The Backyard: The Scottsdale That Rekindles the Retro Monster Dream

Greetings all and Happy Friday!

If you’re a fan of old-school scale trucks — and let’s be honest, if you read this column you probably are — RC4WD just dropped something that hits every retro nerve in the best possible way. Their new  TF2 “LWB” RTR W/ Chevrolet K10 Scottsdale Hard Body Set (Scale Dept. Edition) is a full-on love letter to a glorious decade of pickup trucks: the 1980s.

I had one of the original launch-version Scottsdales when it debuted a couple years back, and even then RC4WD absolutely nailed the look. Clean lines, classic proportions, unmistakably period-correct charm. But this new edition? It takes everything good about that truck and cranks the 80’s aesthetic to eleven. The chrome light bar, the chrome side steps, the perfectly matched wheel-and-tire combo, the two-tone paint that could have been clipped straight from an ’84 dealership brochure — it’s all here, dripping with retro attitude. This is RC4WD at their best: total commitment to the vibe.

And seeing them embrace the era so fully gets my gears turning.

Because as fantastic as this Scottsdale is, it also highlights something I’ve been talking about for years — the gaping hole where a truly scale, classic leaf-spring 80’s monster truck should be. I’ve predicted (more than once) that someone would finally make it happen, and every year I’ve hoped that release day would come. Many of us have been waiting (and waiting… and waiting) for Tamiya to either re-release or reimagine the Juggernaut into the retro monster it always should have been. But at this point? If Tamiya isn’t going to do it, then RC4WD is absolutely the company I most want to see step up and make that dream truck a reality.

Think about it: a licensed 80’s body perched on a leaf-sprung frame, solid axles, good looking appropriately sized terra tires, and all the beautifully over-engineered scale touches RC4WD is famous for. Something that looks like it rolled straight out of an old TNT Motorsports broadcast or one of those massive fold-out posters you’d find sometimes in the off-road magazines at the time. The nostalgia wave is strong, the fans are hungry, and the scale world has never been more capable of doing it justice.

The Scottsdale Scale Department Edition proves RC4WD can deliver full-throttle 80’s authenticity. Now imagine that same energy applied to a proper old-school monster truck. It would be incredible — and it feels like the perfect time!

Alright, that it’s for me this week. Until next time, keep it on all 4’s!