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 are talking about this buggy isn’t because it’s another RC10 release. Well, not JUST because of that. No, the reason this one has everyone buzzing is because the first thing a lot of hobbyists thought when they saw it was, “Wait a second… is that a Tamiya Fox?”

Underneath, the Ultra Fox is very much an RC10. But visually? This thing absolutely looks like it wandered out of a late-1980s Japanese buggy catalog. The body, the side guards, the bumper, the stance, the front mono-shock!—it all screams the golden era of off-road R/C and more specifically, classic Fox.

That’s why I find this release so fascinating.

For years, the re-release craze has mostly consisted of manufacturers celebrating their own history. Tamiya re-releases Tamiya kits. Kyosho re-releases Kyosho kits. Team Associated re-releases RC10s. That’s generally how it works. The Ultra Fox is different though, as its a tribute to a competitor’s release!

Back in the day, hobbyists spent a lot of time arguing about which company made the better buggy. Were you an RC10 guy? A Tamiya guy? A Kyosho guy? Those debates could get surprisingly heated. Today, we’re far enough removed from those glory years that something interesting has happened. Instead of competing with history, companies are celebrating it.

That’s what the Ultra Fox feels like to me. It’s Team Associated tipping its hat to an entire era of R/C design and culture that helped make the hobby what it is today.

In a funny way, we’ve actually seen something similar recently with the JConcepts Reactor. At its core, the Reactor is absolutely its own thing. The engineering, suspension design, drivetrain, and overall performance are light years beyond a stock Tamiya Clod Buster. But let’s be real—the Reactor is also a love letter to the Clod. The motor-on-axle layout immediately tells you where the inspiration came from. It even utilizes the same wheelbase!

The difference is that the Reactor exists in a much more niche segment of the hobby. Solid axle monster truck racing isn’t exactly front-page news for most R/C enthusiasts, and JConcepts wasn’t nearly as overt about the connection as Team Associated has been with the Ultra Fox. There isn’t a giant wink and nod in the name, and the truck has enough modern engineering packed into it that many people don’t immediately make the connection. Because of that, the Reactor hasn’t generated nearly the same level of discussion.

But the underlying idea is very similar. It’s a modern company acknowledging the importance of a classic platform and building something new that celebrates that history rather than pretending it never existed.

I think that’s why the reaction online has been so strong. Some people absolutely love the Ultra Fox. Some people think it’s strange. A few people seem mildly offended by the concept. To me, all of those reactions are proof that Team Associated accomplished exactly what they set out to do—they got people talking.

Part of the appeal is that modern race buggies, as incredible as they are, don’t always have a lot of visual personality. They’re designed to win races, and rightly so. The cars of the ’80s were different. I mean, they were TRYING to win races, but still. They were colorful. They were weird. They were imaginative. You could identify them from across the room.

The Ultra Fox captures some of that energy.

Whether it’s your thing or not, I think it’s pretty cool that we’re living in a time where companies are comfortable enough with their own history to celebrate someone else’s as well. Twenty or thirty years ago, hobbyists argued over which buggy was best. Today, we’re watching one legend pay tribute to another.

I dig it and hope we see more of it!

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