When I was a kid my dad and I had the Lunchbox, Grasshopper, Blackfoot and the original Hornet. Man that was some fun stuff. He lost interest and I didn't run them w/out him as I was only 6 or 7 so I ended up taking a 7 or 8 year break until they got me a Futaba FX-10 for X-mas and I've been at it for the last 10 years straight.

As far as being a re-released Bruiser its close but shares none of the components. This is more related to the Tamiya Big Rigs than anything else. This model was built more for durability than scale realism like the Bruiser/Mountaineer/Hilux/Blazing Blazer line.

Definitely get the Lunchbox for your son. While it won't take the same kind of abuse the Blackfoot would, if he keeps the kit motor in it, it should last a long long time. And the wheelies and how bouncy that thing is, you can't run it without smiling. For what its worth the Frog has been re released so you can get spare parts for yours, should it need any.

It's amazing how people want instant gratification and the companies cater to them. It used to be there was no such thing as ready to run unless you bought a Walmart or Radio Shack type car. Now all the manufacturers offer pre built models. The buyers don't get any insight to how it goes together and when it breaks, thats it, they're done with it. People would actually come into the hobby shop asking how to put a tire back on, its just one locknut for cryin out loud.

Sorry rant over.........one of the above ready to run only companies does make one heckuva durable truck. If you son decides to stick it out and wants something with more zip, the Traxxas Stampede is cheap and extremely durable. Right out of the box it will run high 20-low 30mph depending on how good your batteries are. I regularly jump mine 20-30 feet. Not something you would expect from a $170 prebuilt, all gear (aside from batteries) included truck.

 

they sure have came a long way sens the good old RC-10 and the froger , grasshopper,

cool rc's man [8D]

 

I used to think my Grasshopper with that tiny 380 size motor was fast man. My brushless stampede runs in the low 40's and I don't think anything of it.

And this thing...it would flat out haul!


We strapped a GPS to the rear wing and clocked it at 50 flat in a school parking lot last summer. I destroyed those street tires in 3 runs. The tires would spin so fast that it shredded the foams inside them. Doing donuts 3 of the tires ripped and threw the foam 20 feet in the air. After they were replaced I had it in the parking lot after a rain storm. Going full bore across the lot I could jam the brakes before a puddle and it would skip across the top. The longest puddle I cleared was ~15 feet across, it was just a depression in the pavement.

 

Man I remember the rc-10. They have a vintage one on consingment at my local hobby shop. When I was into them about the only gas powered ones were the Kyosho(sp.?) burns and some *** models from the sears wish list book. If you had a clodbuster back then you were the man. I think the lunchbox will be on the christmas list for him. The hornet was the "any time baby" wasn't it. My blackfoot still runs but could use an electronic speed control. The frog I could get running. Its kinda cool because the blackfoot was basically the frog turned into a truck, so most of the parts interchange. I still have the 2 stick futaba attack controllers for them.

 

On the Nitro subject, anybody intrested in a new in box REVO?

 

I've had 2 of the Clods, both ended up with the ESP Clodzilla3 kits on them, one with cantilevered suspension. One was traded off the other I hand cut a chassis out of plate aluminum for it, I posted it here a while back. I still have an original 1987 Clod lid with the Chevy emblems on it. I'm going to extend it to run on my 6x6, think a Dodge T-Rex with a Chevy lid.

 

Is it the 2.5 or the 3.3 Revo? I sold mine last summer and am starting to miss it.