Duratrax certainly hit a home run when they released the 835 and 835E 1/8-scale buggies, these offer near race worthy performance at a budget price. While the buggies perform well against other similarly priced models, I often wondered if this buggy could make it out on the track against these purely race-bred vehicles.

As a racer, I try to keep all my rides in tip-top shape, both on and off the track. Unfortunately, one of the trucks that hasn’t seen much stick time is my 2WD short course truck. I don’t know what it is, but the SC segment just doesn’t do it for me anymore. Well, anymore until I got my hands on Team Associated’s new SC5M.

My first experience with a Yokomo radio controlled car was the YZ-10 back in the late 1980s. This 4wd off road racer was considered one of the absolute best vehicles of the era and in various forms won several IFMAR World Titles. Yokomo has always been competitive and is now to aiming to compete for national and world titles; only this time in the 2wd class with the YZ-2 CA and DT.

Born out of necessity to compete with the Ford Focus driven by Ken Block, Nobuhiro “Monster” Tajima developed the Monster Swift to challenge the legendary drifter on the Gymkana circuit. A staple on Team Suzuki, Tajima is considered by many to also be “Mr. Pikes Peak”, having been the first to crack the 10 minute barrier with his Monster Sport SX4.

The battle over what people think is RC off road racing rages on all over the internets, the Googles, "book to the face" and it's probably deleted from many snapchats accounts every twenty four hours. Many think that dirt is the only true surface for off road and many of thosepeople use slick rubber tires on the dirt nowadays. Carpet and turf off road tracks are popping up all over the place and taking flack from dirt believers

There has been a noticeable resurgence in the vintage segment of our hobby and it is not showing any signs of slowing down. The bold distinct looks of these old school rides give them an unquestionable cool factor which is intriguing to hobbyists of all ages. This is especially true for those of use that are recapturing moments from our youth by once again owning the same vehicle that we started out with or even the dream vehicle we just could not afford at that time.

The RC masses have been anxiously waiting for Reedy to release a new charger, but they took the time to do it right and dropped the 1216-C2 on us. With 29 world championships under their belt, they had to be sure their new charger met the demands of the racer and lived up to Reedy's championship winning reputation before going public. The public has responded and the 1216-C2 is a hot item that sold out in several online stores before I could write this review!

RCD Stuff: This month... More cool RCD Stuff of course

Fast, cheap and durable. It used to be a rule that you had to pick two of the three since it was nearly impossible to meet all of the criteria in one model. With the advance of manufacturing techniques and improvements in the designs of buggies in general, we live in a great time in that there are available models that are fast on the track, durable enough for bashing and very affordable, which helps bring people into the hobby.

HobbyKing Marine's Scott Free Racing Boat is an upgraded version of their previously released Quanum Aquaholic and has a scale-like appearance and paint scheme modeled on the full scale Scott Free Offshore Racing Boat that currently dominates the Super Boat Vee Class racing circuit in the United States.

The Traxxas Stampede is a well-known radio control monster truck with the very first version having been released back in 1994. It has undergone numerous modifications and versions which has helped to make it one of the most popular monster trucks out there. The latest version is the Stampede 4X4 VXL.

Sometime in 2004, when mini vehicles like the Losi Mini T were taking the industry by storm, Castle Creations released their first surface brushless electronic speed control, the Mamba 25. Designed for 1/18 vehicles, this ESC with the selection of green colored brushless motors from Castle revolutionized power systems. Since then they have released the Mamba Micro Pro and Sidewinder Micro as well as a wide selection of systems for 1/10, 1/8 and even 1/5-scale vehicles.

When looking into getting a radio control boat, things like style, performance and reliability are the keys to a fun and enjoyable experience. This is where the Pro Boat team has delivered in a big way. The Stealthwake 23 is your opportunity to have some serious fun with a boat that is the perfect compromise of high performance with a very attractive price point. As soon as I got a glimpse at the Stealthwake, I was dying to get to the water as soon as possible to rip it through my local pond.

When I think of Arrma, rugged, fast, and brutal are a few of the first words that pop into my mind. Short course trucks are nothing new in the hobby but the Arrma Fury line of trucks are some of the most unique on the market with their monocoque chassis design and extra beefy components. Arrma has recently revised their Fury lineup

My mission in RC over the years has been simple, to inspire and capture new hobbyists in the radio control car world. Some aspire to rule the block with the fastest RC car and some move on to the racing world in hopes of bring home trophies. For some time I wanted to bring home all the gold too, but I found much more satisfaction in helping people get into RC successfully. From my view, Traxxas is a company that helps this cause that is so near and dear to my heart.