The Backyard – HPI Returns and a big week in small scale crawling!

Hello everyone, a happy Friday to you!

As we hit mid-December, a time when business and news traditionally dies down as everyone collectively goes on a break until the New Year, the r/c world had some interesting news/releases drop.

The HPI Venture18 1985 Toyota Hilux SR5 crawler was announced, and a day later the Redcat Ascent-18 International Scout II – 1/18 Scale Brushed Electric Rock Crawler was unveiled. 

I’ll start with the HPI announcement, because it’s a pretty big deal as it’s effectively the true re-launch of HPI here in America. It’s not “technically” the re-launch….but it effectively is, as those of us in the States really haven’t seen much HPI stuff in years, as far as the mainstream goes, at least.

HPI went all out sending the truck to YouTubers, as well as promising full support of the rig, and the reception has been generally extremely positive. It sounds like a solid 1:18 performance based rock crawler, and it has great looks to boot.

It would appear that HPI may have a hit on their hands, and this is great news for the hobby. Longtime hobbyists will remember a time when HPI was a huge powerhouse. In the aughts, they were personally my favorite company, as I was a day one adopter of the nitro Savage monster truck, and I adored my Wheely King. The company seemed to struggle throughout the 2010’s, but in recent years after some restructuring things seem to be on a positive track.

The Venture18 launch will hopefully either introduce or re-introduce the brand to many US hobbyists. I’m rooting for them, and I bet even many of their competitors are too! The hobby is a better place when HPI is strong!

Literally the day after the little HPI Toyota was announced, Redcat announced an update to their small scale Ascent platform, the 1/18 Scout II. Check out Tim’s unboxing and running videos of it here.

The previous version of the Ascent has a reputation as a very capable mini crawler, but the cosmetics of it were….well, in my opinion there was a lot to be desired there. The Scout II fixes that right up. The body and tires/wheels combo look awesome.

Kind of crazy how super competitive the 1/18 scale crawler market has become in the span of 48 hours, eh?

With winter either here or very much on its way, depending where you live, these two releases come at a perfect time. This is the time of year for smaller scale to shine, as a lot of hobbyists like to take ’em indoors.

I’m a big proponent of 1/18 scale being the perfect size for small scale r/c, because yeah, you can run them inside, but they are still big enough to have fun outside.

It’s cool to see this segment heat up, especially at a time where the news is kinda slow, and releases are a bit sparser. I’m gonna guess many hobbyists will be spending winter with one (or both!) of these dudes.

Alright, that’s it for me this week, folks. Lotta holiday shopping still left to do. Until next time, keep it on all 4’s!