The Backyard – R/C Eras Tour – What’s Next?

Greetings all and Happy Friday! Christmas is next week, so I hope ya’ll got your shopping done….I know I haven’t!

Apologies for the Taylor Swift pun in the title here, but I couldn’t resist.

Hey, so yesterday Cubby decided to take a break from retirement to drop a Cub Report, and it was a good one. I would suggest you read it, as he broaches the topic of r/c eras, and I wanted to follow up on it a bit more here.

Specifically, “what’s next”.

The scaler era really seems to be winding down, which means we are on the cusp of the next big thing. Let me be clear- scalers aren’t going anywhere, they remain popular and will forever be a staple of r/c. I’m not saying that. I’m just saying that we are well past the point of marketplace saturation and every Tom, Dick, and Harry r/c company has one or multiple releases in the genre, and sales have been softening for awhile now.

We are probably at the point in the hobby where things are ripe for some kind of new release to catch fire with hobbyists, both serious and casual alike.

It’s really hard to predict what will be the next big thing, but if we look back on the history of the hobby I think it sheds a bit of light. It seems like the “in thing” is always going back and forth between racing and something that is not racing. We have been in the scaler era for awhile now, which is very much NOT racing. Soooooo, that leads me to believe that racing is going to be en vogue again.

But what is that “something” that will usher in a racing resurgence? I think it’s cool that vintage buggies are growing in popularity, but I dunno if those would legit be mainstream enough to catch on because they are tugging at the heartstrings of existing hobbyists versus luring in newbies. I think if we start talking about nostalgia in general though, we are getting warmer.

I could see retro stock car racing getting really popular. The Losi cars that were released recently have been mega hot, so much so that the initial product batch sold out quick. Tracks are scrambling to put together racing programs around them and iron out some rules. Now imagine if some classic NASCAR Chargers, Monte Carlos, or other styles started coming out? I think people would eat that up.

The big limiting factor here is that it would be oval racing, and that isn’t for everyone.

I think the next big thing in r/c, and r/c racing as it pertains to this discussion, is probably several things all once, many of them based around nostalgia- whether it’s actual retro-style racers like the buggies or more cosmetic-only in nature, like the stock cars.

Or maybe it’s something else entirely, but I would put my money on that whatever it is, it’s something that makes folks super enthusiastic about racing. Probably something that can be pulled from the box and with minimal modifications, be competition ready.

I know that whatever it is, I’m ready for it! I feel like the hobby in general could use a big shot in the arm from whatever “it” is too.

Alright, that’s it for me this week. Until next time keep it on all 4’s! Happy holidays!