J.Filipow

iTrader: (15)

..ahahhah...glad you guys got a laugh! They ARE pretty awesome, though, right!? Notice the stick transmitter in my hands, too.

Doug D- LOL! The shorts aren't Losi-issued, but the POWER SOCKS are! hehhehe


(Maybe this is part of the problem with the hobby, that not too many of us can laugh at ourselves from time to time?!)

Graphitedust

Shorts?.........Stick transmitter? LOOK AT THOSE STICK BIRD LEGS! I've seen storks with fatter legs!!!!

rayman

This thread is still going. Well teens dont have only rc stuff to do. They have their online stuff, their outdoor movie and malling, and someone said about the indoor pink going on.
I still see the majority of rc people to be middle aged men ten years from now, as it was 15 years ago in offroad when I was a kid with my el cheapo blackfoot. That's the same reason I quit airsoft a few years back. Too many old guys running(puffing) with their overpriced bb guns.

chicagokenji

For teen boys, not just electronic games, computers/internet....also add this:

teen girls

I've been racing with my one son since he was 10 years old. He's going to be 15 soon. I'm guessing that once he gets a wiff of teen girls the RC hobby might take a back seat....who wants to go hang around a track with their dad when you can go hang around Betty-Sue who is wearing those sweet low-rise jeans.....

XrayFK

iTrader: (1)

Damn those sexy teenage girls.

vtl1180ny

They should just bring them along, make a trade to go along with them shopping....

My wife will usually come down and have lunch with me, hang out for a bit and then go shopping. It got a little tough when the new baby was born but he'll be almost 2 when carpet season starts back up again. I'm going to set him up with one of my old dual sticks and a neck strap with my RC10T soon enough and get him started in RC's....

tc3team

Its easy enough to give r/c a back seat when you get involved with the opposite sex no matter how old you are. For sure it affects the older generation of racer leaving r/c less than the younger generation though.

Some people will just leave r/c without giving it a second thought,others will sum up what they want more from life. Guess it depends how committed you are to each.

The older racer might leave because they feel the time has come where they think they are no longer able to be competitive. And thats a shame because a lot of older drivers dont realise this simply isnt true some or all the time.

tc3team

two years on and not much has changed, except the economy not looking good for people to throw any "spare" money into the hobby.

cheaper 1/12 scale racing can sometimes help though... It may not help sedan, but it could help to stop someone quitting

snoopyrc

iTrader: (2)

I dont think theres any one reason for the decline.

The internet allows you to get any part, almost anywhere. I think thats a huge help to the hobby, but at the same time it kills the mom and pop shop that doesnt understand the technology.

Forums- They allow racers to decide where they are going to meet on any given weekend and even to do parking lot racing if there is no track. But its too easy to get your keyboard courage up and say something that really should be left silent. It just makes it too easy to gripe about nothing.

I think cheaper classes are a big help. Like Mini Cooper racing and VTA. I think a lot of the more casual racers (like myself) are bailing on TC racing to go to a more casual class.

Just MHO

MACHFIVE

It's gonna be funny just seeing the stock tc sponsored guys racing against each other while everyone else is running VTA or WGT. Touring car is going to die unless they make it more realistic and cost-conscious like VTA or WGT which is the trend now. I also believe F1 (pan chassis) will make a comeback too. And once LiPO has been figured out you'll see an influx of racers come back to rc racing.

or8ital

iTrader: (38)

Apparently they are giving these pan cars away somewhere b/c some of the ones I've seen cost almost as much as a TC. Factor in 4 cells batteries and you are way over what a TC with lipo costs.

Electric TC is the strongest it has been in my time in the hobby (4 years) in our area. Nitro TC has about died.

mac853

In the case our downtown has the threat to withdraw the 2009 champs., due the lack of place to organizing anymore races.
I have thought already to changing my equipment for next year, until i have talk with the organizers then they show me the situation, since here maybe i have to give up to spare my money.

PitNamedGordie

iTrader: (8)

I guess my question is how does one measure decline? Decline in your area? In the country? In the world? Or decline in perception?

I think if there is a decline it has very little to do with major issues in our hobby. I think there are outside factors that have a much larger impact on our hobby along with any other recreational endeavors. Where I have seen a hole is with the younger racers. I think that is due to the Playstation's/XBox's/Wii's of the world. It is much easier for a kid to go spend the $300-$600 on a video game system where he can share with his friends and can use anytime he wants rather than drop the same cash on RC, and in most cases more, and have to get driven to a track to race. This hobby (the racing portion) takes a certain level of commitment. RTR and basher type cars are still selling strong for sure. It’s the "racers" that deal with the ups and downs of the hobby. And we are a very small part of the hobby. So do I think there is a decline...not really. Maybe just a shifting around...


I think that World GT will be as expensive as TC soon enough. TC four years ago were a lot cheaper too. I bought my PRO 4 for $275 and an Xray T1 FK04 for $320 and that was the top of the market then. World GT cars cost over $250 and they are a lot less complex than TC's. Also electric off road seems to be doing quite well and those cars aren't cheap at all. Also a lot of guys who run VTA are using Xray and the like to run...and I think VTA was invented to slow down TC and make racing more fun...not cheaper. The cheaper part comes into play because you can use used/old TC's since all out speed and handling are not as important.

cherokee

iTrader: (1)

The question we have to ask is what is in decline? Are new "race" kit sales down? Are RTR sales down, is racing down? What about the new electric air craft and the ease of getting started in planes. You can fly a plane in your front yard, something impossible just 10years ago. You know park flyers are up.

I don't think the RC hobby is in decline I think its focus has shifted. There are super cool cars that are coming out that have been poo-pooed by "racers". Cars from the HPI 5B to the Traxxas slash are not called race cars, and where (at least in the beginning dismissed) by the racing community.

I don't think that RC is in any kind of decline, the RC Racing car market just has more competition then before. I do know one thing, some classes are out of control and if that is not fixed for the most part rc car racing will go the same way as slot cars did in the 70's. It got to be just too much for most people.

Wes Briscoe

iTrader: (7)

I played with/raced cars from like 8 until 16...then I was able to do other things, like drive a real car, and go out with real girls, it was a 10 year downward spiral until I got tired of the girls and had money in my pocket to go play with other toys again.

The hobby still competes for my time against my XBOX, my real cars, and my woman..

I blame rock 'n roll and hoolahoops for everything.