The Demise of Creative Kit Names

[LTO_Dave]

What ever happened to R/C kits having wacky/creative names that made you take a second look? I'll be the first to admit that out beloved RC10 and Losi cars of the time had boring names, but you get the idea. Just think about how cool it was looking through old magazines or going into a hobby shop and seeing names like:

Invencer
Dominator
Intimidator
Enforcer
Cyclone
Disruptor
Agitator
Invader
Nemesis
Alien
Avante
Bruiser
Exceed
Ellipse
Eclipse
Equalizer
Hot Dog
Slingshot
Bosscat
Cougar
Dogfighter
Eliminator
Intruder
Dandy Dash
Samurai
Ninja
Galaxy
Radiant
Reflex 10
Jealousy
Magic Carpet Ride
Revolver
Badger
Checkmate


Now all you see is jumbled letters and numbers or generic names like:

RC10B4.1234
JL10e
DEX410V3
RC12R5.2
MBX6E
GT-V2
EB-4 S2.5 Pro
D8T
Anything from Traxxas
Flux
Vorza
Sparrowhawk
Hyper


Share your favorite vintage kit names.

[GoMachV]

Terminator
monster
Big grizzly
High roller
Manx
Pegasus
Icarus
Cosmo
Wildcat
Burns
Inferno
Pirate
Coyote
Radicator
Wildcat
Cyclone (twister or panda lol)
Kyosho turbo ultima pro xl se custom (ok, they didn't make it but we always made fun of the names)

[Incredible_Serious]

Forget vintage, how about the following recent names from Tamiya:
- Asterion
- Leonis
- Vajra
- Zahhak
- Baldre
- Durga
- Farm King (:lol:)


Alex

[jkelm24]

Don't forget about one of the most hardcore RC names of all time...

"Rockbuster"

(grasshopper clone; World Engines)

[Hcp22]

Royal Ripper (royal rip-off)

[RC104ever]

My guess is that its part of the bigger trend in 1:1 scale cars. Whereas in the past names like Mustang, Camaro, Thunderbird, et al meant something, today the car makers are more concerned with the BRAND ie its a Ford, Chevy, BMW, Audi, Volkswagen etc. That's why we see more cars with alphanumeric names (A4, 330i, G50 - you get my drift)

The companies want you to say I drive a (insert brand here) vs. I drive a (insert model name here).

The same could be said about RC cars - they want you to say I have an Associated RC vs. I have an RC10 (but we do it anyways)

Of course all of the above is just my opinion

[scr8p]

dirt oval cars had the "cool name" market cornered.

[THEYTOOKMYTHUMB]

I agree on the name thing. I think maybe they just kinda ran out of names. I lost all faith when I saw the Tamiya Dual-Hunter.

[Groomi]

Just wait until some Chinese manufacturers become mainstream - then you'll get some great Engrish names along the lines of Very Fastly Windrush Gold Nicely 86...

[markbt73]

Traxxas actually had some good ones in the past for trucks: Hawk, Sledgehammer, and Stampede are all pretty good names. Not sure what a "revo" is supposed to be, though...

On 1:1 cars, I'm really happy to see the resurgence of old names recently. I think it's cool to see new Chargers and Darts and Malibus on the road. Ford needs to get on that bandwagon and make the next-gen Focus a Falcon instead. It's just too bad that certain nameplates have died altogether; we'll never see names like Cyclone, Barracuda, or Cutlass come back, because their marques have gone away.

[GoMachV]

I don't think Ford could do that, they still sell the Falcons overseas. Too bad they don't import them, they are pimp! 450hp 4 door family car.

Worst RC car name:
Turbo Hopper
Lol

[losiXXXman]

Turbo Hopper?..... probably getting thumbs excited.

[THEYTOOKMYTHUMB]

Turbo Hopper?..... probably getting thumbs excited.

I did promise my wife that I'd name my next project after her. I'll be debuting "The Ball-Breaker" in the next few weeks.

[THEYTOOKMYTHUMB]

I tried to find the old cartoon of the guy that's naming his boat after his wife, but our safe search at work wouldn't pull it up. If no one else has it I can find it at home sometime. It's a classic.
EDIT: Found it