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  #1  
Old 04-27-2006, 12:34 AM
triplenine triplenine is offline
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Now what?

So I just got my first microRC, a ZZSE. (29 year-old child that's me) Yet I am now finding out that the parts and product are being discontinued. I am going to collect as much as I can while it is cheap at RS.

My question is what now? Can you point me in the direction of an affordable (my wife will be a bit testy if I got into the costs of Xmods or MiniZ) and tiny (good for a lab bench) miniRC style that is modifyable with available parts?
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  #2  
Old 04-29-2006, 07:28 PM
frizzen frizzen is offline
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Well I don't know about you guys, but a lot of us are planning to stock up on them while cheap before they go away forever.
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  #3  
Old 05-02-2006, 02:56 PM
triplenine triplenine is offline
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Yeah, I am thinking of switching to Xmods. If I was to get a microsizer and mod it up I would have spent the 35 or whatever it is. Keep the ZZ for messing with my cats.
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  #4  
Old 07-18-2006, 12:53 AM
XSV XSV is offline
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I may have to put the RAZR phone on hold for awhile so I can stock up on zipzaps
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  #5  
Old 07-18-2006, 08:32 AM
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Namuna Namuna is offline
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Right now's not the hottest time to get into the Micro scale.

Some history here, feel free to skip
The Digi-Q (was big in Japan, but never really took off here in the US) is no longer offered. The Bit Char-G, made by Tomy (again, a Japanese product) was what REALLY sparked the whole Micro scale craze back in 2001, it was a big enough craze that they sold the rights to manufacturer in the US to HObbico (branded as "Microsizers" here in the US)...They too stopped producing them.

Finally, there's RadioShack, the last holdout. As cool as the Bit Char-G is (or I should say 'was') they were expensive, so out came the "clones" that were way cheap in price (and quality). Radioshack followed suit and came out with their own "clones" and called them ZipZaps!. Being that Radioshacks are EVERYWHERE (in the US), and the prices for the ZipZaps were cheaper than the Bit Char-G AND there was all kind of upgrades (for CHEAP), the ZipZaps line took off and they spawned the SEs and MTs from there.

...But that too is now dieing down and it was rumoured that Radioshack is discontinuing their entire line of ZipZaps, but it seem what's closer to the truth is that they're NOT stopping production they're just dropping all the options and only producing lesser varieties.

Concerning "what to do now"
To answer the question of what to do now to get your Micro scale fix? Hoard, hoard, hoard! Pick up a little of everything you can; ZipZapse, SEs, MTs, accessories. Cause there's no specific telling of when more are coming.

You can also take it to another level. When you first get them, they're fun to run around with...As jonbarton says, "for about 5 minutes at a time". But that's where MODIFICATIONS come into the scene! Let the artist in you out and consider painting the bodies/shells, or if you've got the NEED for speed there's mods to drive crazy voltage to the motor for insane speed! Maybe you're more of a "woodsie" type fella? Well then get that ZZ Monster Truck and do the "Articulation" Mod on it and make it a crawler!

If you're limited by options of new stuff, then don't limit yourself to the options on what you've already got!
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  #6  
Old 07-18-2006, 09:11 AM
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Namuna Namuna is offline
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Or...

You can go up the scale a little bit, here are a few suggestions:

1/43rd Scale
Epochs. They're 1/43rd scale FULLY Digital Proportional control cars! You can just pop the crystal out of the cheesy Transmitter that comes with it and pop it right into a better 2channel AM Transmitter for better control/options!

The Epoch1-32.com site is a Brother (or Sister, whatever way you want to call it) site to TinyRC and has lots of info about this Scale.

I've got 2 myself, and I'm baffled as to why these cars never took off in popularity. I can only imagine it's due to complete lack of any marketing by the Manufacturer to let people know about it...Sidenote, make sure you get the Spec-2 (2nd generation) setup if you buy! The Spec-1 was much lower quality!

1/28th Scale
I wasn't the biggest fan of the XMods when they first came out, but RadioShack released the 2nd generation (dubbed "Evolution" series) and these things are MUCH better! I bought the Hummer Evolution Truck and put all kinds of upgrades on it (upgrades for the Xmods are available at any RadioShack which makes things nice and easy, not to mention the upgrades are fairly cheap too (vs. other manufacturers where you have to go to a Hobby store or online for).

I also bought an XMods Evolution Mitsu Lancer EvoVIII and man I'm IMPRESSED with it! The turning radius is TIGHT, the handling is decent and the speed (stock) was pretty good! A buddy of mine came over last night and we went to the Tennis Courts in my complex and I was running my stock EvoVIII (well, not totally stock, I put the Ball Bearing updgrade in it) and it was doing pretty well against his totally hopped-up Mini-Z! Imagine that, my $30 Xmods (The EvoVIII is on sale for $39.99, and I had a $10 coupon) was holding up against his $400+ hopped-up Mini-Z!

Xmods (The Evolution series) are fun, cheap and have lots of options. I have no problem recommending them!

1/24th Scale
Here we have the Mini-Z by Kyosho. They've been around for I don't know how long, but there's all kinds of options available for it and you need to be at this scale (or larger) to start finding people that are SERIOUS about the hobby (everything else smaller seems to be more of a "toy" to people).

I've got 2 of the older car series (Honda S2000 and Subaru Imprezza WRC) and an Overland (Truck series). They're great cars/trucks, they're true Digital Proportional (the XMods is NOT fully digital proportional) with TONS of options and is considered a "serious" level where you can actually find competitions and track running at this class.

Check out our Sister/Brother/Daddy/Mommy (Whatever!) site at Mini-Zracer.com for lots of info
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  #7  
Old 07-18-2006, 09:12 AM
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Namuna Namuna is offline
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This is actually a good question and I'm sure lots of others are wondering the same thing...So I'm going to move this to the main ZipZaps section and sticky it.
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  #8  
Old 07-18-2006, 08:49 PM
psyko_tek psyko_tek is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by jonathonbarton
We should scout around and see where the "local" tracks that might be suitable are...

I know they have an indoor track in the back portion of the HobbyTownUSA on Wadsworth near...72nd? 88th? in the Denver Metro area...

For me, driving an R/C Car around the house/neighborhood by myself can only be fun for so long...then it's just another shelf ornament...
can you tell me more of this track in denver?

I am in colorado springs with an itch to race
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  #9  
Old 07-19-2006, 10:48 AM
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Azimov Azimov is offline
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Quote:
I've got 2 myself, and I'm baffled as to why these cars never took off in popularity.
Same here. I came in late on these things, but did manage to get three of them. I like the micro scales, especially the Zips. I avoided larger scales for a long time. I finally broke down and bought an Epoch since it's just slightly bigger than a Zip. Man, I was surprized at the quality difference. Epochs are truely amazing little cars, and I agree that someone at the top screwed up in the marketing/branding dept.
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  #10  
Old 12-01-2007, 06:52 PM
minizzs minizzs is offline
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any places on longisland theres a lot of 1/5 scalers witg fire hamers and a lot of traxxas cars no xmoders or zz's
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