Originally Posted by Rick Hohwart

Which hobby are you talking about, R/C cars or R/C racing? They are as different as figure skating and ice hockey.

R/C cars ARE mainstream. There are few other products that are sold in such a wide variety of stores.

R/C racing is not mainstream. I have been around R/C since 1982, mostly as a pro racer and as a business owner ('85-'99). The main difference from the beginning to now is the fact that R/C is marketed to a different demographic than it was at its peak.

R/C racing is an adult (16+) hobby. It requires a substantial financial commitment (like most hobbies) that requires a decent amount of stability and a decent job. It seems like that more and more we are trying to get kids involved and I think this is the wrong direction to take.

I saw a post talking about $400.00 to get into racing. I see these things and wonder why this is so much now when in the late '80s and early '90 (R/C Racing Golden - 25000 ROAR members) that amount would have been considered normal. I spent almost $200.00 to get into R/C racing in 1982. We are pushing racing to the wrong people if they think $400.00 is too much. The cars are undervalued as it is. The competition segment is barely profitable and the cars are worth the full retail price.

R/C racing is a miniature form of full scale racing. We should be promoting the hobby to those that are interested in full scale racing and show it as a safer and less expensive alternative to the real thing. I road race a Honda Civic and know that R/C cars are an excellent alternative because you deal with the same basic challenges - driving, setup, maintenance, etc.. In fact, competition R/C cars are more sophisticated than most real race cars and when completed is more adjustable than a F1 car. But how many people know that?

Enough babbling. To sum it up I think we need to target middle class adult racing fans by showing them that R/C racing is a way to compete with less expense and danger.