The other members covered the HL tanks pretty well. I own Tamiya tanks (Sherman, Pershing, and Tiger I). The Tamiyas kits are going to cost abou $480 for the Sherman, to $595 for the KT (source BackYard Armor-USA). If you want something modern, they have a Leopard 2A6 for $865. The Tamiya tanks need few upgrades out of the box, though many available. Idler upgrades seem to be required on the King Tiger, and helpful on the others. You still need a Radio system and batteris. The stuff from you Blizzard (assuming it is electric) should work. The HL are the ARF of tanks, take em out of the box, add/charge batteries, and away you go!. Tamiiyas are KITS. You can put one together in a couple of evenings, or spend weeks detailing it. They are REASONABLY strong. Drive them hard constantly, and you will break something. Replacement plastic parts from Tamiya are inexpensive, but he gearboxes and electronics are not.

The HL's seem to be great if you have a limited budget, or just want to check out the hobby. Also great if you like tinkering and modifying. You can get more about their reliabilty and mod ideas by searching the forums. They do come with an airsoft gun, so you can also protect you yard from local critters. If you like building what you drive, the Tamiyas are alot fun. The detailing is more precise and the recoil/tank sounds are more realistic. The big appeal of the Tamiyas is they also have an optional Infrared Battle Sytem (TBU) ($90). If you have a group of people with the same weakness for RC, you can stage tank batlles. There is talk about batlle systems for the HL's but nothing commercially availbe yet.

Hope this helped.

Here is our club site - check out the video page (the usual www.socalareatankers.com link is temporarily down)

http://web.mac.com/ksoc/iWeb/S.C.A.T./Welcome.html

Kevin O
<S.C.A.T>