RC Car Tips #78 - Happy New Year!

Let me start off by wishing you a Happy New Year. 2011 went by so quickly. And I realize, I've been enjoying the rc car hobby for 31 years. I'm getting old, but at least the hobby keeps me young at heart. Dug up some old vintage photos of me playing as a kid.

Photo above: My 1/10th Tamiya Wild Willy smashing thru empty containers of ice cream. Seems silly, but as a 9 year old kid I found that fun.

The TV show Knight Rider was also popular. So I custom made my own Knight Rider rc car body from cardboard box. And of course jumping and smashing the empty containers.

But I did not stop there. I thought, what about fire? So I started jumping my rc cars over burning newspaper (kids don't try this at home).

Photo above: My 1/10 Tamiya Hotshot jumping over fire.

Looking back, I had lot's of fun bashing with my toys. That was the 70s. In the 80s rc car racing started to boom, and I was excited to join. And in my first race there were 176 competitors. I think I finished 6th overall, not bad for a 13 year old kid. I remember having just one battery, but did buy an expensive Twister motor to speed up my 1/10 Tamiya hotshot.

Photo above: That's me. I think this was a race in 1984 held by Boyels. It was basically run what you brung back then. People manually counted your laps.

Ahhh, trip back to memory lane. I still remember those events vividly.

Looking back, hard to imagine I created this website in 2003. I remember back then even when I was in Japan, I checked my visitor stats on a daily basis. Fun to see a lot of people visiting my website. In return I hoped my mindless blabber and tips somewhat helped you.

Here was the homepage of RCCarTips.com way back in Jan 2003.

Somehow I miss the old website. Feeling nostalgic I guess. The design back then was simple, easy to navigate. But now the site has grown to over 400 pages. Seems cluttered and messy. Oh well.

That's why I've put up some other websites, trying to keep things simple and information easy to find.

www.truck-rc.com

www.gas-rc-cars.com

www.radio-controlled-car.com

I love rc cars and keep track of them in an excel database for comparison. Right now I have over 500 models and more as manufacturers keep coming out with new stuff. Here are the trends I saw in 2011.

1. Short course went 4 wheel drive. And still the popular class in off-road.
2. HPI and Traxxas released waterproof on-road and off-road rc cars and trucks.
3. Big 1/5th scale gasoline powered off-road bajas and trucks.
4. Electrics are overtaking nitro in performance.

Wonder what is in store for us in 2012. Seems it would be an exciting year for the rc car hobby.

This year I was busy racing rc cars with my 10 year old daughter Porsha. We entered a 14 race series by Tamiya, flew to Singapore to attend the 2011 Tamiya Asia Cup Finals and spent countless Saturdays at the race track playing electric on-road, nitro and even electric off-road buggy. And we already entered in the 2012 Thailand International Touring Car race to start the year.

And finally my new years resolution:

1. Enjoy the hobby as I did when I was a 9 year old kid. Whether it be bashing alone or racing internationally.
2. Update RCCarTips.com with concise and relevant information that other websites do not have.
3. Push for kids and newcomers to join and enjoy the hobby by conducting monthly fun rc car races.

Again, wishing you and your family a very Happy New Year! Let the fireworks begin!

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