Had this one when I was 16. It had really fast acceleration. Remember when building you had to tape the shafts to the diff casing or they would fall out until it was near Finnished, and then you'd have to rebuild the dif
Definitely one of the best looking RC buggies ever, I always wanted one but never got one. And, to be honest, I really wanted the Coors Thunderbird, I thought it was so cool that it came with 2 sets of wheels and tyres so you could run it on and off road. Great video!!
THANKYOU Gavin Doing a bit of historical background on the Marui line. Shogun, Hunter, Melling Thunderbird. Jump starting rusty brain cells. My Big Bear must have been old stock close out because I didn't get it till spring of 1988.
Super original looking example of a great buggy I like the ninja and had been looking for one , but after being incredibly lucky to be donated a Shogun to the channel I was happy enough with that one. Enjoy it it’s a super piece
The body styling and shape reminds me of my eighth scale glow engined buggy the British made PB Mustang X3. And even the rear wing is also same style/ shape.
Hooooo! I remember this car when i was 10 years old! A friend of mine got one for Christmas. He wasnt fan of RC car, i was, even if i had no car at this time. So... he gave me the box : would you loke to mount it? I dont want to do it. Unfortunately my Mother didnt appreciate i spend mor time on this car than on my lesson, and i gave back the car without having finished it... few years after, i got my first rc car : a midnight pumpkin! So much fun!
Great choice in background music. I have a Big Bear, so I’m a big fan of Marui. I remember they used to have an ad in RC Car Action magazine of a ninja holding the Marui Ninja in his hands. As a kid that was the coolest.
Oh man when I used to race on Saturdays and Hanson Massachusetts early eighties everything was two wheel drive rc10. I had a completely hot tricks Fox that would compete with them and then they got one of these on the shelf was like the first four wheel drive race car to come out at least in my area of man I used to drool over that thing
My vintage Marui speed controller does not reduce the voltage that it supplies to the receiver, so make sure you measure what's coming out of it before you risk burning a receiver. I wasted several receivers back in the day.
Great video mate....would love to see the Coors thunderbird...never seen one on any of the RC channels including on Keith's channel and that's saying something..👍🇬🇧😎
Awesome, I remember looking up at these on the ‘wall of kits’ in my local model shop & just thinking how cool they looked..... also a very cool/evocative name! The performance & specification didn’t quite match the perception & also the buggies good looks, but still one of the absolute R/C classics!
Amazing, My dad still has his from way back. I got a terra scorcher and he had the ninja from an estate sale from one of his friends fathers who did building for model shows for Tamiya in the US in the 80's.
My first car was a Marui Galaxy RS (blue cage). It had oil dampers all around and an independent rear suspension with metal ujoints. I chose it over the Hornet and turned out to be a great car. I had it for years
Very cool!! It is one that is very hard to find in that good of a condition for sure! I love the tires and wheels on this one, very unique tread! A new body and stickers and it will look great. Good luck on chasing down some good tires!
By far the best looking rc car imho 😎 it was the very 1st hobby grade rc i got, killed many gear sets and started racing with it 😂 was never gonna be an A finalist. But got me hooked and a 2nd cougar took its place. I managed to find a decent example 3 years ago. Fitted ballraces and its had a few runs. Will get one more run this year then it will live out its life on the shelf. Looking awsome 😎
Nice pick up! You ought to thank Sven :) I have the Hunter, Big Bear and the Samurai. I'm not really into the later chassis from Marui, not that there is anything wrong with them.
I had one new and it came with an RS540. If you put anything faster in you need to put ball bearings in the gearbox or it will melt / disintegrate. I put in a technigold and the gearbox lasted about 2 runs which was disappointing as a 15 year old. In fact it needs ball bearings everywhere!
👍probably one of the most beautiful 4WD ever in my opinion. I have two that I tried to combine into a very good one without luck (too many cracked parts, will probably turn to 3D printing). So happy to see one on the channel 😀 Who knows... maybe a Shogun next ? 😁
That’s a great looking buggy. The ninja stickers on the side look exactly the same as the ninja on the Kawasaki ninja motorbike. I wonder who came up with it first?!?
Nice example👍 have to be honest it's not my cup of tea but then neither was the tamiya striker until you restored one on you channel.... thanks a lot Gav🤨🤣🤣
My verry first rc build was a ninja 😍, and it was an amazing car, the original motor is a rs540 and it came with a low and a high speed pinion for your choice, and you could drop it from shoulder hight and it would just plop on the ground with no bottoming out, and it was incredibly stable even at high speeds and was an amazing experience for the time, in fact even the best out there today dont do much better than my old ninja done 👌, but then my friends big dog jumped on it and bent the side shaft and that damaged the cups and that was the end of that, there was no way for me to get parts for it at the time though it did have a list of all parts to replace in the instruction manual, if ever they bring these out again i will grab myself one for sure, all ill change on it is all the nylon bushes to bearings because the power and everything els is verry good 👍, its one rc car that will always be in my heart lol ✌
Gav, lovely beast! Are either the front or rear rims compatible with Tamiya regular (fronts, as they look like bigger radius) or M-chassi (rear) tires? Thanks in advance!!
The only one I remember is the Big Bear...but, not because I had one. I just remember the box. The largest hobby shop in San Francisco, Franciscan Hobby (which went out of business approx 10 years ago), is where I remember seeing it.
As an active airsoft player, I'd say it's unfortunately doubtful TM will reprint their buggies, they've fully transitioned from "Japan's #1 airsoft replica brand" to "the world's most famous premium airsoft company" their prices have skyrocketed $300+ even for licensed imports, so they're making bank. Despite TM being so popular, their airsoft replicas require a ton of aftermarket upgrades to meet US/EU performance standards. Even their premium NGRS replicas need anywhere from $300-1000 in mods to become reliable and efficient, I can't even imagine what the nightmare would be for modern cars lol.
Great example of a car that most have never heard of. When I was growing up the local hobby shop sold Mauri but they were not popular. The shop sold them as a low cost alternative to the Tamiya and Kyosho so of course being a poor kid I ended up with a bunch of Mauri cars over the years. My first was the Hunter then the Galaxy. I later bought an Alien Mid the the Ninja. All of which I beat on like there was no tomorrow. About 15 yrs ago I found a Alien Mid new in box at a garage sale and scooped it up and a couple of years later found a partially built Ninja. It is still in the box partially assembled. I really need to finish that car :(
I'm a kid from that generation who grew up in Hong Kong, but the name Marui passed me by completely. It was mostly Tamiya, a bit of Kyosho and occasionally someone would mention a mythical beast name Schumacher. From watching the vid, the model looks like a Tamiya analogue, without the fluff and glitz... would that be fair?
@@RCKickschannel you might not be wrong I think maybe do the Japanese translators in the 1980s it was probably typed both ways depending on which magazine, or which hobby store, or where kit came from, or which country you were in. -R All your base are belong to us.
Are Marui related to Kawasaki in any way? The Ninja logo is exactly the same as Kawasaki use on their Motorcycles, and I know Kawasaki Heavy Industries is a massive company...
First, it is from 1986 and not 1987... And it was the precursor of most of the futuristic 1/10 buggys. It was a trend setter... It came after the Samurai from 1985.
Wow, this car looks like my old Nikko Hurricane from 1989, the cockpit area, and spoiler looks very similar!
Yep also same body as Sears Lobo 3 ...... 1/14 scale buggy.
I had a Marui Galaxy about 15 years ago, and it was built nice.
That is a great looking survivor.
Was my very first RC, got it when I was 11 or 12. I'm 41 now and still have it. It's seen better days but still runs!
Remember reading about these in the RC mags looked awesome.
Had this one when I was 16. It had really fast acceleration.
Remember when building you had to tape the shafts to the diff casing or they would fall out until it was near Finnished, and then you'd have to rebuild the dif
Definitely one of the best looking RC buggies ever, I always wanted one but never got one. And, to be honest, I really wanted the Coors Thunderbird, I thought it was so cool that it came with 2 sets of wheels and tyres so you could run it on and off road. Great video!!
It is a good looking RC. I keep an eye out and fingers crossed one comes up at some point worth the investment
Awesome video, I had a Shogun a very long time ago.....was my gateway into 'proper' r/c cars....
My first RC kit car. The original motor was a standard 540 with a black endbell.
Really an iconic one! This is one of the very few Buggys which can catch up with Tamiya in terms of looks.
Indeed it is!
Same ninja print as 80s kawasaki ninja. I like that
THANKYOU Gavin Doing a bit of historical background on the Marui line. Shogun, Hunter, Melling Thunderbird. Jump starting rusty brain cells. My Big Bear must have been old stock close out because I didn't get it till spring of 1988.
Super original looking example of a great buggy I like the ninja and had been looking for one , but after being incredibly lucky to be donated a Shogun to the channel I was happy enough with that one. Enjoy it it’s a super piece
Wow when i thought i saw them all,i remember this my god. This is real man
The body styling and shape reminds me of my eighth scale glow engined buggy the British made PB Mustang X3. And even the rear wing is also same style/ shape.
Gorgeous Looking Car
Hooooo! I remember this car when i was 10 years old! A friend of mine got one for Christmas. He wasnt fan of RC car, i was, even if i had no car at this time. So... he gave me the box : would you loke to mount it? I dont want to do it. Unfortunately my Mother didnt appreciate i spend mor time on this car than on my lesson, and i gave back the car without having finished it... few years after, i got my first rc car : a midnight pumpkin! So much fun!
Amazing! One of the best looking buggies ever made. On my list as well.
I remember the Ninja and Shogun. In fact, the Shogun was the first Mini 4WD I had. You could switch between high and low gears in it, very cool!
Great choice in background music. I have a Big Bear, so I’m a big fan of Marui. I remember they used to have an ad in RC Car Action magazine of a ninja holding the Marui Ninja in his hands. As a kid that was the coolest.
Yep I remember that. Also a few adverts on Rc flyers and mags.
Massive favor done😉
Great car. Cool you get one👍
Massive
Awesome always liked the samurai to 👍🤩🏅
That livery is very reminiscent of the Kawasaki GPZs and GPXs back then (never a bad thing), the logo in particular! 😎👍
Yep I remember that bike livery
Your so lucky to have such a great team around you, and you know Sam is just loving it all, helping him live his best years❤
Oh man when I used to race on Saturdays and Hanson Massachusetts early eighties everything was two wheel drive rc10. I had a completely hot tricks Fox that would compete with them and then they got one of these on the shelf was like the first four wheel drive race car to come out at least in my area of man I used to drool over that thing
My vintage Marui speed controller does not reduce the voltage that it supplies to the receiver, so make sure you measure what's coming out of it before you risk burning a receiver. I wasted several receivers back in the day.
I remember wanting one of these as a kid, also wanted the samurai too, god I’m getting old 😂😂
Great video mate....would love to see the Coors thunderbird...never seen one on any of the RC channels including on Keith's channel and that's saying something..👍🇬🇧😎
Ari has one on his channel RC Retro
Awesome, I remember looking up at these on the ‘wall of kits’ in my local model shop & just thinking how cool they looked..... also a very cool/evocative name! The performance & specification didn’t quite match the perception & also the buggies good looks, but still one of the absolute R/C classics!
congratulations
Amazing, My dad still has his from way back. I got a terra scorcher and he had the ninja from an estate sale from one of his friends fathers who did building for model shows for Tamiya in the US in the 80's.
I recently got a Marui Big Bear. Looking forward to restoring it and I also have the original futaba electronics for it
Cool, a great car
It’s kinda cab forward, poss ahead of its time!
For its age is was. Yep the cab is a little forward due to the rear shocks body design. It gives off that mid engine vibe in real life.
My first car was a Marui Galaxy RS (blue cage). It had oil dampers all around and an independent rear suspension with metal ujoints. I chose it over the Hornet and turned out to be a great car. I had it for years
That’s so awesome! I am jealous 😊 I was 13 when that came out. I really wanted that one back then
Great to see one in your collection. A great buggy 😊 it took me years to get one
Super chuffed
Very cool!! It is one that is very hard to find in that good of a condition for sure! I love the tires and wheels on this one, very unique tread! A new body and stickers and it will look great. Good luck on chasing down some good tires!
By far the best looking rc car imho 😎 it was the very 1st hobby grade rc i got, killed many gear sets and started racing with it 😂 was never gonna be an A finalist. But got me hooked and a 2nd cougar took its place. I managed to find a decent example 3 years ago. Fitted ballraces and its had a few runs. Will get one more run this year then it will live out its life on the shelf. Looking awsome 😎
Gavin try using black shoe goo to fill those tire cracks. It works well
Sears Lobo 3 has the same looking body, just a 1/14 scale 2wd buggy though. It was toy grade and second rc car when I was a teen boy in 80's
Nice pick up! You ought to thank Sven :) I have the Hunter, Big Bear and the Samurai. I'm not really into the later chassis from Marui, not that there is anything wrong with them.
I had one new and it came with an RS540. If you put anything faster in you need to put ball bearings in the gearbox or it will melt / disintegrate. I put in a technigold and the gearbox lasted about 2 runs which was disappointing as a 15 year old. In fact it needs ball bearings everywhere!
What a beauty!! Great
👍probably one of the most beautiful 4WD ever in my opinion. I have two that I tried to combine into a very good one without luck (too many cracked parts, will probably turn to 3D printing). So happy to see one on the channel 😀 Who knows... maybe a Shogun next ? 😁
Would love one
That’s a great looking buggy. The ninja stickers on the side look exactly the same as the ninja on the Kawasaki ninja motorbike. I wonder who came up with it first?!?
I’ve a brand new set of front wheels and tyres in the package un opened
Are you in the UK?
Great find!
So awesome ! Super Cooooooool !
I've got a big bear but would buy all three 4x4 buggies re-released
So would I
That black mabuchi would have been the correct motor
That’s what is fitted now 👍🏻
Nice example👍 have to be honest it's not my cup of tea but then neither was the tamiya striker until you restored one on you channel.... thanks a lot Gav🤨🤣🤣
Most welcome lol
It kinda looks like a Mars Bar
My verry first rc build was a ninja 😍, and it was an amazing car, the original motor is a rs540 and it came with a low and a high speed pinion for your choice, and you could drop it from shoulder hight and it would just plop on the ground with no bottoming out, and it was incredibly stable even at high speeds and was an amazing experience for the time, in fact even the best out there today dont do much better than my old ninja done 👌, but then my friends big dog jumped on it and bent the side shaft and that damaged the cups and that was the end of that, there was no way for me to get parts for it at the time though it did have a list of all parts to replace in the instruction manual, if ever they bring these out again i will grab myself one for sure, all ill change on it is all the nylon bushes to bearings because the power and everything els is verry good 👍, its one rc car that will always be in my heart lol ✌
Great video, where did you find the spear parts? Can you please upload the links?
when I was collecting buggies, this was my unicorn. never seen one in person.
Same, I have only ever seen them in pics and videos.
Very cool
Gav, lovely beast! Are either the front or rear rims compatible with Tamiya regular (fronts, as they look like bigger radius) or M-chassi (rear) tires? Thanks in advance!!
No, the car has its own unique way of mounting rims. I’ve never seen it before on anything else. You can get adapters so I’m told.
The only one I remember is the Big Bear...but, not because I had one. I just remember the box. The largest hobby shop in San Francisco, Franciscan Hobby (which went out of business approx 10 years ago), is where I remember seeing it.
I feel like that was the most popular Marui model in America...
For me it was in loads of RC sales pamphlets and mags back in the day.
As an active airsoft player, I'd say it's unfortunately doubtful TM will reprint their buggies, they've fully transitioned from "Japan's #1 airsoft replica brand" to "the world's most famous premium airsoft company" their prices have skyrocketed $300+ even for licensed imports, so they're making bank. Despite TM being so popular, their airsoft replicas require a ton of aftermarket upgrades to meet US/EU performance standards. Even their premium NGRS replicas need anywhere from $300-1000 in mods to become reliable and efficient, I can't even imagine what the nightmare would be for modern cars lol.
Shame we won’t see these vintage kits again
Great example of a car that most have never heard of. When I was growing up the local hobby shop sold Mauri but they were not popular. The shop sold them as a low cost alternative to the Tamiya and Kyosho so of course being a poor kid I ended up with a bunch of Mauri cars over the years. My first was the Hunter then the Galaxy. I later bought an Alien Mid the the Ninja. All of which I beat on like there was no tomorrow. About 15 yrs ago I found a Alien Mid new in box at a garage sale and scooped it up and a couple of years later found a partially built Ninja. It is still in the box partially assembled. I really need to finish that car :(
I have such a history with this car 😂😂😂😂
I'm a kid from that generation who grew up in Hong Kong, but the name Marui passed me by completely. It was mostly Tamiya, a bit of Kyosho and occasionally someone would mention a mythical beast name Schumacher. From watching the vid, the model looks like a Tamiya analogue, without the fluff and glitz... would that be fair?
The quality feels close to Tamiya of the same time period. I think part support and marketing did the damage.
Have one to,where can i buy adapters for wheels?
Want to change to hexes.
Not sure, sorry. I would ask in the Facebook groups
The car that the thundershot family wish it was. (PS- is it Mauri or Marui?) -U10
Typo. Fixed now
@@RCKickschannel you might not be wrong I think maybe do the Japanese translators in the 1980s it was probably typed both ways depending on which magazine, or which hobby store, or where kit came from, or which country you were in. -R
All your base are belong to us.
Good luck finding tyres for it .unless you spend big bucks
Are Marui related to Kawasaki in any way? The Ninja logo is exactly the same as Kawasaki use on their Motorcycles, and I know Kawasaki Heavy Industries is a massive company...
First, it is from 1986 and not 1987... And it was the precursor of most of the futuristic 1/10 buggys. It was a trend setter... It came after the Samurai from 1985.
www.rc4on.com/blog/off-road/marui/
www.rcscrapyard.net/uk/marui-ninja-4wd.htm
@@RCKickschannel read the comments on that same page (rc4on) ... Kit reference MT61-11 denotes a release date in 1986 as per the Japanese calendar :)
Surely a vintage receiver is a need too far, no?
You may have to send that car and radio to marriage counseling
LOL
Hey Gav - I have a BNIB kit from Japan in my loft if you’re interested. Or if anyone is interested……
WOW I would love a BNIB but I'm guessing you want £1,000,000 for it so that's me out I'm afraid.
@@RCKickschannel I’d be happy to meet in the middle, £500k :)
Super cool but not as cool as the Samurai