Outcast What are all of the different RC Brands known for?

[sr925713]

What are the stereotypes for each brand? What are the strengths/weaknesses of each brand? What market segment does each brand target?

Team corally, arrma, losu, traxxas, redcat, etc...

 

[typhon#5]

oh did you mention traxxas ive gotta good one for traxxas karen of rc the destroyer of brands the rotary engine of rc

 

[Hoss81]

Arrma - durable, challenges the status quo
Team Associated - racing pedigree, probably won't be around too much longer
Team Losi - racing Pedigree, changed with the times better than Team Associated
Tamiya - fun entry level RCs with very detail oriented designs. Fragile.
Kyosho- another racing pedigree and long standing brand. Probably most known for the Inferno series
Traxxas - ruined the hobby by turning it into a commodity for spoiled children. But also, spends a poop ton on R&D and makes some fantastic vehicles. The X-maxx is hard to beat.
HPI - once at the top of the hill, has went the way of the dodo bird. I still reserve the Savage was one of the best platforms of all time.
Axial - still a "new" company, invented the crawling/scale segment.

 

[olds97_lss]

Might get a lot of opinions in a thread like this... But that's what the internet is for!

Arrma - I hope you like aftermarket parts!
Team Associated - Used to be the go to for RTR's and racing
Team Losi - Used to compete with Associated a lot for racing, made fragile RTR's that were different
Tamiya - Toys, very good at realism though
Kyosho- Never saw one, but supposed to be good for racing
Traxxas - Brought RC to the masses, then seemed to crush hobby shops will to live in recent years.
HPI - Competed with traxxas and associated for RTR's. Made the savage stronger and easier to work on, then went bankrupt. Trying to come back though.
Axial - Had one of their first nitro engines... hated it, started with cheap crawlers that rivaled integy quality, but now makes pretty good ones.
Mugen Seiki - race oriented
Tekno - Race oriented nitro and electric buggies/truggies. Makes a good MT kit for bashers too.
XTM - cheap rtr's, no longer around
CEN - cheap rtr's
Duratrax - cheap rtr's, now just tires
Hot Bodies - cheap rtr's, a couple racing kits, not sure if still around or not
OFNA/Jammin - cheap rtr's, nice racing kits, no longer around
Hobao - cheap rtr's, not sure what else
Redcat - cheap rtr's that used to be flat out garbage. Seems to now have a few that are somewhat worth buying for bashers and crawlers

There are quite a few others of course. Many I've only read about in RC magazines (remember those), many that have gone extinct.

 

[slick2500]

Arrma - durable, challenges the status quo
Team Associated - racing pedigree, probably won't be around too much longer
Team Losi - racing Pedigree, changed with the times better than Team Associated
Tamiya - fun entry level RCs with very detail oriented designs. Fragile.
Kyosho- another racing pedigree and long standing brand. Probably most known for the Inferno series
Traxxas - ruined the hobby by turning it into a commodity for spoiled children. But also, spends a poop ton on R&D and makes some fantastic vehicles. The X-maxx is hard to beat.
HPI - once at the top of the hill, has went the way of the dodo bird. I still reserve the Savage was one of the best platforms of all time.
Axial - still a "new" company, invented the crawling/scale segment.

HPI is not completely gone, they are more like the Snowy Owl. HRP just got in a shipment of cars and parts at the beginning of the month I noticed.

Might get a lot of opinions in a thread like this... But that's what the internet is for!

Arrma - I hope you like aftermarket parts!
Team Associated - Used to be the go to for RTR's and racing
Team Losi - Used to compete with Associated a lot for racing, made fragile RTR's that were different
Tamiya - Toys, very good at realism though
Kyosho- Never saw one, but supposed to be good for racing
Traxxas - Brought RC to the masses, then seemed to crush hobby shops will to live in recent years.
HPI - Competed with traxxas and associated for RTR's. Made the savage stronger and easier to work on, then went bankrupt. Trying to come back though.
Axial - Had one of their first nitro engines... hated it, started with cheap crawlers that rivaled integy quality, but now makes pretty good ones.
Mugen Seiki - race oriented
Tekno - Race oriented nitro and electric buggies/truggies. Makes a good MT kit for bashers too.
XTM - cheap rtr's, no longer around
CEN - cheap rtr's
Duratrax - cheap rtr's, now just tires
Hot Bodies - cheap rtr's, a couple racing kits, not sure if still around or not
OFNA/Jammin - cheap rtr's, nice racing kits, no longer around
Hobao - cheap rtr's, not sure what else
Redcat - cheap rtr's that used to be flat out garbage. Seems to now have a few that are somewhat worth buying for bashers and crawlers

There are quite a few others of course. Many I've only read about in RC magazines (remember those), many that have gone extinct.

Tekno used to be known as a top tier upgrade company, they made tons of upgrades for Traxxas vehicles and they made a lot of e conversions for nitro vehicles.
Hot Bodies is till around and they still make some top notch race grade kits, I heard the 1/10 stuff is a bit fragile though.

 

[olds97_lss]

HPI is not completely gone, they are more like the Snowy Owl. HRP just got in a shipment of cars and parts at the beginning of the month I noticed.

Tekno used to be known as a top tier upgrade company, they made tons of upgrades for Traxxas vehicles and they made a lot of e conversions for nitro vehicles.
Hot Bodies is till around and they still make some top notch race grade kits, I heard the 1/10 stuff is a bit fragile though.

HB was kind of under HPI for a while, wasn't sure what happened with them. I had a hot bodies lightning buggy many years ago. Didn't hold a candle to the Jammin XB1 I had for build quality. The lightning was on par with the OFNA Ultra LX though.

 

[slick2500]

HB was kind of under HPI for a while, wasn't sure what happened with them. I had a hot bodies lightning buggy many years ago. Didn't hold a candle to the Jammin XB1 I had for build quality. The lightning was on par with the OFNA Ultra LX though.

HB Racing jumped the HPI ship right before it sank. Looks like they actually just updated the Truggy https://hbracing.com/en/cars/off-road/electric/e8t-evo3-1-8-competition-electric-truggy-en/

 

[olds97_lss]

HB Racing jumped the HPI ship right before it sank. Looks like they actually just updated the Truggy https://hbracing.com/en/cars/off-road/electric/e8t-evo3-1-8-competition-electric-truggy-en/

Geez, they must be good now... if you look at the price!

 

[sr925713]

Might get a lot of opinions in a thread like this... But that's what the internet is for!

Arrma - I hope you like aftermarket parts!
Team Associated - Used to be the go to for RTR's and racing
Team Losi - Used to compete with Associated a lot for racing, made fragile RTR's that were different
Tamiya - Toys, very good at realism though
Kyosho- Never saw one, but supposed to be good for racing
Traxxas - Brought RC to the masses, then seemed to crush hobby shops will to live in recent years.
HPI - Competed with traxxas and associated for RTR's. Made the savage stronger and easier to work on, then went bankrupt. Trying to come back though.
Axial - Had one of their first nitro engines... hated it, started with cheap crawlers that rivaled integy quality, but now makes pretty good ones.
Mugen Seiki - race oriented
Tekno - Race oriented nitro and electric buggies/truggies. Makes a good MT kit for bashers too.
XTM - cheap rtr's, no longer around
CEN - cheap rtr's
Duratrax - cheap rtr's, now just tires
Hot Bodies - cheap rtr's, a couple racing kits, not sure if still around or not
OFNA/Jammin - cheap rtr's, nice racing kits, no longer around
Hobao - cheap rtr's, not sure what else
Redcat - cheap rtr's that used to be flat out garbage. Seems to now have a few that are somewhat worth buying for bashers and crawlers

There are quite a few others of course. Many I've only read about in RC magazines (remember those), many that have gone extinct.

Opinions is what I'm looking for! Just curious. Obviously i have an arrma but I haven't explored whats out there too much

 

[slick2500]

Geez, they must be good now... if you look at the price!

I'm not sure what is going on with the prices on their page, but they are usually priced about the same as Xray, Mugen and Tekno normally. Amain says $659.99 https://www.amainhobbies.com/hb-rac...ffroad-electric-truggy-kit-hbs204576/p1279731

 

[RoyRoy]

This is a great thread! “Team Corally has been getting a lot of press, lately. What’s up with those guys? Their price point seems to reflect a premium product. (?)

 

[slick2500]

This is a great thread! “Team Corally has been getting a lot of press, lately. What’s up with those guys? Their price point seems to reflect a premium product. (?)

Their initial 1/8 rtr releases were not that great, you can find them brand new being liquidated for like $350. They already revised them and changed so much stuff it is not worth upgrading the older models to the new stuff, it is basically like taking a V1 Arrma and trying to upgrade it to V5 parts, you are better off just buying the newer model at that point.

I hear their 1/10 trucks are supposed to be pretty good though.

They have been around in the race scene for a long time now, very popular in Europe, not so much here in the States.

 

[freelosophy]

I got a tekno MT410 and I'd be a liar if I said anything except I LOVE the dam thing. also got a granite 3S BLX. Looking for another bashing kit to build and had my eye on the new one from Arrma but from what I read it doesn't look like it comes up to the tekno standard. Any other jumping monster trucks out there as good as the MT410? am talking 1/8 scale in kit form? I can't find one . . .

 

[razorrc]

Team Associated - racing pedigree, probably won't be around too much longer

I'm curious on why you say that?

 

[slick2500]

I got a tekno MT410 and I'd be a liar if I said anything except I LOVE the dam thing. also got a granite 3S BLX. Looking for another bashing kit to build and had my eye on the new one from Arrma but from what I read it doesn't look like it comes up to the tekno standard. Any other jumping monster trucks out there as good as the MT410? am talking 1/8 scale in kit form? I can't find one . . .

Sadly no, everything is rtr or rollers. That being said I would look at the Hobao Hyper MT Plus II.

I'm curious on why you say that?

Probably because they were bought out by Thunder Tiger who has pretty much fallen off the face of the earth. I see their race stuff sticking around, their rtr stuff not so much the rtrs just don't seem to be as popular as they once were.

 

[razorrc]

Team Associated still dominates the 1/10 off-road racing scene, they probably outsell their next competitor (TLR) like 10:1. 1/8 scale they are not that popular. They're still the biggest race company in the world.

RTR-wise, they dropped off on the buggy/truck/4wd off-road, but their ProSC10 and variants are doing well (drag racer DR10, oval racer SR10).

My opinion on the basher brands:

Team Corally: long time European race company, mainly on on-road. Trying to become Arrma circa 2015, by making cheap, fast, durable 1/8 RTR's.
Losi: 1/5 scale and gas/nitro off-road. Expensive RTR versions of their 1/10 race brand (TLR), but made at a much lower quality.
Traxxas: a bunch of old designs that suck, a bunch of new designs that are very good. Overpriced.
Redcat Racing: relabeled Chinese/Taiwanese RC cars. A few in-house designs on the crawler side that are true Redcat cars. Cheap cars that range from OK to crappy.
Arrma: Yearly incremental updates. Used to be a fast, cheap, durable brand. Now becoming a fast, expensive, durable brand. Creating new market segments.

 

[SrC]

Arrma - durable, challenges the status quo
Team Associated - racing pedigree, probably won't be around too much longer
Team Losi - racing Pedigree, changed with the times better than Team Associated
Tamiya - fun entry level RCs with very detail oriented designs. Fragile.
Kyosho- another racing pedigree and long standing brand. Probably most known for the Inferno series
Traxxas - ruined the hobby by turning it into a commodity for spoiled children. But also, spends a poop ton on R&D and makes some fantastic vehicles. The X-maxx is hard to beat.
HPI - once at the top of the hill, has went the way of the dodo bird. I still reserve the Savage was one of the best platforms of all time.
Axial - still a "new" company, invented the crawling/scale segment.

Axial and Arrma were created at the same time. By Dragon Star RC Of China. And sold to Hobbico 10-11 years ago.
Axial is no "newer" a company than Arrma. HH bought both when Hobbico filed chapter. Saved both brands. HH knew they were popular and scooped them up.

Team Associated still dominates the 1/10 off-road racing scene, they probably outsell their next competitor (TLR) like 10:1. 1/8 scale they are not that popular. They're still the biggest race company in the world.

RTR-wise, they dropped off on the buggy/truck/4wd off-road, but their ProSC10 and variants are doing well (drag racer DR10, oval racer SR10).

My opinion on the basher brands:

Team Corally: long time European race company, mainly on on-road. Trying to become Arrma circa 2015, by making cheap, fast, durable 1/8 RTR's.
Losi: 1/5 scale and gas/nitro off-road. Expensive RTR versions of their 1/10 race brand (TLR), but made at a much lower quality.
Traxxas: a bunch of old designs that suck, a bunch of new designs that are very good. Overpriced.
Redcat Racing: relabeled Chinese/Taiwanese RC cars. A few in-house designs on the crawler side that are true Redcat cars. Cheap cars that range from OK to crappy.
Arrma: Yearly incremental updates. Used to be a fast, cheap, durable brand. Now becoming a fast, expensive, durable brand. Creating new market segments.

Thunder Tiger ruined Team Associated in my opinion when TA was sold to them. TA floundered for several years after. The TA RTRs are just TT melons. That come and go. Parts bin stuff that TT also sells cheaper under their own label globaly. TT's website is a mess. So are they. Team Associated carries TT's profit and bottom line. TT is basically just the Mfr for TA now. TA is only dominant as a 1/10 Race brand in the US. Globally is has very stiff competition. Unlike many years ago.

 

[razorrc]

Thunder Tiger ruined Team Associated in my opinion when TA was sold to them. TA floundered for several years after. The TA RTRs are just TT melons. That come and go. Parts bin stuff that TT also sells cheaper under their own label globaly. TT's website is a mess. So are they. Team Associated carries TT's profit and bottom line. TT is basically just the Mfr for TA now. TA is only dominant as a 1/10 Race brand in the US. Globally is has very stiff competition. Unlike many years ago.

I don't know if you've bought an AE 1/10 in the last 5 years, but all of their race kits are much improved quality since they moved the mfg. from China to Taiwan. The AE RTR TT stuff was junk (I think it was only the 4wd SCT's, I can't remember any other TT vehicles), but I don't think any of the current RTR's are TT designs. But you are right that TT basically doesn't do anything on the RC side.

IMO, the 1/10 brands all lead in their respective home markets. Kyosho/Yokomo/Tamiya were all that the hobby stores carried when I visited Japan last year. Schumacher dominates the U.K. Xray is the most popular brand in Europe. And AE/TLR/Tekno are the most popular brands in the U.S.

 

[SrC]

I agree with you regarding their respective markets. I know they brought production to Taiwan. QC and materials are leaps and bounds better, yes.
I don't race anymore, So TA is not a consideration for me anymore. Hasn't been since the early 2000's. I invested much in TA from the 90's till then. And honestly, that bad taste in my mouth left me with Tekno as my first pick as kits go, currently. I know there is better out there globally. I know TA has much more invested in their Race program. If I did race, 1/10 scale would be my choice. Any class. But probably in a Tekno platfrom.

 

[slick2500]

Team Associated still dominates the 1/10 off-road racing scene, they probably outsell their next competitor (TLR) like 10:1. 1/8 scale they are not that popular. They're still the biggest race company in the world.

RTR-wise, they dropped off on the buggy/truck/4wd off-road, but their ProSC10 and variants are doing well (drag racer DR10, oval racer SR10).

My opinion on the basher brands:

Team Corally: long time European race company, mainly on on-road. Trying to become Arrma circa 2015, by making cheap, fast, durable 1/8 RTR's.
Losi: 1/5 scale and gas/nitro off-road. Expensive RTR versions of their 1/10 race brand (TLR), but made at a much lower quality.
Traxxas: a bunch of old designs that suck, a bunch of new designs that are very good. Overpriced.
Redcat Racing: relabeled Chinese/Taiwanese RC cars. A few in-house designs on the crawler side that are true Redcat cars. Cheap cars that range from OK to crappy.
Arrma: Yearly incremental updates. Used to be a fast, cheap, durable brand. Now becoming a fast, expensive, durable brand. Creating new market segments.

90% of the local guys run Team Associated cars for racing.