Going to japan! What to get?

[JandJ2626]

I'm heading to japan on saturday and was wondering if there is anything I should try to pic up while I'm there.

I currently have a Tamiya tl01b but was thinking of possibly getting another kit while I was there or at least some kick a** accesories.

Any suggestions would be great!

[eliseracer]

Get me a TRF 415 ;)

:mad:

:D :p

[JandJ2626]

I hate to sound stupid but what's a TRF 415?

[Kenny T]

HPI Pro4. :D

The 415 is the new tamiya belt driven touring car.

[eliseracer]

http://www.swiss-rc.ch/2003/2003_11_04_trf_415.php

I dunno... If you're into drift, check out those new Yoke drift tires and bodies. They look cool.

[ToxicSoup]

you should try and pick up a japanese school girl :D

forget r/c cars :p

[The_In_Kid]

Originally posted by eliseracer
http://www.swiss-rc.ch/2003/2003_11_04_trf_415.php

I dunno... If you're into drift, check out those new Yoke drift tires and bodies. They look cool.

if you bring that here i bet you are screwed for parts :(

[eliseracer]

By the time I break a part, the car would be avaliable here... Plus, a lot of the parts are carried over from the 414 and TA04.

I have never broken an RC car part... Maybe a ball cup, but that's it :D

[JandJ2626]

If I did the school girl thing I'd get arrested! Plus I'm alittle old to be thinking about school girls!! NOT!


As for getting parts to maintain a japan spec RC. That isn't an issue for me I go 3-4 times a year anyway. This is just my first trip back since I got back into RC.

Can you get the Tamiya NEO SHOT in japan?
Or is it still not available anywhere?

[rcguy2477]

Get the pro 4. It is only out in japan for the time being. And it looks like its a great car.

[NitroBoy24]

A skyline!!! Just kidding, but if youve got a big 'ol wad of cash to spend then go for it lol!

If you like drifting those tires and bodies look sweet. Same with the Pro 4. I wanna go to Japan :(...Oh well Ill go sometime. Have fun :)

[TheBlackKat]

Lucky! I've always wanted to go to japan. I swore to my self I'd go there someday.

The 415 isn't even out yet. I belive its still a prototype & if the Pro4 is out in Japan already I'll be damned. I love all the gadgets they have over there & I love Japanese food *drools*

[Kenny T]

Pro4 doesn't come out until December 15th in Japan.

[PCC]

Get something, anything, Kyosho! Great Planes is making such a big profit on Kyosho here in the States that you'll be saving a lot of money on anything you buy there.

[Trojan Sailor]

Whereabouts in Japan are you going? I'm in Yokosuka, about an hour or two south of Tokyo. I'm having the toughest time finding a place to shop mainly because of the language barrier and I don't really have time to get around?

Do you know of any places, and do you speak Japanese?

[Kenny T]

Go to Akihabara, there's lots of shops there, you can find anything you want. There are lots of hobby shops in Osaka.

BTW I speak Japanese but I am in Australia. I called a hobby shop in Japan about a month ago to get some stuff to Australia that I couldn't get here. I got my stuff from www.super-rc.com or super-rc.co.jp. can't remember.

[JandJ2626]

I'll be going way south. Actually kyushu province. The town I'll be staying in is Isahaya City (south of Fukuoka)
I don't speak japanese fluently but I can get buy. Plus I'm working with some locals so they usually help me out quite a bit

Thanks for all the input! I'll see what bargains I can find!

[boostspike]

how much cheaper are things (rc related) in Asia.. i would think they're prices are just alil cheaper then here (U.S.) but w/ a larger inventory...

[JandJ2626]

It's not just the price but the availabilty.
some RC's are just not available here

[Kenny T]

The JR XS3 in Hong Kong can be found as low as $US112 I've found it for a tad cheaper in Japan, 11,200yen, when converted it comes out to around $US105. I don't know how much they are in the US though.

[PCC]

Keep in mind that in Hong Kong they price their merchandise high so you can haggle it down. You probably could have gotten the XS3 for less than US$100 if you spoke the language and were willing to haggle.

I've heard that the Kanai edition of the MP7.5 was selling in Japan for about $480 when you would be lucky to get one in the States for less than $650. Not sure if that holds true today, though.

[Kenny T]

Looking through this month's super-rc ad(RC shop in Japan) there appears to be a Kanai II for 56,900 yen or a Kanai II with an R&B engine for 83,000yen.

Did you mean Kanai ed or Kanai II?

[superben]

Forget about getting deals in Japan, the exchange rate is currently not favorable. (1USD = around 106 yen) When i was there last year it was 1USD = 137 Yen

Plus there's 5% tax in Japan

[Maxxcrazy]

Are the Japanese XS3's the same as American ones? Becuase America has different rules on the channel usages.

[Kenny T]

In Australia (probably same as asia) we our xs3's have 12 channels on 27MHz while I believe the US only has 6.

In the RCCA buyer's guide, it says the XS3 has 6 model memory, Mine has 10.

Superben, Isn't the exchange favourable. 1AUD=80yen, I'm losing money, you guys are getting more than 100yen for 1USD. Does the tax even apply when you send the item overseas? :confused:

[superben]

http://www.x-rates.com/d/JPY/USD/graph120.html

The chart says it all.

[Maxxcrazy]

Nice, I'll have to order one.

[dog8spam]

I have never broken an RC car part...
You ever heard of a thing called driving your cars?

[eliseracer]

I do, but carefully. I drift.

[JandJ2626]

Well just got back from japan.
I have to say that SUPERRC stores ROCK!!!

I went to the super RC store in Fukuoka right near hakata station south and DAMN!! I swear they have absolutly everything in stock!

I actually Saw a TRF 415. One of the guys working there was working on it. Pretty sweet. He said he had not had a chance to run it yet so no feedback on it. The quality looked top notch gotta dig the blue anodized and carbon fiber good color combo.

I did find one interesting deal. I picked up a pre-built (no Radio)Savage 21 for under 200 bucks so I picked it up and lugged it home. I'm doing the radio install tommorrow.

I got a bunch of hop ups for my tl-01(b). Speed tuned gears new pinions new shocks manta ray ball diffs etc... I have to say I have never seen a RC shop with as much stuff as this one it was incredible!

[Trojan Sailor]

I finally found the Super RC store in Tokyo near the Akihabara station. It was a bear to find. I was working off the map on the website, and ended up asking a convenience store two doors down. They were in an inconspicuous building on the second floor, so it wasn't obvious from the street since the writing was in kanji.

Prices were a lot cheaper than what I was able to find on the net. For example, the Twin Detonator at Tower Hobbies is listed at $129.99. At Super RC it was 8800 yen or about $85 at today's exchange rate. That would have been the equivalent of $72 about 16 months ago. What a bargain. The Wild Dagger was 8800 yen as well.

And you're right, it ROCKS!!! They must have everything imaginable. On my previous trip to Akihabara, I was only able to find a small hobby shop and a department store that had RC on one of the floors that had a lot higher prices. Their TD was still around $105, but most of the other stuff were overpriced.

[Kenny T]

THe only problem I find with SuperRC is that they don't stock any stuff for discontinued cars, as soon as the Pro4 came out ALL Pro3 hop ups were gone but that's the way it is in Japan.

[NeoGeo]

get me a nissan skyline gtr r34 (< real) :D please

[mafiaracer]

There's a couple of things that would do you good. One would be "illegal crystals" well, they're illegal in USA, they are a special frequency that allows you to run all day and not have to wait for a clip on a crowded day...very illegal in ROAR events though. Two would be to get some 3500 batteries. http://www.rczone.net/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=451&mode=&order=0&thold=0 You'll never really need them, but it would be fun to run an electric truck in a 20 min gas race...

[Kenny T]

Frequencies, you can get them made up, you don't have to go to Japan to get them.

[Buggy Master]

Originally posted by Trojan Sailor
I finally found the Super RC store in Tokyo near the Akihabara station. It was a bear to find. I was working off the map on the website, and ended up asking a convenience store two doors down. They were in an inconspicuous building on the second floor, so it wasn't obvious from the street since the writing was in kanji.

Prices were a lot cheaper than what I was able to find on the net. For example, the Twin Detonator at Tower Hobbies is listed at $129.99. At Super RC it was 8800 yen or about $85 at today's exchange rate. That would have been the equivalent of $72 about 16 months ago. What a bargain. The Wild Dagger was 8800 yen as well.

And you're right, it ROCKS!!! They must have everything imaginable. On my previous trip to Akihabara, I was only able to find a small hobby shop and a department store that had RC on one of the floors that had a lot higher prices. Their TD was still around $105, but most of the other stuff were overpriced.

i went to that store about 1.5 years ago. the only way i found it was a small jr propo logo on the bottom of the sign. i was amazed at how much stock they had crammed in a small store and as you mentioned the prices. i was like a kid in a candy store. did you go to the other store a few blocks down? i don't know the name of the store but it was a few blocks behind the train station.

[shadowghost1]

Japan is great place for RC. Everyone seems to be so in to it there, the large turn out is amazing for thier races. When I was there in 1994 everyone was into the 1/8th scale gas cars and wow they were good. Have fun and try to attend a race believe me its something special that you wont forget.

[Trojan Sailor]

Originally posted by Buggy Master
i went to that store about 1.5 years ago. the only way i found it was a small jr propo logo on the bottom of the sign. i was amazed at how much stock they had crammed in a small store and as you mentioned the prices. i was like a kid in a candy store. did you go to the other store a few blocks down? i don't know the name of the store but it was a few blocks behind the train station.

I didn't notice the jr logo until after I left and looked back to paint a mental image so I can find it again.

Was the other one you mentioned on the same street? And was it obvious from the outside? The only other one I saw was about a block and a half away from the train station and had a sign with something like, "Juujiya."

[Buggy Master]

Originally posted by Trojan Sailor
I didn't notice the jr logo until after I left and looked back to paint a mental image so I can find it again.

Was the other one you mentioned on the same street? And was it obvious from the outside? The only other one I saw was about a block and a half away from the train station and had a sign with something like, "Juujiya."

the other store is not on the same street but was obvious because they had rc stuff in the display window. if i remember correctly, from the first store, we walked a couple blocks down to an intersection, then take a left to another intersection, then walk down that street and it will be on the right hand side. sorry, i don't know what direction is north or south etc. but you will end up a few blocks behind the train station sort of a straight line. i asked one of the employees from the first store if there were any other rc shops near by and got directions. if you get a chance, it is worth the search. i found more stuff to buy that the first store didn't have and basically spend all of my money.