@OnionSoup I get to hold the remote though.

@somf69 the next thing you know they’ll be selling us hoops and sticks.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoop_rolling

@somf69 Peperidge farms remembers

@somf69 Attach a camera to the car and pilot it.

@werehatrack

@blaineg And somehow, I look at it knowing that I ought to want this or one like it, and yet all I can hear in my head are the multitude of reasons why it would be a mistake to want it, and a bigger mistake to get it.

There is history. It can’t be pushed aside.

And I should note that those words are really Theodore Sturgeon’s, not Spock’s.

@toycardriver User name checks out.

@Kyeh I was just going to add, I guess we know where my user name comes from!

@toycardriver !

@toycardriver yep… From the one picture of the guts on Amazon, it looks like it’s built like a hobby grade car. Battery connectors are standard, and the connector included lets you parallel two batteries for longer runtime. [EDIT:] No idea if the speed controller is separate Amazon reviews state the electronics are standalone which would allow an easy upgrade to brushless power or if there’s some all in one wonder board running the whole show.

Also it seems to only be called out in the what’s included line, but it is four wheel drive. That’s fairly important as it will help with control on a car this size.

It’s not likely to keep up with the stuff from the hobby shop, but it’s also 1/4 or less the cost. So this is good as either a trial entry for a kid who wants to get into racing them but you’re not sure will stay interested past the first broken shock mount, or for any adult or kid to bash around the back yard (or the back lot at the office). I remember a great fun day at work when we opened up a brand new empty warehouse with glossy smooth concrete floors and several of us brought our rc cars to play. This would have dominated everything that showed up except me - I brought my Traxxas Ken Block Ford Focus.

Familiarize yourself with your local hobby shop if one still exists, or a website like hobbyking if not. You’ll be able to get more batteries and a better/faster charger there. And even if there’s no other compatible parts there, if it’s driven on the pavement the tires won’t be knobby for long.

@toycardriver This cars is far from hobby grade. I wouldn’t even say this qualifies as basher grade.

The problem with upgrading something like this to more power is that the rest of the car is not built to handle additional power. You’ll start breaking stuff (more than usual).

This looks like it’s probably a good buy for what it is. Use it and enjoy it and determine if you want something better.

there’s also a lot to be said for buying something that a local hobby shop has parts for. Because you will probably need parts.

I think Traxxas is the market leader for this reason. Not necessarily the best for the money, but the local dealers all have all the parts.

source: I upgraded my cheapo starter truck and it broke over and over. Finally gave up and bought a move up and it’s been a much more positive experience.

@Kidsandliz If you’re going to buy an RC car, buy real hobby cars from Team Losi, Team Associated, Xray, Tekno, Kyosho, etc. Don’t waste your money on this “junk”. Invest in the stuff we’ve been winning world championships with for decades.

@davidfast @Kidsandliz But what if I’m not trying to win the manchild olympics? Can I save $900 and still have a decently sweet RC car? Not looking for a new hobby here…

@davidfast @Kidsandliz @NadmanET NOOOOOOO! DO NOT GET THIS “JUNK”. The king has spoken!

@davidfast @Kidsandliz @NadmanET @ohhwell Too many decades ago, I got interested in slot cars as a hobby when I was given a Stromberg kid-grade set (the US equivalent of the UK’s Scalextric). For a couple of years, I slowly put together a fairly pitiful “hobby grade” car from the parts I could afford - and then we moved to a new neighborhood well out of bike range of a track. I have no idea what became of the stuff I had, I think I probably gave it away. At least this doesn’t require exotic and scarce infrastructure, just a suitable open space. Oh, wait, in some cities, even that’s not a given.

I have a huge back yard. I could easily create a track. But I have too many unfinished projects, too big of a backlog of tasks left incomplete, way too much guilt over wasting time on stuff that truly matters to no one…

@werehatrack Ditch the guilt. It’s not helping you.

@Kidsandliz @NadmanET This will break the first stick you run over and you’ll be holding onto $70 of unfixable garbage, but you do you. You always get what you pay for in R/C anything

@davidfast Thank you for adding to the multitude of voices telling me to never get an RC car because it would inevitably be yet another heartbreak.

@davidfast @werehatrack … that can also be true of buying stocks, real estate, entering into relationships. All the warnings can turn out to be true. or not. That’s why we keep doing all those things. Like buying mystery RC cars I guess.

@lonocat lipo fires can be scary

@lonocat Even trusted types can be induced to fail by the wrong conditions.

@kjady Spoil him!

@kjady get him this for Christmas and lego for his bday

@kjady You don’t feel comfortable just telling them you got a good deal on them?

@Kyeh It’s more to the fact they think I spend full price even when I tell them the price and they don’t beleive me.

@kjady Oh, huh! You have a reputation for spoiling your nephew, I guess?

@ColeSloth reviews state they paid 126 for this, potentially for brushless version. It’s the meh discount illusion, no truth in sale price but generally things are 10-20 bucks off actual price not msrp in exchange for no warranty.

@Mandamm I’ve scattered lithium batteries throughout my whole house. 100 x 18650s here, a cheap solar generator there, a few 18v and 40v tool batteries in the garage, which I keep by my backup gasoline stock. Not to mention the box of old electronics that is … somewhere.

@Mandamm @qazxto Oddly enough, of all the people I know who have lithium-pack cordless tools, the only one who has seen such a pack torch itself dropped it overboard in a marina. The water was about ten feet deep next to the pier, so he grabbed a mask, dove overboard and went down after it. The pack felt increasingly warm as he came up, and he tossed it on the concrete dock instead of his boat. Less than 30 seconds later, faster than he could get a bucket of fresh water to try to get the salt off, it had started to smoke.

Word got around fast. If you drop a cordless tool battery overboard, let it go.

@blaineg We’re sold out except for a small amount we set aside for existing members to be released at 4pm ET.

@mediocrebot

Spent too long looking at specs & prices.

@blaineg @mediocrebot Ack! Bill the Cat brings back memories. Also a recent thing I saw reminded me of Zippy the Pinhead. Those were great days for hand-drawn comics, often daily, on print (since there was nothing else) or maybe collected into a book (on paper, available at bookstores; remember those?).

/image bill the cat ack

/image zippy the pinhead

@blaineg @pmarin Calvin & Hobbes is better

@blaineg @mediocrebot Did not know it would bring up a Presidential Election one, but seems appropriate.

Also reminded myself that I named my computer workstation “zippy” somewhere in history.

@blaineg @Kyeh @mediocrebot Yes Calvin and Hobbes was great as well, but more traditional family-safe stuff, perhaps a bit more “edgy” than classic Peanuts-style.

But both Bill the Cat and Zippy tended to stress various forms of “dys” – dysfunction, dystopia. In particular Bill the Cat was just an “F it all” sort of cat (like some real cats are – not that there’s anything wrong with that…). And Zippy was a bit more non-sequitur and the whole “wait, what? why?” was a likely outcome.

@blaineg @mediocrebot @pmarin I liked Zippy, but I am one of the few that never liked Bloom County. The characters all seemed detestable and the drawings were creepy. It seemed like a rip-off of Doonesbury to me.
C&H was really intelligent and subtle. Plenty of satirical stuff in there too.

@Kyeh @mediocrebot @pmarin Bloom County and Calvin & Hobbes were two of my favorites. Still are.

Have you seen Berke Breathed’s “Calvin County” strips? I still have no idea if they were a collaboration or not.

Never got into Zippy.

@blaineg @mediocrebot @pmarin They were a collaboration! I do like those.

@pmarin Agreed!

@pmarin Though if the front loader is any indication, we should see these return many times.

@blaineg @pmarin I think you’re right, but all things considered, I think I’ll procrastinate just as hard next time.

@arbdef mine also. What the heck?

@rabbitadopt Meh sent an email. The vendor sucks and did not ship these.

@arbdef I was so sad it’s canceled. I also bought a skin, cover thing to change it’s color

@CaneelBay I mean at least it is not like the vacuum I bought one time that was still full of someone else’s vacuumed stuff…

@arbdef @CaneelBay Or those steam cleaners that were apparently represented to Meh as refurbs and had not even been cleaned or reboxed after being returned to Costco. There are some slimeball entrepreneurs out there who have learned how to pop up just long enough to run a few cons and then evaporate before the paperwork can be served.