ZipZaps are *NOT* being phased out!
 

Just made a trip to my local RS, and according to them the ZipZaps line is *NOT* being retired. According to two employees, around (or before) Christmas there will be a new monster truck coming out, several new car models,

as well as.....

ready for this????

....

A *helicopter* (the "Mosquito") and a *plane* (a seaplane, I forget the model)... completely RC, Zaps' style controller(s) and all! -:) Price will be comparible to the ZipZaps, and the same same scale -:) Hehe, can't wait to try out a new chopper! -:)

The RS guys said that they didn't see the actual products, but rather the TV commercial(s) for them that will be aired sometime around Christmas.

ZipZap are NOT dead! WOOHOO! -:)

well this is great news. a new plane and chopper huh, and a new monster truck maybe it will actually have a good suspension. if you could find out anymore info plz post

Hey that's great news! Thanks for the info!

The heli and plane sound like the PiccoZ and Aero Ace. The PiccoZ is already available and the scale seems to be similar to the zipzaps:
http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...032062.2032402

I wonder if that's what they were talking about.

Try to find out what bodies they are. PLEASE!!

Well let's hope you're right! :D

I wonder how these are going to be new and different than previous models?

Or I guess the pessimist in me would say it's just another chance for RS to drop the ball on them again.

I "wormed" as much info out of the RS guys as possible <G>. Both said that they hadn't seen the actual products, only the TV commercials (and didn't really know/remember what models that the bodies were, other than all of them were Zaps, including the chopper and plane).


Hopefully so, like a new (upgraded) series/generation of sorts.


I mentioned the PiccoZ to them (as I've seen that one before), and they said that it wasn't the same... the chopper and plane supposedly actually bears the ZipZaps logo and trademark name, as well as (from what they described) being slightly smaller than the PiccoZ -:)


Anyhow, If I find out any more info, I'll post it here. I really "grilled" these RS employees... "Pics?! Product info?! Price?! Top-secret sales flyers?! Models/makes?! Maybe an MPG of the TV commercial?! Manufacturer?! Transmitter FCC ID number?! I WANT MORE INFO! <AAAHHHHHHHH>!" <LOL>! (i.e. They didn't even get a chance to try to sell me a cell phone <LOL>!) -:)

:eek: Wait...
You didn't go into a RADIO SHACK did you?

I should have known you were just teasing us! *sigh*

I really hope they come out with new/better ZZ's.

I always walk into the shack twirling my phone around to ward off any money sucking sellaphoneVampires.LOL

Very interesting stuff. I hope they are right about new Zips. I'm wondering if the Pixar type chassis is all that will be released with new bodies, or are there gonna be new SEs? And, that chopper idea is something I've been waiting for for 2 years!
Improvements would be nice too. The Pixar cars are fairly flawless, but the SE chassis could still use a tweak or two. I honestly wish they would upgrade the electronics to IWaver full propo. But, I don't see that happening.

well...

http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...ductId=2255015

The Mosquito.

Hmmm... quite interesting, sure doesn't sound like a continuation of the Zaps product line like the RS guys stated (and the price is definately NOT comparable).

Oh well... who ever said that one could get reliable information from an RS store/employee, short of info on buying a new cell phone <aarrgghh>?

OK, that chopper is pretty ugly. But, if it flies as well as the hyped ad copy suggests, it may be worth it.
Then, there's this one:
http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...ductId=2431387
This looks like a candidate for a Zip Zap sticker slapped on the side. Not sure how well a $30.00 2 channel micro copter can fly though.

Your link is the same as the one I put up before Az...For the PiccoZ.

It seems that the PiccoZ is actually lighting up the Micro flyer community in a big way!

With a little tweaking, people have been getting some excellent flying results and the coolest thing about these helis is they use 3.7v @ 50maH LiPoly high discharge batts!

There's already PiccoZ dedicated sites popping up on the Net, like this one:
http://www.piccoztoolbox.no-ip.com/

I've already got 2 on order! :)

So it is! Sorry didn't notice.
That's good enough for me. I think I'll order two as well. One to play with and one to modify. Y'know I built that drive up heli pad on my Zip track some time ago. Now I can actually fly a micro heli from it!

i was sure they were going away. i cant wait until they come out :D

if zz's arnt being discontinued...how about the xmods, theres alot of talk about them being discontinued. if the zzs arnt i sure hope that the xmods are going to stay also.

FYI, most of the (cheaper) RC helicopters are butt-ugly <G>... quite strange designs, but I guess that's what they have to do to get a small micro RC helicopter controllably airborne <G>.

@All, another one is sold by "Jasman Toys" ( http://www.jasmantoys.com ), the "Spin Blade" ( http://www.flight-factory.com ). BTW, I have their "guideline" RC (for lack of a better term) version of it, the "Command Force Series 1 Micro Chopper Patrol" <G> ( http://www.commandforcetoys.com/products.htm ) -> http://www.commandforcetoys.com/images/cpmini.jpg (mine is the Apache, not the one pictured here) -:)

They also sell a larger version of the chopper, but I bought the small one (kinda cramped here in my travel trailer out in the woods <BG>). I saw it at K-Mart, and was fondly reminded of a similar one to that I had when I was a kid... much larger than this modern version, but not half as detailed. Hehe, had no choice but to buy it <BG> -:)

Folks,

A MILLION applogies for getting so off-topic here, but attached is a pic that I found at EBay... of one of the ORIGINAL one's (circa 1971) that I was refering to in my quote above, that I used to have when I was a kid -:) Ahhhhh... the memories -:)

P.S. Some of these things are going for several hundred dollars over at EBay.... wish I still had mine <G> -:)

Oh Wow! I had one of those too! It was limited in what it could do, but was fun as hell. Thanks for the reminder!

Hehe, good to see that there are some other old farts (other than myself) here in the forums as well <BG> -:) One would have to be around mid-40s in age to remember these things.

BTW, if you enjoyed your VertiBird when you were a kid, the "Command Force Series 1 Micro Chopper Patrol" that I mentioned previously (or the slightly larger version) is a must-have :thumbsup: ... run out to your local K-mart/Wal-Mart/toy store ASAP -:)

P.S. @All, check this out, a little freeware software toy/game type thing -> http://www.peterhirschberg.com/vertisim -:)

Okay, looks like the link to the Micro Mosquito at RadioShack is a pre-release (inside info) find!

It seems the "Micro Mosquito" was only just recently announced:
http://www.slashgear.com/micro-mosqu...ies-221777.php

There's a video on that link...That thing looks SMOOTH!

Ahhh man, now I gotta order me one of these too!

Okay, upon further search I found this thread about the Micro Mosquito:
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showt...light=mosquito

The designer of the Heli (Petter) puts in lots of info about the heli there.

Cool stuff o green one! I ordered one of the Picco Zs to check it out. I should get it Saturday. If it flies half way decent, I'll probably get more.
I'm liking this Mosquitto more and more as I read about it. I don't particularly like the dual rotor types, but I'm thinking if I lose the tail boom, I could make a cool space pod looking thingy out of it. But, I see a tail rotor on there that looks like it may be responsible for the pitch of the craft, so i don't know if I can move it to a new location or not. Still, it may be worth a look.

(re: the VertiBird) -> http://www.whirlybirdcentral.com/ ... brings a sentimental tear to the eye -:)

The RS had a picco Z laying out (broken though so I couldn't fly it). I know the little helicopters need to be light, but that thing felt completely flimsy. It would never survive in my room. I have a bad habit of breaking things... I need something a bit more robust.

The idea of an in house flying RC is, however, quite appealing.

Don't let the initial appearance fool you...The PicooZ is IMPRESSIVELY durable! It just might seem flimsy because it's made of materials that's meant to withstand crashes by folks that've never flown a heli.

I got a little more flying time today when I was flying the one I gave my Dad (for his bday). I crashed that thing no less than 5 times, and a couple of those times I thought for sure something was going to be busted...But NOPE, all was fine (heck I think the thing actually flew BETTER after the crash! :D )

It's going to take lots of practice and some tweaking, but I have NO DOUBT that once I've gotten the hang of this thing I'll be zipping it around INSIDE the house (I live in a small condo).

I finally got my PiccoZ today! My first impression of it was like Jazz's. It looked very flimsy. The ****pit is made of styrophome no less. But, I have to say the thing is very durable. I've crashed it many many times and it has suffered no damage. Here's a pic next to an SE for scale.

I must say, I'm very impressed with this little copter. After alot of tweaking, it flies exeptionally well. I think negotiating a course would be very difficult as the thing takes some getting used to. After some practice, I was able to take off from my hand and hover around the center of the room. Picking a direction to fly though is very tricky.

Haha!! You can't say kokpit. You have to appreciate the filters sometimes. For a moment I was thinking, "Azimov, using inappropriate language?"

I may have to get one of these, I have spent a bit of money recently though. If only I could get my aerospace engineering roommate to buy one and let me play with it. :D

Not only is it hard to fly the thing, but it's behavior changes as the battery weakens. It's not to difficult though as I can alrady manage to take off from the bed, hover around the room and safely land. Steering is just a matter of practice I think as I was starting to get the hang of spinning around in order to stop and change direction.
I don't see any lag in the signal as some IR systems seem to have. It takes a few minutes to charge, but flies for quite some time. The heli has a tiny blinking blue LED in the kockpit (lol, stupid filter) that's real handy when the thing crashes behind the couch.
I'll definately be getting more of these. They are a buttload of fun! The copters run in 3 different frequencies. The heli is preset to one or another of the three, but the TX can be switched between the three frequencies. I've looked on mine and don't see a way to designate which frequency it is except that it works on the controller setting of "A".
I highly recomend these cheap little helis.
EDIT: I found the little "ch A" on the bottom between the landing fins. I'm still not sure if the different channels are designated on the box though.

LOL, yah, the filter caught me. Shows you just how stupid all this "smart" technology really is.

I just looked the thing over again and I think it survives crashes so well for three reasons, First, it's light as a feather and falls like one too. Second, the light weight matterials are very durable. And thirdly, the rotor blade can be bent almost double without breaking. The copter does come with two extra tail props, so those may be prone to breakage.
I think after I get a few of these, I'll try making a very small two prop airplane just for the fun of it. I'll have a bunch of extra tail props anyways.

Here's a pic I pulled from the forum Namuna posted. This is the future of at least one of these helis.

Okay, I've gotten myself TOTALLY hooked on these things and just picked up 2 more last night (for a total of 4). I'm using 2 at home (1 for me, 1 for the wife), 1 is totally ripped-apart for modding and 1 brought into work.

I've been reading a TON of posts over at RCGroups about all the mods and tweaks for this heli and I plan to do a few of them, but to start with I've found these to be the easiest and also the most helpful!

1. Open that Tx and get that throttle spring outta there! Maintaining altitude is SO much easier without it!

2. OIL the Motors! You'll need to remove the plastic covers over the Main Rotor gear, but the oil helps make the heli run MUCH quieter and it's probably good for the motor too...Be careful to apply TINY amounts of oil though, it is recommended to put just a touch on the tip of an XActo blade and apply it to the motor shaft just below the pinion.

3. Run the heli battery until the electronics cuts the power! the heli has an auto cutoff that will turn everything off when the battery gets to a certain voltage. Run the heli until it can't fly anymore, then just hold it and keep running until the cutoff engages. Now let the heli sit for 10 to 15 minutes (to let the battery cool down) before charging again. People have been reporting upwards of 9minutes runtime doing this procedure!

I'm with ya green guy. These things are just to much fun! I managed a sustained flight this morning, hovering in the center of the room, that lasted at least 8 min.
And these things aren't a Rat Shack exclusive like the Zips, I read that you can even find them at WalMart. Same here. I scoured the site last night. I haven't been this stoked since they first announced the Zip SE. I'm loving the flood of mods being posted on these things too. I plan to do the bearing mod as soon as I can get my hands on the tiny buggers.
Here's something you gotta see to appreciate. And it flies too!

Well, they might've just as well called the PicooZ the MaryJaneZ...This thing was my gateway drug into the bigger helis.

I was so enamored with the PicooZ that I decided I want to go to the next level and go 4channel Heli...So now I've got a Honey Bee FP2 Helicopter (RTF kit) en-route!

I've been eyeballing the micro helis for some time now. The reason I never bought one was the cost. 300 bucks is just to much moolah to spend on something I know I'm gonna crash the first day. They are beautiful little machines, but the PiccoZ has shown me that initial $300 would blossom quickly as I did repairs.
I've wanted a cool micro heli for years, but I think I'll go through a couple of these cheap ones before plunging in.
What scale is the honey bee? Or roughly how big is it? For me, the tinyer the better. I know there's one called the Pixallito or something that's more my scale.

The Pixelito:

http://pixelito.reference.be/

Now that thing is awesome. The picture at the bottom of the site with the heli on ice is spectacular.

Here's the product page of where I bought my HB:
http://www.raidentech.com/20nereracort.html

The Rotor diameter is about 20" so the overall size is a little more than that (accounting for the boom and rear rotor).

I got that kit for $90 shipped!

If you MUST be smaller than that and still want full function, there's also the Microns (these will indeed set you back in the $300 range):
http://www.precisionheli.com/

From what I understand the Pixelito is someone's own DIY heli:
http://pixelito.reference.be/

And finally, if you don't mind dual-rotors...Radioshack now also carries the Micro Mosquito. They're a little bigger than the PicooZ, but they're 3 channel:
http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...tId=2255015&cp

That's not bad at all! And it's a beautiful looking machine. Still, I like em smaller. Those are definately more what I would want. But, there's that price tag. Though full function would be night and day compared to the PiccoZ.
I really love that Pixelito. Just plain gorgeous. I may have to try his carbon fiber bending technique on a gutted PiccoZ.
Yeah, I've looked at the ole ugly skeeter. I dunno, I may get one. But for a couple bucks more, I could order a 4 channel Honey Bee.
I'm really glad these micro helis have hit the market. I've wanted a heli since i was a kid, but would never drop the thousands needed to get one.