Does the Mario Kart RC Carrera count? We put 3 balloons on the back and do battle mode. Did this w/ the wife and kids during the summer.
Well, there are sorta two kinds of RC cars, Hobby and Toy. Both have their uses, sometimes the lines are blurred, but this and the Jurassic Park Jeep would be Toy for sure. I haven't seen the Mario Kart ones but I'd assume the quality is on the high end for Toy stuff. I know the Hot Wheels cars sure are. Nintendo seems to demand a certain minimal level of quality and I think they more or less made this themselves, right?
Broadly but not precisely....
Hobby:
1: Build from a kit.
2: Sold at hobby stores.
3: Usually on the market for years and years (Lunchbox has been on the market since 1987 and is based on an even older kit).
4: Spares are sold at the same store as the car, good support from manufacturer and 3rd parties.
5: Usually light and fast OR accurate depictions of something.
6: They can go outside (in fact, indoor is usually impractical if not impossible).
7: Rarely licensed from popular IPs (probably not Superman, Power Rangers, etc) because paying %40 to the rights holder makes the car junk.
8: Little to no cutting edge tech, but rather established tech.
9: Can be maintained and rebuilt for literally decades and handed down to the next generation.
10: Modular with little to no proprietary parts (no "black boxes", glopped chips, don't need a Switch or an iPhone or whatever to use it).
11: Designed to go fast, break, be fixed, and go fast again.
12: Higher initial cost.
Toy:
1: Came built in the box
2: Sold at Walmart, TRU, Target, Ali Express, etc,
3: Made for one or two seasons then abandoned forever no matter how successful it is.
4: Spares are perhaps included in the box, maybe available from the manufacturer, but often the Toy is junk the first time it breaks a single part.
5: Slow, heavy.
6: Indoor only, not waterproof or easily made waterproof.
7: Usually called Grave Digger or Batmobile or something to get Grandma's attention at XMas time.
8: Glop topped chips, non-standard radios, weird shitty little batteries.
9: Junk as soon as you hit a curb.
10: All proprietary parts except for maybe the motor.
11: Designed for the trash can so you can buy another one next year.
12: Cheaper initial cost.
I typically only use stock power levels and official Tamiya parts. "Stock" is good because stock is reliable and stock replacement parts are cheap and easy to find. If you aren't actually racing against anyone then more speed is pointless. What matters is fun. The LB has smacked into some shit at max force multiple times and its rolled more often than I can count. Its extremely durable by design.
