A tale of two Javelins...
Posted: Sun Jul 08, 2018 5:48 pm
Hey guys...
Indulge me for a bit as I attempt to recapture a bit of my youth. Back around the summer of 1987 or so when I just turned 13 the Kyosho Javelin was the one car I wanted more than only other. Even when the Turbo Optima debuted, it was the Javelin that I wanted. There was just something about the way it looked. Unlike all the other buggies, it looked so much more real. A friend who I played little league baseball with had a father who had a rail buggy and he used to take me for rides after ball games. Although his was not orange, there was something about the real-life looking Javelin that captured the same youthful enthusiasm of riding in the open air and the Javelin became a source of much daydreaming and wishful thinking on my part at the time.
That Christmas my parents bought me a Tamiya Hornet that I still have today...but with much wear. A Javelin wasn't in the cards for me...but that's ok. Life went on and I forgot about my early-teen rc interests until around 2006. In 2006, I pick up a RC Car Action magazine and read all about the emerging technology of both brushless motors and li-po batteries. Holy moly!! Long run times and faster speeds than the obnoxious nitro cars I has seen over the years...no offense to nitro lovers, but they are kind of loud if you play in a neighborhood close to other homes.
At that time I built a RCB4, a jacked-up bad-a brushless E-Maxx, an RC18B & a TC5, however, I still wanted a Javelin. I can't tell you how much of a following vintage rc had at the time and to be honest I really didn't care. I began checkin eBay regularly and found a relatively complete Javelin and picked it up. The orange cage had been painted half-black and the other half left orange. It had a gold chassis, the original electronics and tons of spare parts...along with an old school Kyosho field bag.
My intention was to resto-mod & rebuild the Javelin with modern brushless & li-po power. I stripped the cage with a razor blade back to bare orange, disassembled the entire buggy and rebuilt it using an original Javelin manual that I downloaded & printed from somewhere I found on the internet. The original shocks were good but the collars were all broken (more on that later). So, I retrofitted some aftermarket shocks at the time...which I intend to remove soon. I installed a Hi-Tec servo, futaba 27 mhz FM receiver & a Novak GTB speed controller along with a 7.5 turn Novak motor but I never ran it.
One kid came along & it ended up on the shelf...with two kids it was in a box in the closet. Years later the receiver, esc & motor were put to use in other vehicles. My Javelin never moved under it's own power and my childhood dreams of driving my own Javelin through the dirt and grass faded away just like my youth.
In the last few years with interest in re-releases I've toyed with the idea of doing something with my Javelin, but it seems too nice to risk damage. I'm a believer that toys are meant to be played with and I think the idea of shelf queens is a bit laughable, but at the same time I am a bit sentimental and know it is not easily replaceable.
...fast forward to 2017 & the wonderful folks at Kyosho gave me another shot at living my daydreams from 30+ years ago...the Javelin re-release. I plan to take the original completely back to stock...with exception of the rear wing...and I'll have the re-re to play with like a 13 year old who doesn't understand the value of a hard earned dollar...waaa-hooo!!
Following are a few pics of my original Javelin, my re-re and a few of them together...
Indulge me for a bit as I attempt to recapture a bit of my youth. Back around the summer of 1987 or so when I just turned 13 the Kyosho Javelin was the one car I wanted more than only other. Even when the Turbo Optima debuted, it was the Javelin that I wanted. There was just something about the way it looked. Unlike all the other buggies, it looked so much more real. A friend who I played little league baseball with had a father who had a rail buggy and he used to take me for rides after ball games. Although his was not orange, there was something about the real-life looking Javelin that captured the same youthful enthusiasm of riding in the open air and the Javelin became a source of much daydreaming and wishful thinking on my part at the time.
That Christmas my parents bought me a Tamiya Hornet that I still have today...but with much wear. A Javelin wasn't in the cards for me...but that's ok. Life went on and I forgot about my early-teen rc interests until around 2006. In 2006, I pick up a RC Car Action magazine and read all about the emerging technology of both brushless motors and li-po batteries. Holy moly!! Long run times and faster speeds than the obnoxious nitro cars I has seen over the years...no offense to nitro lovers, but they are kind of loud if you play in a neighborhood close to other homes.
At that time I built a RCB4, a jacked-up bad-a brushless E-Maxx, an RC18B & a TC5, however, I still wanted a Javelin. I can't tell you how much of a following vintage rc had at the time and to be honest I really didn't care. I began checkin eBay regularly and found a relatively complete Javelin and picked it up. The orange cage had been painted half-black and the other half left orange. It had a gold chassis, the original electronics and tons of spare parts...along with an old school Kyosho field bag.
My intention was to resto-mod & rebuild the Javelin with modern brushless & li-po power. I stripped the cage with a razor blade back to bare orange, disassembled the entire buggy and rebuilt it using an original Javelin manual that I downloaded & printed from somewhere I found on the internet. The original shocks were good but the collars were all broken (more on that later). So, I retrofitted some aftermarket shocks at the time...which I intend to remove soon. I installed a Hi-Tec servo, futaba 27 mhz FM receiver & a Novak GTB speed controller along with a 7.5 turn Novak motor but I never ran it.
One kid came along & it ended up on the shelf...with two kids it was in a box in the closet. Years later the receiver, esc & motor were put to use in other vehicles. My Javelin never moved under it's own power and my childhood dreams of driving my own Javelin through the dirt and grass faded away just like my youth.
In the last few years with interest in re-releases I've toyed with the idea of doing something with my Javelin, but it seems too nice to risk damage. I'm a believer that toys are meant to be played with and I think the idea of shelf queens is a bit laughable, but at the same time I am a bit sentimental and know it is not easily replaceable.
...fast forward to 2017 & the wonderful folks at Kyosho gave me another shot at living my daydreams from 30+ years ago...the Javelin re-release. I plan to take the original completely back to stock...with exception of the rear wing...and I'll have the re-re to play with like a 13 year old who doesn't understand the value of a hard earned dollar...waaa-hooo!!
Following are a few pics of my original Javelin, my re-re and a few of them together...
