the gob and lie low whilst you’re ahead. :smiley2:

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the Hound looks like a basher buggy, don’t think Tamiya has much
aspiration of it taking on the next offroad Ifmar World Champs.

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My personal feeling is that Tamiya moved away from buggies and offroad becuase they thought road cars were going to be the next-big-growth area, which to the extent it was, but not to the exclusion of people wanting to hack around on dirt.

Most in the know would admit Tamiya invented the whole on-road
1/10 touring car craze when they did the TA01 from the Manta Ray.
Since then, they’ve been selling more kits per-capita in every
country compared to the “old” days of the Hotshot.

Other thing is, Tamiya is still very Japan-centric. They still sell
more product in their homeland, with USA a close second. Naturally
they will pander to these huge markets first… in Japan, offroad
racing is non-existant and in US they only buy US offroad products.

Compared with Traxxas, MRC (which sold Tamiya many yrs ago), AE etc —
Tamiya does not have much of a name amongst the pros for offroad.
They did have a shot at it with the DynaStorm/Blaster & various
experimental prototypes in the early 1990s but nothing eventuated.

Latest fad has been the ‘Maxx’ trucks. These didn’t take off in Asia
until recently, maybe last 2-3 yrs. That’s why Tamiya appears “late”
to the market in this category… but now they seem to have caught up.

But to catchup, they’ve their marketing up to full heat. Like why
doesn’t Traxxas yet sell any Maxx as a DIY kit?? Without Radio??!
Tamiya does… & there’s quite a few tasty treats in store from
big T coming up for 2004 – on ALL the major different fronts.
You name it, they’ve got it. Gotta respect them for that ability.

Love that cute TLT-1. 🙂

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How many on the old one?? 🙂

Otherwise, you’d already make up ~20%; or just the top 2 of these other mysterious regulars here:

Member Name Posts
Shypo 3640
jamiekulhanek 2247
PandaBear 1682
barto_85 1289
DaveF 1119
ph2t 1091
micro_Amps 1083
Aaron 1042
Impreza 982
GT-ahh 887
Barrelll 885

:D:D:D

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nah, need 293×88 to fit this…

:):):)

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Yep – no risk, no return.

Along the way I have gotten to know some other national distributors overseas too, so have half a rough idea of what deals Shizouka charges ex-factory. Not that I begrudge Ronny O’D’s operations but definitely TT’s markup is still pretty usurious by wholesale standards.

---

One always wonder if Australia can really buy more Tamiyas if the local retail prices drop, and shops/TT make up that lost margin by selling more volume.

For various reasons & I’ve got some sums… methinks “no”.

But we can always live in hope. 🙂

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OK, thanks for the info. Now that I recall talking to some shop owners, you seem to be right.

btw, not trying to advertise or anything but I’m a business analyst with a personal interest in the hobby trade. 😀 Industry involvement dates back to 1982; started racing Tamiya in 1977.

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OK, in most cases, they don’t have the exact same kits, I just went on prices by chassis type

Hmm… that’s a bit like saying a Holden Statesman
should be the same price as a Holden Commodore eh?

After all, its the same engine, same drivetrain, same colours… :smiley2:

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FERRARI MODENA TL01 $185.00
RAYBRIG NSX 03 TT01 $176.00
RAYBRIG NSX 03 TT01 $176.00

I have grave suspicion they may not “have” stock of
TT01 at that price… hmm, when I’m next bored
looking for something to do I might just call them
up and see how many they’ll sell me @ that price…
‘cos I think there’s been a pricing booboo.

Going by the relativities in ‘The List’, the TT01
should be a little bit *dearer* than the TL01s.

No, there are no TT01s in the clearance list.

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Hey Jamie – aren’t you coming over for the F1??

You might be able to make it to Thunderdrome… bring that Mini Z along & we’ll clock it for you. 🙂

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There was talk about rocket cars in 2003, but none turned up. Pity!

Also for the Top Gear run, they expect you do do a test lap first and the car has to be controllable around the bend too. So need something with 30-40secs of burn time minimum.

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OTP:-
…LHS prices:

http://www.stanbridges.com.au/elebug.asp

TT-01’s starting at $176, quite a few under $200, Moderna for $185, like you said, check the LHS. A few of those are pretty good value, the ’04 at least.

Umm… where’s those $$ from, OTP?

Went to your link, these are just what I found.

(from http://www.stanbridges.com.au/elebug.asp)

T58266 TAMIYA FERRARI 360 MODENA CHALLENGE TA04 $520.00
T58289X TAMIYA FERRARI MODENA TL01 $185.00
–> clearance Modena is a TA04, *not* TL01. Big difference! :angry:

T58273 TAMIYA 4WD RALLY CAR SUBARU IMPREZA WRC 2001 $235.00

T58273X TAMIYA SUBARU WRC 2001 TL-01 $219.00

T58248 TAMIYA TOYOTA CELICA FF02 $240.00

–> couldn’t find NSX 2000 which is a TB01, just got its cousins:
T58298 TAMIYA ENZO FERRARI TB01 $360.00
T58281 TAMIYA FORD FOCUS WRC 2001 TB-01 $360.00

So umm… uhuh?

–> I’d be willing to bet Stanbridges buys its stock from Toy Traders? 😀

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Yeeep… :sad:… as Aaron says – the markup is by the distributor, NOT by the LHS.

Through my various industry contacts, I get the priviledge of seeing the wholesale lists from Toy Traders (Tamiya) and Dawn Trading (Kyosho, AE). Like I said earlier, “some of them numbers are pretty scary. :dead:”

(These lists are commercial-in-confidence so please don’t even ask.)

That said, I’m having grave difficulty working out how Oz LHSes manage to even make a buck. Very very hard, especially with our small population/market.

There are many pros & cons about going the ‘legit’ route vs GREY-IMPORTING, but I’ll say this is not the thread to discuss that. (If you wish to, please start a new thread, perhaps under ‘General’.)

No barriers to entry into this industry either… absolutely nothing stopping anyone buying retail from o/s and setting up shop selling them locally. I wouldn’t mind going to a shop like that in Oz & always wondering why nobody does – could there be some unknown reason??! Why don’t you start one up and let us all know? :approve:

Give all Ausmicro boarders a good deal will ya… how about 40% discount?? 🙂 (With your 100% markup, you’ll still be making a 20% gross profit even after that discount! Right?! :smiley2:)

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Ok, back to the topic. Need to add:-

Should it matter to anyone, I have since checked all above kits and they are all complete – nothing missing. All kit boxes are in pristine condition, no shelf wear, transport damage etc. I know this might be important to some collectors out there.

No guarantees if you need OzPost to get them to you though. blackeye:

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I’ll probably only get the Touareg, wonder what chassis it’s on…

Wonder no more… its a Long Wheelbase CrossCountry (aka Honda CRV)! :p

What I wonder is, will it make it to Toy Traders’ list??! ‘Cos the first RTR XB Pajero Sport never made it downunder. :dead:

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OTP:- no offence, but since when do LHS put 100% markups on kits?? That would be an act of suicide, even for the greediest shopkeep.

Believe me, I get to see official importer’s wholesale lists – some of them numbers are pretty scary. :dead:

As for ‘cheap’ TL01s… yes in recent past have seen some ‘special’ joblot/s from distributor to a select few retailers. These are oneoff specials only on CERTAIN SPECIFIC less-popular TL01 kits – none of which are the ones listed above. The unloved ones see some shops usually listing them for $169 – far below ‘listed wholesale’.

Do not be deluded into thinking its a blanket case for all TL01s. blackeye:

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Yep definitely have chalked it up for an appearance at the least.

Undecided still wether or not to run… maybe I might try wangle an ‘outlaw’ entry into mod. Car/s setup is pretty much spot on and pretty much on par with last year’s pace – saw 70-72km/h this morning.

uA/ph2t:- any ideas of some electronics magic to make a “Top Gun” entry??! Fastest spot speed by the gun takes bragging honours.

Have a TA03 here that’s itching to have a PAIR of hot motors chucked in for a shot at 100km/h.

Nothing planned for next w/e if you care to meetup somewhere & swap notes.

If I had serious dough, this would be it:- 🙂

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If all one cares about is a stationary dyno shootout & the car’s not going anywhere, why not just skip all the FETs bit and just hardwire the battery straight to the ultra-hot motor? :blush:

(pragmatism rulez)

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And they come in more models than just the Honda and Skyline now… :smiley2:

Try the toy stores like Toys R Us or K-Mart.

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