jfreeman

New to this sport. What should I look for? Found some at sun baby for $65 is this going to be a mistake? please help.

SuperFastSnail

iTrader: (82)

I remember when I was 4 years of age I was playing with rocks and rusted Tonka trucks. At age 11 I was playing with Transformers and He-Man, the most powerful man in the Universe. Here you are, playing with radio control and being on RCTech. Dang, wish I had your parents!

jfreeman

Rocks and Tonka trucks it is...

billdelong

iTrader: (33)

No idea what "Sun Baby" is, but any RC for $65 is more than likely going to be a disposable car when something breaks. I would make sure you can get proper replacement parts for anything you get. Look for arms, shafts, gears, etc... for a first time car I would recommend a crawler like this here for the 4 y/o:
https://www.nitrorcx.com/51c902-maxw...awler-red.html

As your kids develop their skills and can handle more speed, then something like this here would be a good step up:
https://www.nitrorcx.com/51c803-fireyellow-24ghz.html

AceInHole

My general experience so far with kids and RC:
My niece and nephew are 3 and 6, and they have a WLToys crawler and an LC truggy respectively. The crawler is perfect for the 3-5 yr old to start adapting how the car responds to controls without too much danger, but the LC truggy (1/14th scale) is way too much for the 6-8 (my slightly older neighbor's kid plays with him) year old while simultaneously not being capable enough. Ideally I think a 10th scale that can deal with grass would be better, and even better if it's something you won't freak out over when they launch it off 6ft of deck stairs. The older neighbor (12yrs old, I think) got a Tacon Valor after seeing my LC truggy, and even with the brushless setup he's looking into making it go faster, but has launched it straight up curbs at full speed (cracked the chassis in half). Despite that, he still occasionally laps my backyard track and I've overheard him commenting to himself about getting around "cleanly", so I think there's a little competitive bug waiting to get out.

That aside, when I was 12 I got my first RC10T and only wanted to race it. I built a track under a bunch of trees in my parents' backyard, and actually did a few races at the local shop with kids around my age. I'd take my stadium truck with me and look for hobby shops with tracks (in a phone book, this was a long time ago) when visiting family across the country. The only reason I'm saying this is that kids are all different, and my brother-in-law and I probably shouldn't have started my nephew with the LC in retrospect, just because that's what we remembered wanting as kids.

Ultimately, a couple crawlers might be the best bet. It might hold back the "bashing" for the older kid and simultaneously keep the younger kid from being jealous if the older kid has a bigger/faster car.

Rush36

For my nephews I like to get them cheapo motor on axle crawlers from Amazon. The 20-30 range one seem to be real cheap. The 60-80 range ones are much better. The crawlers don’t go fast so they are harder to break.

When they get a little older, the Tamiya TT02 variations are INCREDIBLY reliable and robust. I bought a Subaru 22B TT02 kit for $110 shipped. I am not nice to it and nothing has broken. 5200kv motor with stock plastic gearing holding up well.

Keep a look out for prime day deals. I am a huge believer in supporting local hobby shops but sometimes the prime day deals are tough to beat. I purchased two brushed Arrma Voltage RTR trucks for $59 a piece on prime day for my nephews. You can definitely expect similar deals coming up on Black Friday or cyber Monday.

mrreet2001

iTrader: (9)

I am guessing this is what they (he) is looking at:
https://sunbabystore.com/products/1-...-toys-for-kids

OffRoadJunkie

iTrader: (9)

for a 4yr old, I think that would be fine. For an 11yr old, they might want something a little more exciting. Try looking at something the is "Hobby Grade." That means, a vehicle that can be modified and has parts readily available. You would be looking at about $150 and up. My daughter is 11 and I got her a 2wd buggy kit. I have to dial the speed down until she gets better with it but she loves it.

TimF

iTrader: (105)

The Traxxas "Training mode" on their brushed kits makes starting with the durable 1/10th kits pretty accessible. The brushed slash is durable and parts that might break are cheap (4-15 dollars). I know Traxxas has a mixed reputation, but as a "gateway drug/interest barometer, the 200 to start is not bad. The 11 year old will have no issues and may even not need the "training mode" for more than the first few batteries. The 4 yr old might find that to fast (hence the crawler recommendations above). but I have seen 4-6 year olds get a car around a track successfully. The Arrrma and horizon products are pretty durable as well, not sure if their electronics have the "training mode" but with EPA adjustments you can slow down any car to a drivable speed. I would recommend for sure that you do not go smaller that 1/10 (the small size it "tempting" but they loose durability and break far more often (and can be a more tricky to repair).

Just my thoughts (FYI my kid started on a T4 with a stock brushless setup at age 7 and did just fine.

Backyard RC

Like others have mentioned a crawler is great for the 4 year old but if the 11 year old wants to go faster and jump things then maybe a 2wd monster truck would be a better fit.
The Arrma version is only $99 which is more than you were originally looking at but for a hobby grade rc it's about as inexpensive as they come. Traxxas and ECX have 2wd monster trucks too.
https://www.horizonhobby.com/product...ARA102727.html

lastplace

If your buying for a child make sure you can get spare parts. You will need them.