Tommygun

My Feedback: (2)

I've noticed that most of the New Bright and Fast Lane RC cars and trucks only have full throw, left/right steering. I find this bizarre, since my first R/C vehicle ever was a toy-grade, 1983 Sears (Taiyo) "Off Road Buggy," featuring "Digital Proportional Steering." Said so right on the box....in 1983! How is it possible that 27 years later, the majority of the new toy-grade RC cars lack proportional steering?

cswtornado

Maybe because all the innovation has gone towards the hobby grades and all the cheap chinese labor and quality has gone towards the toy grades?

Tommygun

My Feedback: (2)

I guess, but still, you'd think it would be like with the advent of the transistor. Once that was developed, it found its way into every electronic device. What really makes up proportional steering anyway, a couple of potentiometers, (tx and servo) and some FETs,right?

mechanizeddeath

Yeah. For that matter you can still find NiCds in some of them. The cheapest of the cheap still have that turn-in-reverse nonsense too.

On the other hand, when I've let kids drive my Grasshopper, I notice they always full throw the steering anyway. Doesn't matter if they're using the stick or pistol radio, the steering and throttle always go to the endpoints. Only exception would be one of the girls, my friends daughter. She actually listened to me and was using the proportional controls, not that it makes a huge difference in the Grasshopper anyway.

So maybe that's it, some focus group determined that the majority of kids wouldn't use proportional controls anyway, so they never pushed to implement it.

SavedONE

-I recall my Nikko & RS setups as having full prop. steering, but the Tyco stuff just lock to lock.  The smaller setups from Nikko
were the ones that wouldn't steer at all, unless you had the throttle on.  I think overall that "toy" & "hobby" RC's are getting very much
closer.  I hope to see it continue. 
-But, no more Nikko for the USA, probly just New Bright-they don't even have a finished site, & don't sell parts.  I would like Tyco
to get back to being cool, like it was during the late 80's-mid 90's, but I think things in that Co., may have changed.  I had Bandits, etc.,
they'd smoke most-all of the stuff avail. today.  I had a Super Fast Traxx-if they only did that w/the Bandit, that'd be sweet.  Full 1/10th
scale, 7.2v, all of the orig.'s flaws/weaknesses fixed.  Sorry, I got yammering, but I enjoy "toy" RC's.

subarubrat

My Feedback: (1)

This year I have seen some toy grade cars on the shelves that have hobby traits, lexan bodies, strapped in packs, wheels retained by nuts etc. Still at $100 you can just spend a bit more and get a hobby grade car.

nitrosportsandrunner

i read your post the other day and was like, i aint seen anything like that.
but then i had to go to walmart and saw the crawler like RC with MOA. then i had to go to radioshack and i saw a buggy that was about 1/8 scale that had a lexan body. the rest of it looked pretty basic(read not fast) and for $70 it seems like a waste. but ill wait till after xmass and see if the price drops alot.

maddmatt02

radioshack used to have awesome R/C's i think. of course not hobby grade though, of course.

but I had the hot machine, was a pretty nice monster truck. my uncle got a buggy that I think was the black wold maybe. and nikko used to be one of my favorites found elsewhere. toys r us also used to have good ones back when i was a kid, hadnt looked for years though and now all they have is crap.

but you can get exceed rc cars, basically like a cheap hobby grade car for 100 bucks, so there really is no reason 80 dollar R/C's at department stores dont have porportional steering. I am at least seeing alot of the $50+ cars with porportional throttle...

on the cheap ones from the store though like the 6.99 ones just play with my niece with indoors, I could care a less about porportional controls, I guess it would be cool, but I never find myself wishing it had them. but I will never buy one of those turn-in-reverse POS's, I think I even had one that went forward on its own and had one button that put it in reverse and it turnee and when you let go it went forward again.(dont remember exactly because it was a LONG time ago)

Smiff 24

Your post made me think...back around 87 or 88 nikko had some pretty close to hobby grade
cars out there. The one im thinkin about was the Nikko Dictator.
When they show up on ebay they usually go for $100 or so. (pretty collectable)

Tommygun

My Feedback: (2)

Remember in the 80's we had a number of good "toy" R/C brands to choose from- Nikko, Shinsei (Radio Elecon), Taiyo (aka Sears & Tandy), Power Command, Tyco, and some others I'm sure I forgot. They all offered something with proportional steering, and were available at Lionel Kiddie City and Toys R Us, as well as Sears and Radio Shack. The cars often had real rubber tires, scale detail like gas cans and shovels, etc. Now all they have is New Bright, and Fast Lane RC. Both look/feel like cheap junk, and lack good control. Many are far out, whacky looking things that don't even closely resemble a full scale vehicle. Of course, back in the 80's, you often had to spend $50 or more for a good toy grade vehicle. That was rather expensive back then.

maddmatt02

wal mart even has some little 1/24 Id say buggies/trucks that have porportional throttle. and then theres the 60 dollar toy grade deals that have porportional throttle but still not steering...

Smiff 24

I guess in this day and time to keep things afforadable, quality takes a back seat,
and porportional steering got cut.