The Backyard – Predictions for 2025
Hello all, and Happy Friday! Welcome to the first Backyard of 2025.
Today, I’m going to make some predictions for some things that we are gonna see in world of r/c in 2025, and then this upcoming December we’ll review how well I did! For the sport of it, these are indeed actual predictions and not things that I know of behind-the-scenes. What’s the fun in that? So with that, let’s let the predictions flow!
Retro Racing Truly Arrives in Force
Last year the hobby started going wild with legit retro re-release kits, and not just in limited numbers for folks to build shelf queens. There is now parts support for various rigs and clubs are starting to adopt vintage off-road racing.
Heck, we are three days into 2025 as of the writing of this, and already Team Associated has dropped another sick retro re-release- the RC10GT Stadium Truck! JConcepts immediately announced they were supporting the truck with a period correct re-popped body. This is so damn cool!
Yeah, we are heading towards old school r/c racing becoming less of a novelty and more of an actual legit thing. I think by the end of 2025, retro/vintage r/c racing is going to be a force!
1/12 Stock Car Racing (and scale over racing in general) Shows its Staying Power
The Losi 1/12 NASCAR came out very late in 2024 but still made waves with how well it sold and the subsequent racing leagues that started forming. Supply wound up being an issue, as there just weren’t enough of them in the initial shipments to cover demand. That shouldn’t be an issue as 2025 gets going. I am assuming that when we get a little closer to Daytona and the kickoff of NASCAR’s season, we will see an announcement of some updated licensed cars. Assuming that, and assuming supply is good, I think you’ll see it explode in popularity this year. I am REALLY wanting to get into it if someone does it local to me. And a bonus if a retro body style is released- that’ll only help it more in the buzz department!
You also have a company like 1RC Racing out there that makes killer small scale, realistic looking oval cars (see the pic above that Jeremy show awhile back), and I think the success of the Losi will only help to bolster them as well. I truly think oval racing is gonna go off in 2025!
Old School Solid Axle Monster Truck
This is gonna happen this year, dadgummit! Scalers are popular, and monster trucks are popular….and yet somehow no one has released a proper old school, leaf spring equipped monster truck! Maybe Tamiya will re-release the Jugg or maybe it’ll be something from an RC4WD or something, but it’s gonna happen! The market has wanted this for years, and methinks in 2025 it will legit happen!
HPI Returns as a Major Player in the States
HPI recently made waves with the announcement of their Venture18 Toyota Hilux, and it seems like after several years of strife, they look to have gotten the ship righted.
In reading comments online in regards to their baby Toyota announcement, as a long time hobbyist it was kind of crazy to see some folks talk about them being a newer company. They were industry titans during many of my younger days! The Savage, Wheely King, RS4….so many gigantic releases over the years!
The Venture18 has a lot of hype around it and I think it’s going to be solid way for them to re-establish themselves in the US marketplace. I think 2025 is gonna be a big year for ’em.
The Next Big Trend Shows Itself
I wrote about this a couple weeks ago- the hobby is due for another era to start. I’m not sure what that is exactly, but we’ve been in the scaler era for a good long while now and it’s gotten a little stale. Something is needed to inject a little excitement into hobby shop showrooms, and I think 2025 is gonna see the hobby break out of the post-Covid downturn it’s been in, and this will be lead by some kind of new release and the movement is spawns. Maybe it’s one of the things I mentioned earlier in this column….maybe it’s something else entirely. I don’t know.
That’s what I think is gonna happen! We will circle back in 12 months and see how I did!
