Here it is folks, live and in the flesh, the HPI Mini Trophy Truck! I think it’s safe to say this is probably the most anticipated RC truck in a long time! Everywhere you go, people are talking about it, so it’s our honor to bring you this exclusive first unboxing.

First off, the packaging is amazig! Whoever designed it, give that person a raise! The way the radio and parts are ‘hidden’ inside the box so all you see is the truck in the off-road setting is really impressive looking. This look is going to sell trucks at the hobby shops!

HPI Racing Mini Trophy Truck Package Gallery

Does anyone else call it the MTT or is that pretty much just Cubby? He’s already labeled the driver ‘Mini Cubby’. He hasn’t let the thing out of his site, and rambling about how Mini Cubby is going to need a custom helmet paint job.

HPI Racing Mini Trophy Truck Gallery

A lot of buzz on the net has been about how do you get the batteries in the thing, and how do you work on stuff with the body and roll cage? We have plenty of pics to show you, click through to see the rest, so we don’t clutter the front page. Read the rest of this entry »

So while bashing at our long jump event where we watched Tim Mohr set a Long Jump record we pulled out the HPI Baja 5B! A lot of people say you can’t bash with a 5B, that too much breaks, but I think this video may prove them all wrong! Nobody could believe the durability that this truck had, and what we put it through! We landed poorly, a LOT, and even hit stuff on purpose, and it still survived! I even gave up at the end, calling it quiets, the Baja was still running fine, I just couldn’t break the darn thing! LOL.
Enjoy the video, and make sure to click it and check it out in HD!

You can hit the HPI web site if you need more info on the Baja 5B!

Hello again rc hobbyists, industry types, and people that just stumble in from a Google search. Damn glad to see ya.

So…. I got to hold the new HPI MTT (Mini Trophy Truck) in my hands. I guess the main thing that entered into my mind while looking it over was just how much passion the guys at HPI have right now for their trade. It was glaringly obvious from looking the truck over that whoever designed this truck didn’t do it because of a paycheck, they did it out of pure passion for the hobby. And perhaps even more impressive was that HPI gave the project the green light. Within this industry there are a whole lot of designers who come up with great ideas that get shot down by the suits because the project would be too costly, or too risky, or just didn’t fall into some bland mold that “successful” products should come out of. So props to the entire HPI crew on the Mini Trophy Truck, Traxxas got the ball rolling in the right direction with their Slash, HPI finished off the job. Mark my words, two years from now, looking scale on the outside AND under the hood will be copied by every big name manufacture.

I have a new favorite driver. Reading through the press releases I saw that German Kyosho touring car driver Chris Krapp was kick’n butt at the Euro Touring Series. Perhaps in time, with enough practice, I can drive like Krapp.

For those industry types that dig THE Cub Report and are looking for a spot to market that Everyone reads/sees every week, shoot Brian at BigSquidRC dot com an email about how you can sponsor THE Cub Report.

Word just in- Thunder Power is IN for the third BigSquidRC Li-po battery shootout. Details coming in the next few weeks.

I saw that EPIC released info on some of their new brushless motors last week. Does anybody else have to giggle when they see those? Seriously, that rant that Trinity put out years ago about how bad brushless motors were will Never be forgotten, well, at least not by me. Anyways, looks like they’ve got some new 18th scale and 550/SC brushless motors on the way. Check’em out if you are also the hypocritical type…..

I heard the new issue of Xtreme RC Cars does NOT have a hot chic on the cover? I haven’t seen the latest issue, but seriously? I hope that was just a nasty rumor…

BigSquidRC should have some B I G news for you animals next week. Yes, this is a teaser, and yes, I hate teasers too, but I couldn’t resist. Please turn on the speculation machine now…….

That’s it for this week, as always support your local hobby shops, tracks, and local bash spots!

YOUR Cub Reporter

Another HPI sneak peak! This time it’s the HPI Savage XL with a Brushless Flux Conversion! We don’t have a lot of information at this time, but it looks like for all those Savage XL owners (we love ours) if you want a Savage Flux without dropping all the $$, then you might still be able convert to one!

You can hit the HPI web site , but there isn’t any info up there yet that we have seen.

Our spy got his wrist slapped for trying to snap a picture of the new body, but at least we have the news right? It sounds like HPI Racing may soon be releasing some pre-painted Chevy Camaro bodies! Hopefully there is a a Sprint 2 Flux RTR in the works with these bodies. If not, I still look forward to getting my hands on one for the on-road vehicles! The one we saw was pre-painted black.

Check out the HPI web site for possible info on the body and others coming soon!

Sadly, it’s not my hand! With all the hype the HPI Mini Trophy Truck has been getting lately, I figure any new picture would be worth posting.

Check out the HPI web site for more info.

Thanks to our spy for the picture! I hope you bring it back to the office with you because I want to drive that thing.

Right now, one of the hottest trucks being talked about is the HPI Mini Trophy Truck that we have been talking about. Well now there is a teaser video up. The video is so short, if you blink you’ll miss it, so I have this screen grab incase you blink!

Check out the HPI web site for more info.

Holy cow! Cubby does some work! The RC Reviews section was just updated with the HPI Racing Blitz ESE Review by our own Cub Reporter! You don’t want to miss this one! Click the images or here for the review!

Another “big” race was held last week. I know, I know, there is seemingly a “big” race every week, but the IFMAR world championships for 12th scale and 10th touring car are only held every two years, and they went down last week in Germany. I bring this up for two reasons- one being that I bet you didn’t know they were being held, and that’s kinda like a tree that falls in the forest. If a tree falls in the forest and nobody is there to hear it, did it even happen? And two- in the second 12th scale A final a driver put on the finest display of rc car driving I have ever witnessed. You see, Masami has been grooming a young protege, Naoto Matsukura, and in the second leg of the A he made the most elite racers in the world look like novices. So click HERE to see the BEST driving the Earth has ever seen. (Youtube Video Link)

Btw, while we were enjoying our country’s independence day over here, America got OWNED last week at the worlds in Germany. America might lead the world at many things, but rc racing isn’t one of them.

Let me be one the first to call the new HPI Mini Trophy Truck a game changer. It’s been a long time since a company other than Traxxas has produced the next big thing, but well, HPI has just done it. Sure, the Traxxas Slash (some would argue the AE SC8) started the short course truck revolution, but the new HPI Mini Trophy truck is a huge leap forward, not only in short course truck design, but in scale realism for our hobby. You’ve got people on rc forums saying things like “Hey HPI, here’s my bank account number. Take as much as you want, ’cause I gotta have this.” about their new Mini Trophy. I’ve been preaching for years that realism is good for sales and for the hobby as a whole, and this new HPI truck is the biggest leap in that direction since the original RC10.

Traxxas has not had to follow anyone’s lead for years, for over a decade they’ve pretty much lead the pack via the T-Maxx, Revo, and Slash. How will Traxxas respond to the HPI Mini Trophy, if at all? I bet they aren’t the only company that sits down this week in a board room, invites all the brass in, spreads one large, blank piece of paper in the middle of the table and says “Ok guys, we’ve got some work to do!”. What if you are a company like Thunder Tiger/Associated, who used to own the market, now all they do is react (quite slowly I might add) to the latest trends? What if you are Horizon/Losi (I hate to just call it Losi, because it’s soooo not Losi anymore) and are used to putting out a dozen “different” trucks based on one platform, and now you are faced with coming up with an all new design, and one that’s actually competitive, or even better than the HPI truck? Their last attempt at a short course truck, the Losi Strike, was way off the mark. I know they’ll never do it, but I’d love to see Losi cut a HUGE check and give Sr and Jr a call to see if they’d be willing to lend a hand on a scale Losi short course truck. We all know just how uber a true Losi truck would be. Sadly, it will probably never happen.

On a much different note- BigSquidRC is looking for more models for the iHobby Expo this October. In the past we’ve had readers help us out by suggesting their girlfriends etc, so if you know of a hot chic who is into rc and wants to make some cash, shoot Brian an email.

One more short note for the week, I gotta thank our readers for helping to spread the love about BigSquidRC. Thank you guys for emailing links to your buds, posting links on the message boards etc. Without you all, we’d be just another rinky dink rc site. Slowly but surely we are clawing our way into the rc mainstream, and we sure couldn’t do it without your help.

That’s it for this week, as always, support your local hobby shops, tracks, and bash spots!

YOUR Cub Reporter

Holy Cow! Two unboxing stories in the same week! People around the office are bouncing off the walls with all the vehicles we have to review soon! I Love it! So we recently talked about the new HPI Racing E-Firestorm 10 HT being a Hobby Town (hence the HT) exclusive! Thanks to our local Hobby Town, we have one in our hands! Check out all the unboxing photo’s, and watch for a full review coming soon!

Check out the rest and under the hood shots: Read the rest of this entry »

HPI Racing is finally releasing some real imagery of their new 1/12 scale desert racer, the Mini-Trophy.  As we reported last week, the Mini-Trophy has been designed in conjunction with full scale racing team TSA Motorsports.  Now that we have some real pics of it we can see some of the crazy detail that HPI has pumped into this all new platform.  A massively complicated tube roll-cage wraps all the insides to keep them safe and cozy.  The tires feature raised lettering and two spare wheel/tire sets are included and attached to the rear of the cage.  A multi-piece body tops it all off. But to me, the most interesting design aspect of the Mini-Trophy is the rear suspension which features a-arm lowers connected to beefy trailing links that hold the lower shock mounts.  Other links connect to various parts of the chassis to keep it all together.  It had me fooled as I thought it was a solid rear axle at first, but it’s fully independent in the rear.  You can also see underneath the hinged portion of the roll-cage a massive differential housing with a thick drive shaft going into it.  This is also where the ESC sits.  The rest of the electronics appear to sit under the detailed driver/navigator interior.

This is an awesome new truck, I can’t wait to see one in person and totally dissect it.  Keep an eye on HPI’s web site for more details and pictures.

HPI Racing Mini Trophy gallery

Tower Hobbies has slashed the price of the HPI Crawler King by more than 50%.  It’s on sale for $119.98, which is more than $125 off their normal price.

This is an insane deal and the Crawler King is an awesome truck.  Be sure to take advantage of this deal while you can.

The Crawler King is a fully ready to run rock crawler based off the Monster King chassis.  It features a HPI TF-1 27 MHz radio system, an EN-1 reversing ESC, and a detailed Land Rover Defender style body.  If you’re looking to get started in rock crawling, this truck is a good stepping off point.

To take advantage of this deal head on over to the Tower Hobbies web site.

Check out this new truck from HPI Racing and TSA Motorsports. The HPI Mini-Trophy Truck is an all new RTR 1/12 scale, 4wd, Desert Truck that was designed in conjuction with TSA Motorsports as they built the full scale version to be raced in the 7200 class of the SNORE desert racing series. There’s not much info available about the Mini-Trophy yet, HPI tells us to keep an eye on our favorite RC news site… obviously referring to Big Squid, so when we get the info, so will you.

Read the full press release at HPI’s web site.

Need some new LiPos?  HPI has a new line for ya.  The HPI Plazma LiPo line comes in three flavors, an 11.1V 3800 mAh, a 7.4v 4000 mAh with round case, and a 7.4v 5300 mAh.  If you have a HPI vehicle then one of these packs will likely fit in it without problems.  All of the packs have Deans connectors preinstalled from the factory.  They have MSRPs of $79.99 (4000 mAh), $129.99 (5300), and $139.99 (3800), but no word on when they’ll be hit shelves.

Check out the HPI web site for more info.

Here is a interesting new release from HPI. It looks like they have teamed up with HobbyTown USA to put out a EXCLUSIVE RTR E-Firestorm 10 HT truck! The HT standing for HobbyTown. It looks to have all the same stuff that makes up the normal E-Firestorm except it’s RTR with the inclusion of their new HPI Plazma batteries, and it has HobbyTown USA stickers on the side. If your in the market for a bashing vehicle, this may be what you are looking for.

Check out the HPI web site for more info.