Gotta love our current economy. The slow last half decade has lead to many hobby shop and track closures, but what lies ahead may leave our hobby unrecognizable.

We are early into this economic downturn, and we are already seeing things we’ve never seen before in our sport. Cashback, GWP (gift with purchase), and Sales!!

Traxxas has a $50 cash back offer on the purchase of a new Slayer. Yes! Just like the full size cars, you get cash back! Send your proof of purchase of a new Slayer to the guys down in Plano Texas, and they send you $50! Once again Traxxas is being an innovator, and we will be seeing more of this in the near future. Not just from Traxxas, who are doing relatively well right now, but especially from those manufactures who’s meager/outdated offerings have deeper roots on the sales floor than a California Redwood.

Horizon/Losi is also running a special, but it’s more like a GWP. Buy a new 18th scale Losi Monster truck, mail in your proof of purchase and get a free Li-po battery and charger. So hit your LHS (local hobby shop to the newbies out there), pick up a new Mini-LST based truck, and Horizon will send you a nice little gift for your purchase. Props to Horizon helping lead the pack on cutting consumers a sweet GWP.

Did anyone say SALE? Well everybody loves a sale, even us rc knuckleheads. MaxAmps isn’t a chassis manufacture (yet), but they do offer some of the best lithium based batteries on the market right now. They are also known for being at the absolute cutting edge of “new age” marketing. Last week, they shot out the emails, shot out the press releases, and their market man posted on lots of message boards information on their battery sale. Yes indeed, a sale on all those high output Li-po’s you need for you brushless set-ups. While MaxAmps has held “specials” before, this is their biggest sale ever, with prices up to 50% off. Oh hell ya! Nothing better than Sale in the middle of the X-mas buying season.

Ok, ok, it’s nice as a consumer to see these specials, but on the other hand, it’s a painful reminder of how bad the economy is. Our beloved rc companies would not be holding these specials if they were making record profits. They aren’t, times are simply tough for everyone. But it’s one thing to hear Circuit Chity filed for bankruptcy, it’s going to be another when we start hearing about rc businesses going under. So all you consumers out there, times are really tough, but keep supporting your sport as much as you can. Family, rent, and food come first of course. But at the end of the month keep your rc hobby in mind with any leftover cash you might have. With the current and upcoming specials, your dollar will go further than ever before in our hobby, and rc cars are a great way to keep a huge smile on your face during the worst of times.

On a different note, during the second week of December I’ll be holding my first “Cubbies” awards. These will be awarded based on reader responses, in conjunction with my input and input from a variety of industry insiders. Email nominees to Brian at BigSquidRC dot com for the following categories-

08′ Car/Truck of the year-
08′ Worst Car/Truck of the year-
08′ Best piece of rc gear of the year-
08′ Biggest POS rc gear of the year-
08′ Zero to hero of the year (person or item that came out of nowhere to pwn)-
08′ RC Man of the year-

Till next week……..

Your Cub Reporter

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Anybody else watch live CORR racing this weekend? I certainly did, and I was personally enthralled the entire time. The people at CORR have gotten their act together, and are making their run at the mainstream. A relatively great tv package, good on track racing, cross motorsports personalities, combine with a large induction of “mainstream” advertising money, has grown the formerly fringe sport to record levels. Hummmmm….. just goes to show what can be done with the right people behind the wheel of a given sport.

It wouldn’t be a week in rc without a new truck release from Horizon/Losi. It seems every week they have a new offering, some ho-hum, some revolutionary (like last week’s Eight-E). This week, they announced their 18th scale CORR type truck, the “Mini-Desert Truck“. Mental note to ANYONE/EVERYONE who wants to release a truck of this type- make sure the body covers the tires! Otherwise, it ends up looking like the Mini-Desert, basically a normal rc type stadium truck. If you widen out the body to where it looks all CORR, it’s actually cool. Leave it narrow, and the manufacture should install dust wipers on the box because it’s going to sit on the shelf till white plastic comes back into style.

One of the big print mags recently announced they are now offering a new “green” on-line subscription. Strangely, this mag’s print edition is constantly being criticized for having 3 times more pages of advertising than actual “content”. Yet, from what I’ve heard, their e-zine has even more advertisements! BigSquidRC is certainly one of the original, and top on-line rc e-zine’s. It has always been green, and doesn’t shove a semi-tractor full of advertising down the readers throats.

The most uber high end of all racing is Formula 1. In the USA, it’s barely followed, but worldwide, it is easily the largest, and most elite form of motorsport racing. This weekend, the underdog Red Bull Scuderia Toro Rosso team won their first race ever- the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. Red Bull once gave motocross phenom James Stewart a new Bentley for simply favoring their energy drink. I wonder what Red Bull racing will give German Formula 1 driver Sebastian Vettel for winning their first ever Grand Prix? Now, to make this all rc related- if Red Bull can afford sinking nearly a half billion dollars a year into their Formula 1 effort, just to typically run mid to rear pack, why can’t they afford to throw a few hundred thousand into the sport of rc racing and rule the entire thing. Red Bull would get great value per advertising dollar, and the sport of rc would take their first small step towards the mainstream. Have they even been approached by ROAR, RC Pro Series, or the JBRL? Just say’n, it’s a win/win for everybody, and it’s amazing it hasn’t been done yet.

That’s it for this week rc fans. Support your sport! Hit your LHS, buy something, or just hang out and check their latest gear. Hit your local track and race, or just show up on a practice day and have a blast putting on some quick laps. Don’t forget to get on the BigSquid forums and talk some serious smack!

Sincerely,

Your Cub Reporter

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Hopefully, you and yours are enjoying a long Labor Day weekend. Hopefully kicking back, drinking a few cold one’s, and even getting in some serious trigger time with your favorite hobby grade rc car or truck.

First off, let’s thank about all those people in the rc industry, those people that put in the time, money and effort (and entire lives!), that make our hobby so special. While I’m best known for ripping most of these guys new A-holes on a weekly basis, I do certainly appreciate all their hard work. Most rc companies are a LOT smaller than you think, and it’s a dern hard living coming up with the next big thing. With the current economy, finances are especially tough for these people and their families, huge props to all of them for working extra hard to keep their doors open.

Well, it’s finally here. Somebody finally did it. I placed my bet on Horizon/Losi months ago, and indeed, they are the first “big name” with a production 8th scale brushless buggy. The consumers have wanted, hell, even demanded this product, and finally Losi steps up to the plate. So huge props to them for being the first big name to have the nutz to deliver the most highly anticipated platform since the electric 10th scale “stadium” truck in the early 90’s.

So, what are the big up-sides to the new Losi (dubbed the Eight-E)? Well, it comes as a “race roller”, meaning it comes assembled, with speedo and motor, but no transmitter. Speedo is non-sensored, and looks a lot like a Monster Max. I’m not saying that it is, just say’n the likenesses are uncanny. Anyways, the next “plus” is that it is based off the popular and race tested Losi 8 platform. That particular buggy platform works especially well with electric conversions due to it’s off-set center drive line. An electric specific platform would be preferred of course, but we’ll take the nitro platform for now over waiting more months/years. Price is going to be around $879 American dinero’s. This might sound horrifically high, but is actually a plus. If you were to buy a normal 8th scale buggy, big azz speedo and motor, plus a conversion kit, it would cost wayyy more than $879. The cost of an 8th scaler plus big speedo and motor just plain isn’t cheap. Price will go down somewhat in years to come, but you will never see a $299 price point 8th scale RTR electric buggy.

Downsides? This once would have been a plus, but now days, not coming with full electronics (it doesn’t come with a radio system) is actually a downside. Next, the new Losi 8E does not come with a slipper clutch. If indeed it has the driveline from hell, it might survive, otherwise, a slipper really is a “must” have. I think we already know what one of the first “upgrades” released will be, LOL. Finally, and what I see is the biggest thumb’s down- the 8E relies only on motor braking, not servo/rotor braking. Any dirt 8th scaler drives mucho better with a bunch of brake bias towards the front. Using only motor braking, gives half the braking power to the front, half to the rear, making it mucho harder to get through corners. At least this gives Horizon/Losi some room for improvement on their next-gen electric big scaler.

Horizon/Losi also released another truck last week, and it’s perhaps one of the biggest surprises of the year. The Losi HIGHroller (Up In Smoke) totally blindsided most people in the industry. It’s basically a 2wd electric 10th scale monster truck, very much Traxxas Stampede style. Price point? $179, right in the heart of Traxxastown. To me, at a glance, it screams “Hey look, Horizon’s got a new kit source in China!”. Once again, that just might be me, but just say’n. I read on-line where someone took one glance at the HIGHroller (Cheech & Chong’s Next Movie) and said it made him want to burn his XXX-T MF2, the reason being that the Losi name used to stand for the best racing equipment you could buy. Yes, and while the looks and price point of the HIGHroller (Nice Dreams) will make it a big seller, it’s one more dagger in the heart of the Losi brand name. Horizon would be best suited to be careful with how far they drag it down. They paid good money for it, and it’s only of use to Horizon if it still means something race worthy, not bash material. Horizon’s in-house Sportwerks name would be much better suited on the HIGHroller (It Came From Hollywood).

That’s it for this week freaks. Get outside, enjoy your extra time off work by dropping buy (Freudian slip) your local LHS, visit your local bash spot, or put the transponder in and get some racing in.

Most sincerely,

Your Cub Reporter

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