Why do you think this is an "old man" hobby?

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Sir did you bring back memories

I forgot about that....the little money I did get I took to the neighborhood store for balsa wood airplanes. Some were just planes you put together but I was in love with the ones that had the rubber band and propeller. We played with those for hours until the woos split! Mine you grabbing a box of Boston Baked Beans and Lemon heads candy as we left the store!

It was a time of riding bikes as you said. We had to put the links back in the chain, adjust brakes, neck, seat, adjust handlebars, etc...if you jumped it you were going to break something...meant also learning to fix your own bike.
I almost fell out my chair on this one.
As I'm reading this whats sitting next to me...
Never too old for what makes you happy!
And testing to see if anything I liked doing as a child sparks interest with my son.

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I almost fell out my chair on this one.
As I'm reading this whats sitting next to me...
Never too old for what makes you happy!
And testing to see if anything I liked doing as a child sparks interest with my son.

View attachment 206088
Those things use to cost me dime at the drugstore 🤣 🤣
 
This is a little tounge-in-cheek, but it holds some truth. It seems like the majority of people in this hobby are on the second half of their life. Of course, we have all ages here, but the whippet-sniffers are in the minority. Why do you think that is?

Money? Maybe, but there are plenty of cheap RCs out there and kids will spend $60+ on a single video game

Too active? I mean, it's not like it's a sport, but you do have to leave your couch.

Too real? Maybe a Twitter-based RC game would draw them in? 🤣
I think its to do with having a disposable income and nostalgia. I definitely wouldn't of afforded it as a young lad. I'm 41 and I work, work and sleep, so I think I was subconsciously looking for a hobby to break things up a bit. A hobby that I could do at home and with my kids. I like working with my hands so this hobby was right for me. Its also a hobby that I can do at a drop of a hat and not rely on others.
 
Kind of weird how I got into it. Grandma died... we had to clean out her house. I have saved up the money that I collected from it. Got a towerhobbies magazine and saw everything. Instead of ordering it online at the time. I decided to go to a local hobbyshop. Picked up a tamyia tt01 and built it. Second one was a traxxas Stampede on my 14ish birthday. I also got Grandma chevy cavalier. Sold it and bought a Saturn sl2. Which ended up selling it since I couldn't legally drive yet. For a team associate tc4.. but I normally dip in and out of the hobby.. I'll cut my losses and move on with life and cross paths again when something sparks my interest. Same with 1:1 cars too.
 
When I was younger RC wasn't even on my radar, I was always out on my bmx bike. I was a late bloomer and didn't get into rc until I was in my late 40's when I realized I could afford to give it a try.

@Exc3l we all know your a geezer at heart!
 
My 5 cents...
I agree with most of you. Having the time being the most compelling for me...
And, I might even enjoy working/servicing/moding even more than driving. My last RC was over 45 years ago and I am amazed at the progress in the RC world.
 
When I was young, I did have an interest in the RC world. I thought remotely controlling an object was awesome. Yet it was one of those things for "rich kids". My sister and I learned young not to ask for electronic stuff unless it plugged into the wall. Because if asking for things like walkmans, RCs etc.. our folks would be like, "what? You WANT batteries too?!?! Ungrateful b4st4rds". Imagine me saying I needed a part that broke to repair it? I just shuddered. We weren't poor but both parents came from households where every dollar mattered and the line between NEED and WANT was clearly defined..
 
Why is RC an old man hobby?
1. You don't need to log in to a site
2. You can't type on your phone and drive at the same time
3. The controller isn't like an Xbox game pad, wtf?
4. You only get one "life", no respawn so you gotta take it home and fix it
5. It involves walking
6. You have to leave the house
7. Your "friends" don't get instant notifications about what you're doing
8. Your mom doesn't want you using dangerous hand tools like allen wrenches
9. Your dad has the second fastest turbo motorcycle in the state
 
Why is RC an old man hobby?
1. You don't need to log in to a site
2. You can't type on your phone and drive at the same time
3. The controller isn't like an Xbox game pad, wtf?
4. You only get one "life", no respawn so you gotta take it home and fix it
5. It involves walking
6. You have to leave the house
7. Your "friends" don't get instant notifications about what you're doing
8. Your mom doesn't want you using dangerous hand tools like allen wrenches
9. Your dad has the second fastest turbo motorcycle in the state
I did not want to be so blunt... But I could not agree more! :cool:
 
One thing that has made a huge difference is the RTR. Ready to run vehicles make it so much easier to access the hobby. I would never have bothered building a kit. I was into Motocross as a kid not model cars or planes.

Now I'm in my 50s I've got money and RTRs. I've even learnt to wrench and now always have 3 or 4 cars ready to run ... and they get run everyday if possible.

Money - Time and RTR 🤟🤟🤟
 
This is a great topic

And one that was brought up at my local crawler groups first meeting

At 38 years old with 4 young boys I see multiple reasons

But the biggest is its our job the older people to bring the younger into the hobby

This is not a organized sport like soccer or basketball

My 10 year old can not get get into the hobby himself without help from someone older to help with the hobby from a $$ side and a hands on side

Younger kids need someone to coach or teach them for the first couple years and that is just not there

The only way to get or keep the youth in the hobby is for us to be hands on with them

************************************

So I ask all of the older and seasoned hobbyists. bring a old beater rig with you when you go to the track or local bash spot. ( we all have them laying around) And the first kid that shows interest bust out that beater and let them play with it. Not only is the smile on there face priceless but the hobby may have gotten a new member. This is how we keep the youth
 
This may sound harsh but not going to sugar coat it. I don't mind helping out kids most of the time, but...
When I am running my RC's, it is my time to unwind from the daily grind that is life. I need this time to relax so I don't end up on the evening news. Entertaining someone else's kids while trying to enjoy my hobby is not relaxing. I believe parent's should do their own parenting.

I'm not saying I hate kids, I'm not real social with adults either when I'm enjoying my personal time. Which is why I look for out of the way places to RC. Yep I'm an old Curmudgeon! :p
 
This may sound harsh but not going to sugar coat it. I don't mind helping out kids most of the time, but...
When I am running my RC's, it is my time to unwind from the daily grind that is life. I need this time to relax so I don't end up on the evening news. Entertaining someone else's kids while trying to enjoy my hobby is not relaxing. I believe parent's should do their own parenting.

I'm not saying I hate kids, I'm not real social with adults either when I'm enjoying my personal time. Which is why I look for out of the way places to RC. Yep I'm an old Curmudgeon! :p

Good points. The odd times I've driven my RCs in public kids certainly look interested. But am I going to let them drive my expensive toys... 🤔
 
This is a great topic

And one that was brought up at my local crawler groups first meeting

At 38 years old with 4 young boys I see multiple reasons

But the biggest is its our job the older people to bring the younger into the hobby

This is not a organized sport like soccer or basketball

My 10 year old can not get get into the hobby himself without help from someone older to help with the hobby from a $$ side and a hands on side

Younger kids need someone to coach or teach them for the first couple years and that is just not there

The only way to get or keep the youth in the hobby is for us to be hands on with them

************************************

So I ask all of the older and seasoned hobbyists. bring a old beater rig with you when you go to the track or local bash spot. ( we all have them laying around) And the first kid that shows interest bust out that beater and let them play with it. Not only is the smile on there face priceless but the hobby may have gotten a new member. This is how we keep the youth
I love your last paragraph and its EXACTLY what got this 43 year old kid into crawling last October. And he still brings an extra crawler or two every time we go out in case someone brings a friend or child.
This truly is a great way to get more into the hobby. I was given a brushed Redcat Blackout in July 2020 to join friends racing in the woods and the rest is history.
And yeah, I wouldn't mind a kid trying my Redcat or my sons Amp or TRX4. But NOT either of my Sentons. Hell, it's too much for most adults, let alone kids. Someone can get hurt or property damaged and guess who would be liable?
Another friend who started roughly the same time as me undertook an initiative to bring the rc experience to kids who otherwise would not have such opportunities.
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Money, when I was younger i wanted to get into hobby grade nitro cars but it was to expensive for a kid to buy for themselves. Parents couldnt justify the cost of an rc toy.

Fast forward 10-15 years and I can afford to buy all my toys now so i finally got into the hobby about 2-3 years ago. Still isnt cheap by any means.

EDIT: That and its a hell of allot cheaper han 1:1 motorsports.
 
When I was younger there was no way I could afford $500+ toys. So yeah, money plays a big part getting into this expensive hobby. That's why you see so many members on this forum 30+ years old with multiple rigs, some with dedicated rooms to house all their Man toys.
 
No place to run the cars, or friends and family to run the cars with, and no one to introduce it to them when they are young children. The RC car itself is a medium by which people will use to spend time with each other, or in other words, its just not as much fun bashing alone. Luckily for us we have a few fantastic local hobby shops nearby with some seriously good tracks and support.

I’m 46 now and when I was 15 I saved up enough money to purchase my first 2wd RTR buggy which was a very basic car, but I had tons of fun with it. I only got into it then because my friend at the time had a few of them, including a nitro car, and he was into it because his uncle got him into it. His uncle used to take us to a skating rink where they converted it into an RC car race track, and we used to race our cars there. Those are good memories.

Now my son is 11 years old and he‘s been into RC for almost a year. I used to tell him my stories from my childhood RC days which sparked his interest. He saved up his money from chores and purchased a RTR Slash 4x4 last year and now he’s hooked. I limit his device time to Friday and the weekends and keep him involved in sports like football, baseball, and basketball, so he’s well rounded. This hobby has taught him how to work with his hands, how to use tools, and how basic electronics and mechanical things work. Those are great skills to have as a young man. He also loves the scale realism of RC and he‘s currently saving up for a crawler. Best of all, I’m reliving my childhood memories again through watching him enjoy RC today. I of course purchased an RC car for old dad ;) so he didn’t have to run his alone. In fact we just built a mid engine Nitro electric Rustler that we basically built from the parts bin of spare parts with its own custom chassis that my son has had a hand in building. I have a thread with lots of pictures on the build located here. https://www.rctalk.com/forum/threads/rustler-addiction-mid-engine-and-more-lots-of-pictures.133769/
 
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