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slefain
slefain UltraDork
4/12/13 10:24 a.m.

I want a new toy. I know, I already have 7 cars, a motorcycle, and a few old school R/C cars that don't run but could be reborn. But I want THIS!

Traxxas 1/10 scale Grave Digger. It is apparently based on the Stampede. I owned one of the first Traxxas cars, the Bullet, and still have it in pieces somewhere. I haven't messed with hobby grade stuff in 20 years. Currently I'm bashing around the back yard with toy grade R/Cs that I hacked to run on my old hobby grade battery packs.

This new stuff just looks insane to me. The truck is ready-to-run, includes a radio, and a battery pack, for only $230 (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004ID9OIE/ref=asc_df_B004ID9OIE2468141?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&tag=pg-1536-01-20&linkCode=asn&creative=395097&creativeASIN=B004ID9OIE). Holy smokes that seems like a deal. So GRM collective, talk me out of it!

1988RedT2
1988RedT2 UberDork
4/12/13 10:44 a.m.

Get it. Now. My son got one for Christmas. It's one of their cheaper trucks--a Monster Jam Max D. The thing will ride a wheelie forever. Or at least until you flip it. The Traxxas stuff is way cool, built to take abuse, and every part on the thing can be ordered from Traxxas when you break something.
Highly recommended.

Edit: I just clicked the link. Same truck my son has with a different body. Get it.

ransom
ransom UltraDork
4/12/13 10:50 a.m.

No, can't do it, mustn't follow link... Too late...

I know where this rabbit hole goes. I think it'd be fun to have one to blast around the yard, but without a second one to race (and someone to drive it) I know it won't actually be all that exciting...

Got to keep from getting distracted from my 1:1 scale kits

DuctTape&Bondo
DuctTape&Bondo HalfDork
4/12/13 12:30 p.m.

My son got a Traxxas Stampede for xmas too. He's broken a few parts which has cost him about $30 in uprated replacement parts. Once it came down funny and broke a plastic arm, after it was repaired an associated part failed. The other time he slid sideways into a curb and broke the plastic subframe, I've had to take apart the gearbox to clean and repack it. The motor died a month or two ago and I need to call Traxxas and see if they'll warranty it. He still loves it, me, not so much. It is a blast when it's running lol, esp to people like us who've only ever had dept store RC cars. The better battery packs are worth it.

Ranger50
Ranger50 PowerDork
4/12/13 12:33 p.m.

Never liked anything Traxxas made. Matter of fact still don't. Can't stand the posermobiles of Tamiya mindset.

Derick Freese
Derick Freese SuperDork
4/12/13 12:50 p.m.

In reply to Ranger50:

I actually like vintage Tamiyas for bashing. If I were buying new, it wouldn't be a Traxxas, though. To me, they're like Dell Computers. Great for mass consumption, but not the best bang for the buck.

Ranger50
Ranger50 PowerDork
4/12/13 12:58 p.m.

In reply to Derick Freese:

Well, if you are talking the Bruiser with its steel frame and 2 speed transmission that you can NOT break, maybe. My poor Grasshopper was a broken POS in 3 days. I have an old Losi XX buggy that hasn't broken yet. Same with my Associated RC10LSO pan car. but then I have a POS Trinty Revolver 1/12th scale 4cell pan car that I have a new t-bar and chassis plate in packaging for because it is a fragile POS.

Wally
Wally UltimaDork
4/12/13 1:01 p.m.

My favorite was my original RC-10 but my brother and I had Hornets, and my dad had a Falcon that were pretty much indestructable. If I buy another one it would be a Tamiya but a Semi instead of another car

Ashyukun
Ashyukun Reader
4/12/13 1:02 p.m.

Wow, blast from the past... I had a Grasshopper when I was a kid that got thrashed until I baked the motor, and promptly effectively upgraded it to a Hornet. Had several others over the following years (still kind of wish I'd kept the Maxxum FF, it was a neat car if not impossible to win races with since it had to race against 4WD cars...) but eventually sold all my RC stuff about a decade ago. Now I figure when I have a bit more time I'm going to pick up a more modern one to play with, though I really don't like all the 'ready to run' cars nowawadays- putting it together and learning how it worked was half the fun!

slefain
slefain UltraDork
4/12/13 1:57 p.m.

I've got a Traxxas Bullet. it was a pretty good car. My brother had a Falcon and it used to spit out dog bones all the time. Neither car are in running shape right now, but I always wanted a monster truck. I actually always wanted a Marui Big Bear:

I was thinking of getting the smaller 1/16 version of the Gravedigger, but for only $20 I get a much bigger truck that can handle more mods and has more potential.

ransom
ransom UltraDork
4/12/13 2:19 p.m.
Wally wrote: My favorite was my original RC-10 but my brother and I had Hornets, and my dad had a Falcon that were pretty much indestructable. If I buy another one it would be a Tamiya but a Semi instead of another car

Similar here. My first "hobby shop" R/C car was a Hornet (I searched the house for xmas presents and found it... Then was stupid enough to confess to my dad that I had. He was torqued, and made me promise not to tell my mom and to act surprised)

I went from there to an RC-10 when I started racing and it was night and day better... Always had a soft spot for that car and the introduction it gave me to better-than-Tamiya hobby-grade stuff. That said, I think the Yokomo C4/Associated YZ10 was my most prized R/C car phase...

I have no idea what I'd do if I decided to start racing R/C again...

Ranger50
Ranger50 PowerDork
4/12/13 2:24 p.m.
ransom wrote: I have no idea what I'd do if I decided to start racing R/C again...

I still leaf through the Radio Control Car action mags at the grocery store.. I'd be all over a 1/10 AWD nitro touring car and probably a 1/8 or 1/10 "big block converted" nitro buggy or short course truck.

slefain
slefain UltraDork
4/12/13 2:43 p.m.
Ranger50 wrote:
ransom wrote: I have no idea what I'd do if I decided to start racing R/C again...
I still leaf through the Radio Control Car action mags at the grocery store.. I'd be all over a 1/10 AWD nitro touring car and probably a 1/8 or 1/10 "big block converted" nitro buggy or short course truck.

I still look through the mags too. I had a 1/8 scale nitro buggy as well (Kyosho Inferno). Stupid fast, borderline dangerous. But what a pain to maintain. I'm really liking the new brushless tech and the LiPo battery tech. It seems that the new electrics are as fast (or faster) than nitro.

I do have one problem though: my soon to be 4-year old son. Currently we play R/C trucks together and I let him drive either truck, but he's not allowed to drive my Tyco Fast Trax. It is just too fast with the hobby grade battery setup. If I get a new 1/10 monster truck he's going to want to drive it as well, and he's not ready for that yet.

1988RedT2
1988RedT2 UberDork
4/12/13 2:46 p.m.

My neighbor has a nitro truck, one of the top-end Traxxass ones. Seeing as often as he's putting new parts on it, and trying to get it started, there's no way I'd ever go nitro. The LiPo ones are stone simple, reliable, and pretty much just as badass.

driver109x
driver109x HalfDork
4/12/13 2:52 p.m.

I still have my old traxxas buggy (I forgot the name) back when traxxas was a cheaper option for the RC10 and Losi brands. I even put a truck body on it and bigger tires. I also have tamiya nissan primera jtcc car.

Teh E36 M3
Teh E36 M3 Dork
4/12/13 3:05 p.m.

Father Christmas got my son a 1/10 slash for Christmas. It is berkeleying sweet. Pretty resilient too, as he has run it in to about everything. No failures. All in about $300 with fast charger and two batteries.

Fueled by Caffeine
Fueled by Caffeine MegaDork
4/12/13 4:46 p.m.

I have an old traxxas sledgehammer. Yeah. I'm old school.

zipty842
zipty842 Reader
4/12/13 4:51 p.m.

I've had the same rustler since 1996. The shop owner was surprised when I said it came as a kit. The good thing about the rustler/bandit/stampede is that the parts are fairly cheap and have been around forever.

mndsm
mndsm PowerDork
4/12/13 4:58 p.m.

DO IT. Traxxas stuff is amazing for bashing, and it's a US company! I've got a Traxxas Rustler that was converted to brushless/lipo, and it'll do about...70. I also have a Team Associated T4, and a Tamiya TB03 that was converted to drift spec with a Eagle Racing GRT V2 chassis kit..... and is running a 5700kv 4pole Mamba and a 2s lipo. It's a little overkill for a drifter.

As far as your kids playing with these, a LOT of the traxxas stuff comes standard with a programmable ECU, you can turn it way down for the lil tykes.

Racer1ab
Racer1ab HalfDork
4/12/13 5:42 p.m.

I was just thinking about this the other day. I could have several good electric RC cars, a decent RC truck, and a quad rotor RC heli all for under challenge price AND afford a nice cabinet to use to store them.

Now I just need some disposable income.

Toyman01
Toyman01 PowerDork
4/12/13 6:23 p.m.

I picked up a Traxxas Revo several years ago. Awesome machine. Nothing like 4WD, inches of suspension travel, 2 speed transmission and nitro power. Fun, but been sitting on a shelf for a while now. No time.

I've had a multitude of Tamiya cars, most of Associated's line up, several Losi cars as well a couple of Ofna cars, not to mention managing a hobby shop for 12 years. For general bashing, Traxxas is hard to beat. Fast, fun, durable, cheap and parts are easy to get.

patgizz
patgizz UberDork
4/13/13 10:02 a.m.

i have 2 stampedes. one that is all original and low time on it from when i was 15 or so that i got new, and one that i modded the crap out of that flat out flies. i did the widetrack conversion on it too so it doesn't roll over at speed in turns.

they are fun and cheaper than modding the crap out of 1:1 scale cars

mndsm
mndsm PowerDork
4/13/13 10:07 a.m.
patgizz wrote: i have 2 stampedes. one that is all original and low time on it from when i was 15 or so that i got new, and one that i modded the crap out of that flat out flies. i did the widetrack conversion on it too so it doesn't roll over at speed in turns. they are fun and cheaper than modding the crap out of 1:1 scale cars

That depends lol... my current 3 RC cars probably cost as much all in as a decent challenge car.

slefain
slefain UltraDork
4/15/13 9:02 a.m.

Looks like I found a winner:

The HPI Wheely King. Holy smokes what a deal. http://www.amazon.com/HPI-Waterproof-Ready-To-Run-Monster-HPI106173/dp/B006P3CNS8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1366034398&sr=8-1&keywords=hpi+wheely+king

So for $236 I get a real 4x4 truck, waterproof, ready-to-run, with radio, battery and charger. And it looks frickn' AWESOME! Time to sell some stuff to finance this little purchase...

Strizzo
Strizzo UberDork
4/15/13 9:15 a.m.
Ranger50 wrote: Never liked anything Traxxas made. Matter of fact still don't. Can't stand the posermobiles of Tamiya mindset.

they're popular with the "basher" crowd, that probably aren't going to race, just run around in the back yard or up and down the neighborhood street. I used to race trucks on an indoor carpet and road course track (indoor soccer facility with boards laid out for the track), and the super serious guys would run losi on the oval and traxxas on the road course weeks becausethey were so durable. i also ran mid pack with a tamiya TLO-1 back in the day against the carbon chassis belt drive HPI and Losi touring cars.

also, unless things have changed, the stampede is 2wd only, might try to find a used e-maxx for similar dollars.

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