The Backyard – A Little Bit of Everything

Happy Friday and welcome to The Backyard!

First things first—my JConcepts Reactor has arrived, and I’m already well into the build.

I’ll be diving deep into that in a series of upcoming posts, breaking down the build process, setup decisions, and everything that comes with it. But for now, just know that progress is underway… and I’ve got some diffs waiting for me back on the workbench as soon as I wrap this up.

In the meantime, let’s talk about a few things going on in the hobby.

Starting with monster trucks—Tamiya quietly discontinued the Super Clod Buster this week.

Now, that immediately got people talking, and understandably so. The Clod Buster is one of the most iconic platforms in the history of the hobby, so any news like that is going to raise some eyebrows.

But I wouldn’t panic.

From what I’ve seen, this appears to be specific to the Super Clod Buster kit itself. One of the forums I frequent had a user reach out to a Tamiya rep, who indicated that other Clod variants are still sticking around.

If anything, I wouldn’t be shocked if this is a setup for some kind of updated release down the line. We’ve seen Tamiya do “Evo” style refreshes on other classic kits—adding bearings, oil shocks, and making small but meaningful improvements while keeping the core identity intact.

The Clod is long overdue for something like that. Especially when it comes to the steering, which… let’s just say hasn’t exactly kept up with the times.

One way or another though, I wouldn’t worry about the Clod going anywhere. It’s too important of a platform for Tamiya to just let it fade off into the sunset.

Next up—something a little different.

Kyosho announced the 1/10 Tomahawk ’85 Worlds Spec Buggy Kit, and man… that is a good-looking buggy.

Out of all the vintage re-release buggies we’ve seen over the years, this one might be near the top of the list in terms of pure visual appeal. It just nails that mid-80s race buggy look.

And I’ll admit something here—I’ve somehow never built a Kyosho kit.

I know, I know… I should probably turn in my hobbyist card at this point.

I’ve been close a few times. I’ve had my eye on an Optima more than once, but for whatever reason I’ve never pulled the trigger. That’s definitely something I need to correct at some point.

Now, if Kyosho ever decides to re-release something like the Big Boss or the Double Dare? Yeah… I won’t hesitate. That’ll be an instant preorder.

Lastly, I wanted to touch on something from the JConcepts camp.

They’ve been putting out some really interesting bodies lately, and it’s been cool to see them experiment a bit. One that really caught my attention is the APC-X body (pic at the top).

It’s kind of like a chopped-up H1 Hummer, and it just looks different in a really good way. Unique designs can be hard to pull off in the scale world, and even harder to get people talking about—but this one has definitely generated some buzz online.

I’m also a fan of their new P2 clipless body for the Traxxas Rustler. It’s aggressive, modern-looking, and seems like it’ll be a great option for anyone who actually plans to bash their truck hard.

So yeah, a little bit of everything this week.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a Reactor sitting on the bench calling my name.

Until next time, keep it on all 4’s.