Varicom Big Grizzly

[MPooler]

Howdy. I'm new to this site.

I just bought a Varicom Big Grizzly at an auction. I'm trying to research it but I can't find much info. I've seen posts calling it crap and also calling it rare. It was stored ina barn so it's dirty, but in great shape. It runs good. The body is dent and crack free. The tires are in good shape.

Is this thing valuable or should I let me 4 year old play with it and detroy it?

[ROH73]

There is very little out there on the Big Grizzly. It has a moderate place of distinction in RC history, as it was one of the first true 4wd monster trucks (at least a year before the Clodbuster), but the design is terrible. So, yes, it's pretty much a piece of junk. Except for NIB, it's not a valuable truck. I think letting your 4 year old have fun would be fine, but the truck will likely break very quickly and parts can be hard to find if you want to keep it running. It took a LOT of effort to keep my original Grizzly running in the 80s and I eventually gave up. Of course, I have four of them now and one will eventually be restored to an infrequent runner. Ah, nostalgia .

[Lowgear]

There were a lot of R/C's from back in the day that could be considered "crappy" but that doesn't necessarily make them any more or less desirable. The problem with the Big Grizzly besides being fragile is that it came from a relatively unknown company (Varicom) which didn't help sales. They also didn't have the marketing budget I'm sure. I'll bet if it was released by Kyosho or Tamiya for example it would be a different story.

There was one in awesome shape recently on eBay with a starting bid of only $80 which ended without a single bid. I was going to get it but there was some other items I wanted/needed more at the time.

[ROH73]

The Big Grizzly was never touted as being able to float in water; that truck was the MRC High Roller.

[Lowgear]

MRP High Roller, and Varicom Big Grizzly. Viacom is the media conglomerate. I just want to make sure that people search for the right thing.

[ROH73]

The Big Grizzly's USA distribution began through Varicom/Hobby Shack in mid 1986; it was released slightly earlier than that in Japan by it's actual manufacturer, Playtron. The only difference between the two versions are the decals and box in which Varicom and Playtron are swapped. By design, the Big Grizzly could never, ever go in water (no matter if the tires float or not - they probably do) and I have never seen an add, etc. saying it could. However, by design, the MRP High Roller (released in 1988) could go in water. Advertisements touted this and RCCA drove it in water during its January 1989 track report.

[MPooler]

Thanks for all the info! This thing has a Kyosho motor in it. I that what they came with or has this thing been worked on? Is it possible that I have a different truck with a Big Grizzly body slapped on top of it?

[rhino1]

Can you post a picture? Ok if your motor is mounted in the chassis and is mounted to a gear box and you have drive shafts running from the gear box to the front and rear more than likely its a Grizzly.

[MPooler]

From the few Big Grizzlys I have seen on-line, it appears there are different color/logo schemes. Mine looks different from the ones I've seen but mine definetly says Big Grizzly on it. There is one on eBay right now and the motor is definetly different. Mine clearly is a Kyosho motor. Hmmm. . . .

[rhino1]

Its a Big Grizzly.

[Coelacanth]

The Kyosho Le Mans 600E was an aftermarket endurance motor. It was supposed to give you approximately 10 minutes of run-time with the 1200 mAh NiCad battery packs back in the day. Not too powerful, I think it was more intended for use in on-road cars.

[rhino1]

Nice truck by the way! I would'nt mind having one myself.

[ROH73]

The Big Grizzly came with a standard 540 motor.

[rhino1]

Well I just bought one For 80 bucks on Ebay it looks to be in great shape.

[Lowgear]

Thats the one I mentioned on the last page. Its been re-listed a few times now due to not getting any bids. I was going to buy it this time around but couldn't due to having no power. I also figured because of this thread and me mentioning it that at least someone would go and look.

Its one of the nicest I've seen for the cheapest so you got a heck of a deal.