Paul-
Yes, I got a TA05 (my wife gave me 'an R/C car with all the trimmings' for our 31st anniversary), but am waiting for some parts to arrive so I can finish it up.
I'd say it's the future of the GT3 class- very low drivetrain resistance, very tunable, etc. It will take some time for people to figure out what really works and what doesn't, but people were able to just throw them down and go as fast- or faster- than their TA04's at the Nats, so with a little time...who knows?
I'm thinking of using mine to do GT2 and GT3 this year and skipping Mini altogether...
Later
Doc