My first vehicle was a Redcat Volcano. I found RCU and started using the forums for support on a regular basis. Eddie was one of the people that was of great help to me when I was learning. Anyone that has read through the old Redcat threads like the "Redcat Racing Volcano Thread" or the "Redcat vehicle repair/tune FAQ" will see his posts all through them. When he started his own venture as himotoracingusa, I followed him because of the support I had received from him in this forum and because I considered him a friend and wanted to support him. There were several other people like Rich (redharris), Adam (kuppler) and Rod (swamp3r) that had also been very helpful who also went to Himoto. And since then, several other good people have become regular contributors to the Himoto forum like Randy (firebird) and Tom (pede).

When I was looking for parts, I started with Redcat, but often was unable to find what I needed in stock. I have used the dealer network for Redcat successfully. But I have since come to rely 100% on himotoracingusa for parts, and his service has been absolutely outstanding.

As far as the vehicles, I trust Wade's opinion (allaboutfun) since he is the one person I know has dealt with both quite a bit. So they are often but not always the same, and in any case come from the same HSP factory. I have heard about different materials as Wade mentioned, but have not compared them side-by-side. As far as who gets to market first, it seems that some times it is Himoto and some times Redcat. I do know that Eddie is very particular about the vehicles he sells under his name, and is serious about testing them to ensure the designs are good and reliable before release. If you look at the Himoto China site, you will see a 1/5 that has been out for quite some time (years). But it is not being sold here by Eddie yet as he is still working to improve the design before he releases it, and it looks to be coming soon.

For me, it is not a preference of one brand over the other. I support Himoto because of Eddie and the other people that are involved there. If I was up the road from Wade or RCToys, I may very well have come to rely on them for direct support and parts. But for me, Eddie, Himoto and the people in their support forum are what keep me coming back to Himoto.