Monster Truck Madness – Three Predictions for 2021

Hey gang, happy New Year’s Eve edition of MTM! Last week I talked about three things I selfishly “wanted” to see in 2021 from the r/c monster truck hobby. This week I’m going to talk about three things that I actually think will happen.

I think the first thing we should note is that the hobby had a fantastic year in 2020. Everyone that was stuck at home seemed to turn to the hobby, and in turn the coffers of many a company were lined like never before. That means we should see some REALLY cool stuff in 2021. Let’s discuss-

The LMT gets REALLY hot and solid axle monster trucks go big into the mainstream

The Losi LMT is finally here, folks, as the ship date for those who ordered is the first business week of 2021! Soon the truck will be in hobby shops, bash spots and on work benches. It’s one hell of a platform. I know I’ve been quiet in talking about mine after the review, but I can assure that you are about to see a lot of content around that vehicle, especially when racing season begins.

The LMT is going to take the baton from the Axial SMT10 and push r/c solid axle monsters to that next level. I look forward to many hobbyists getting to experience the thrill of monster truck racing and freestyle over the coming months, especially this summer when hopefully the pandemic gets under control!

The X-Maxx is updated

The Traxxas X-Maxx, which is unofficially known as the king of the bashing trucks, is gonna see a big update in 2021, methinks. Maybe not even an update so-much as a new model in the line.

I think we are going to see a more scale version of the truck. Not necessarily the mechanical guts, but maybe some licensed bodies and wheels/tires? Traxxas has a lot of licenses, and thus far the X-Maxx hasn’t seen much in the way of using them. I think that changes in 2021.

Heck….maybe the big T goes really wild and drops a gas mill into the platform? Hey, the heritage of the X-Maxx lies in the legendary T-Maxx, so it would be cool to see it go this way.

Whatever happens, I think the flagship truck in the Traxxas fleet gets some love this year.

Arrma adds some kind of crazy new monster truck to its line-up.

Arrma has been one of the hottest brands in the hobby in recent years, rising from relative obscurity a decade ago to become known as the brand for hardcore bashers of all types.

2020 saw Arrma make big headway into the large scale monster truck wars, as the Kraton and Outcast jumped up to 1/5 scale to battle the aforementioned X-Maxx from Traxxas. So, what does this year have in store?

I think we see a large scale, non-truggy based monster truck from the line. Something with a lot of ground clearance and marked different construction than the Kraton/Outcast. I would LOVE to see their take on this. I think it happens.

A 1/24 or 1/16 Solid Axle Monster Truck is released

Ok, so this was on my list last week as something I “wanted” to see. Well, I also think it’s gonna happen. Solid axle monsters are hot. Micro scale trucks are hot. It isn’t exactly a stretch.

Given how Axial has crushed this segment, I really, really hope we see an Axial SMT24. Whether it’s that company or not, someone is gonna do it in 2021.

Alright folks, that’s it for me. I hope you all have a fantastic NYE and here’s to 2021 being a much better year than 2020 was. Stay safe!