THE DEATH OF TAMIYA Budget RC Kits? WLTOYS 124019 RC Buggy Head To Head Review, it's Controversial
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- Опубликовано: 8 сен 2024
- We take a hard look at the budget offerings from Tamiya & Wltoys to see who is offering the best value for money. Has the beginning of the end finally arrived for Tamiya's budget RC's? Let's dive into it and find out.
Links below to all products discussed in this video.
Tamiya Plasma Edge 2
landlmodels.co...
or
www.modelsport...
RCKicks Affiliate links
Wltoys 124019 car 1x, 2x or 3x Lipo battery.
www.banggood.c...
iMAX B6 80W 6A Lipo Battery Balance Charger
www.banggood.c...
Wltoys 124019 Upgraded Metal Parts Set
www.banggood.c...
Metal Differential For Wltoys 124019
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FlySky GT3C 2.4Ghz 3CH AFHDS LCD Screen PPM Output Transmitter
uk.banggood.co...
DSSERVO DS3225 25KG 180 Degree Metal Gear High Torque Waterproof Digital Servo
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#WLTOYS #rckicks #124019
I think part of the tamiya enjoyment is actually the assembly.
Agree but I think this is changing as more and more RTR kits are becoming available.
Put your money where you like it, because the wheels are turning away from that direction.
For me 80% for building and 20% for running.
Same here although I don't do or collect tamiya more of a Schumacher collector
That main enjoyment for me is the build then second the racing
@@RCKickschannel RC planes have gone exactly the same..ARTF... almost ready to fly...out of the box..it's a changing world..🤔🇬🇧😎
if you buy your son a Tamiya and assemble it with him he will remember it for the rest of his life. You cannot put a price on that.
Take the WLtoys car apart before giving it to him and save £100 and have a better rc car once re-assembled ;)
yes... best for kids to learn and appreciate what they built..
Do not buy rtr. Get a kit instead. You will remember it
I’m a huge Tamiya fan and love the building of kits more than running them. However, I hope this type of competition makes Tamiya finally start including ball bearings and metal shocks in all their kits. They need to start offering a slightly more competitive kit or they will lose business to these new budget cars.
amen, having to automatically buy a bearings kit all the time is old.
I thought so too but making the customer choose to buy the bearing upgrade is IMO kind of a smart move... yes it seems tedious and "stupid" objectively BUT the customer is getting a choice and with that comes a sense of accomplishment and superiority for just choosing and implementing this upgrade into their build, also introducing the customer to hop-ups ;).
This hobby is pretty stale as it is and development has been stagnant with pretty much only brushless and lipo making it into the mainstream, otherwise being bombarded with RE-RE-RE-RE-REs to tickle the nostalgia so they have to artificially up the "complexity"... Tamiya could always lean on their excellent customer experience. The build, the feel, and the design of the packaging. The Grasshopper Box design is still the best art style on the market... still not sure why they did not use this art style for all of their models... IMO they should not compete, they should build upon what they have done best, and with all the youtube channels showing RE-RE-RE after RE-RE, there is definitely a market for well-made building experiences and the nostalgia of course that they are milking already, despite other RTRs having technically more... nostalgia alone, however, is not a really attractive selling point for a lot of people, especially when you are building the same old kit over and over and over... not sure why people would do that... Tamiya is not innovating, not building on its excellent kits, and just milking the nostalgia wave for what it is worth until its customer base is dead.
@@philxdev you know, i just realized something. I dont even run my kits :/
im upgrading to bearings for no damn reason.
@@gigglehurtz3167 for no damn reason= wrong^^ ... putting in these plastic bushings just feels wrong, so you are doing it for fun, which is in the end all that matters... Cheers
@@gigglehurtz3167 gotta have bearings for the mental relief!!
It's never been about the "value", guys. This is a hobby afterall.
Tamiya and Kyosho cars are better than the competition for their attention to detail and real scale proportions in their designs. That's why they are so sought after.
Lots of great things about tamiya and kyosho but out of all the cars I have owned they have generally been the most fragile cars to run.
Tamiya kits are more Toy grade & fragile, Traxxas, Arrma, Team Associated Losi etc are Hobby Grade kits you can actually invest in & ground & pound... 💯🤘🏼
@@ConditionZero76 If you value real scale proportions as in a 1/10th car actually is a 1/10th car you'll appreciate Tamiya and Kyosho models. Those other brands you mention are fine racing machines but nowhere near real scale.
@@philxdev Tamiya is simply exisiting by the sheer virtue of 1980s and 1990s Gen X nostalgia. Tamiya has to innovate and introduce new and groundbreaking models, at a reasonable price, if they have any hope whatsoever of keeping their traditional market share. Otherwise, the Chinese brands will rightly carve up more of the market for themselves; the Chinese are giving what consumers want at a fair price.
Heaven forbid the Chinese brands introduce kits in addition to RTRs. This development would really diminish the USP of Tamiya kits.
Business is business. If you want to stay in business, to grow the business, stay relevant to modern times. It is just not 2002 anymore.
@@user-kc1tf7zm3b I completely agree... RE-RE-RE- after RE-RE. If the other manufacturers start upping their game in terms of box design, with nice kits and detailed instructions... oh boy.
I have a certain brand loyalty to Tamiya, springing from my experience with them as a kid growing up in the golden age of RC in the 80s. These were the COOLEST "toys" available at the time and have not lost that luster. The re-re's fill the nostalgia niche perfectly, even with the brand name licensing issues. I'd sooner drop $250 on a Tamiya kit over a much more affordable Chinese option, even if they were identical on paper. I'd also rather support a Japanese company than a Chinese one, for a lot of different reasons, one being China's labor practices, which is a major factor in why they're able to undercut competition from other nations.
Please don't become a billboard for these Chinese companies. They seem to infiltrate any channel that becomes somewhat popular by sending them free stuff. I come to RCKicks for the quality Tamiya/vintage content.
I'm out over $300 from Bangood, cocks ripped Me off Royal, missing an RC plane and two double orders, They charge tracking and insurance but won't honour, steer clear Friend!
Its not for me but I think the WL Toys is for a different RC crowd. I can see some people bashing these every week down at the skate park and not worry a bit about breaking them. Where as a Tamiya or Kyosho is about the modelling aspect. Collecting models, building, painting the body, running the car somewhere sensible, or putting it on the shelf to display your work, and adding or hunting down spares or hopups. Do what ever makes you happy as long as you enjoy it. :)
Agree 100%
Im nott familiar with wltoy. But is the "explorer" written on the box not the name?
No it's called what he said hahaha
I like the Tamiya because of the extra expense and the inconvenience of building myself.
Hahahahaa, just as We like it Jonny!
I guess you also enjoy that the basic TT02 is really is a piece of shit? ;)
Haha yep ridiculous price and hassle and half as fun ha
I like Tamiya too, but building is part of the fun not an inconvenience.
It’s not about “budget”, it’s about fun. My son has vehicles from every major manufacturer but he always spends more time with his cheap Chinese RC’s. Right now he doesn’t want another Traxxas or Tamiya (we have plenty of those) he wants a Wltoys 12423. I checked it out. Looks pretty interesting. Lots of upgrades available too.
i been think of this wl has sanme thing but this has a bit better stuff it look like Feiyue FY03H 1/12 2.4G 4WD Brushless RC Car Metal Body
I need one of these WLToys buggy to bash around and not worry about my precious Tamiya/Kyosho builds
Thats exactly what i do.
Do kids even get tamiyas any more? Just seems like middle aged men to me. That's why they cost so much. They are aimed at a different market.
exactly, old tamiyas are pretty affordable, but now? kids in my country only play with tamiya mini4wd, not the rc
That is a good comment
@@RCKickschannel Tamiya don't have any products in Oz, sellers have nought!
RCMart was the closest an even They are empty on Tamiya, Ive been buying bodies from the UK an sticking Them on WLToys, shocks are awesome an the whole package is on par with a hopped up Nippon.
@@jonoedwards4195 I disagree there are Tamiya products in OZ from most reputable sellers. Sure they don't have the same stock levels (of any RC brand) buts that's mainly due to Covid. My local is even having issues stocking Airfix due to Covid.
@@markhume3503 Please leave some links, Hobby King, RCMart Hong Kong have nothing, so give Us Your Aussie retailers with all the Tamiya stock? I don't think so son?
Tamiya need an expanded Expert Built (XB) range at a lower price point.
Yes I agree.
The Tamiya TRF range are probably some of the best engineered kit out there. But is insanely expensive.
I think that the problem there is that just the bodies of the XB's are quite expensive. Tamiyas XB's aren't like the Traxxas, ARRMA, HPI and WLToys and similar (I belive thye print/dye the flat sheets before they hit the vaccum former). XB's are painted. I was looking around for the Mazda 3 as a XB - as that is such a hard color to do. Now it gets very expensive as I live in Sweden and all XB's on Ebay are from Japan. But the 250 dollar'ish price for a say 130 dollar car with a 40 dollar radio and a proberly done body that for me, probably need around 40 dollars just in paint - that ain't a bad deal. But then you have to think of it more as a 1/10 model car that you can drive, since it's the scale body that you pay for.
I’m 45 years young got in to rc in my teens iv always thought that the building is half the fun of owning one just my opinion
I live in Thailand and WLToys are everywhere. I use them as my runners and keep my Tamiya's looking pretty! The performance is different league to most Tamiya too.
Honestly, I wouldn't use the metal suspension arms in that kit. On impacts the force has to go somewhere, and if you don't have those "sacrificial" composite arms to flex or even break, its going to go to the bulkhead and chassis. I'd rather pay to replace the arms, over the chassis. On top of that, how often (never) do you see top end racing kits using metal suspension arms?
The arms connect to the diff housings. These can be purchased in metal but you can get plastic replacements for around $6.00. I ordered a few extras this morning for just this reason.
I have always found that the RC community is friendly. I am not a fan of creating controversial arguments around it that set to divide your viewership. I much prefer it when you keep it light hearted
I just can't understand how someone who has an avante, a top force evolution, various optimas, tomahawk etc etc can say this looks good....
Banggood sponsored vid
They're just brilliant for the price. I have a 144001. Don't bother upgrading it, keep it stock. All the upgrade parts are hit and miss on tolerances etc.
How different is the 140001 to this one?
@@problemchild1976 144001 has a shorter wheelbase.
@@SPEXWISE cool - I’ll order the 144001
and some extras
I like the shorter wheelbase
@@problemchild1976 Nice you'll enjoy it. Best extras really would be more batteries and a better/quicker charger. The Contact foam wheel/tyres from core rc are good too if you intent to run it on tarmac. You'll run into problems if you start to get metal upgrade parts. They're just fine out of the box, don't waste your money upgrading.
@@SPEXWISE yeah went with the kit with 3 x LiPo for £92
Got my eye on a phatbody :)
124019 = 1/12 scale, 4wd type 19. One thing to check before running is the diffs, they might need more grease, sometimes they're cheeping out on diff grease.
The WLToys 144001 and 104001 are both 4WD yet don't end with 19. Same thing goes for the 124019's brother, the 124018. But I do agree on the scale portion.
@@MrPhilbautista The third number is the number of drive wheels. 12 (scale) 4 (4wd) 019 (type/style)
Interesting times. I come from the Mid 80's Golden age of RC. I got a Striker around 85/86ish, went racing, Thundershot, Cat SWB, XLS, Top Cat, then onto 1/8th IC circuit. Tamiya is a company i have a great deal of affection for. But they are in a difficult spot. The re-res and Comicals indicate to me a desperation to replace their firmly held place in the market with something else. Back in the day, their niche was clear, if you wanted a backyard basher, they were the top end of that. If you wanted to get started in racing, you got a Tamiya. I think they are holding on to those reputations by their fingernails. But I think they know how precarious their position is. I suspect that the re-re kits have two purposes. One is that it's a good way to keep the volume of boxes going to the nostalgia market. But the other is that I reckon their copyrights on those 80s designs might be expiring, and their only hope of stemming a flood of Chinese copies was renewing the copyrights in the form of re-res. I wonder if the tell tale for that might be the lack of Porsche re-res, where Porsche will do the heavy lifting to protect their brand, making it less worthwhile Tamiya re-tooling and paying Porsche for rights. I strongly suspect that's made the situation an impasse. The biggest problem for Tamiya is that I think it's only a matter of time before the like of WL etc figure out the way to make the basher and beginner racing market their own. Mark my words, when they start putting out 1/10th race legal kits, with decent instruction manuals, they will come at sub £200 (maybe even sub £150), the first few will be very iffy, but 6 to 9 months later, they will be perfected. I think this will leave Tamiya with four options, either limp along with re-res for a while, find a new niche, have a more serious stab at racing, or get out of buggies and racing RC altogether and rely on static Models. I think a serious stab at racing is unlikely, They took a big knock on their image with the Avante. And the Astute, although superb, was too little too late in that respect (in the minds of competitive racers). Personally, I'd love to see them have a go, but I don't think they will. I think their best hope is to do what they do best, bring new ideas to the table. The Moster Beetle, Lunchbox and Clod Buster were light years ahead of the game, they need to follow that path. Their next moves have got to be things that fire the imagination of a new generation of bashers.
Thanks for a great comment, some interesting points 👍🏻
Tamiya or Toyota, the outlook for these two outdated Japanese companies holding onto 1990s nostalgia are the same. They are both screwed.
ruclips.net/video/xwmdtyWgQdw/видео.html
Tamiya is going to have to take their game to the next level or the are going to become the nostalgic brand we out grew. I actually like when a Brand makes an RTR and a Kit of the same model.
Still it's fun to buy an RTR and evolve it into a GRIM build with my favorite upgrades.
Could be like the mobile phone market. Years ago there were loads of cheap chinese phones. Once they've killed off the competition. They enter the premium sector and start increasing their prices.
I still want a dt03 racing fighter. Tamiyas are keepers, while others like the wltoys are great but will (maybe) be forgotten after some time
Bought one on your recommendation, and 3 of my mates are buying them too ,power of you tube eh ? ,I'm new to this all again and love watching your channel ,thanks
my first rc car kit was a team associated rc-10... had almost $400 into everything...it was awesome and i loved it...felt proud i built it all myself...learned a lot...built 3-4 more kits after ...but this wltoys would have ate it for breakfast... plus the price is night and day...but nothing feels better then building your first rc car from just a box of parts for me... but that was 35 years ago...now i will take the pre built and just adjust it etc...
100% I would get the Wltoys explorer they are a great value for money cars like this are helping the hobby grow and I think that’s what really matters
For those who don't know, the WLTOYS 124019 and 144001 are actually low cost copies of the LC Racing product line. LC cars are built to a higher quality and are as the name suggests for track racing. They offer full kits that require assembly or in RTR format.
Does this mean you can stick LC Racing parts in the WLToys counterparts and vice versa?
@@MrPhilbautista a lot are compatible, some are not
Convenience, performance & objective value - WLToys.
Nostalgia for the "older gentleman" - You can't beat Tamiya.
My son is 14 and I raised him well. Tamiya is the one and only for him. He is also stuck in the eighties and doesn’t give a damn any about brushless flying wing on wheels :)
Building the kits together is one of the things he enjoys most. And yes we tinker a lot to keep them up and running, but that’s the whole point. You build, drive, repair, rebuild, upgrade, look at the box art,...
The comments about Tamiya not being relevant anymore were already there 10 years ago. Let’s see where banggood cars are in 10 years.
@@QBziZ well it’s been 2 years since you said this. They have only gotten better and Tamiya is still dying.
Let’s be honest if tamiya were a new company just starting to produce kits, they would be out of business within a year. I’ve had tamiya kits since the late eighties, and I still buy the odd one or two 😬 what’s really worrying is the fact that my motor and esc in my yokomo cost a lot more than the whole WL Toys kit ! 😆😬👍
Quality isn't cheap dumb dumb
A Mustang is cheaper than a 911, so what?!?
@@timsgta You are missing the point. Most consumers, even in wealthy advanced countries, just cannot afford a Porsche 911 from Stuttgart. Price matters to most people. This explains why just about everyone cannot buy an iPhone 14 Pro Max at a drop of a hat.
_Needs must!_
Don’t forget, depending on your country you might have to add on import tax or other fees if you purchase a product from outside your country. You will need to work these out and add them to the figures in this video as well as shipping costs.
Also, another aspect that has been mentioned is the resell values. . I had a look just now on eBay UK and I couldn't find much on the 124019 but I did find one lightly used sold for £65. Going on that I would say a "normally" used if you will car, would sell for around £35 - £40 ISH or 30% of its value. Take that with a pinch of salt as I don't have much data to go on but it's something to think about for sure.
It's like $10
Awesome, video, I am that guy who has gone cheap for a year now as we have gotten used to the hobby. I am coming from a different perspective, we have two Wltoys buggys the 124018 and the 144001. One of problems with the wltoys, you cannot get everything you want, primarily the esc receiver combos. They are also not waterproof and quite fragile. Banggood assured me they were talking with the factory to make sure they produced more speed controllers. It took over a month to receive one. We have the 144001, which they claim is a 1/14, it is however smaller, at 1/16, and it is quite squirly and difficult to drive in a straight line. In the longer wheelbase, it is enjoyable to drive (the 1/12 scale). You mentioned upgrades, the electronics cannot be upgraded without a total rebuild (receiver transmitter, esc, servo, motor being optional). Also if you want to change the motor Wltoys places so much thread lock on the motor mount screws which are philips and they strip the head. They lock it down so well you have to get creative to get those screws out. Are they fun, oh yeah, those shocks are wonderful, that 550 motor is great (overpowered in the smaller 144001) but I would like to change the motor. Oh, the paint job and design is subjective on personal taste. the purple one and many different budget rigs look like they took a paint brush and flung paint at the rig.
Tamiya on the other hand nickel and dimes you. We still have to buy ball bearings, like really come on Tamiya. The Plasma Edge kit can come with an esc along with the motor. But there is always something you need to buy. However, we have a lunchbox we built and have abused it (two young boys driving it), with a brushless motor and waterproof esc. We had so much snow inside of it, it was packed tight and running fine for over an hour. My feeling is that the Wltoys buggys are frustrating because they are made with cheap electronics, yes the mechanical portion is made well. However, they are really difficult to work on (to change the motor at the very least). You ran yours through the snow and some light moisture on the ground, which is great and performed great. We are looking into Tamiya for reliability and ease of working on them. Another route for a buggy with a 550 brushed motor is the Arrma typhon mega at $260 US. We enjoy the Wltoys until they break and then they are down, for roughly a month. Tamiya can be quirky, that is why I watch your videos and others before purchasing a buggy (next one is the fire dragon). Wltoys is new and we are learning about their quirks (like cogging in their brushless versions, so bad they put out version 2 of them).
Shows you how dumbed down kids and their parents are these days with RTR being more popular.
Dumbed down and addicted to instantly gratification as well. But why RC when you can pub g and call of duty all day.
@tea bag I can see why you would despise such things but when you manage to get back in your pram and put the dummy back in your mouth try to consider the amount of great engineers and such like that this side of the hobby has played a hand in creating.
@@Eth3realwarrior I sense sarcasm, at least I hope so and RC should, I say "should" be better than pub g and COD. Gets us away from the monitor for a while. ;)
@@TachyonDriver spot on bro!
I like to build mine up.Its a hobby after all.I love the painting part as I've always built model kits.
The only things i don't like about the W L toys is "name" and the boring "body shell" but yes they look fantastic value for money :)
buy a phatbodies shell way better lol
@@andyroo8uk685 Ive a Few MN models shells on My Wltoys an Tamiya, cheap an look unreal and take a beating FJ 45 on the A959-b makes Wild Willy look sad, even though I have Wild Willy in it. Beauty Aj.
@@jonoedwards4195 know the 1/14 scale lunchbox mini (tamiya) i want put that shell on my 1/24 scale lol
Tamiya is pure fun. You don’t get RTR where you just need to press the „go“ button. You get a package of excitement of building from the very first part up to the last screw and even painting the body.
I bought the Plasma Edge unpainted and added a brushless engine and some more fun hopups.
Very tempting these „new“ chinese cars - and yes, I own the WLtoys one too. But: as good as the chassis itself is, the cheap is the whole electronics... 5wire servo, 2in1 receiver, too big too heavy motor for a car of that size... Don ´t agree with you on that one. It gets hot pretty fast and the receiver will shut down early... I got rid of all that and build some reliable electronics in - my math tells me the car is now over 200€. And I didn ´t yet mention the no-lube-diffs...
Tamiya chassis never bend, you can get alloy upgrades easily if necessary , standard electronics are not the fastest but always on the safe side - for a beginner I ´d always suggest to start with a Tamiya kit. You will know every screw and probabely keep it forever. WLtoys are nice-to-have-cars if you ´re already into rc ´s, but nothing to really get into the hobby ...except for some nice hours of fun... admitedly.
Agree, for the person jumping into the hobby and finding that they need to replace the electronics, and then they are lockdown with enough lock tite for entire rig on one screw, they are quite frustrating.
Getting back into RC cars since I was a kid. I bought the WLTOYS model from Banggood based on all the other reviews I had seen. Ordered 26th Jan, arrived on my doorstep 6th Feb. Very happy with this car. For around half the price I can sacrifice the Tamiya nostalgia.
Nostalgia can only go so far.
We need to bash Tamiyas like we did back in the days. Tamiya is not that expencive if we keep them modest and not throw all the parts we realy do not need in them. Ball bearings and steel pinions, is what it takes. I run Tamiya 17.5t brushless in my new runners, with the stock esc with fan on it. Works great, and plenty fast enough.
I was a kid in the late 80s/90s and remember this guy used to race his Tamiya buggy up and down the road. I used to watch wishing I had one then one day he bought a new one and gave me the old buggy it was a stingray painted gold.
I used it for years it’s since been in my parents attic for a long time I’m not sure it would even run with modern rc car tech.
I then bought a Tamiya rising storm years later just for fun.
That was until recently my son got interested in RC and we got the rising storm out and had a blast. The reason I’ve got the 019 is simply price and looks it’s such good value and you can up grade it and it’s fun.
I believe it’s numbers mean 12-is 1/12 scale the 4- is indicated 4wd and the 19- idk
Thank you LV for a lovely post.
@@RCKickschannel thanks :) finding your channel has bought back so much enthusiasm and fond memories I had of the RC hobby.
I enjoy your content very much and will this year be doing my very best to get my son and wife fully on board with the hobby.
I will certainly be joining your Facebook group I wish to learn as much as possible about the WL toys models as I can.
Thanks again for replying
Great video but its not worth comparing the two. the tamiya and brand is about the WHOLE rc experience as wltoys is bang for buck fun. Cause if ur going just on performance alone that tamiya buggy needs nearly another £100 spent just to make it as fast that wltoys 1440whateva 30mph out the box so this is a pointless comparison. I love both wltoys and i super love my tamiya. plastic wise both are on the same level they can take abit of a beating but not super durable. Again great review. Also bearing let me not get started with tamiya and lack of bearings in there kits no flipping excuse 😤
Nice assessment, alot of valid points.
I own both Tamyias and Wltoys
A few things I will point out.
With WL-TOYS parts support over time is reveling itself to be pretty good.
I own a L959 which is one of their oldest models being just about 10 years on now and I can still get parts online without a problem.
Also I do know people enjoy building but to be honest there is no value for money in that, if there were, people who wanted an pre built Tamyia would simply give the kits to those who like building to build for free, where the builders win cause they get to build a kit for free and the owners win because they get their kit build without having to spend time on it.
This simply doesn't happen unless it's a family or friend favour. I wouldn't image that people like building so much they would just offer to build other people's RC's for free.
That said Tamyia do offer professionaly built kits but of course they cost alot more and it's one of the reasons Traxxas was so successful when they first started releasing RTR vechiles in the market.
I think the biggest issue is that there needs to be more customer education and/or a better product portfolio. "Building toys" like Lego are still considered to have educational properties for children and most parents know they can just pick up the Box of Lego and give it to their child and he will figure it out and built the toy while having fun building it. Now a parent cannot just pick up a "box of Tamiya RC" and give it to their children. They need to do their research on what tools are needed, what batteries, what servo, what controller and receiver... and this makes an RTR the "safer" and more accessible option... I talked to some friends recently and they all bought their children some RTRs because of this exact reason. They simply are not into that kind of stuff and do not want to spend too much time researching and shopping around, especially since hobby stores with good service are not as available anymore. Tamiya should not have started providing these X-SA prebuilts, but starter kits with everything needed just right in the box (Tools, Servo, Batteries, Charger, Controller+Receiver)... oh and nobody is buying the pre-builts... they are sometimes offered as cheap as the kit as nobody wants them...why? because still nothing is included and parents would still need to do their research...
Great video. I actually like to hear cars run a bit without music so I can get a better sense of the transmission smoothness, noise and speed.
Very much agree with that. Good call. :-)
It just ain't tamiya!! Passion is missing for me l don't feel anything for these cheap make cars! I know they are bang on good value and good quality these days but just not for me l need to feel something about the cars l own that spark that history and connection!
YOU ARE MAD!!!!😉
Plus most of us old boys just need the tamiya kit we have all the other stuff spare already!
But if you are brand new to the hobby and buying your first ever car yeah l have to agree with you Gavin slightly anyway but its hard to say that! TAMIYA ALL THE WAY though really!!!😁👍
i find this the same way ....all so i can paint the body different so its a one off car witch makes it only my one lol if u buy 2 WLTOYS for your kids u wont know witch one is whos when they are driving it
kids sometimes dont know what they are doing so the faster the car is the more parts u going to need a tamiya car can change out the motors how many motors WLTOYS have i bet tamiya has way more motors thanks mad bee and gav
I have that wltoys model..I absolutely love it... highly upgradable. If wltoys sold these as a buildable kit they would change the game in the R.C. industry. Most of my R/C buddies share my opinion and still crave a kit to build... Tamiya & Kyosho need to step their game up and make cars with the performance and price tag as the wltoys but make them as buildable kits...
1/16 rc tanks became ever so popular due to inexpensive overseas knock offs. The tank rc community grew immensely.
I love Tamiya but I don't think they are keeping up with the competition. I think my biggest bug is the type of plastic they use, it just doesn't feel strong. Tamiya does feel over priced but there is a lot of development costs with their kits (difficult to justify with the re-re stuff.
When it comes to the cheap Chinese produced kits, they look good, seem to work well and seem to be well made. My issue is where the development comes from. We all know China is the master of copyright infringements. I'm not suggesting the WLTOYS is copy of, but I wouldn't be shocked if it was.
It's a big issue with everything coming out of China, I'm guilty of feeding the frenzy myself, but it will destroy a lot of genuine companies if something isn't done.
Interestingly, with the well known "China Export" symbol being very much the same as the CE mark, I wonder what they will do with the new UKCA mark that has come along with the UK leaving the EU.
It's a copy of the LC Racing EMB-1.
They have never been competitive ever i owned a original frog back in the 80s it was the only one that was slightly competitive and it really was horrible suspension and steering just junk really
I "moved up" from my '80's Tamiya Boomerang after a couple of years to a Kyosho Salute (Turbo Optima). It felt more engineered. Tamiya is great though. When I went from buggies to Touring Cars I went from Schumacher to XRay. Again, another step.
I think a lot of the draw with Tamiya is the brand, and there's nothing wrong with that. When they run a Tamiya race series, it doesn't matter how good or bad the actual chassis is if everyone is driving the same.
It would be interesting to see the reaction if Tamiya did make a more modern style of construction, do you think people would welcome it Are there too many purists who only buy Tamiya because of what they are now and would see it as a destruction of the brand?
@@MalcySP, you might be right, you'll never please everyone. Still have my Boomerang, even raced a few times 5 or 6 years ago. Made people smile.
Tamiya did try to enter the "competition" market way back with the Avante but it was a bit delicate. Just something they weren't experienced with, at the time.
Having said that, when touring cars were booming they did some nice chassis. They also had there own F1 cars series.
Tamiya is sentimental to me. I love the build too
If you're a kid now who didn't grow up in the 80's, 90's. You're not going to have the same nostalgia.
If WL made a kit version of their rc cars, I’d buy one. I used to fly their toy helicopters (v911,912 and later the v913) many years ago. I found their products to be very well engineered and put together.
Just take it apart and rebuild it
Look up LC Racing. WL is the low cost copy of their product line. They have both RTR and kit builds that you can spec your own electronics. Much higher quality, but also price reflects that.
Personally I prefer brands that have built up their name and fame over the years. Even if I have to pay more for that. I wonder how long it would last in Talbot’s hands 🤔
Ages. He loves these things
He has videos on then and likes them
kev loves the 124019 and is trying to do a speed run with one ..hes bashed many of them and only weak point on them are the c-cups
@@andyroo8uk685 yeah right...only weak point he's found so far, he's been lucky.
i love building tamiyas and i think in the long run it would be a better choice as you will always be able to get parts and upgrades
Wpl name, is right on the box in giant writing....."explorer". Bottom right corner on the front......
That's the name of the series, not of this model. There is also a crawler-style sand buggy in the same series, the wltoys 124018.
@@laizalott i noticed the 10 and 12 starting numbers on wltoys is the scale
I went in the opposite direction. Had a couple of Traxxas (bought used) and then got a WLToys 144001. Quality wasn't that good and kept breaking with light bashing. Decided to stick to name brands (got a couple of Losi and Associated), but for me the most fun is in building and tinkering so I got a Tamiya kit (TT02). And I plan on sticking with kits as long as they're available and not crazy expensive.
I have too agree, nearly ordered one the other day, with a full spares packed and metal diffs so you didn't have to wait if I broke stuff and came to about £170. A no brainer for me. Great video
That's exactly what I did this morning. I placed an order for some extra parts, two metal diffs and the metal spur upgrade option.
The 124019 already has full metal gears in the Diffs.
@@charlesbeshaw9843 Did it once have plastic diffs as I have had a few conflicting comments about them. I need to open mine up and take a look to check on grease levels. I ordered a few extras for my parts bin anyway.
@@RCKickschannel The earlier 144001 had plastic gears in the diffs. Not sure if the 144001's sold now still have plastic.
Some say use diff fluid in the diffs but they are not sealed. The factory used grease, just sometimes not enough.
I bought two WLToys 144001’s (the swb vrs of the 124019) for me and my 6yr old to race for £130 during lock down. I’m a big Tamiya fan, but the bang for buck is unbeatable with these for bashing. They’re quick, tuneable and durable. If you just want to bash or get into the RC car hobby, I think these are great value!
Tamiya will always win at scale realism lexan racing bodyshells! 🙂👍
I prefer to build vs RTR. My first 2 kits were a Tamiya Blackfoot and Monster Beetle from 1990. Bought a Traxxas Stampede 10 years ago, it's nice but I missed getting to build it.
Good thing about Tamiya. You can resell them for a reasonable amount. I don’t think their will be much second hand value in that tat.
I have commented on this before but yes Michael, it's a factor to take into account. I looked up sold listings on ebay this morning. I didn't have much to go on but a lightly used example sold for £65 I think it was. Using that a normal "used" example would be £35 as a guess. So that's 30% of its value give or take. I don't think that's too bad but I didn't have much date to go on so take that with a pinch of salt.
@@RCKickschannel
Déjà vu !
I have the rebranded LC racing buggy and the quality of the parts/fit and finish were better than most of the kits I built during my 20 years in the hobby. The tiny machined diff gears are amazing. They just need to knock off some the tamiya buggy bodies :) I had the same experience building a team c buggy a few years back as well.
Nice one mate, just built my terra scorcher re re with a mint 01 Dynatech (original box brand new spare rotor ebay $90 US) it looks soo sexy the motor is interesting running on a 8.4 volt bty it is not blistering fast off the line but has a pretty quick top end. I thought the terra scorcher was a pricey kit when I bought it last year but having built it I can see really good improvements in it over the hot shot family of cars ie suspension and steering even the drive train has been made more efficient. Once built and painted it looks soo beautiful with the dynatech (i'm a pig in mud)
The price for tamiya is an issue though they have recently put thier prices up by abut 20-30% which doesn't seem justified. Propably for me though as a collector WL only looks good for the teenage boys too have a play me I'll stay with the Optima, Ultima, Clods and Boomarangs, cheers mate.
I just brought the plasma edge this week.was $319.80 nzd . I looked at the wltoys cars . But I'd rather build one. Teaching my son about RC cars so him being able to work with build kits rather than China built and pre assembled cars has really taught him alot to keep going in the hobby .
I kinda wish that WLtoys offer their cars in ARTR package; You got everything that you need but you have to build it yourself. With the quality of their stuffs coming out albeit I can do a better job building the car than being built in the factory. It adds up to the fun too (and possibly even lower the cost!)
Yes we have seen this done with a few manufacturers but I would like to know what kind of unit sales vs RTR. Also the amount of support required vs RTR from aftersales. If the numbers make sense then I would agree, it would be nice.
@@RCKickschannel I definitely think it be a really good idea. I mean aside from RC, I'm also into the hobby of building model kits, from where I live, gundam model kits are pretty huge and gaining popularity steadily (maybe because of the pandemic too I guess) so you can definitely conclude that people do love building stuff. For the gundam hobby you can build a Master Grade model kit for around 60usd and that is almost the price of a Wltoys 284131 with the latter being cheaper (we can actually get it a tiny bit cheaper here because we are a bit near Hong Kong geographically) If a Wltoys 284131 comes disassembled then it be even cheaper (oh by the way I think Wltoys 284131 is around 40usd in my country). Building it yourself comes with a lot of advantages too, like we get the chance to sand away imperfections on the plastic that most wltoys have and really go in to putting grease and shock oils up to our liking. (oh sorry if I'm making a different model a comparison, in my country WLTOYS 124019 is in around 100usd but you can definitely pick up much cheaper and also a price of 2 master grades which is still quite reasonable)
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As for the after sales support.... hahaha unfortunately in my country after sales always suck... and not only on RC I do mean it sucks on any items we buy so we are kinda used to it ahahaha. I guess for the after sales support as long as parts are always available replacements can be easily bought if wltoys would sell most of their kits disassembled. Anyways let me do a change of topic for a moment here:
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In my country Tamiya's mini4wd is the big stuff and for a good reason. The kit is super cheap! Someone can start racing for as low as 10usd! possibly 20usd if you get yourself a nice rechargeable battery and a charger. Aside from that almost all hobby shops had a ready race course and would conduct races every weekends for all divisions specially the casual stock races. The whole hype for the mini4wd died down because races became expensive. For one to be competitive you needed to have some very expensive upgrades and hobby shops stopped doing casual stock races only catering to people who can shell out the money for the competitive races. The competitive racers eventually moved on and with no new fans coming into the hobby (because of how expensive it is to start) it eventually died down. at around 2018 (before the pandemic) the mini4wd hobby started to make a resurgence again simply because hobby shops started to conduct casual stock races again (and also with tamiya making new official sets of rules focusing on the more casual stock races). What I'm trying to get at is that people need a soft point of entry to any hobby. In the gundam model kit hobby they have a kit called the entry grade kit where you can build a really decent kit for as low as 12usd.
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I don't understand why Tamiya as a company didn't learn from this. They already did this kind of thing with their mini4wd series (letting people get into the hobby by offering a super cheap point of entry) it makes me really sad. Tamiya will probably not feel any financial failure from this (because they do still have some really amazing products like their model kits and hobby tools, their model kit putty is absolutely amazing by the way) but they do run the risk of losing the RC market that they currently hold.
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You know what I was thinking? maybe if they could do a 1/28 scale super cheap RC car offering. To not put them in direct competition with kyosho maybe they could do a 1/28 scale focused on bashing cars instead, then using body replicas of their mini4wd cars. (I mean not their mini4wd rc offering from the past those stuff had really bad specifications, they should do an all new platform with all the new RC tech like proportional steering, etc) haha super sorry for the long reply
A couple things to watch out for if you go with a Chinese brand: Low quality metals and poor machining. I have bought aftermarket parts from Chinese companies and the machines doing the manufacture were so far out of spec that the parts wouldn't fit the kit they were made for.
*cough cough* integy...
I highly recommend building a rc car vs anything else. People actually play with these things?
Why not just build models then hahaha
Gav, please tell Land Rover that #'s don't work for naming cars 🤣 Great video, glad you are back on buggys. Thoroughly enjoyed this. As a side note, most people pronounce it "W" "L" Toys.
The current generation are very accustomed to ready products. If you want a new console game you download it, you want a new product, it arrives next day. The WLToys and others are ready to go. I would love to say it’s different, but there is less desire to build something for 2 days (longer if painting), to find out it’s not as cool looking or fast as next doors RTR. In the 80s/90s Tamiya had the market, but someone’s already said its now aimed at middle aged men and nostalgia. After trying to upgrade a Tamiya Grasshopper, which even the 540 made a crash magnet, we brought a Traxxas Rustler. Loads of spares/upgrades from Traxxas/RPM and only one significant crash in 7 months. The Tamiya brochures, trips to Beatties, lusting over all of the different Tamiya models, was part of my childhood, but not my sons. He does however love driving them.
I've got a number of WLToys, mainly the 1/28th scale K969 and K989 series. They are great stock to begin with but i've noticed over time, you start to notice where they have cut corners, pinions last not very long, plastic parts don't hold up as well as tamiya or other makes etc. Also the upgrades I've found are hit and miss when it comes to fitting well. But for just over £100 for a buggy its a no brainer for a bit of fun.
It’s the build,that’s where the fun is.work on some my kits for months.also I don’t sell any mine,but there always going to be worth money and selling older kits doesn’t seem to be a problem just wish tamiya would produce more upgrades and there own
Forget about WLtoys, go with LC Racing, either an unassembled kit or a (A)RTR. Much better quality and parts are easy to get. For UK shops, check DMS racing or Xfactory.
I like the look of the Truggy they do.. About £170 on banggood..
Gav your not mad I had the older version of it and no problems.
Ive never seen collectors collecting WLToys Rc's but I have with Tamiya brands. That speaks volumes.
Yes I think most WLToys RC owners use them. I guess this is due to them being a new company and the products don't have a nostalgia aspect like Tamiya.
I have the perfect solution to this quandary.....
Simply buy both.
I think the same problem is also with Kyosho... parts and kits crazy expensive and parts/upgrades almost impossible to get even if you have the money
I recently brought my DF-02's back to life, most parts are still available after 15 years. That is the upside of owning a Tamiya. The downside with Tamiya is, what you don't break while running it, simply flies off :( This with a Nosram Vision 17x2 motor and humble NiMH stick packs. So yes, the Chinese offering looks tempting.
Good price yes. Value - time will tell. The 144001 I had had diffs made of tin foil and screws thread locked so bad I threw it in the box and forgot about it last spring. Looks are subjective, but this looks like a child painted it in crayon to me.
The naming does make sense sort of. 12 is the scale, 4 is number of driven wheels and the last is the model number
So many companies get PN numbers mixed up as a product name. Humans like giving things names, not numbers. Thats why you have a name and not a number. Unfortunately, this is a classic engineer mistake when naming should come from the sales department.
Wow a good girl . but I personally am tamiya & not RTR . The fun is building a kit & not the price
The wltoys is £95.02 for the one battery version. The £107 package has 3 2s batteries included. Also with some tuning these are capable of going over 100mph
Yep that's correct.
What is the point though? Too fast to use anywhere
@@leehurst6922 I think its the old saying, why? because you can. 30Mph is loads of fun for this buggy, 100mph! bonkers.
RC cars have got far too quick I race at a local club once a month and a stock silver can or UGT motor (24 turn) is more than fast enough on a track the modified motor cars are always broken, last or worse catching on fire where I race people can't control them on the track.
@@leehurst6922 There are people out there trying to beat the currant rc car speed record of 202mph This is way too expensive for a lot of people. Kevin Talbot has brought 2 esc's at a cost of over £2000 each. but for much much less this buggy will go 104mph which is the currant record. It's natural for people to be competitive so there will always be some who want to go faster. Maybe it's better in an rc car than a real one where mistakes can cost you your life. Also people just like the challenge.
Controversy!!! First in on this one 👍🏼. What transmitter comes with the WL Toys one? I couldn't tell but if it is the rebranded Dumbo RC one then that is descent. The range on those is crazy, the car disappears out if sight and you still have control.
Looks like it runs well 😎 Nothing like a little competition. Unfortunately branding & naming will let it down.
I turned this into a drinking game and every time he says pound, I take one shot.
Die hard Tamiya fans will be upset, but I must agree with you, this RTR is a great model for a even greater price. Now the question is would buy one? to bash around why not. Great Buggy. I myself am olds-chool. The only RTR's at back in my time back in the 80's was Traxxas and most of them were garbage (Traxxas has came a long way from then)I built almost all the 80's Tamiya kits. Loved every second of the build. I do love building these kits, although most all RTR's you can disassemble and reassemble. Love my vintage re-re's Tamiya models but they do get pricey.
I have owned a WLToys L959 for about two years now and it has had more parts broken than times I needed to recharge the battery (which lasts only about 20 minutes)... It was crazy cheap new at only €50 and when it's not broken it's a lot of fun to drive! Parts are relatively cheap (so I bought a whole bunch), but it would be nice to drive for more than 10 minutes at a time...
Thankfully I have a second hand Tamiya Desert Gator and a vintage Manta Ray and even though they are slower they don't break and are just as much fun!
Most fun I must say I have driving my 1987 Taiyo Jet Fighter!
I think you're right. Tamiya has to step up their game, as well as branch out a bit. The WLToys are HUGE bang for the buck, and I do LOVE building kits, tamiya kits especially. However, where's my off road race cars? Where's my affordable racing kits? The astute isn't going to come toe to toe with anything today, and its time. The comical stuff is great, the M Chassis are fantastic and I hope they never go away. But the wpl, wltoys, and the others like those shouldn't be ignored. I want tamiya to wake up with something like this.
i've never heard of a WLTOYS collector...lol ! Tamiya all the way for me brother, Tamiya's are more collectable and loved then any wltoys car will ever be. i'd consider buying a wltoys buggy just for shits an giggles just to have a driver that i didn't care about, so i could drive it a little more carelessly than i would one of my Tamiya's( even a cheap one, like the grasshopper or whatever )......and the build, ........love to build me a kit!!!
Agree 100% Tamiya is purely driven by nostalgia these days. Prices of the recent kits, especially the rere are otherwise hard to explain 🤷🏻♂️ and yes, I have both of them ^^
It already has metal diffs inside. Only the black body is plastic. The Diffs you postet, are the same. But there are full metal diffs out there.
Hey we can settle this let's race them wltoys 1/12 124019 vs Tamiya 1/10 budget race off and on road
I will be putting them around the track and setting some times as soon as the weather improves.
I get wltoys 124019 and Im veryyyy happy👍👏😀
I'm cleaning my 124019 while watching this. And there's also a 124017 brushless if wanna try it also.
Love building them myself but got a wl one for the kids
Well, it’s all about preference, but on the plus side, I’ve been getting a good discount lately on Tamiya models at Tower Hobbies (most of the time they have coupon codes). In reality, if you have been in the hobby for a while, there is always a spare battery and charger (at least), so does not always feels like spending that much money in a Tamiya.....
Great video as always.....
I don't know if it's related to the hobbyist's age cause I have seen people saying that young rc enthusiasts prefer rtr's and also prefer electric cars, but if it is I'm 18, I FINALLY got into rc 2,5 years ago, I started with an rtr, arrma granite blx 4x4 v3. I really wanted to buy a kit and I just got the Tamiya tt01e Subaru impreza 2004 Mexico. I really love it, and yeah I prefer kits, I really enjoy building it. Plus after building a kit I know exactly what to do if I need to change a part or upgrade something. With the rtr's I need to do a lot of searching, which is fun for me at least but I feel safer with the kit. Plus the kit is assembled by me and if I'm concentrated I know it will run good. This isn't the same with rtr cars as many people say they are missing some fluids or some screws are not tightened. And this can cause to a crash with a lot of damage. This is just my opinion, I will keep buying rtr cars, I will keep buying kits. I really like rc stuff and I'm glad I got into it. In my opinion kits should never die ✌️
I love the legacy feel of the Kyosho's and Tamiya's, but the cost associated seems excessive..the tooling and molds have been the same for decades and the kit costs should have dropped by now.
I like your channel. But I think you missing the point a bit here. Nobody buys Tamiya because they are good spec or perform well. Nearly all of their stuff is very sub-par performance wise. People buy Tamiya for the building experience, for nostalgia and because they are fun (or maybe because they are a known name). The TT02B is a perfect example. It is pretty rubbish really, but fun. You can buy an RTR Traxxas for less money than the Plasma Edge. And something like the FTX Vantage is way better spec and about the same money as the WLtoys. So I'm not sure budget RTR's are really a new thing.
Also the WLtoys is not a kit and it is 1/12th scale not 1/10th. Don't get me wrong, I kinda of get the point of the vid. But I think the comparison is off. I'm sure if you'd compared the Vantage to the Plasma Edge the conclusion would be quite similar.
building is 90% the fun for me.
Since Wltoys 12428/7 they have installing pott metal diff gear, so don't need to buy another pott metal diff. upgrade. All of the aluminium upgrade for the Wltoys have serious precission issues... I own Tamiyas and Wltoyses... Both have their own purposes and uses...
the Wltoys model is under $100USA now .. so it's not even fair now .
WL Toys 124019 is £89 on eBay and £92 on Wish if you don't mind the wait. But even better, it's bedmate, the taller, better looking Truggy version 124018, is only £86 on Banggood. It's great for a basher, really tough with the big bonus of not wrecking those precious Tamiyas, I love Tamiya too, just not as a hard basher.
Anyway, each to their own.
Instead of taking sides and being all 'Tamiya defensive', just have both. 🤷🏼♂️
As an aside, I bought a Neo Fighter DT-03 from Tamico last year for £76, enjoyed the build and have totally thrashed that around, great car.
Well, said Andy.
SADLY, I would get the W-L-Toys Buggy without a second thought. The TT-02B is SO under spec - ESPECIALLY for the HIGH COST. The ground clearance is shite on the Tamiya... And they stubbornly REFUSE to include Bearings in the anything but the most expensive Kits.
Tamiya STARTED me in RC. The Frog was my first Kit, back in 1984. I'm still buying Tamiya Kits today. BUT, Tamiya has been becoming its own undoing lately, with exorbitant prices - and NO improvement in quality for YEARS. They're almost exclusively catering to an ever shrinking group of Guys with more money than brains!!!
There's a much larger Market out there, that it seems Tamiya can't be bothered with.......