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The Backyard – Red Plastic and Big Dreams
Happy Friday all! Welcome to The Backyard. Earlier this week, Tamiya announced the return of one of my all-time favorite RCs: the Clod Buster. This time around, it’s coming back wearing its original colors with red molded plastic, white wheels, and even the classic-style box art. Needless to say, I was pretty excited. The Clod Buster is my definitive favorite RC of all [...]
- 8/7/2026
- 4:15 pm
- Tamiya
The Backyard - By: Doug
The Backyard – Well, I Went and Did It
Greetings all and Happy Friday! Well, I went and did it. I purchased a Tamiya Lunch Box EVO. Long-time readers know I’m a massive fan of the original Lunch Box. Here’s a link to my Mr. Yuk build that I did years ago. As a matter of fact, that truck is sitting on the shelf about five feet from me as I write [...]
The Backyard – I Didn’t Expect a Tugboat
Happy Friday all and welcome to the Backyard! Every now and then, someone sends me something that completely catches me off guard. A few days ago, my friend Jason Worthley did exactly that. Jason is a hardcore nitro monster truck guy, so I usually expect a video featuring one of his monsters. Instead, he sent me footage of two scratch-built workboats locked [...]
- 7/24/2026
- 1:05 pm
- The Backyard
- By: Doug
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The Backyard – When Did I Become “The RC Guy”?
Hello everyone and Happy Friday! Welcome to The Backyard. I started in RC back in 1993. At least as far as hobby-grade vehicles go. I was nine years old, and while a lot has changed since then, one thing hasn’t- RC has been a part of my life ever since. Looking back though, I don’t think I became “the RC guy” [...]
The Backyard – Uncomplicated Fun
Greetings all and Happy Friday! As we head in to mid-Summer, it feels like “what’s in” is uncomplicated fun. Just look at some of the releases we’ve seen recently. The Tamiya Lunch Box Evo is finally arriving at hobby shops, taking a beloved classic and giving it a few meaningful updates (finally!). ARRMA just announced the Freedom Flyer, which looks like it [...]
Monster Truck Madness: Building a JConcepts Reactor Monster …
Greetings all! I hope everyone here in the States has a great Fourth of July weekend! Rather than a traditional Backyard this week, I figured I’d combine it with another installment of Monster Truck Madness. The Reactor has officially made its competition debut, and after all the planning, building, and tinkering, it’s finally time to talk about what it’s like [...]
- 7/2/2026
- 3:20 pm
- Monster Truck Madness
The Backyard - By: Doug
The Backyard – Why You Should Go to Your Local Hobby Swap …
Happy Friday and welcome to The Backyard! A couple weeks back I stopped by a swap meet hosted by my local hobby shop, Mark Twain Hobby Center in St. Charles, Missouri. This wasn’t just a couple folding tables with old junk on them, either. It was a well-organized event where vendors reserved tables and brought everything from vintage R/C kits and [...]
The Backyard – When One Legend Pays Tribute to Another
Happy Friday and welcome to The Backyard! One of the more interesting releases to generate discussion lately has been the new Team Associated RC10 Retro 80’s Ultra Fox. If you’ve spent any amount of time on social media over the last few days, you’ve probably seen it pop up in your feed along with a whole lot of opinions. The reason people [...]
The Backyard – Ready for Race Day
This week’s Backyard is going to be a quick one because I’ve got a busy weekend ahead. First off, if you’ve been following along with my JConcepts Reactor build, Part 2 of the build series is now live. I’ll drop a link right here for anyone who wants to check it out. It’s kind of funny how quickly this project went from [...]
Monster Truck Madness: Building a JConcepts Reactor Monster …
Hey folks, it’s time for the second and final part of my JConcepts Reactor build! Here is a link to Part 1 in case you missed it. Let’s get right to it! The chassis went together smoothly. As an FYI, the only differences between the short and long wheelbase chassis kits (mine is the 13″ version) are the frame rails and [...]
- 6/11/2026
- 10:57 am
- JConcepts
Monster Truck Madness - By: Doug
The Backyard – The Projects That Never Happened
Happy Friday and welcome to The Backyard! Before we get into today’s topic, I should probably confess something. I own enough unbuilt static model kits to keep me occupied well into retirement. Tamiya kits. AMT kits. Military vehicles, aircraft, ships, semi trucks, race cars—you name it, I’ve probably got one sitting on a shelf somewhere. Now, I don’t necessarily consider those projects [...]
The Backyard – Some Thoughts on the Axial SCX10 III Toyota…
Happy Friday and welcome to The Backyard! I always like to keep you all guessing a bit here in The Backyard, so this week instead of talking monster trucks, retro racing, or some larger hobby philosophic topic, I figured I’d throw out some general impressions on a truck I recently picked up—the Axial SCX10 III Toyota SR5. https://www.horizonhobby.com/product/axial-1-10-scx10-iii-1987-toyota-sr5-4×4-rtr-brushed-rock-crawler-red/AXI-2062.html Now, this is not a [...]
- 5/29/2026
- 2:17 pm
- Axial
The Backyard - By: Doug
The Backyard - Come Race Monster Trucks at BIGFOOT 4X4 Open …
Happy Friday and welcome to The Backyard! Well folks, it’s almost that time again—BIGFOOT 4X4 Open House is just around the corner, and once again the Trigger King R/C crew will be there putting on our annual solid axle monster truck racing event! This year’s event takes place on Saturday, June 13th, and if you’ve never made the trip out to BIGFOOT [...]
- 5/22/2026
- 6:56 pm
- The Backyard
- By: Doug
The Backyard – Sometimes It’s Enough to Just Look at ‘…
Happy Friday and welcome to The Backyard! You know, as I sit here writing this, I’m staring over at my Tamiya King Hauler and matching trailer sitting on my desk at home. The whole setup is over three feet long in total, and despite the fact I built the entire rig last year… I’ve barely driven it. And honestly? I don’t even really [...]
The Backyard – Give Me a Mid Paint Job Over a Vinyl Wrap
Happy Friday and welcome to The Backyard! I know this opinion probably makes me sound like an old man yelling at clouds, but I’m going to own it anyway: Give me a mediocre paint job over a decent vinyl wrap probably 80 percent of the time. This goes for both full-size vehicles and R/C. Maybe even more so with full-size stuff. But seeing [...]
