Herman, is the Mini-Z the most popular flavour of small-scale RC car in H.K.? I know you mentioned the Yokomo and took a pic of the ABC, but does anyone race the ABC DTMs? If so, do they race them against the 'Z? - mondo
hi mondo... i had tons of fun while i was there... been to h.k. a number of times, mongkok as well, especially that street market that really closes late (i tell you this is where the locals shop, but in the recent years it's been quite popular so you'll have to know how to haggle... i.e. my wife was interested in a bag and the price was h.k.$120... walked down the street, saw the same bag in a different stall.. 100... another stall 90... and still another stall... 70.... finally she got the same bag she wanted for h.k.$45 in a different stall)...
but this was really the first time i went to visit the r/c shops around the area... probably it could be easily coined as the r/c capital of the world... i haven't seen anyplace like it anywhere...
i believe you are right in saying that the mini-z is the most popular small scale r/c car in h.k. this can be attributed to some of the following factors...
- it's simplicity, basically anybody can get into it... young or old... imagine putting batteries into it, screwing in three screws at the most and having fun right away...
- it's price, really quite affordable... hop ups are applenty and also affordable... the shops are quite numerous and competition is tight... so price, i believe will be kept low since it is a sellers market...
- tracks abound almost everywhere.... in support of the hobby there are lots of tracks within the area... there were at least 5 that they mentioned... and darn i only visited 2 (due to time constraints)...
according to mryung although the abc x-4 is an excellent machine, it's not as popular as the mini-z...
you most definitely will have to put extra effort in assembly, purchasing electronics and such... this will definitely increases costs... and i think the abc dtm, (and any model that will require assembly and separate electronics, for that matter) will more likely appeal to the experienced and older hobbyists who assembles and tinkers around with things...
too bad that the store selling the dtm was closed... couldn't get any closer to take pictures, and look at it really up close...
on the other hand it was a good thing it was closed, since i was thinking of purchasing it.... thus further sending me down into the pit of debt... but i digress...
the two tracks i visited they only ran mini-z's... but probably sometime in the near future, you might see more of the other mini's - kawada's, yokomo's and abc's...
heck the track that we used to go to ran micro's and mini-z's, sometimes side by side... so you'll never know...
Herman, once again, thanks for an excellent review... - mondo
no problem and thanks for the compliment... oh yeah you have fun too on your vacation... have i convinced you to change your destination? hmm probably on the trip back perhaps...
Herman, LOL! Don't tempt me, my wife will de-bone me, she is South African and we're going there to visit family.
Oh, LOL, my son who is 13 lives in South Africa too, he lives there with his mother.
Mini-Z's are not available in South Africa, although RC (mainly 1/10 touring IC and EP) is alive and kicking.
He has a Mini-Z car and a Mini-Z F1, both fully hopped up by myself before sending them over.
He is the envy of his friends who can only get hold of Canned Heats and Bit-CharGes
Herman, I think you have tempted me to take my next vacation in Hong Kong, of course all I have to do is tell my wife it's a shopping Mecca and she'll be on the Internet looking for tickets
hehehe... just say that there weren't any direct flights available on the way back... or make up some lame excuse that you'll have to contact somebody in h.k. for this special report or something... hehehe....
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