If you have strippers for your big day, let me know. I wouldn't want to miss out on those activities.
Parachute idea is pretty interesting too, but I will pass on that one. Anyways, man that advice works 99% of the time. Too bad most people run Kyosho and Jammin. I think your right, the Losi / Associated thing really is like Ford / Chevy.
I will tell you about the RC8 and honestly as I can, but like yourself I have very found memories of my gold tube RC10. So much so that I still have it. Therefore, my disclaimer is that I am an Associated guy, but I am also a fan of my money. With that said, I will be brutually honest. After being really excited about the car, I almost threw it into a canal two weeks after I had it. I couldn't put the car on the track without a hinge pin popping out. In case your wondering, yes I had one of the cars prior to the service pack being available. I tried a couple of different home remedies to reinforce the car so it wouldn't throw the hinge pins, but it would just keep doing it. I even bought the aftermarket M2C plates and guess what, still popped out.
That is when my RC8 almost became a UFO. Anyways, I made some more home made type remedies to keep the hinge pin from popping out which ultimately boiled down to using two rather large sheet metal screws. The screws worked just long enough for me to fall in love with the car again. The handling is really superb. I went from the middle of sportsman straight to the top in a matter of a few weeks. By the way, we have 3 full heats of sportsman so it was quite a jump. I just loved the agility of the car and it flies great. Well, eventually the screws failed just around the time that the service packs came out. I installed the service pack and like magic all the problems went away. Not one issue after that. I continue to beat the heck out of the car, keep in mind I am a sportsman driver, and the car is holding up nicely.
Some people talk about problems with the fuel tank but I haven't had any issues. Some people like to modify the shocks but the shocks work great. I am now really happy with the car and have no intentions of getting rid of it soon even though there are quite a few nice options out there like the Xray, Odonnel - if they ever release it, Hyper 9, rumored Mugen 6 etc. I think my next car will be a revision to the RC8 whenever that happens.
Not sure if that helps or not, but that is my story and I am sticking to it. Have you driven either one of the cars? If you were in my neck of the woods I would let you take mine for spin or tumble to see if it would help you make up your mind.
Let me know what you decide to do.