2 quick CAT XLS Masami questions...

[hibernaculum]

Just some quick, probably easy questions...
1. Where is the new CAT XLS Masami kit manufactured? China?
2. Does anyone know what exact driver figure was used in the box art pic of the original car? It's even got steering wheel+hands. http://www.rcscrapyard.net/schumacher-cat-xls.htm

cheers guys.

[vintagerulez]

Hi H.
I'm not 100% sure but i think Schumacher does all of his kits themselves. I cannot find any "made in .." printing on the whole box, neither in the Manual.
As for the driver figure i guess these have never made it into the production kits. ( I do own several NIB Schumacher kits, also an XLS, but there is no driver in it). By the way, the same driver figure is shown on the box of the T400 (First CAT SWB) which is never be seen in the kits IMO.
The only car i know who has the driver included which is shown on the box is the Procat ( I checked with my NIB), but this figure is completely different (less detailed) .
As stated above, not 100% sure with all this Maybe someone else can confirm.
Hope this helps for the moment
Cheers Mike

[XLR8]

I've owned the original SWB CAT, an XL and XLS kits from bitd (i've never owned any vintage Schumacher kit later than the XLS).
Today, unfortunately, many of the parts I still have are mixed together in a box and only the body and chassis parts from the original SWB car can be traced to their original kit. That said, I truly believe the drive figure in the photos I've posted below were included in the original SWB kit. I don't recall a driver included with the later kits. Also, I've had a quick look at the XLS manual and the driver isn't mentioned anywhere in the manual.
Anyway, as you can see, the lexan driver figured included in the kit doesn't appear to capture the level of detail as the one in the boxart car (I've posted a portion of the photo from the manual cover for reference).

XLS boxart driver.JPG (47.06 KiB) Viewed 3847 times

XLS boxart driver.JPG (47.06 KiB) Viewed 3847 times

[isobarik]

Thats an molded figure not an vaccume formed.

Med vänlig hälsning, isobarik

[XLR8]

I tend to agree; there's way too much detail for it to have been vacuum formed. Definitely looks like it came from a mold.

[mikea96]

It looks to possibly be a tamiya rough rider driver figure.

[bluewormx]

It looks to possibly be a tamiya rough rider driver figure.

Definitely looks like a Tamiya figure.

[hibernaculum]

I just wanted to follow up my original question also, with this. I contacted Schumacher some time after I posted this thread, to ask where the CAT XLS Masami was manufactured. The answer?

Thank you for your E-Mail.
Our kits are still designed and manufactured here in Northampton, England.
Best Regards,
Mark Marshall
Schumacher Racing

How nice is that? Like Tamiya (still manufacturing some kits in Japan, though most are made in Philippines), Schumacher might be the only other vintage RC brand still manufacturing the odd kit in its country of origin.
Special mention to Kyosho, at least manufacturing in Taiwan (not far from Japan, and at least a democracy), and not China.

Just about every other brand = China. Which is why I buy next to zero modern kits now. But I'm still buying Kyosho, Tamiya and Schumacher this year.

cheers.